Sania Mirza, Shoaib Malik expecting first child

Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza and Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik are expecting their first child.

The couple posted a picture on Twitter of a family wardrobe design with three sections — one with a shirt which read Mirza, the second had a children’s romper hanging which read Mirza-Malik, and the third with a shirt reading Malik.

According to a press release by the couple's media manager, the two are 'really excited to enter the new phase of their lives.' 

"We have been thinking about it for a while and look forward to our journey as parents InshaAllah .. when we found out we were ecstatic, needless to say, our families are overwhelmed and super happy and we wanted to share this amazing news with all our fans and well-wishers,” said Shoaib.

Sania also expressed her joy at beginning her journey as a parent.  

“We are soon to become parents. Having thought about it for a while, we both felt right now is the correct time to start a family," said the Grand Slam-winning star.

"We are very excited to enter this new phase of our lives and look forward to our journey as parents,” she said.

The three-time Grand Slam doubles winner had said earlier this month that any child she had would bear the Mirza-Malik surname and that Shoaib wanted a daughter.

Sania, 31, has been sidelined since October with a knee injury. She has slipped from number one in the world doubles ranking -- the first for an Indian woman -- to 24.

She said at the start of the year that she wanted to return for the French Open in May.

The tennis star has won at least one medal at every Asian Games since 2006 and had also expressed hope of competing in this year´s event in Indonesia in August.

Sania in 2005 became the first Indian to win a WTA tournament singles title. She reached the fourth round of the US Open in the same year, and by 2007 was among the women´s top 30.

But a wrist injury ended her singles dream and she focused on doubles tennis. A partnership with Swiss great Martina Hingis produced three Grand Slam titles.

--With additional input from AFP