FAMILY CIRCLE CUP

April 1, 1995

Arantxa Sanchez Vicario

SUSAN UNGARO: Hi, I'm Susan Ungaro, I'm the Editor in Chief of Family Circle Magazine and I just want to thank you, Arantxa, for giving us some very exciting days of tennis. We're so sorry that you had to withdraw with your injury but I think everybody will agree that on Thursday you showed us what a gutsy competitor you are. I know people in the stands were talking about you all Thursday night and even Friday hoping that you would be able to make a comeback, but I certainly hope that you will be able to come back here next year and compete again in the Family Circle Cup.

DEBBIE EDWARDS: We're going to start out with a statement from Kathleen Stroia our director of our sports, science and medicine staff. Kathleen will describe the injury.

KATHLEEN STROIA: I just wanted to describe the injury just so everybody has a clear picture of what happened. I know that you've all seen it on television over and over. Physically or anatomically what has happened is Arantxa has actually damaged or injured three different structures in her right ankle. She has a classic sprain which is the ligaments on the lateral or outside part of her ankle. She strained a muscle, her anterior tibialis muscle in her -- in the front of her ankle which is the muscle that actually -- dorsiflexor which actually brings your foot up. And she also has a stress fracture of her fibula, which is the bone on the lateral or outside aspect of her lower leg. The structure that we're most concerned about is the bone, because a stress fracture can develop into a fracture if not treated properly or cared for properly. So that's where she's at right is now. And she'll need to take some time off and get treatment, and that's about it as far as the injury goes. Do you have any questions?

KATHLEEN STROIA: For a bone to heal takes three to six weeks and it would have to be reexamined throughout the healing process to find out what state it's in.

ARANTXA SANCHEZ VICARIO: Well, unfortunately I withdraw from Amelia Island. That is one of my favorite tournaments that I won for the past two years, so that's the only tournament that I withdrew already, and depends how quickly I will recover or not. My new plans were supposed to play Barcelona and then Rome and then go to the French Open, so we'll see. That's what my plans were going to be after this tournament.

ARANTXA SANCHEZ VICARIO: Yeah, the weekend before Barcelona I was supposed to play Fed Cup.

ARANTXA SANCHEZ VICARIO: Depends how fast I will, you know, recover, then I will be able to see if I can play Fed Cup and Barcelona or not, but at the moment I only withdraw from Amelia.

ARANTXA SANCHEZ VICARIO: Well, it's hard to say but I'm not the only player who, you know, hurt herself this week. It's been two other players who hurt themselves, but I've been very unlucky. I'm pretty strong player but it happens that I get, you know, injured, so I don't know if it's fault -- I don't know, you cannot say it's the fault of the court or if it's not. I've been very unlucky that this has been happening and what I'm looking is to just recover and get healthy again.

KATHLEEN STROIA: That's very difficult to answer. She could have -- the tendon could have been irritated by her continued play, but the damage was done when she fell, so that's a hard question to answer unless you're able to go off the court, examine it at that state and come back.

KATHLEEN STROIA: During the match you mean? To continue that particular match?

KATHLEEN STROIA: She has a very high pain tolerance so I would say that that factors into it, whether or not you can continue to play. But the next day obviously she was quite sore, so whether or not you feel it at that moment is unpredictable depending on the person. There's a significant amount of damage done, so it was pretty incredible that she did complete the match.

KATHLEEN STROIA: It's very important that part of her rehabilitation is to -- for non-weight bearing activity to take place. We don't want her to rest totally because she -- we need to provide an optimal state of healing which is increased blood flow to the area, but for her to put weight on it. So whatever activities she's doing such as swimming would be ideal and additional physical therapy treatment to increase circulation to the area and continue her cardio respiratory training for the rest of her body, to work her upper body, her left leg, you know, to stay in shape. So she won't be totally at rest but she'll continue activities, non-weight bearing.

KATHLEEN STROIA: Yes.

ARANTXA SANCHEZ VICARIO: I'm going back home tomorrow to Spain and I'm going to see the doctors there so they can take good care of my foot and just keep training, you know, the other parts of my body and, you know, get healthy as soon as I can to come back, you know, and be good for the rest of the season.

ARANTXA SANCHEZ VICARIO: Well, it's my first injury, I mean, in my whole life, really, so I've been -- you can see other players have been injured before but only thing I can tell you is that it's something really serious and I just -- as long as I have to take I will take it, but I want to come back and hopefully for the future will not have it again. But I don't want to be very quickly. I just want to come well and come back in the shape as I can and hopefully with no more pain and won't happen again.

