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FAMILY CIRCLE CUPMarch 29, 1995Lea Ghirardi-RubbiHILTON HEAD ISLAND, SOUTH CAROLINA DEBBIE EDWARDS: Okay. Lea needs to use a translator. She's going to try what she can in English. We'll be using her coach to translate. So can we start with questions. Nick, your last name. NICK KELAIDIS: Kelaidis. Q. How do you spell Kelaidis? LEA GHIRARDI: K-E-L-A-I-D-I-S. Q. Lea, when you were down three match points, did you feel then that it was impossible? LEA GHIRARDI: No, not at all because the match point, they were not like Love-40, but they were, you know, advantage duece, advantage duece, so it is like a normal game. I never thought that it was match points, to me they were normal points. NICK KELAIDIS: Actually, she doesn't even remember there were three match points. Q. Is this your biggest win? LEA GHIRARDI: Yes. Q. Were you confident going in? Did you feel you could beat her? NICK KELAIDIS: Well, today she says that she felt she could beat her in the beginning because Gabi was coming from hard courts to clay courts, but then in the beginning of the match she had some doubts about it as is normal when somebody plays a much better player. Q. Did the qualifier help you prepare? Do you feel like it helped? LEA GHIRARDI: Yes, it's always very interesting to always pass the qualifying because you're in the atmosphere of the tournament, you feel to play. And then you come back and you play in the first round players having yet played in the matches, some again, like Gabi come from hard court, so they are not really very well accustomed to the surface, and all this helps. Q. Not to take anything away from her win today but was she surprised how Gabi played all of those points; all of her errors? LEA GHIRARDI: Yes, of course. NICK KELAIDIS: She thought that she was making -- she said it was evident to her that Gabi was not feeling well on the surface yet. Q. Have you always used two hands both ways? LEA GHIRARDI: Um-hum. Q. Something -- LEA GHIRARDI: I have two backhands. I change. Q. Yes, which is unusual for a two-handed stroker. This is just something you taught yourself as a child? NICK KELAIDIS: That's how she started to play. Q. Did you ever try to change her? NICK KELAIDIS: No. Q. Smart. NICK KELAIDIS: Now yes, but then I don't know. Q. When you first took up with her though were you a little discouraged by the style? NICK KELAIDIS: No, not all because I saw that she was very -- she ambidextrous. She a adapt the conditions to her way of playing, that's all. Q. She does everything else with her left hand though? LEA GHIRARDI: Yes. Q. Where did you grow up? What city did you grow up in? LEA GHIRARDI: Genevilliers. NICK KELAIDIS: It's a suburb of Paris called Genevilliers. LIA GHIRARDI: Small town. Q. Quite separate from Paris? NICK KELAIDIS: No. It's connected to Paris but it's not Paris. LEA GHIRARDI: One kilometer. Q. How many people? NICK KELAIDIS: 45,000. Q. Good size. Not a small town. LEA GHIRARDI: Paris and Gennevilliers, it is small town. Q. Do you have an injury to your left leg there? NICK KELAIDIS: Yes, she sprained her ankle about one week before we left the States, 15 days ago and -- no three weeks ago, excuse me. She didn't play one week and then we came over and started training here and got ready for the tournament, just practicing. Q. Are you aware that there's no more seeded players in your side of the bracket and does that concern you? LEA GHIRARDI: No. NICK KELAIDIS: She had no idea. LEA GHIRARDI: No, I don't. Q. Does that change your way of looking at the tournament? LEA GHIRARDI: No. NICK KELAIDIS: Actually, tomorrow she's playing the other girl, I coach together with her, they're playing each other. LEA GHIRARDI: My sister. NICK KELAIDIS: They call her her sister because they look like much alike, but they are two girls I take care of. Q. Has Sarah Pitkowski ever played a WTA event before? NICK KELAIDIS: No, but they play each other in Satellites and French Junior Nationals and stuff like that, yeah. Q. Who won? NICK KELAIDIS: Even. 2-All. So tommorow I told them it's the repetition of the French National Juniors, they played two years ago. They're going to play now. Q. Is there tennis in your family, your mother or father? LEA GHIRARDI: No. Q. How did you start? NICK KELAIDIS: Her father is just on your right. She started accidentally playing tennis. Q. Accidently? NICK KELAIDIS: Yes. Q. How do you explain that? NICK KELAIDIS: She started playing tennis on the wall behind some old buildings in her suburb and after this, she went and she subscribed to a club and then she was part of the initiations tennis school of the club and that's how she played. Q. Do you get some federation support? LEA GHIRARDI: Yes, me. Q. You're with the Federation? NICK KELAIDIS: Yes, I'm the national coach. Q. Is the red hair from mama? LEA GHIRARDI: No. NICK KELAIDIS: Her two other sisters are blonds. She happens to be red. Q. How good do you think she can be? How far can she progress? NICK KELAIDIS: It's difficult to say. It's up to destiny, I would say. We hope in federation that she, like Sarah and all the other girls we are working with, will go very high, but how high -- we hope one day top 50, 30, 20 but it's very difficult to say. The highest possible she says. DEBBIE EDWARDS: Any other questions? Q. Does she play any other sports? LEA GHIRARDI: No. NICK KELAIDIS: In the past, before she had tennis she used to do gymnastics and dance. Q. Is Julie Halard a friend of yours? NICK KELAIDIS: Myself or her's? LEA GHIRARDI: Yes. Q. How come she didn't come this year? LEA GHIRARDI: She takes holidays. NICK KELAIDIS: She went skiing actually this week. In Europe there is snow. It snowed the other day in Paris. DEBBIE EDWARDS: Anyone else? End of FastScripts... |
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