Dubai: The ringtone on her cell phone, lines from a popular Hindi number which roughly translated means "why do you always talk about money and why are you so obsessed with it" can't be further from Saina Nehwal's outlook in life. For someone with increasing riches, money is possibly the last thing on her mind, as world badminton's brightest star told XPRESS in an exclusive interview from Hyderabad following her incredible feat of winning a hat-trick of titles.
"I just found that song very funny, which is why it has become my ringtone, The fact that it talks about money has nothing to do with the way I look at life. I am not after money, I can tell you that," she said, after finally getting some free time to herself following a hectic day of being honoured, dealing with the media and, finally, sleep.
"I landed in Hyderabad on Tuesday morning and since then it has been a blur really. I finally managed to catch up on some sleep later in the day," Nehwal added, still sounding a bit tired.
And tired she might be after winning the Indian Open, Singapore Open and the Indonesian Open - the last two being Super Series events - in the space of three weeks.
More relief than joy
"After winning the first two events, I was already weary. My physio actually did a great job and I managed to get through in Indonesia and defend my title, so it was more of a relief in the end," she said.
So, which of the two Indonesian Open titles does she cherish more?
"The first Super Series title is always special and I beat the then world No 1 on the way. But this year's is more special given that it was my third tournament win in a row," she said.
Having already risen to World No 3, this series of victories seems to have finally made her a celebrity in her country. "Well, one Super Series title should have been enough, but I guess it needed three in a row for me to become that," she said, tongue-in-cheek, before adding: "That of course won't change me as a person. I will still remain the same, with my feet firmly on the ground."
You would tend to believe her given how excited she was to receive a message from fellow Hyderabadi, tennis player Sania Mirza. "That was very sweet of Sania, sending a text to congratulate me," she said.
For now, it's rest and thereafter, it's the world championships where she will get to meet more of the Chinese. "I have almost cracked the Chinese puzzle. I always believed it is possible to beat them, I just had to be patient. I have improved on my stamina and defence and I now need to strengthen my net game to make that final jump. I am not overly concerned about the No 1 ranking since winning tournaments will take care of that," she said.
Rising graph
- The Indonesian Open was Nehwal's third Super Series title, having won the same title last year and the Singapore Open this year
- Nehwal's career best ranking of No 3 sees her sandwiched between six Chinese players at the top
- Her cumulative earnings from the three consecutive tournament wins this year amounted to over $42,000 (Dh154,000)