ARANTXA SANCHEZ VICARIO: Well, yes, because I've been playing so many years in my career and I know now what it feels to be injured. I never knew it before and I know other players have been past through that, and I mean, you don't feel -- you feel bad because, you know, that unfortunately it happened that way. But one thing I can tell you is that I'm very lucky that it happened now, maybe it could have happened another time. But I just think that it happens to everybody and I'm pretty strong so I'll take it with confidence and positive, and it's not the end of the world. So I just want to come back, you know, healthy and be very good again, but it happened to me now and it's my turn, there's nothing you could do. I'm just happy. I'm just going to be, you know, happy and recover well.

ARANTXA SANCHEZ VICARIO: Well, it's amazing.

ARANTXA SANCHEZ VICARIO: Well, it's unbelievable that it happened the same, you know, all three, but I guess that I wish it would not happen. You know I could continue play, there's nothing you could do right now. I think I'm young, I have long way to go and the most important thing is now to recover myself and have many more tournaments to play and come back and, you know, continue doing as well, and hopefully to come back and return to No. 1 spot again. But right now my foot is the most important thing right now.

KATHLEEN STROIA: Yes, Arantxa came here in the morning, she was quite inflamed when she woke up and then she came in and we did treatment and reassessed it, basically. It always has to be a day-to-day thing and we did everything possible to reevaluate it. We knew there was point tenderness on the bone, kept in the back of our mind that she needed further diagnostic testing, but we actually taped it and did some functional drills to see how aggravated or irritated it was. And that was our determination of whether or not she was going to play that day was made on a practical -- in a practical stance from the field and then we went and got the testing so we can rule that out and make sure that we are moving ahead in the right direction.

KATHLEEN STROIA: No, from the practical and functional testing was on the court when she tried to move around. But we wanted her to get a scan to get the further diagnostic testing to rule out a stress fracture or determine whether or not a stress fracture was involved.

ARANTXA SANCHEZ VICARIO: I saw it and I know how badly it was when it happened, but unfortunately I saw it again on TV, they give me the tape and I -- it was awful. I mean, I think it was terrible and I thought in the beginning that I could have broke my foot, but now it's not broken but it's really bad too. So everybody who's here knows how bad it is and I'm lucky that -- I don't know how I've been able to finish the match either, but I have guts and I finish that and now, you know, I'm just going to take a rest. But it looks really bad and it was bad and it's painful.

ARANTXA SANCHEZ VICARIO: Well, I'm person who, you know, always think positive, so that's something good about it. And I just think the most important thing right now is thinking to recover and, you know, get back again, you know, 100 percent and then we'll see how long it will be. But for sure I will be better and I will play much more tournaments than I do, but it doesn't matter. But I think -- I will hope to recover and come back strongly. That's what I think right now. And when I play I'll see if I can return to No. 1 or not, but the most important now is come back strongly and good again with my movement on the court.

ARANTXA SANCHEZ VICARIO: No, I'm going to follow directions.

KATHLEEN STROIA: I'm going to answer that question (LAUGHTER.)

ARANTXA SANCHEZ VICARIO: No, I know that it's going to be worse if I come back and hurry because it won't be 100 percent recover and it would be even worse, I can do something that could hurt even more. And definitely I'm going to follow that and Kathy knows that I will probably follow that as long as it take, but I can come back and make sure that it's totally, you know, good.

KATHLEEN STROIA: Everybody heals at a different rate, so that's always a difficult question to answer. I think Fed Cup in three weeks time would be, I, think difficult. Barcelona would be more realistic.

ARANTXA SANCHEZ VICARIO: Well, right now I cannot say anything. I think it happens and maybe, you know, the adrenaline and, you know, it was warm, I feel I continue play, and I'm just telling you, you know, I have guts to continue to play and finish that one but it's hard too also. I think that I love to play and I didn't want to, you know, leave the court, but even with pain I finish and I win it and I think it gives me good confidence. But, you know, the next day it was different. I mean, my foot was not in condition but it's --

ARANTXA SANCHEZ VICARIO: Against Bulgaria.

ARANTXA SANCHEZ VICARIO: No, in Bulgaria.

ARANTXA SANCHEZ VICARIO: When they put more tape, I mean, it was painful but because it was warm I continued to play and I wanted to see if I could continue to play. And it was a lot of pain, I could tell you, in the third. It was painful but because of the atmosphere I thought maybe I could continue play. And I did it, but after I took the tape off and everything, it was really painful.

ARANTXA SANCHEZ VICARIO: Yeah, it was on the court painful, but afterwards it was much more too. Maybe I should not continue, but I'm a person who continues for a long time. I think everybody is different and, I don't know, I have feeling that I can continue play.

ARANTXA SANCHEZ VICARIO: Thank you.