French Open Interview with Virginie Razzano May 26th

French Open Interview with Virginie Razzano May 26th

V. RAZZANO/D. Hantuchova 6‑3, 6‑3

Q. Well, it’s probably quite pleasant to have such a nice match for the first round. It’s never obvious.

VIRGINIE RAZZANO: It was not easy. You know, I was really happy with the quality of my style. The match was interesting,and playing her for the first round was not easy, against Daniela Hantuchova.

It’s the same for her. I’m not that easy to beat. We thought the match would be really difficult. She was ready and I was ready. We saw it immediately when we started the first rally, the first game, the first set.

She was highly concentrated. I was concentrated. High level of play. We knew we had to go for it at the very high level and play our best from A to Z.

Q. What would you say about your style on clay at present and the near future?

VIRGINIE RAZZANO: Well, quite good, I think. As you can see today, it’s really wonderful. It’s great. I think I know how to play, and my level is quite good. I’m rather satisfied. I was very happy to win this match today, and as usual, I’ll take match after match. I’ll play my best level. I’ll do the tricks I can do really well.

I enjoy clay more and more. It’s not my best surface, as you know, or preferred surface, but you can say the same about many players, I think.

This time I’m very happy about what I can do on clay with a number of drop balls and a number of attack balls or points. I know how to be defensive and also offensive.

So I have many tricks on clay, a wide pallet of points I can play.

Q. We thought you were on the ring, boxing. We thought it looked like boxing. Would you say that mentally you were quite ready to win the match?

VIRGINIE RAZZANO: Well, I think, you know, mental preparation is very important, but also your physical condition is very important. Daniela or myself had to be ready for it, and physically, as well. All the points were tough to win, and almost all of them were winning points.

I don’t think that we made any unforced errors, or not many unforced errors. Usually they were forced errors. So all in all, we had to go for it. We had to be daring and bold when necessary,when the moment was right and ripe.

We had to choose these moments and seize our opportunities. I did it. She did it. We didn’t give many points easily. As you said, it was like boxing. Yes. She would fight; I would fight. She would hit; I would hit. Nice points, interesting, pleasant.

Q. Statistics are really interesting in terms of returns of serve.

VIRGINIE RAZZANO: Yes, she serves really well. She served well from the beginning to the end. You know, the first ball I thought I could stop her from serving that well, putting more pressure on her,returning the balls better with long and aggressive balls.

But she didn’t give up. She served well to the very end. So what I had to do is return the first serves really well, longer balls and to be more aggressive when I could. And then, you know, for second balls, second points she would do the same. We knew we had to fight and hit stronger immediately. We had to play our game.

We have more or less the same game, the same style. We love that. It was not kicks and it was not like the Spaniards, you know. It was like kicking each other on the ring, you know. The one who physically can defend can be more aggressive. The one who’s solid in terms of baseline style, and of course, it’s about serving, about returning serves, as well. We’ve had all sorts of points, the drop balls, the returns of serves.

Q. You’ve worked on a number of drop balls, but she’s done the same.

VIRGINIE RAZZANO: Yes, you know, in Dubai, I had many drop balls. I had to run on many drop balls, I can tell you. It was crazy, because she does that very well.

Today I expected more drop balls from her, because she’s an expert in that, and I thought, I could do it myself. I’ve worked on those drop balls, as well. So I managed to get a number of those.

Q. What about the wind blowing on the court? Is that a problem? It was blowing harder and harder.

VIRGINIE RAZZANO: Yes, that’s true. Sometimes the wind was blowing in gusts of wind, and then it would stop.

It was a bit strange,and it swirls on the central court. But I didn’t really think about it. She didn’t either. Because, you see, when you play such a match, you know that you have to focus on what really is important,and what was important today was to win.

Well, we both thought that. We knew it was going to be very hard for the first round, for Daniela or for me, and you’ve probably seen this during the first game.

The first game in the first set was really impressive. It was the case till the end of the match, so I don’t think any of us thought about the wind. We had to manage, of course, this wind thing. We took more time to serve or to return the serves, not to have clay in the eyes, because that would bother us. But otherwise, no, we didn’t really think about the wind today.

Q. Many French in main draw. What do you do then, the French team, to go as far as possible? We don’t have that many French female players.

VIRGINIE RAZZANO: I don’t know what Alize did today. No, she didn’t play? Marion won yesterday against another French. So as you said, we have fewer and fewer female French players. But the most important thing is to hope that we’re going to have one who’s going to go as far as possible.

I believe in it. I don’t know who’s going to be in the race still.

Q. Would you say that you help each other out?

VIRGINIE RAZZANO: Well, you know, the atmosphere is good. Marion complimented me in the cloak rooms. It was from the bottom of her heart. I found it so cute from her, so nice. She said, You don’t like Hantuchova at all, do you?

Hantuchova or another girl, no, I want to do my match. I want to do my job as usual. It’s true. I was so happy to win, and that’s the way it is.

