Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal, who won the Australian Super Series title in Sydney on Sunday, claimed on Tuesday that her performance in the Uber Cup had helped her to stage a comeback.
"While I was training during the last two months, I was quite confident that I will soon get hold of a title. Even before the Uber Cup started, I had predicted it, but it never crossed my mind that I will get it so soon," Saina told ANI.
"The way my performance has been in Uber Cup, and also during the Indonesia Open, the way I played against World Number.1 (Li Xuerui), that had given me a lot of confidence. Finally, the way I started of in the Australian Open, was a confident begining, and also beating the top players was a high that shows that I have improved a lot. I am happy that if my performance remains like this, then I am sure I will do well in future tournaments ahead," she added.
Asked about whether the painful and bleeding blisters have had an effect while she was playing her final match, Saina said, "Actually the problems like the blister which I sustained was during my semi-final match. Before the Uber Cup, I was pretty confident, and also with the training that followed, and it was because of that, I could predict and even achieve it."
On what lay in store ahead for her, she said, "There are a lot of tournaments ahead, need to get a lot of achievements. Although, I haven't set a target for my myself, I just want to give my best. What's important is that I stay in shape and continue with my good training."
Saina Nehwal clinched the Australian Open Super Series women's single title in style with a straight-game victory over World Number 11 Carolina Marin of Spain on Sunday.
The London Olympics bronze medallist staved off the challenge from Marin 21-18, 21-11 in the women's singles summit clash, which lasted for 43 minutes.