best-ever player interview

[janie]

An interview with: VIRGINIE RAZZANO

Q. In the second set Martina ran off three straight games. Was there any point you were nervous?

VIRGINIE RAZZANO: I think I sleep a little bit. I say this because, you know, I am very relaxed for two sets. Sometimes when you are very relax, sometimes you relax in your mental. And if you relax in your mental, you don't you lost little bit aggressivity in your game and your legs for to move good.
I say, Oh, wake up because now is 5 4; is not 5 1. She come back; she play good. You little bit down because you lost your aggressivity little bit, and you must to push little bit more for to finish this match.

Q. How does it feel to pull off the biggest upset so far?

VIRGINIE RAZZANO: I think it's because I play very good today. I play my match. I very I have a good lucidity, lucid. In English? I am very lucid in my match. I know what I must to do against Martina for to win against her, because I know the game of her because. I play her maybe three or four years ago, and she beat me two times in two sets, but very difficult games, not 6 Love, 6 2. It was 6 4 or 7 5, 6 3, something like that, something of this.

And I say if I want to win against her I don't must to wait the fault of her because she don't did fault. She has a good regularity in the game of Martina, and if you want to have points for you, you must go not on the net.
But if you can go on the net, you go finish on the net. Or you push your balls very fast on the line or across, but not go cross, cross, cross because she's best of this game, cross, cross.
And me, I must to go not long points. If I wait for long points, she win. If I go my game in four, five shot, I can win.

Q. How would you rate her to what she was before, I guess four years ago when you played her?

VIRGINIE RAZZANO: I play not too much aggressive, and I wait more. Stay on my line...

THE MODERATOR: Her (translating in French).
VIRGINIE RAZZANO: I think she has the same games. She come back very good, I think so. She has a good physical and good shots because, you know, is difficult to play against her because she don't do the fault every time.
She put the ball in, in, and it's come back every times. Four years ago it was the same. She go moving right and left and she go to take every time the balls for come back, and you don't finish.
If you don't push fast, so when you can go with the good balls, because you can't go fast, "I go fast and we see," if you have the balls for to go, you go and you cry.

Q. Where would you consider this win in your career? Is this one of the biggest wins you've had? Would you consider this one of the biggest wins you've had?

VIRGINIE RAZZANO: For this year, yes (laughing). For this year, yes, because, you know, I come back injury. It was very long for me. I have a big pain in my wrist, right hand, in my wrist. My hand. Is not my wrist, is my hand. I have so many problem with this for to come back and to play.
Now, I come back just from Los Angeles, LA, and Montreal and here. I have only three tournaments because before I can't play. I must to stop. I feel better. Why my ranking go down, because last year I play very good, every weeks regularity a lot.
And when I play a girl when the ranking it's down of me last year, I win and I have a good regularity.

But this year, I can't play a lot tournaments because I have injury from February to three weeks ago. It's six months maybe not play a lot, and it's normal when you don't play a lot this year and play a lot last year and play good last year you lost your points and you come back far.

Q. Martina had said that you played like you had no fear of her. Did you fear Martina?

VIRGINIE RAZZANO: Yes, she say good, yeah (laughing).
Yes, when I go on the court, you know, I don't have a friend/afraid(?) of the players because I think is good to for us, for me, myself, to go and play the games and to have lucidity, concentration, and you know what to do. You know what to do on the court, and you do.

And you see after what's happen. If you do win the games, it's good. Is good for me. But after, you see. And she say maybe a good thing because when I play a big players, I am not afraid. I prefer (smiling). Is good challenge for me.

[shenaynay]

She was cute in her little interview after the match. She makes Rafa sound like an English major.

[janie]

I know! But after seeing her have trouble with that, I thought she got her points across pretty well in this PC. Better than I could do in French, that's for sure.

But why Martina would be thinking anyone would be afraid facing her, that's hard to figure. She's not going to win a lot of matches if she's counting on the fear factor.

[shenaynay]

Maybe not fear of Martina, but the fear of beating a top player. This happens all the time, lately.

[Grarliner]

janie said:

I know! But after seeing her have trouble with that, I thought she got her points across pretty well in this PC. Better than I could do in French, that's for sure.

But why Martina would be thinking anyone would be afraid facing her, that's hard to figure. She's not going to win a lot of matches if she's counting on the fear factor.

She does still have a bit of a fear factor going ... see Bremond's comments at Wimbledon about preferring to play Ai.

[janie]

That surprises me. But Leena's right, of course lower-ranked girls usually do choke at the end of a match against a top player. But Martina should know by now that she's not going to beat all these girls by passively waiting for the meltdown. But I think that only happened this time because she couldn't summon the energy to change up her game.

[DBBN]

Razzano was one of my best interviews, her and Myskina were by far the cutest and funniest. I surprisingly have a file of her quotes on my computer. Here they are:

Tendinitis – “it comes and goes”

“I’m very happy to play here, it’s a nice club, I like the flowers, nature (natch-er), it’s good, I play very good here.”

“I’m very happy because I did my job...I’m very happy because now I can get back points; last year I had my best ranking, 64 in the world, and I lost points...now I am ranked 112 and I would like to come back, because it’s better for me.”

“I play Dokic tomorrow, it is a good match. Now I’m going to rest because I need to rest...maybe I can win tomorrow, I don’t know...it depends [on] my physical [condition] because I had a lot of matches before, but I try to win tomorrow.”