She congratulated me. I said congratulations, as well, for what she did yesterday, even though it was against a French player. You know, we support each other, and, you know, tennis is not an easy sport compared with other sports. It’s quite a difficult sport, and we’ve seen this at least for the women tournaments.

It’s not always easy, not always pink. You have to look at the bright side of sides. If you get support from the other French girls, it’s a good thing.

Q. You’requite wrong. You’ve played many times here in Paris. Have you prepared things differently this time?

VIRGINIE RAZZANO: Well, I think I improve year after year. I progress. I now accept clay more and more. It was like in the past, clay was my enemy. I didn’t like clay in the past, even though I practiced on clay.

It was difficult for me to accept this and to say, Okay, two months on clay. I’ve got to go for it. Whereas this year, it’s a different mindset.

I started saying, Okay, it’s two months. Try and do your best. As usual, do your best. Play as much as you can, and try and win. And then I’ll see.

How can I say? I haven’t got stretch goals on clay usually or very ambitious objectives on clay. What I tell myself is, Do your best. Each time, do your best and see what happens. See what’s going to happen.

And I think I’ve improved. I feel more things on clay today. I feel more at ease. I can have drop balls, which is not probably my cup of tea, not something I would play well in the past. But I’ve worked more. I’ve practiced my drop balls, and now I feel them all, which is good. I can use this trick several times.

Q. Cedricis not always with you during the season. Now, you’ve worked well in the town of Nimes. Does that make any difference, he’s with you? Is that another support? He comes sometimes when you play in a number of tournaments. Has his coaching style changed anything for you? And has that therefore impacted your performance?

VIRGINIE RAZZANO: Well, it’s very difficult. I travel with my official coach, Stephane Vidal, who is also my boyfriend. And also, I have a team with me all the time,Cedric Nouvel and Bernard Cabassol, my fitness trainer. With these two people I’ve mentioned, I work a lot mainly at home when I’m back from tournaments, because, you know, I can’t have three trainers or coaches on the tour.

Financially it’s too expensive, and Cedric has a sport etudes center to manage in the town of Nimes, but when he can play in France, the GDF Suez tournament or Roland Garros tournament, then in this case, I try and stay with my team, and together we support each other, which is the case today. It’s the case for the GDF Suez tournament.

In this case, my fitness trainer wanted to come. Unfortunately he couldn’t makeit. He was too busy to make it. Last year he had come to my first round, my first match. So, you see, to me, it’s a support to have Cedric with me and my fitness coach when he can come, as well. It’s something good, because I can’t see them all the time on the tour, because we travel a lot abroad. He can’t always follow me.

So I want to keep the same team. It’s a strong team, and the members support each other, and I’ve always had good relations with them.

Q. Your next opponent will be Anabel Medina‑Garrigues ‑‑ oh, the match is not over? I thought it was her. I thought it was her.

VIRGINIE RAZZANO: I didn’t know it was her.

Q. If it’s her ‑‑

VIRGINIE RAZZANO: Who’s she playing with?

Q. She is playing Makarova, a Russian.

VIRGINIE RAZZANO: Any of the two, it’s going to be a pleasant match. It’s at home here. The crowd is with me. It’s something important, you know. I think we have to think about the French,men and women.

We are at home. It’s a great advantage. We don’t often play in France. It’s usually abroad for many tournaments. It’s a great opportunity. We don’t necessarily have the French with us supporting us. And this is something good. It’s going to give us more strength, and it’s pleasant.

Now, to play against Medina, I know her. She’s played for a number of years.

Q. (Off microphone.)

VIRGINIE RAZZANO: I don’t know. I can’t remember. But you tell me. I don’t know. I can’t remember. A long time ago. A long time ago. I can’t remember. I can’t remember.

Q. (Off microphone.)

VIRGINIE RAZZANO: Yes, she’s really a good player on clay. She’s Spanish. On clay, she was born on clay. But today, you know, it doesn’t mean much. Anybody can beat anybody else, can win against anybody else.

You can have many surprises. Other girls are stronger or have a better ranking, and there’s no rule of women’s tennis. It’s less the case for men, because there’s always Federer or Nadal, and these guys are better than anybody else,physically speaking.

But for women, tennis has changed so much. It’s more and more complicated. We’ve seen this. If you look at Ivanovic, she’s gone down in terms of her ranking, and at present, you know, she’s no longer in the top10. Well, it will take time before she’s back. It changes all the time, except for Safina. She’s still No. 1, and that’s been the case for a while now. Anybody can beat anybody else. That’s for women.

Davenport a number of years ago would beat 2and 2 against other girls who were, you know, really at their levels, but today we can’t say there is an easy match for women. Everybody knows that. That’s why all the girls want to fight for each match. You can beat anybody. You can win over anybody.
So it’s even more dangerous if a girl is better ranked than another, but, you know, the other one who’s not in the top‑something wants to win, as well.

Interview from RG
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