Shoaib is a very supportive and wonderful husband & that make things very easy for me: Sania Mirza

Saying that Shoaib Malik is a wonderful husband, Sania Mirza, who recently won the French Open mixed doubles Grand Slam title with Mahesh Bhupathi, said that her cricketer husband has been very supportive and that makes things very easy for her.

In a interview to The Times Of India, Sania Mirza says that being a sportsman himself Shoaib understands the value of her winning another Grand Slam title. “Obviously, he is thrilled. Being a professional sportsman himself, he fully understands the value of my winning another Grand Slam title. I have a very supportive husband and he makes things very easy for me. Shoaib is a wonderful husband!” said Sania Mirza.

Sainia said that Mahesh and she make a great team on court. “The results speak for themselves. We are also very good friends. And we will now be playing together at Wimbledon next. He has one of the best backhand returns in the game, and his net play is outstanding. This complements my powerful ground strokes, and return of serve, which are my strengths. These qualities put together make us a very good team,” Sania said about her playing partner.

Meanwhile elated after lifting her second title of the year, Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal on Sunday said that patience and a newly-acquired calm demeanor made all the difference in her Thailand Open triumph in Bangkok. The 22-year-old world number five, who had defended the Swiss Open in March, rallied to defeat Thailand's Ratchanok Inthanon 19-21, 21-15, 21-10, says media reports.

Saina, however, said she neither has the time to celebrate nor does she want to relate it to her chances at the Olympics. “I am extremely happy with this victory. But I have no time to celebrate now. It was a very tough week as almost all matches were quite close and tiring. I want to get as much sleep as possible before the Indonesia Super Series,” she told TOI from Bangkok.

“Though this win will make me a bit stronger I don’t know if it enhances my chances at the Olympics. There are more than five weeks for the Games and I am not thinking about them now,” she added.

"Overall, I am very happy with my performance because I was more relaxed and calm during the matches and it worked for me," Saina said, according to a according to an HT report.

"There are times when I am under pressure and get irritated but in this tournament even when I was lagging, I was very patient. I didn't commit easy mistakes, I played long rallies and had some good smashes and also my net play was good," she added.

Saina did not face any top-ranked Chinese in the event but she said it still was a tough field to battle against.

"I am very happy to win this title. It was not easy but I played well in a lot of tough matches but it was a good win to have before the Indonesia Super Series," she said referring to next week's event.