- 30 Avg 2008, 21:43
#1226301
And Now For Something Completely Different...
Post-match press conferences usually focus on the match just played or the match coming up, how the players feel about their form or their seasons, even their career goals. But there's a lot we still don't know about the stars of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, on and off the court. We recently caught up with about a dozen of them and asked some questions that were... different.
The first six were posted over the last three weeks; here are the last two...
Do you have any superstitions?
Elena Dementieva: "My mom always wishes me good luck before a match. Most of the time she's with me so she can tell me in person, but if she's not with me I'll call her a minute before the match. It's nice to hear before I go out to play."
Alizé Cornet: "Luckily I don't, but everyone else has them! I used to have a lucky necklace, but it broke."
Dominika Cibulkova: "When I'm serving, I always take the ball from the same ballkid. I also try to bounce the ball in the same place right before I serve."
Ai Sugiyama: "I used to wear the same earrings when I was winning, then throw them out if I lost, or just change them. It started getting tough to travel with so many earrings, so I don't do that anymore. I just do whatever I feel like now."
Edina Gallovits: "From the beginning of the tournament to the end, I eat the same food every day. I also never wear clothes I've lost in. I won't throw them out or anything, I'll just never put the same shirt with the same skirt again."
Olga Govortsova: "I used to play with the same clothes if I kept winning, but not so much anymore. I'd wash them of course. I wasn't winning any tournaments doing that though, so I stopped doing it. Now I'll eat the same food every day."
Cara Black: "I used to use the same shower all the time if I was winning, but I've grown out of that!"
Agnes Szavay: "I usually bounce the ball the same amount of times, three or six times. I guess in threes."
Do you ever go to sonyericssonwtatour.com?
Elena Dementieva: "Yes. I check results, draws, the photo gallery... I actually love the website. I never look at my own profile though! And I like the videos."
Ai Sugiyama: "I read the articles, look at the photo galleries, go to my profile, check my stats... so yes, I do check the website a lot!"
Katarina Srebotnik: "I check the results all the time. If I have time to surf I'll look at the player blogs, the photo galleries and the videos, although the videos are slow to load on my computer sometimes. But I mainly check results."
Liezel Huber: "I do, for rankings, prize money, video clips, and I also like looking to see if Cara and I are ever on the homepage! The videos are fun to watch. We watched our toll booth clip and the awards video, and they were great. It's always good to check out what's going on with everyone else too."
Alizé Cornet: "I go to it very often. I go to there to sign up for tournaments and look at results, pictures and video. There's lots of info on other players too."
Vera Zvonareva: "Sometimes. When I do I like looking at the photo gallery. Mostly I go there to look through upcoming tournaments and sign up for them."
Agnes Szavay: "I go there to look at the live scoring, so I can see how all of the other matches are going. I don't look at my own profile. I enjoy the videos too."
Jelena Jankovic: "Sometimes to check the scores, like if my friends are playing. I also go and look when I'm doing the blog!"
Edina Gallovits: "Every day. Results, rankings, player bios, video..."
Olga Govortsova: "I check the rankings after I play a tournament to see how I'm doing... but not every week. I also look at results and entry lists. I tried watching the video but my internet is so slow I gave up on it!"
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If there was one question you've never been asked but want to answer...
Jelena Jankovic: "They never ask me why my hair never moves. I use tons of hairspray because of my bangs. Even if I used 100 pins it would all fall out. So I wish they would ask me about my perfect hair!"
Ai Sugiyama: "I am very proud of being on the Tour for 16 years now, and would love to talk more about that. They've been asking me about breaking the Grand Slam appearances record, so I do talk about my career when they ask about that. I hope I'll be around longer. This is all motivation for me to keep going."
Elena Dementieva: "I think they've asked me everything at this point, I've been playing for a long time. I know one I don't really like - about my serve! But they haven't been asking me about my serve as much because I've improved it."
Liezel Huber: "I'd love to talk more about how good tennis has been for my life. Without it I wouldn't have met my husband, come to this wonderful country, have the life I have... and likewise for my family. It has been so rewarding."
Cara Black: "People focus so much on the here and now. They don't ask about what we have been through in our careers - that might make a much more inspirational story, especially when it's about those of us who have come from third world countries to where we are now."
Dominika Cibulkova: "Nobody has ever asked me the size of my feet. They ask about my height. My feet are a US 6."
