M. BARTOLI/S. Kuznetsova
6 7, 6 4
MARION BARTOLI
Q. You looked so excited. The point before you won, it seemed like you were going to have a heart attack. Can you just describe...
MARION BARTOLI: You know what? My heartbeat is extremely low, so for me to have a heart attack it really takes a lot.
But, you know, I think I was as I said after the match, even if I played the final of Wimbledon, I never felt that excited after a match, to be honest. It was just so many feelings the same time. The crowd. The wave. They were telling my name. They were supporting me.
And when she missed that forehand, then I was just like, My God, I'm in the semifinal of my home Grand Slam. Finally I can play well here. (Laughter.)
It was a big relief.
Q. It seems like just watching you over the years that at any tournament you've never been this happy, so excited, so involved in your tennis, so involved with the crowd. Yeah? Is that true?
MARION BARTOLI: Yeah, I think it was definitely the key. The past years I really felt the pressure here. I've been in a bad way. I was really going to the court without any confidence, to be honest.
I was feeling I was not feeling well on the court. I was not feeling well outside the court. I was scared about what the press would say when I'm gonna lose the match or whatever.
I really thought that this year I should try to take some pleasure, even though it's difficult, because, of course, we are French and we want to do well. I really tell myself, If you use that crowd, if you use that to put some pressure on the other one, maybe you can do well.
Even if the first three matches were extremely tough, I won them in three sets and some very tight contests. I really felt like I was growing in confidence. Really today it shows, because the match were extremely tight.
I don't know how many points we finished, but I think it was not a big difference.
Q. People have spoken a lot about the fact that it looked pretty open coming into this tournament in terms of possible champions and things. What effect did that have on your thinking? First of all, do you think it's true? Second of all, what effect did it have on your thinking and perhaps some of the women who were more highly ranked, like Wozniacki and Svetlana?
MARION BARTOLI: Well, Svetlana is lower ranked than me (laughing) for start. But yes, I think it's true. I think it's definitely wide open.
But every match is still extremely difficult to play. And it's not because you play someone who is 90 or 100 in the world is going to have an easy match.
I mean, I played my first round against someone ranked 90 or 95, and I lost the first set 6 1 in 30 minutes.
So you really of course when you play even against top players you know you're gonna have a chance; but, you know, as well even the first rounds you can lose them.
So to me, it's obviously the most difficult is to pass those first rounds, more than when you go deeper into the tournament.
Q. But now you have two former champions, recent champions, back to back.
MARION BARTOLI: Yeah, well, I beat a recent champion, as well: Svetlana won only two years ago. So I don't really honestly, when I go to the court I don't really think about, Oh, my God, she won this event two years or one year before. I go to the court with the mindset of a winner.
If you start to think about the resume of your opponent, I mean, doesn't change how she gonna hit a forehand, backhand, or serve even if she won the tournament before, two years ago, three years ago. It's just a matter of on this day who is gonna be the best.
Q. Over the years, there have been people who have said, Oh, Marion should not work with this person; Marion should not play this way; she will never make it if she does this, if she does that. What does it mean for you to have this achievement and to make it to the semis in your national tournament?
MARION BARTOLI: Do you mean before 2007 or after 2007? Because do you really think like I shouldn't practice with my dad when I made the final of Wimbledon or something?
Q. That's not what I'm saying.
MARION BARTOLI: Okay. What are you saying?
Q. I'm saying you have had people very critical of how you've approached playing tennis and who you've trained with and so forth. Does it give you...
MARION BARTOLI: Honestly, if you start to take your decisions based off what the other one think about yourself, that's not the way I'm thinking. I mean, if you listen to everyone, you never take a decision.
Because obviously you're gonna have hundred different opinions, and hundred people are going to say to you you should do this, should do this, this way, that way. They're not the one who are waking up every morning and walking out on the court.
So I'm just doing what I think is the best for me. So far you can't tell me that I haven't achieved anything.
Q. You have this strange routine between points, like swinging the racquet before returning, and also jumping around before serving. Can you explain to us this routine? What's the reason for it?
MARION BARTOLI: Well, the main reason for me, it's really to stay focused on what I have to do. It's really important for me to relieve the pressure of only the score or the scoreboard or my opponent and really focus on myself and what I need to do.
