Sania Mirza opens up about ‘bouts’ of depression at peak of her career

Former Indian tennis star Sania Mirza has opened up about battling bouts of depression during the peak of her career.

During the recent episode of her podcast, the athlete saying revealed struggling with personal issues off the court even as she continued to perform at the highest level.

“It is very important and I spoke about it quite late in life because we were not really aware about it before. It’s really in the last eight to 10 years that people have started to talk about mental health openly. There was so much stigma and shame around it in society. I am glad that it is going away,” Sania expressed.

Mirza reflected on how athletes often suffer in silence due to stigma and unrealistic expectations.

“Even I went through it. I had a couple of bouts of depression; I struggled at times. I was dealing with a lot of things off the court as well which were being discussed in the media much early on in my career. I did go through my lows and I spoke about them much later in life. But I am glad that Jemimah did speak about it, as it makes such a big impact,” she added.

Indian cricketer Jemimah Rodrigues revealed her own struggle with anxiety during the semi final clash at the Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025.