THE LIPTON CHAMPIONSHIPS

March 19, 1995

Anna Smashnova

Q. Anna, one of the things I wanted to ask you about your match today, did Silvia do anything at all to surprise you in terms of tactics?

ANNA SMASHNOVA: No, I knew the girl. I never played her before. I just went and did the best I could. I didn't play my best tennis, but I just tried to win.

Q. You seemed -- from what I have been reading about you, I haven't watched you enough, you seem to be not really serving -- I had noticed you have a tendency not to finish your serves, but you're very good at breaking serves. Is that something that is a pattern with you in most of your matches?

ANNA SMASHNOVA: No, it is not apparent. I have to improve my serve -- no, today, maybe.

Q. What basically makes you feel that in the next year or so things will get better? Is it a matter that you feel that you are getting more accustomed to some of the players on the Tour, you know, their strengths and weaknesses?

ANNA SMASHNOVA: As I said, I just take one match at a time and I am trying to practice hard and I am finishing school this year, so I will have more time for tennis and concentrate more on tennis after June when I graduate.

Q. What happens after this year? I know that -- I know Yael Segal very well and Yael told me in her formative years she had to spent a lot of time in the Army and it might have affected her tennis. Will that happen to you as well?

ANNA SMASHNOVA: I am supposed to go to the Army July 23, and we ask them to postpone the Army 'til November, December. Hopefully, I will get this, and then I will also ask if they can give me a special program for sportsmen, so I will be able to practice and travel as much as I have to. I will just go to the Army for 3-4 hours a day.

Q. That wouldn't affect your appearance at Wimbledon or the U.S. Open?

ANNA SMASHNOVA: I don't think so.

Q. When you were first coming up, when you won the junior French Open, headlines were made about you -- there were more headlines being made after Yael doing very well at the Olympics. I want to know if being a women in Israel makes it much more tougher --

ANNA SMASHNOVA: Could you repeat that?

Q. I wanted to know because you are a woman, and an athlete in Israel, is it much tougher for you to get acceptance as an athlete as well as a woman?

ANNA SMASHNOVA: I really don't understand the question, sorry.

Q. Maybe I am wrong. I always thought in Israel -- I could be very wrong about that -- it is generally considered more of a male task to be an athlete?

ANNA SMASHNOVA: For male than to female?

Q. Right. Is that changing?

ANNA SMASHNOVA: It might because they didn't have that many woman sportsmen. They always -- like soccer, it was popular, basketball, and they never had a good female tennis player, like they had a long time ago about 20 years ago Polina (phonetic) --- I don't know her second name and Amaz Mazard (phonetic) now. I think it is changing now because they got Juda Erleyal Arrad (Phonetic), she won a silver medal in the Olympic games and good basketball players, woman, so I think it is changing. I don't know what it was before, because I am living in Israel only for four and a half years.

Q. How important is the Israel Tennis Center program because you were basically brought up in Russia and then you came to that program later. Did they have any influence at all in your games since the time that you have been there?

ANNA SMASHNOVA: Sure. I have been practicing in tennis center for four and a half years, so definitely.

Q. What were the circumstances that brought you from the Soviet Union to Israel?

ANNA SMASHNOVA: We are Jewish and we thought that Israel is Jewish state and that is for Jewish people so we went there and definitely a lot more opportunities in Israel than I would have in Russia if I would stay there.

Q. What is the situation in terms of your understanding -- when I met you at the Orange Bowl, you said you new very, very little about your Judaism at the time you were traveling with Jewish families; I remember you were telling me on Friday, "what was that woman doing with the candles." Since you have been in Israel now, have you developed a better understanding of your Jewish heritage?

ANNA SMASHNOVA: After four years, obviously, yeah. Although I am not that much in Israel and I still live with my family.

Q. When Amos and Gilead travel, instead of staying at hotels they used to belong as did you with friends of the Israel Tennis Center and they usually always spend time with Israelis on the circuit. Is that your case or do you mainly spend time in the hotels on the Tour?

ANNA SMASHNOVA: No, for example, if I have a family to stay with, like in Australia I stayed with a very nice family and here for the first four days, I stayed with a family. And in Canada in the states, last year, I stayed with a family. So if I have a Jewish family I stay with the family.

Q. How do you feel about, politically, what has been happening in the Soviet Union? Are the Jews remaining in the Soviet Union still oppressed?

ANNA SMASHNOVA: I really don't know much about politics.

Q. Do you still have any relatives in Russia?

ANNA SMASHNOVA: Yes.

Q. Are you trying to get them out?

ANNA SMASHNOVA: It is their decision. If they want to come, they will come. If they don't, they won't.

Q. It sounds like what you are trying to say is now people could make up their own mind; it is not up to the government because the government basically is not --

ANNA SMASHNOVA: It was never up to the government. People decided whether they wanted to come to Israel or not.

Q. Are there any players when you were growing up that you looked up to, perhaps, Natalia Zvereva or any of the others?

ANNA SMASHNOVA: When I was younger, I really looked up to Arantxa, Steffi, I still look up to them. They are still great players.

Q. It is a matter -- I also wanted to know -- some people when they saw you first appear they say you got a really good game, but she is short for the pro game. Now you have done so well, do you feel you have answered some of the critics that said that you were a little too short for the pro game?

ANNA SMASHNOVA: I am short, but I can compensate because I am quick, so I can get to a lot of balls. I have some other strengths.

Q. Sounds good. What about the rest of your family, are there any other? Do you have any other brothers or sisters that are involved in tennis or any other sports?

ANNA SMASHNOVA: No. My brother just finished university and he went to the Army. No, they just play tennis for fun, my brother.

Q. With the new format now in the Federation Cup, how will Israel be involved?

ANNA SMASHNOVA: We play qualifying for the Fed Cup.

Q. Who would you be playing against?

ANNA SMASHNOVA: There are 32 teams, it is, I think, Europe with I don't know, Middle East, Far East -- not Far East, Middle East, I think it is in April in Spain.

Q. Sound pretty tough.

ANNA SMASHNOVA: Yeah.

Q. Will you be partners with Yael Segal?

ANNA SMASHNOVA: Yael Segal is not playing anymore. She stopped about a year and a half ago.

Q. What other Israeli players will be on the Fed Cup team?

ANNA SMASHNOVA: I only know two definite. Bernstein and Hila Rosen (Phonetic) and the fourth girl, I don't know.

Q. Do you see any Israeli youngsters coming up that may take the place of Amos Mansdorf or be alongside of you --

ANNA SMASHNOVA: Hopefully there will be. There are young people, but they are very young, 15, 16, so we will see.

Q. Amos Mansdorf used to tell me one of the problems in the Israel Tennis Center Program was that there wasn't enough opportunities for the Israeli youngsters to get out of their country to compete. And I wanted to know if you had maybe the same criticism of the program?

ANNA SMASHNOVA: It know that Israel academy is trying to help people, but it isn't easy because it is very expensive to travel and not every one can afford it, so for sure, if there would be more money involved, it would be more opportunities for people to travel.

Q. Thanks a lot. Hope to see you after the next round.

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