|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
TENNIS CHANNEL MEDIA CONFERENCEMay 20, 2015Martina NavratilovaTHE MODERATOR: We're joined by Martina Navratilova. Q. There's a lot of increased scrutiny of late for even for minor tournaments. Time was that there was almost no attention paid to them and all attention was paid to the majors. And do you think that that scrutiny on these tune‑ups heightens the stakes for when the majors come out, like Roland‑Garros? MARTINA NAVRATILOVA: I'm not sure I understand the question. You're saying there's too much media attention on the Grand Slams and not on anything else? Q. No, I think when you were playing tennis, there wasn't a lot of attention, media attention ‑‑ they didn't broadcast minor tennis events. MARTINA NAVRATILOVA: No, it's the other way around. It's the other way around, actually. In my opinion we had, it was the Tour that really buttressed the Grand Slams and certainly the players, we didn't even play some Grand Slams because the Tour was the more important bit of the calendar. And it was only really in the late, maybe, '80s and the'90s that the Grand Slams became so powerful and players would schedule their whole year around slams. Nobody would even think of missing a slam now. And those are the four big focal points of the year, whereas in my time it was Wimbledon and U.S. Open and the Tour as a whole and then the year‑ending championships was the third biggest tournament of the year. So I think the media did pay attention to the other tournaments and certainly the players were thinking that the other tournaments were more important, perhaps, than they are now. Q. And why was that? MARTINA NAVRATILOVA: Why? Because there was more prize money in the regular tournaments than Grand Slams. Once the Grand Slams got bigger and got more money, more people paid attention to where the money is, basically. And also more worldwide television rights and media attention and all that. So one kind of followed the other. I'm not sure what came first, the chicken and the egg thing, but we would get more money for, I think the prize money at the year‑end championships was like twice as much and that was for one week than what you would get in a Grand Slam for two weeks. You can do some research on the prize money, but it was a lot more on the regular tour. I made more money winning a tournament in Dallas, Virginia Slims of Dallas, than I would at a Grand Slam ‑‑ than I would Wimbledon. When I won Wimbledon in'78 I got, I think, $20,000 for winning it. Q. I suppose, Martina, that the focal point coming into the French Open is the prospects of Rafa Nadal. What have you seen this year in Rafa, what is he lacking that he hasn't in the past and has age finally taken its toll on him? MARTINA NAVRATILOVA: I don't know how much of itis ‑‑ I think it's a little bit of everything. He seems to me a little bit less physically looking imposing. And I don't know if it's just my imagination. Just doesn't seem to be as muscular as he was five or six years ago. But he's still in the prime of his physical life, maybe he trains differently maybe because of his injuries he can't train as hard as he used to, but not sure. Most of all I think it's the other players are playing better and hitting a lot more top spin on the ball, hitting the ball harder, which does not give him the time to run around his backhand and dictate with the forearm, he has to kind of be more in the middle of the court. He can't park himself on the right side of the court. And also by his own admission, he gets more nervous now. And when he does get more nervous, his forehand goes shorter. Even when he does get to hit the forehand, he doesn't hit it as deep, with as much, with as much depth and maybe power. I'm not sure. You would have to kind of figure out the revolutions per minute. But I would bet dollars to donuts that the other players are using more spin than they did two years ago, 10 years ago, certainly. So that could be a combination of everything. Q. Was his effectiveness on clay a factor of how much top spin he could put on the ball and the fact that the ball dug in so great? MARTINA NAVRATILOVA: His movement and the top spin, yeah. Because of the top spin, players had a hard time attacking it and getting on top of the ball. And once they get on the defense, it was really hard to get off it. And his unbelievable speed around the court. Q. But do you still think he's anywhere near the prime of his career at this point? MARTINA NAVRATILOVA: Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, it could be that he's just having a bad year or bad six months, whatever. We don't know if he's 100percent healthy because only he knows that and his team. So people tend to write people off too soon I think in my opinion. I mean, Roger Federer said himself, until Rafa loses at the French he still has to be a favorite. You can't just throw out the last 10 years based on the last few months. But certainly he's, I'm sure, feeling