Sania Mirza to become mother in October: Shoaib Malik

New Delhi: Indian tennis star Sania Mirza and her cricketer husband Shoaib Malik are expecting their first child, due in the month of October this year. The couple celebrated their eighth marriage anniversary a few days back on April 12.

The 31-year-old Indian tennis superstar, who is out of action due to a jumper knee issue since October 2017, tweeted a picture suggesting that she is pregnant.

Sania's father and coach Imran confirmed that the six-time Grand Slam champion is indeed expecting a child.

"Yes, it's true," Imran told PTI adding that the baby is due in October.

At the start of the year, Sania had said that she was hoping to make a comeback to competitive tennis at the French Open. 

Sania at the recent 'Goa Fest 2018' had said that their child would keep surnames of both of them.

"Today I will tell you a secret. My husband and I have spoken about it and we have decided that whenever we have a child, the child will have Mirza-Malik as a surname and not just Malik. So that's where we stand as a family including my husband. He actually wants a daughter," Sania had said.

Global super star Serena Williams had won the 2017 Australian Open when she was few weeks pregnant with her daughter Alexix Olympia and returned to the WTA Tour last month.

Former world number one and Belgian star Kim Clijsters had come out of retirement in 2008, one year after giving birth to her daughter.