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U.S. OPENAugust 30, 1994Anna SmashnovaNEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK Q. When you saw the draw, did you think you could make it to the second round? ANNA SMASHNOVA: Yes, I knew that I had a very good chance and I knew I had to play well to win. I want to win very much before my match, so I was very into it. Q. Could you take us back a little bit and explain where you lived in, I guess, the former Soviet Union, and when you went to Russia -- to Israel, how you got out? ANNA SMASHNOVA: I left Russia four years, almost four years ago, September, 1990. I lived in Minsk, Russia and I played tennis there and I was like number one junior, my age, like 14, and I left Israel -- we left Russia to Israel because we were Jewish. So we went to Israel with the Jewish people-- Q. Do you play as part of the Israel tennis centers? ANNA SMASHNOVA: I'm playing in the Israeli tennis centers, in academy. Q. Was there any problem in you getting out of Russia or did you -- ANNA SMASHNOVA: No, not really. We decided that year to leave Russia, which is quite quick. Q. How long did it take from the time you decided to leave that you actually -- ANNA SMASHNOVA: One year. Q. It took a year? ANNA SMASHNOVA: Yes, one year. Q. What do your parents do? What did they do in Russia and what are they doing in Israel? ANNA SMASHNOVA: They were engineers. They are engineers in Israel and they were engineers in Russia. Q. Both your mother and father? ANNA SMASHNOVA: My mother doesn't work, my father is engineer. Q. What was it like making the transition from Russia to Israel? ANNA SMASHNOVA: It's quite different, Israel and Russia, and I was very happy. And for me, as a child, it's probably easier for me to make this transition and I have no complaints in Israel. Q. Did your parents want to leave for tennis -- did they want to leave? Were they suffering persecution because they were Jewish or because Israel is more hospitable? ANNA SMASHNOVA: It wasn't the perfect life for Jewish people in Russia and we had a few problems so it pushed us. And for us it will be easier. I have a brother also and for me it will be easier and for Jewish people it's easier. Q. When you say you had a few problems, can you -- ANNA SMASHNOVA: It was six months before we left, all our windows were broken with stones completely because it was on the ground floor. It was like apartment buildings and the windows were quite low, so we don't know who did it, but we know -- all the windows were broken and there was nothing done about it, no one really cared. Q. Are you going to have to serve in the Israeli Army? ANNA SMASHNOVA: Yes, in one year. I have one more year of high school and then I'm going to the army. But it will be -- they'll make a special schedule for me so I will be able to travel and practice. Q. So it will be a little like Amos -- ANNA SMASHNOVA: Yes. Q. Was this your best match ever? ANNA SMASHNOVA: Today, I think I was fortunate to win this match and I don't think that Lori played her best game today. So... Q. Are you ready for the second round, mentally? ANNA SMASHNOVA: Definitely. Q. Do you think this game can jump-start your career? ANNA SMASHNOVA: I think it sounds like -- it doesn't start my career today, it started already and I've been playing quite a few years and every match I've been moving up. Q. Anna, how large was the Jewish community in Minsk, and how widespread was the anti-sematic -- ANNA SMASHNOVA: It wasn't that widespread. It happened time to time, it wasn't that bad. It just happened time to time. Q. And how large is the Jewish community? ANNA SMASHNOVA: There are quite a few Jewish people living there, but I don't know how much, really. I have no idea. Q. What was your strategy coming into the match; what did you want to do? ANNA SMASHNOVA: I knew how Lori played, I saw her playing quite a few times and I knew that she's coming in a lot, so I'm going to have to do good passing shots, like, be aware, ready that she can come in every point almost. And the passing shots, I knew that I had to go maybe more down the lines because she was expecting more cross cuts. Q. What kind of support did you receive as an athlete for your career or your development while you were still in Russia? ANNA SMASHNOVA: Everything was like for -- I didn't have to pay for anything to go to practice to the tennis courts. I didn't have to pay. We had a coach, it was about 15, 20 kids. It wasn't traveling that much as a Junior, but I was able to travel outside of Russia about seven times -- five times, six times, we didn't have to pay for that as well. We had to pay sometimes to travel from city to city, but some were paid. Q. So there was no discrimination in that respect? ANNA SMASHNOVA: No, not at all. Q. The breakdown of the communist government, did that actually make it any harder for athletes? ANNA SMASHNOVA: I don't know about much politics in Russia, I'm sorry. I was just a kid. I left Russia when I was 14. Q. Anna, Lori said that she thought you were a good player, but you need to add some weapons to become a good player. What do you need to work on on your game? ANNA SMASHNOVA: I have to improve my serve, definitely. Maybe I should be a bit more aggressive, I'm staying from the baseline, maybe I have to be a bit more aggressive to finish the points. Maybe I should come in a little bit more. I'm not saying like every point. End of FastScripts... |
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