most vulnerable. And he's looking most vulnerable. And that gives the other guys confidence when they play him. Before it was, like, I don't want to get embarrassed playing Rafa and now they think they have a chance. That's a huge edge to them. Now he's forced to play even better to beat the same guy. So it's kind of a nasty spiral that happens. But I still wouldn't write him off. I mean, you can't. You just cannot. Three out of five is a different animal as well. It's harder to keep up that kind of intensity and physical play that it takes to beat Rafa over three out of five sets as opposed to two out of three ‑‑ and gives him some room for his own game as well. Q. I know we don't have a draw yet, but who do you favor as winning on the men's side and the women's side in singles? MARTINA NAVRATILOVA: I think so much will depend on the draw in both of these. But particularly on the men's side, with Rafa, I believe he's ranked 7. So he could be playing these top three players in the quarters as opposed to the semis or finals. That makes it difficult for whosever quarter he lands in and everything else how it plays out as well. Andy Murray now is looking like one of the favorites as well. Novak obviously is a huge favorite to win the event. But I'm sure that he's not thinking that way, not yet. Not as long as Rafael Nadal is in the tournament. So it's really going to depend on who gets hot and how the draw plays out. The same time you only have to play seven guys. You don't have to play everybody. But still the draw may dictate a lot in how the conditions are, the balls are pretty light. But conditions can get heavy. So all of that will play out and that's the beauty of it. We really don't know. But all in all, if you just look at how this year has played out, Djokovic, it would be hard to, again, bet against Djokovic. And the same thing on the women's side, Serena Williams, even though she's had a odd run up to the French.  In years past, the run up the Grand Slam really had nothing to do with how she did at that Grand Slam. So you still have to go with the world's number one‑‑ Novak and Serena. Q. Can you tell me what you miss from the era that you played tennis, what you miss on the tennis scene now? MARTINA NAVRATILOVA: It's just a different time. You get the pluses and minuses. I do miss more of the clash of styles. There was more variety in styles with the typical baseliner and the all‑court players and then the more of the serve and volleyers, attacking players. It's now a more homogenous look, but at the same time on the women's side particularly I see more variety than they've had five years ago, 10 years ago. The guys have been there for a while. But the women, I think, were more homogenous in that, for example, I keep going back to the final between Kuznetsova and Dementieva in the 2004 U.S. Open final. And I think there was one volley, one drop shot and three slices the whole match. And now, you know, you get that in one rally. So you have a lot more variety with the actual play, which makes it more fun. I think the spectators are in for better treats nowadays with more variety. People still play similarly but there's more variety within that. Q. Still play similarly to when you were playing‑‑ MARTINA NAVRATILOVA: No, no, they play similar to each other. They play similar style. More of a‑‑ I mean, there are two basic styles. Ones that really try to play big babe tennis, as Mary Carillo calls it, and then there are the counter puncher's. But within the big babe tennis you see a lot more people using slices and coming into the net, putting the volley away. And same with the counter punchers, now they just don't play defense, if they can get on offense they will do so. And again a lot more slices, a lot more drop shots. You see Maria Sharapova, she's hitting drop hands from the backhand and the forehand. She never hit a drop shot 10 years ago, now she uses it very well. Q. She hits them from the baseline. MARTINA NAVRATILOVA: Drop shots are usually hit from the baseline. But she's usually in an offensive position so she plays them at the right time. And she's hitting between volley. You won't see chip and charge, but you will see her, as soon as she hits a deep, good ball, she'll move in to see if she can knock off the next ball in the air, but she'll hit swinging volleys rather than punch volleys that we used to hit. But still hitting volleys. Q. Were you asked about Maria Sharapova in general and what you think her chances are coming in? MARTINA NAVRATILOVA: Well, obviously great. And they're always improved when she‑‑ well, with Maria, obviously it's a case whether she has to play Serena Williams or not because she hasn't beat her in 10 years. But she's been the best clay court player the last three years, except she hadn't been able to beat Serena, but she's beaten everybody else and has the most consistent record on clay than everybody. So she has to be one of the favorites. But it always comes with a caveat ‑‑ what happens if she plays Serena? Serena particularly now is kind of an unknown because of the run‑up that she's had, not really finishing tournaments or didn't finish two and one she lost in the semis. So it's hard to tell. But Serena always comes out playing her best tennis in the slams. So, yeah, absolutely Maria has to be one of the favorites. She must be pretty well after Rome, kept playing better and better tennis. Although, also the matches were pretty close, particularly the semifinal in Rome. Could have gone either way. Q. What is it with her and Serena, do you think‑‑ how much of it is mental and how much of it is just her game, and what do you think she would have to do to finally overcome Serena if they were to meet at the end there? MARTINA NAVRATILOVA: She would have to serve extremely well, because that's what Serena always has on, all things being equal, which they're not; but Serena serves, wins so many more points off her serve, whereas with Maria the serve has been more of a‑‑ it's either neutral or it can even be a negative for her starting the points against Serena. So she needs to serve really well. But she has been serving better in Rome, particularly she was hitting her second serve in the high 90s, her second serve was coming in. So she was getting on the offense with her second serve, never mind the first serve. But Serena does everything a little bit better than Maria or some things a lot better, the serving is a lot better. And the ground stroke she can now sustain a rally, 10 shots, 20 shots, and then go for the‑‑ when she goes for the jugular she hits it just a little bit harder than Maria. And Maria's foot speed hurts her against Serena. She's gotten so much better. She's quick enough against most players. But she can't defend as well. Serena defends better than Maria if she has to.  And her foot speed is better around the court. And that hurts Maria. She needs to be on offense. But with Serena she has a hard time getting on offense because Serena tees off so early in the rally, whether the serve or return of serve. And also Serena, clearly, plays her best Sundays against Maria Sharapova. She totally rises to the occasion where she might be a bit listless against other opponents or maybe give them a set, maybe not the match, but give them a set. With Maria, she doesn't give away points, never mind sets. She's always fired up.  You can see how badly both of them want it. Q. In following up on that, that rivalry seems to really be one, we always talk about how the game, whether it's men or women, that rivalries is such a big deal in tennis. And this Serena/Maria one is one that still carries after so many years. Would you agree it's one of the best rivalries in women's tennis? MARTINA NAVRATILOVA: It's amazing that it carries because it's so one‑sided. But it's the personality of the two players involved that makes it so compelling, no matter what the result. So it's great for tennis. I mean, tennis is such a one‑on‑one battle that the rivalries are an essential part of that. You want to identify with the people. You want to identify with the personalities. You want to identify with their game, and the only way to do that is if there's a rivalry going on. I mean, people love Rafa Nadal and they love Roger Federer, but they always fall into one camp more than the other, and will cheer for their player against the other, no matter what. So it's funny. And obviously you have that with Williams and Sharapova for different reasons. It's just been a one‑sided result for the most part. What is the lifetime, is it like 17‑2 or something? Q. I'd have to look it up, but that sounds close. It's not close at all, yeah. MARTINA NAVRATILOVA: I mean, it's been 10 years, but it hasn't been that much matches. I think 15 matches in a row. I think‑‑ I don't have the numbers in front of me. But it's over a long period of time. I beat Chris Evert at one point 13 times in a row, but it was like in a two‑, two‑and‑a‑half‑year period. It didn't seem that insurmountable. It just came in a closer chunk of time. It think it's more difficult for Maria to deal with it because it's been over such a long length of time. Q. She's probably thinking: Sheesh, I was so young the last time I beat her. MARTINA NAVRATILOVA: Yeah. Q. Could you just maybe pick a couple of dark horses on the men's and the women's side and kind of like skim off the top, the Djokovic, Nadal, Murray, on the other side, Sharapova and Williams, could you just pick out a few players who you think have a chance to‑‑ MARTINA NAVRATILOVA: To win the whole thing? That's a tall order. There's a lot of players that can beat anybody on a given day. But to go all the way? I guess on the men's side, Murray. Maybe not that dark, because he's, what, 3 or 4 in the world. And maybe Berdych also. He's been playing some good ball but seems to falter still against the top guys. But he certainly looks fit and very focused and on a given day can compete against anybody. And