Obviously because clay, it's not my best surface, I really need to stay proactive between each point. Maybe not be the same on hard court or grass court, because obviously I'm feeling a lot better on these kind of surface.
But here, especially in the French Open, it's very important for me to stay focused on what I have to do and not thinking too much about the outside.
Q. You have to play Francesca Schiavone now. You played five times with her. You said before you don't care about who has won this tournament or the other. But do you care about what happened between you and another player in the past, or doesn't change anything?
MARION BARTOLI: Of course
Q. And also sorry also, you just said clay is not your favorite surface, while it is the favorite surface of Francesca. So what do you expect, and how difficult do you think it will be?
MARION BARTOLI: Well, I think it's very important to learn from the past contests you have with someone obviously from a defeat or from winning. So I think I really need to remember the past contests I had with Francesca and learn from those contests to see the way she was playing against me and what I can change to really try to win the match.
But, you know, she has I think she leads 4 1 against me. I'm not sure about it, but I think it's 4 1.
Obviously on clay it's gonna be different, but, you know, again, every day is different. It's been quite a while we didn't play against each other. I think it was two years ago, maybe one year ago. And I think I improved, as well.
But obviously she's in the semifinals, she won last year, so of course it's going to be extremely difficult. I'm not expecting myself to beat her easily. That's for sure.
But I really do believe if I have the same attitude and if I'm playing the same way, I will still have a chance. Doesn't mean I'm gonna win for sure, but I think I will have a chance to do something.
Q. You've been a very good player for a long time, and I know you have had a lot of self belief. But are you a little bit surprised now you're in the semifinals of Roland Garros given what you're talking about before, all the pressure and the clay and all of that?
MARION BARTOLI: Yes, well, I really think I'm in the semifinal because I improved. This is because I really since two months I'm on clay, I'm practicing a lot, and I really take some time to work on my game, to work on my fitness, to work on my footwork.
So it didn't come all in a second (snapping fingers), but I think the hard work I put in really helped me to go through those tough matches.
And, again, as I said to you, the first three ones were in three sets. So I could have lost those, but I'm still there and I'm in the semifinals. So all this work I put in since all those years and also those two months on clay court really helped me to go through those difficult moments.
Q. End of the second set, Svetlana started to win some games. Was it because she raised her level of play, or you were too nervous because you were close to winning?
MARION BARTOLI: You mean at 5 2 for me?
Q. Yes.
MARION BARTOLI: Yeah, I think a little bit of both, to be honest. I know Svetlana since a long, long time. We played the final US Open junior in 2001, I believe. So it's been 10 years. She always been able to raise her game when she's down and she's about to lose.
But as well, on my side I really start to back up as well. So I think it was a little bit of both, but the conditions were so extremely difficult. It was very windy and it was not easy to play some winners with this kind of wind.
THE MODERATOR: French questions, please.
Q. I don't know if you like statistics or the history of tennis, but you're only the fourth French female player to have reached the semifinals here at Roland Garros. Do you feel something special, an achievement?
MARION BARTOLI: Well, a lot of pride, of course. I'm proud because I'm one of the four best female players. But Mary reached the finals here and she won here. I would like to play the finals, too.
But, you know, I started at Retournec, at the tennis club with 300 tennis players, and now I'm reaching the highest level in France. So this is an achievement, yes.
Q. What can you say about the people who support you, your family, the people who are close to you? I have the impression that you really live you've talked about your dad on the court. What can you tell us about them, how you and they have lived through these two weeks?
MARION BARTOLI: Well, it's immense happiness and great satisfaction, too, because we have put in a lot of work with my father on the courts, because he practices me, and this is fruitful.
But this is something we do jointly. I'll share my feelings with him, what I feel on the court. We try and improve together.
It's not like he's going to give me orders, do this, that, and this, full stop. No, it's an exchange of ideas between him and me.
And then I have my family, as well: my brother, my uncle, my mother, my grandparents. We can share these moments of happiness. You know, when you win these matches, it's immense joy. It's incredible to be able to share this with your family, because they know how much it counts for me.
