World No 9 Saina Nehwal said that she isn’t far from playing at her best and hopes to reach there soon. The 27-year-old is on a comeback trail this season following a knee surgery that kept her off the court for the entire second half of last year.
“I’m losing [matches] narrowly, say [from] 18 points in the third game,” Nehwal said, as reported by the Times of India. “Confidence also matters, and once I get a win here and there, it will come back. Fitness is important because of the scheduling of back-to-back tournaments. I can see that I am not very far from my best. It will come with a five-six-week break.”
The Hyderabad-based player admitted that she felt a bit apprehensive of attacking the net following her knee surgery, adding that it was an area that she has been working on with coach Vimal Kumar. “There will definitely be issues when you come out of injury, it remains in your mind,” she said. “I don’t feel it as it is a natural phenomenon. But we are working on the net area.”
The London Olympics bronze medallist said that the surgery and recuperation phase was difficult and that it takes time to get back into groove. “It is not easy to come back after such a surgery because there are a lot of movements you suddenly forget,” she said. “The cross movement is a struggle to deal with, and it takes time to get your movement back.”
The former world No 1 added that she is in no hurry to reclaim to top ranking. “I am not thinking about ranking, it’s about winning tournaments. Ranking will obviously improve by winning tournaments.” After winning the Malaysia Open earlier this year, Nehwal said she plans to participate in the Thailand Open, Indonesian Open and Australian Open, before the World Championships in Glasgow in August.
Nehwal also had words of praise for compatriot PV Sindhu, who is ranked five notches above her at world No 4. “Sindhu is also playing a lot of opponents, a lot of matches, lot of top players, so she’s competing with the best,” Nehwal said. “It shows her fighting spirit which has gone higher. That’s the reason she’s able to achieve so much.”