for just upsets, Kyrgios. Kyrgios, with that serve, can give anybody fits. I'm pretty sure the top players don't really want to see him too close to them in the draw because he's a flashy and can be an extremely dominating player the way he plays. But this is clay, so hopefully it shouldn't happen. But never know with him. And on the women's side, again dark horse, Halep can't be a dark horse, she was in the finals last year. But she hasn't broken through yet. So dark horse would be anybody to me that hasn't won a Grand Slam. Q. I'm sorry? MARTINA NAVRATILOVA: To me, a dark horse would be anybody that hasn't won a Grand Slam, because then you haven't done it yet, so we're not really sure whether it's going to happen or not. So Halep would be in that category, certainly, but she's 3 in the world. So, again, it's hard to imagine somebody outside of top 10 going all the way on either women or men. They would just have to beat too many quality players. I mean, there could be an opening in the draw where people kind of somehow scrape their way to the semis. But that's hard to predict. It's easier to predict a little bit once the draw comes out. But it's been such an up‑and‑down lead‑up to the tournament on the women's side with Serena not finishing a tournament the last three she played, lost in the semis and defaulted the other two, correct? And then you have Petra Kvitova winning in Madrid, playing amazing tennis, and then losing to Suárez Navarro easily. Suárez Navarro given that she can beat anybody, but I don't think she has the firepower to go all the way, but you could see her in the finals as well. And then there's a player like Caroline Garcia on a given day can beat anybody. What's the‑‑ Pliskova, another Czech, who has got a big game. Perhaps not so suited for clay but grew up on the stuff. She can hang with anybody. So it's hard to tell but you still have to go with the favorites. Serena and Novak, obviously. Q. You were running off some names on the women's side as possibilities. But one of them isn't Sloane Stephens. Do you think she's taken a step or two back from where she was about a year and a half ago? MARTINA NAVRATILOVA: I think she's moving back the right direction now. It seems to me since she's been working with Nick‑‑ God, I have a blank now‑‑ the lefty. Nick Saviano. Complete blank. I see his face. Since she's been working back with Nick she's been playing better tennis. I think she's feeling more the urgency of not taking her time developing but, rather, making it happen quicker rather than slower. So, yeah, she doesn't have the cache and the promise maybe she held two or three years ago, but I think it's still there if she just believes in it. On clay, her game does not transfer well on clay with her big forehand and a good serve. It's better suited for hard courts or grass. And also I'm not sure how well she moves on the clay. She's such an amazing mover that on the clay she gets a little hampered because she can't really push off that fast. I think, again, she's better on grass or a hard court. But certainly looks like to me that she's going in the right direction again, which is good to see. Q. Can you talk about the French Open and kind of what you love about that tournament in comparison to the other majors and other tournaments and what you think makes that event special in your eyes? MARTINA NAVRATILOVA: The intimacy of it all. You can really get close to the players there, and it's a smaller venue. So there's a lot more going on within any area and you just feel, I think, the fans more there because when the Philippe‑Chatrier Court opens up and match finishes, everybody spills out and it gets pretty crowded. And, of course, the red clay. It's the only big tournament, well, the only slam that's on red clay. And just the color makes you smile, you know. So it's one of a kind. And you're in Paris. I mean, how tough can it be? Q. One off‑beat question. Does that red clay come out in the laundry, like from your socks and‑‑ or are all the outfits‑‑ MARTINA NAVRATILOVA: Anytime the players fall on the ground, we say, oops, there went that skirt; there went that shirt. Socks, you throw out, because when you sweat and you get the clay on it, it's goodbye. Q. So when that tournament's over, everything just goes in the garbage? MARTINA NAVRATILOVA: Yep. Q. And the shoes, too? MARTINA NAVRATILOVA: Well, the shoes, you go on the grass. So, yes, they get pretty‑‑ I mean, you may save them for other clay court tournaments. But most of the time the players, the shoes last a couple of days. That's it. I used to go through two pairs of shoes a week. I think the guys change them every match. And now maybe the women do, too. Depends on the kind of shoe. But they're gone after a week, for sure. So definitely don't save those. Q. Wondered if there was some great laundry detergent that got that clay out? MARTINA NAVRATILOVA: If it's there, I don't know it. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|