Patty Schnyder: "They've asked me everything. Journalists, fans... I have no secrets anymore! I've been around for a while so I've been asked everything."
What do you think of the Tour's main sponsors?
Alizé Cornet: "I have a very good cell phone from Sony Ericsson. I still live with my parents so I don't need any appliances, but my brother has a new flat and has Whirlpool, and it's a very good brand. When I move out I'll get them too!"
Katarina Srebotnik: "All my life I had Ericsson phones, and when it became Sony Ericsson I switched to Sony Ericsson. It's my favorite phone company. I'm very excited it's the title sponsor for the Tour. Whirlpool is also a great sponsor."
Ai Sugiyama: "Sony Ericsson is the biggest sponsor in women's sports. We're getting much better things than we used to, like prize money. It's not a huge jump each year but it's gradually getting higher and higher. I think we're up 40% from what we got in 2004, which is great. We have to appreciate what we have right now; it's incredible compared to what we got when Billie Jean started it all. But this is a job, and we have to take it seriously. We have to work for the sponsors and the Tour as well, like doing interviews and appearances when they need us. All of us - the players, the Tour, the sponsors, the fans - have to work together and continue to make our sport a success."
Patty Schnyder: "I have Sony Ericsson phones, which is really cool. I also have a Whirlpool microwave. I think the Tour has some great sponsors."
Edina Gallovits: "I use Sony Ericsson phones. The camera phone is awesome. I don't have any Whirlpool stuff but when I get a house I'll give them a call."
Vera Zvonareva: "I have a nice washing machine and dryer from Whirlpool back in Moscow. I really like them! My Sony Ericsson phones are great, too."
Dominika Cibulkova: "Sony Ericsson gives us phones, two per year actually. I use mine all the time. It's perfect!"
Jelena Jankovic: "Our sponsors are great. I use a lot of their products, especially Sony Ericsson phones. I have lots of them. It's great technology, great designs. I have a washing machine and dryer from Whirlpool and they work really well."
Elena Dementieva: "I use Sony Ericsson phones and really like it. We get a lot of them, brand new ones. It's always fun to have something new."
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What is your speficic favorite shot?
Agnes Szavay: "Drop shot and backhand down the line. It has been like that since the beginning. I feel good when I hit either of those shots."
Alizé Cornet: "When I was younger I always liked my backhand better, but now I like my forehand the best. I feel I can hit it anywhere. It's a great sensation."
Ai Sugiyama: "Backhand. I've always liked my backhand the best!"
Jelena Jankovic: "Backhand down the line. It's my signature shot. It's a natural shot too - I've had the same technique since I was little, I just have a lot more power on it now."
Elena Dementieva: "My forehand. Any forehand - crosscourt, down the line, angle... It has always been my favorite shot."
Patty Schnyder: "I like the backhand drop shot, especially on clay. I like the forehand angle too."
Dominika Cibulkova: "Crosscourt forehand. It wasn't always like that. I used to like my backhand better, but now my forehand has become more dangerous."
Cara Black: "Volley. It's just a natural shot for me and feels really good. My favorite volley is the backhand angle, although I like every type of volley."
Liezel Huber: "My forehand, but more specifically the forehand putaway - the one I can hit really hard!"
Vera Zvonareva: "The drop shot. Although I don't use it that much sometimes, I love it. It's fun, and people get excited when a player has lots of variety."
Edina Gallovits: "The tweener! That's the between-the-legs shot..."
Olga Govortsova: "Just winners in general. Forehands, backhands, serves, volleys, whatever. It depends on the point and what shot I'm getting, but I feel really good about anything that ends up being a winner!"
Who is the most difficult player for you to play against?
Edina Gallovits: "Coetzer. I remember hitting like 16 shots into the corner and she would get them all back. She'd make me run left, right, left, right, and she would never miss, so it was really, really difficult to win each point."
Elena Dementieva: "It would have to be Anna Smashnova, especially on clay. She's retired now, but she was so tough. I remember playing her at Roland Garros. I was cramping and ready to retire but she had been cramping too and she retired first, so it was lucky for me. Whenever we played I just got so tired."
Patty Schnyder: "Venus. It's obvious when you look at my record against her. I've had almost 10 tries and I've never beaten her. I've been close before; there was one match where I had match points and I feel like I had her that day, but she's such a great champion. And when she's playing well the whole match it's scary. It actually stresses me out to play against her."
