Sania Mirza is one of the world’s greatest tennis stars, and has aced the motherhood game. From reigning on the tennis world for over a decade, to pursuing her career single-mindedly, from having a successful long-distance marriage, to shutting up naysayers like a boss, and now embracing parenthood, Mirza shows women that you don’t really need to choose between things, you don’t need to be an either-or person; you can have it all. Over to the star.The experience was good—it was overwhelming and different. I think, as women, we underestimate our bodies and what they can do, and I had that self-realisation. I feel privileged that I was able to go through it. I had a decently easy pregnancy, if there is such a thing.Of course, I miss being away from tennis and playing. With the knee, I was out of action for a few months and I had thought that I would go back as soon as it healed. But then we decided to have a baby. I think that mentally I was prepared for this long gap, and at the end of the day, in life, you should experience everything. That said, yes, I do miss tennis and that’s why you saw me playing occasionally even during my pregnancy.My plan is to try and get back whenever possible, but there are many factors that go into post-pregnancy recovery. I am going to take it as it comes. The first goal is to try and regain full fitness, which is not easy, because you have to start working out. Also, there is a timeline to be followed immediately after the delivery, and you can work out only after a few weeks. So, there are a number of things to be decided, but the plan is to try to get back by the 2020 Summer Olympics.I played tennis. I did yoga three to four times a week. I walked, almost three to four kilometres a day. I tried to stay as active as possible. That’s the message I wanted to give out as well. It’s important for women to be active during pregnancy, as long as there are no medical complications or they haven’t been advised against it. It was getting tougher to stay as active late into the pregnancy, but I still tried to walk a few kilometres every day, and practise yoga.The most important thing I would like to say to girls and women is that you have to choose what you feel is right. There are certain cultural dos and don’ts that we are subjected to as girls while growing up, and even as adults after we have grown up. There is no right or wrong from that perspective, you have to go by what you feel. You have to believe in your dreams and, more importantly, yourself. I was lucky to have a family that backed and supported me in every decision—whether it was playing tennis, getting married, or wanting to have a kid. It was always about when I wanted to do it, and not about what the cultural norm was. I want to tell women that if you really want to do something, and believe in it, then you can have it all; you don’t have to choose.Initially, I think, they did. I don’t know whether pressure is the right word to describe what they faced for their daughter playing tennis, despite being from a small town like Hyderabad at that time, 25 years ago. There were a lot of naysayers, but they actually further strengthened our belief in our dream. There were jokes going around about who I thought I was and who I thought I was going to be, and did I think I was going to play Wimbledon, among other things, but not only did I play Wimbledon, I won it! My family and I didn’t care about what others were saying as long as we thought we were moving in the right direction. I feel extremely blessed to have my parents with me in every decision of my life.I think the Indian sports scene has progressed in the last decade. Everybody talks about me being the first to do many things, and that is probably harder than being the second or third, simply because I had to find my own path. When there is no path to follow, you make your own mistakes and learn from them. The fact that we have got such amazing athletes today in all sports across the country is incredible. That we are able to name so many women sport stars is something that was not possible 15 years ago. We have moved in the right direction and, obviously, it makes me proud as a woman and an athlete, to be part of this generation that has seen this change come through.Shoaib and I are used to handling a lot more pressure on the field and court. Playing and performing for your country puts more pressure on you than just being famous does. Both of us just try to live our lives the way we want, how we think is right. It is not easy to be in the public eye for everything that you do, but we try to keep it as normal as possible. When we are at home, we are like any other couple. I think it helps that we both understand how to deal with such pressures.Yes, it has been a long career span for me, but I don’t remember a moment when I wanted to give it up for something else. I may have wanted to take a break, but, no, I think I was born to play tennis.I am privileged to have many memorable moments in my career. Every time I won a medal, whether it is the eight Asian Games medals that I won for India, the Grand Slams, or my Number One ranking in the world—they are all extremely special for me.I don’t read my mentions often on social media, but sometimes, I will wake up on the wrong side of the bed and take on one or two of them, simply because I think some people need to be told off. Trolls are frustrated individuals who harbour hatred for people they have never met. Hating someone for no reason just makes them feel better about their lives. Unfortunately, everybody is trolled, and if you are a celebrity you just have to ignore it. I experienced fame at a young age, so thankfully, I have become thick-skinned over the years. It doesn’t affect me at all; otherwise, I would not have been on social media.