“Yes, I’m alone, because I stopped with my coach two weeks ago. It was a coach from the Federation of France, and we don’t have a good relation together, but me, I would like to have a coach private, because I prefer.”

“I know I can win alone, but I need a coach for my...progress. When I go back to France, I will have a new coach, because I know the coach, his name is Cedric Nouvealle.” – coached her for 7 years since she was 7, but had to go to Fed dorm and coaches “I prefer to come home and take the coach I had when I was very young because he’s a good coach too.”

“I try tomorrow, it’s been long week for me, I’m not machine, you know. I can try, I can try, but if I can’t, it’s okay, she can win. It’s good experience for my come on, for my tete, for my allez allez come on. Tomorrow it’s a bonus, it’s more points, if I can have.”

Draw – “I don’t look. Never. I take match by match, and if I play a girl with a racket and ball, it’s good for me.”

“I would like to be Top 50 by the end of the year, and after, we’ll see.”

[DBBN]

That was at Sarasota Open, 2002, after her QF win. That was her first Tour SF, as a lucky loser. I saw her beat Ruano Pascual and...someone else quite good. VRP was seeded, she beat the 4th seed too, can't remember...

[DBBN]

Dokic’s semifinal opponent will be the mellifluous Frenchwoman Virginie Razzano. Razzano, by rights, should never have played in the main draw to begin with, as she did lose in the qualifying round to Anna Smashnova. But she made it in as a lucky loser, which is the highest-ranked player to lose in the final round of qualifying, and gets the spot vacated by a main draw player if the first round has not been completed. Razzano was not only a lucky loser, she was the SECOND lucky loser in, as two players pulled out of the main draw. So, one would think that if she barely made the draw, she wouldn’t pose a threat to win the tournament. Yet that is exactly what she is doing, as she beat another player ranked far ahead of her to advance to the semifinals.

In Paola Suarez, Razzano faced a player who excels on clay, having won the Bogota event twice and the French Open doubles last year. Moreover, Razzano’s last victim was Virginia Ruano Pascual, who is Suarez’ doubles partner and best friend. Surely Ruano gave Suarez some tips, and cheered her on today, as Suarez had barracked for Ruano yesterday. The Munro, Argentina resident is small but one of the fittest players on Tour, and looks like she could play a best-of-seven-sets match if necessary. Razzano, having already played five matches this week, would not be able to outlast her, so she would have to outhit her.
That is exactly what she did in the first set. Razzano knocked off two aces in the first set, pounded forehand and backhand winners on the lines with authority, and took out the unspectacular Suarez serve with repeated return winners which left her opponent screaming in anger. At one point, Suarez angrily returned to her chair to find a caterpillar on it, and she swiped her racket at the insect, knocking it to the clay and rapidly squishing it with venom.
Razzano survived two double faults and a break point in the set’s final game to clinch the first set 6-2, and after Suarez hit a backhand error in the first point of the second game, the Argentine gave a thirty-second monologue in Spanish at the service line. Increasing in pitch and volume as it progressed, it ended in the word “libre” being screeched. Perhaps she was wishing to be free of unforced errors. At any rate, it seemed to do the trick, as she was able to smash a winner past Razzano to break for a 3-1 lead in the second. Razzano was starting to let her shots fly, punctuating one long backhand with a shocked “ohh la la!” Still, she was able to get the break back, but, serving at 4-5, Suarez reverted to her strongest suit, electing not to try to match Razzano’s power and instead allow her brilliant retrieving and deep groundstrokes to lull Razzano into errors. Indeed, Razzano did just that, capitulating easily with a love service break. Suarez had captured the second set, 6-4, and Razzano immediately called for a lengthy injury timeout. A trainer attended to her right elbow, and, given Razzano’s often up-and-down mental state and Suarez’s experience and clay-court mastery, momentum had firmly swung to Suarez.
But, serving at 1-1, Suarez let a 40-15 lead slip, and once Razzano was able to hold on for 3-1, the Parisian looked rejuvenated and ready to win. Razzano picked up another break at 4-2, after Suarez let a 40-0 lead slip! Returning to the chair down 2-5, Suarez gave another speech en espanol, which obviously was more blue than the other one. It resulted in a warning for audible obscenity.
Again, letting off steam did her some good again, as she kept rallies going with her incredible gets, quickly breaking Razzano and consolidating. Razzano then came to the line at 5-4 having already blown one chance to serve out the match, and, quite visibly in discomfort, in dire need of a quick victory. Razzano threw in yet another double fault – her seventh of the match – to go down 15-30, but got to match point with a powerful forehand and a service winner. But two errors allowed Suarez to have a point to level the match at a set and 5-all. Suarez then hit her own forehand error, and Razzano was back at deuce. She had to deal with another break point, thanks to a crackling Suarez forehand, but saved it with a huge serve to set up a forehand winner. Another forehand winner gave Razzano match point, and won her second match in a row on an unreturnable serve to advance to the first WTA Tour semifinal of her career. The final score: 6-2 4-6 6-4.
The World #98, a lucky loser, had earned the right to face ninth-ranked Dokic in the semifinals. They’ve never played. “Maybe I can win tomorrow,” said Razzano, who is here without a coach. “I try tomorrow, but it’s been long week for me,” she mused through her heavy French accent. “I’m not machine, you know!”...

[janie]

Well, she clearly hasn't spent the last 4 years working on her English, but on the other hand, it hasn't deteriorated since then, either.

[Wagasi]

if that was even possible