Vera Zvonareva is a surprise semifinalist at the 2008 Sony Ericsson Open, but as one of seven Russians inside the Top 20, Zvonareva is accustomed to playing under the radar.
She spoke to the press on Wednesday about her renewed fitness and why she is content to take the tournament just one match at a time.
Q. You had quite a few injury interruptions to your season last year. How are things going this year with fitness and health in general?
VERA ZVONAREVA: Yeah, it’s been pretty good, pretty good for me.
I made it to the finals earlier this year. I had to pull out because I sprained my ankle, so I took a few weeks off. I think I’ve been doing pretty good. I’ve been playing good matches, so I’m feeling good. We’ll see what happens later, but so far so good.
Q. Even though you’ve reached the semis of this, do you feel all eyes will be on Serena Williams for the rest of the way, and do you like sort of playing under the radar like that?
VERA ZVONAREVA: I don’t know — you know, I’m just thinking about right now. I just finished my match, but obviously I’m going to think about tomorrow’s match. I don’t really think about I think the other semifinal at the moment.
But Serena is obviously great, great player. She won many Grand Slams, and of course she deserves attention. But I’m just — tomorrow I have — I have another match of my own, so I have to concentrate on that.
Q. Is it a strange feeling for you being such a high-ranked player but sort of in the middle of the pack in your own country, so many of you. Is it odd to think sometimes I rank really high in the sport, but in my own country there’s X number of people in front of me?
VERA ZVONAREVA: I’m happy for my country, that we have so many great players. It’s a competition between everyone on the tour, not only between us, so…
But of course, sometimes some girls they are really popular and are recognized athletes in their own country, because it’s the only one top 20 player maybe in the country.
For us it’s a little bit different, you know, to be recognized athlete, tennis player. In Russia you have to be ranked in top 5. It’s a little bit — little bit different, but, you know, I’m just trying to do my job, trying to go out there and fight, and trying to show good tennis. We’ll see what’s going to happen.
To read Vera Zvonareva’s complete interview on April 2, 2008, please visit ASAP Sports.
