Interview to All Sport Sports Information Agency #interview A new tennis season is about to begin in less than a month. Ekaterina Makarova, Russias number 2, told Ekaterina Borisenkova, the special correspondent of All Sport Sports Information Agency, about her plans for national team performance. - It has not been decided yet whether I would play for the Russian national team at the FedCup quarterfinals against Poland, Ekaterina Makarova said. – Now, there are tennis players who need to get “tied” to the national team in order to play in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. That is why, it is those players who will be engaged by Anastasia Myskina, our captain, as far as possible. But there is still time before the tie and everything could change. I enjoy playing at the FedCup and so Im almost always ready to answer the call-up to the Russian national team and to help my country. – In the last season, you and Elena Vesnina had to help the Russian national team to keep its place in the first FedCup World Group. The qualification tie had been held in Sochi for the first time. Did you enjoy playing at the Olympic facility? – Yes, a lot! It was great in Sochi, I actually like this city very much. We used to have pre-season training camp there for a couple of years. Sochi has it all: hotels, incredible stadium located in close proximity. So playing there was real pleasure! Besides, in Sochi the courts were made perfectly for us. It is quite difficult to lay clay well indoors, but I really liked its quality in Adler Arena. And the atmosphere was good in general. – Did you like the idea of turning a skating center into a tennis one? – I find it very good for Sochi. The city had to reach this idea somehow, perhaps, even to built a tennis center intentionally because many good tennis players come from Sochi. Yes, they have open courts, but the situation with indoor courts was not good enough. And though winters are warm there but they are still winters and that is why such a center was a necessity. I think, now other players will have an opportunity to come to Sochi to train. It was indeed a really good idea. And I hope that we will see a lot of good tennis players from Sochi in the future. – Whom are you going to work with in the new season? – I have the same coach – Evgenia Manyukova. For the past three years, Anatoliy Glebov, a massage therapist, also had worked with me, but after the Kremlin Cup our cooperation came to an end. My coach for overall physical condition is Oleg Masyukov now, he started assisting me during the pre-season training. And my sparring partner has been Anton Zaytsev for many years already. Though, in the last two years he has begun to play at tournaments himself and he is doing well - now he is ranked 318 in the Association of Tennis Professionals ranking. Evgenia Aleksandrovna always jokes that it was we who trained him so well and now he plays much better than our tennis players who train on purpose for participating in tournaments. But despite Zaytsevs individual playing schedule we have agreed that he would help me to prepare for the season in December. So now we train every day. I really enjoy working with Anton; its not easy to find a sparring partner who wants to assist and who is interested in it. Anton gets high off tennis, he likes the process that is why it is always comfortable to play with him. – How would you assess Zaytsevs chances to improve his results? – Frankly speaking, I am sure that he may join the Top 150 world tennis players. Anton doesnt have such a physical ability as the most athletes; he is short, does not demonstrate athletic playing, acts mostly through tactics and counter-attacks. Thats why, I guess, if we speak about higher ranking one should be more athletic. But, at the same time, we know many players who dont have such qualities but play in leading positions. Say, our Evgeny Donskoy cant also be named among very athletic tennis players but nevertheless, he is in the Top 100. Anton is very hardworking and he is rewarded for that. And if at some tournament he has a fortunate draw, he is in good shape and the playing is increasing, the progress may follow. – Will everything stay the same in doubles this season? -– Yes, well keep playing doubles with Elena Vesnina (smiles). – Most Russian tennis players spend at least the finishing part of pre-season training in warm countries, and you are always in Moscow. – Once, Evgenia Aleksandrovna and I decided to play at the tournament in Brisbane (Australia). We arrived their 10 days before the beginning - celebrated the New Years Day there, by the way. We seemed to have prepared well for that period, got used to the weather. But I lost in the first round. Then in Hobart (Australia) I also lost in the first round 0:6, 0:6. And at the Australian Open I reached only the second round – although I was defeated by Dinara Safina then, but I was still upset. After that I told my couch: wed rather train in Moscow. And, speaking by the results, such training is not bad for me because we arrive at Sydney a bit earlier anyway, long before the beginning of the Australian Open. The heat is rather dry there and I think its easier to get used to it than to high humidity like, say, in Pattaya (Thailand). And now, I enjoy training in Olimpiets. Although I had trained in Luzhniki for 12 years, I always used to play well here when we came to some matches. There is some special atmosphere in Olimpiets, its really nice to be here.
Posted on: Sat, 27 Dec 2014 13:10:02 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015