Sania Mirza set to fly to UK after son and sister get visa

Bengaluru, June 3: Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza is set to travel to England for the grass-court season after her two-year-old son Izhaan and sister Anam was granted a visa by the United Kingdom government.

Sania had been granted a visa earlier, but her son and his caretaker had not received UK visas owing to current travel restrictions on Indians due to a surge in coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in India.

The Sports Ministry had sought an intervention of the External Affairs Ministry to get a visa for Sania's son and caretaker to travel with her when she goes to England for several tournaments ahead of the Tokyo Olympics.

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"It gives me peace of mind. I couldn't have travelled without Izhaan for five weeks and then gone on to play the Olympics in Tokyo. In the current scenario, it's more challenging. I'm grateful to Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju for his pro-active role, Prime Minister's Office, SAI, the Embassy in UAE and the UK government," Sania was quoted as saying by The Hindu daily.

The 34-year-old is scheduled to compete in the Nottingham Open (from June 6), Birmingham Open (from June 14), the Eastbourne Open (from June 20) and the Wimbledon (from June 28).

Sania is expected to fly to UK at the earliest though her participation in the Nottingham event starting on Sunday (June 6) looks highly unlikely as she has to go through the mandatory 10-day quarantine period before playing in a WTA tournament.

Sania's sister Anam will be the caretaker for her son Izhaan throughout the duration of the tour.