Q. Marion, what about betting on yourself before the tournament?
MARION BARTOLI: I'm not a gambler myself. But, you know, when I played the finals at Wimbledon, the odds were 1000 against me. So if someone had invested one pound, he would have won 1000. Not bad, I think.
I don't know about my rating at the beginning of the tournament this year, but it was probably the same: 1 to 1000. I don't know about my odds. I can't say anything about betting on myself.
Frankly, I think I would have hoped to do this, but this was pure hope, more than conviction.
Q. From the beginning to the end, I had the impression that mentally you had the upper hand, even though tactically it was different. Do you feel this in your matches, that is, this strong determination, and therefore you have the upper hand on girls that are more specialized on clay than you are?
MARION BARTOLI: I think that the determination on the court that I show is something very important to me, because when the moments are very important, I can play my best type of tennis, best of myself.
And also, for my opponents, you know, maybe they feel more my presence and my pressure when they know that the opponent is not going to give up on anything rather than having someone who would look at the clay and not look at the court.
But it helps me a lot to play my best tennis at the key moments.
Q. I don't know if you had time enough to watch Schiavone against Pavlyuchenkova before your match.
MARION BARTOLI: Well, actually...
Q. If you watched the match and it was 6 1, 4 1, what did you expect at that moment?
MARION BARTOLI: I left when it was 6 1, 4 1. Frankly, I thought I don't know. In 10 minutes it's the end of the match. There was no match. It was so quick. The games were flying by so quickly.
I left, and then it was 7 5 for Francesca. I had to warm up. It was 5 2, and then I saw that she won 7 5 in the third set.
But, you know, she's an incredible player. She's going to fight. She's a fighter. She fights till the end.
Q. Two days ago you said your dream is the finals here at Roland. The dream is closer and closer today. So what about playing the match point? Were you thinking about this or not?
MARION BARTOLI: During the match point, you know, first I wanted to have my first serve. I missed it; big disappointment.
And then I thought, Okay, it's windy. There's a lot of wind on the side. It's sideways. I have to hit really in the court, and then it's going to be in the limits, in the boundaries, within the court. But it was really sideways. The wind was sideways blowing on the court.
I played on her forehand, and she was bothered because it was a fast ball. I was thinking more in terms of tactics than my dream. More about changing ends at 5 2. I thought, Only four points to go.
And then when it was 5 you know, I thought, No, no, no. Let's not think about this. Let's think about playing each point as they come.
Q. Can you think about this?
MARION BARTOLI: Yes, now I'll be thinking about the big duel against Francesca on Thursday. But first I will try and unwind this evening. It's not going to be easy. There's a lot of tension in me.
Then tomorrow, one day off to unwind, and then I'll start thinking about this on Thursday.
Q. What about what you feel on the court? I have the impression you're more Zen. What do you feel about yourself and the crowd? What are the changes between 2011 and the years before?
MARION BARTOLI: The first thing that changed is my attitude, you know. I trust myself much more than before. In the past I would come here without much confidence. I had not won that many matches. The pressure was on me. I was thinking, It's going to be awful. I'm going to lose quickly, and people are going to say things about me.
Whereas this year, well, I reached the finals in Strasbourg before this tournament, and this really helped me in terms of my confidence. I had gotten to a really good start this year.
And then little by little, you know, I enjoyed it more and more. I showed more things on the courts. The crowd really supported me. They were incredible. This really helped me.
Q. We saw that your right hand has a bandage. What do you have?
MARION BARTOLI: It happened a long time ago. That was seven years ago. It was in the U.S., in Cincinnati, the summer tournament against Lindsay Davenport. I had a racquet at the time which was heavier, and on the grip it was a bit cutting.
Against Alize there was a big like bruise that started in my finger. I had to play the US Open with a glove, special big glove. I couldn't hold the racquet. I should not have too much pressure.
Now I have a special grip on the handle of my racquet so that I have no pressure on my finger. In fact, it's the tendon in the hand that reaches you know, this tendon that reaches this finger which is damaged or injured, which will never heal.
So I have to protect this tendon to avoid having too much pressure on this tendon. Since then, I have a special grip on the handle, and there's no pressure on this part of my hand.
No comments:
Post a Comment