Vera Zvonareva: "I always say Anna Smashnova. Every time I played her we ended up playing for more than three hours. It's tough to go out there knowing it will probably be three hours before you're finished."
Katarina Srebotnik: "Monica Seles. She's my all-time idol. I played her once in World Team Tennis and it was one of the hardest matches I've had to play because I couldn't keep my mind off of how much respect I had for her. It was hard to focus on hitting the ball!"
Dominika Cibulkova: "Brenda Schultz-McCarthy on grass. I didn't like it at all! Her serve was so good and I couldn't get any rhythm. It's good there aren't too many players like that. Venus has a big serve, but she doesn't come into the net as much as Brenda does. Against Venus I can at least get a rhythm!"
Cara Black: "I don't have any big weapons and it's hard for me to put the ball away against a grinder, so anyone in that category - Coetzer, Smashnova..."
Liezel Huber: "When I was playing singles, anyone who would keep you out there for three hours. Players like Smashnova, who would just grind out every point."
Serena Williams: "Venus Williams. Hands down."
Alizé Cornet: "There are a lot of good players in the Top 50, Top 100... It's hard to pick one. Even when I lose I usually fight really hard and don't lose too easily, so I can't really pick any matches where I felt I was completely blown out. Of course it can be tough to play someone who plays consistently and keeps their mistakes down, but I'm like that so I can't complain about them!"
Ai Sugiyama: "Venus and Serena. There really powerful and you don't get much of a rhythm against them because they control the points. I think one time I was close to winning - at the 2003 French Open - but most of the time I'm not close."
Agnes Szavay: "The top players are definitely the toughest to play. I beat Jelena Jankovic in Beijing last year but it was the toughest match I've had so far on the Tour. I never played Henin but she was probably really tough too. I've lost to Kuznetsova twice... I haven't played Sharapova yet... But they're all so mentally tough, you have to work hard on every point."
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If you could meet one person you've never met, who would it be?
Dominika Cibulkova: "I like a lot of singers. Probably Justin Timberlake. I like his style and songs. He's really cool. If not him then maybe 50 Cent."
Liezel Huber: "It would have to be someone who gives back or does humanitarian work. I get inspired by people that give their time and work tirelessy for worthy causes. I'd probably pick a celebrity who does that kind of thing - like Angelina Jolie or Oprah Winfrey - but not because of their celebrity status."
Alizé Cornet: "Since I was young my idol has been Andy Roddick. He's a role model for me. I've never had a chance to speak with him, but if it comes one day I'll be so happy. It would be a dream come true for me. I try to hit my forehand like him. My service motion is kind of like him, although his serve is amazing."
Elena Dementieva: "I would love to spend a day with President Putin. I like him a lot. He's very intelligent. It would be very interesting for me."
Edina Gallovits: "Tiger Woods. I just think he's one of the most amazing athletes in the world. I think he's great. He wrote history."
Jelena Jankovic: "Justin Timberlake. I like his music and I like his looks. And I liked the song he did with Madonna a lot."
Katarina Srebotnik: "I have always wanted to go to a Céline Dion concert. I hope one day I'll finally get to see her and maybe even meet her. I'd love to have a photo taken with her and chat with her... I heard a rumor she might only tour for a year after she's done in Vegas, but I hope it's just a false rumor."
Ai Sugiyama: "Michael Jordan. The way he thinks and what he says are amazing. Since I was young I've been a big admirer of his. He was my idol. And obviously the way he plays basketball is so nice to watch. I can only hope I'll have the chance to meet him one day."
Agnes Szavay: "Jennifer Aniston. She's my favorite actor and I'd love to meet her one day. I really love Friends."
Vera Zvonareva: "I really like Angelina Jolie. Not only is she a great actress, but she seems like a really interesting person. I'm also a big fan of Matt Damon, also a really good actor. I love some of his movies, like The Bourne Identity and The Talented Mr. Ripley."
jaoj Zheng. Lunjo, daj neke prognoze. Kako ce teci mec?
za to, ali ne bih da preterujem. I onako smaram. Bas me briga, evo ti ga 
Zamisljao sam da imaju brz internet. 
Jer ocekujem da se nastavi tradicija napredovanja bar do 1/4f. A i JJ je ispraksovana za maratonske meceve, valjda vise od bilo koje drugi DIVE na wta tour-u.
Jel to sigurno?