BUDAPEST, Hungary - It has been quite a year so far for Tathiana Garbin. After the Australian Open she cracked world's Top 30 for the first time in 11 years as a pro, and more recently she reached her first Tier I quarterfinal at Miami. In coming to Budapest this week, she returns to the site of her first Sony Ericsson WTA Tour title, having won it in 2000; another title here would put her within one spot of the Top 20. Read along as the Italian No.1 writes the latest Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Player Blog straight from the Gaz de France Budapest Grand Prix.
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Wednesday, April 25, 2007
You may have read that I had to pull out of Budapest, unfortunately. I ended up winning my first round match against Nuria Llagostera Vives today but the leg problem I talked about yesterday, a left hamstring strain, got worse today, and so I won't be able to go on. That's too bad because like I said, this is one of my favorite tournaments. But it happens :(
I first felt the injury yesterday and saw the trainer, but it was okay enough to keep playing. But then today when I started it felt too tight and I just couldn't run down any drop shots; I could run sideways along the baseline well but not forward and back. I didn't want to aggravate it any further so I had to pull out.
It's very disappointing because I had just won my first round match and really wanted to keep going. But I still had a good time in Budapest. The people were great - after I pulled out the tournament director came and gave me a big hug, and everyone working there was so cute. It was a really nice stay.
I'm supposed to be playing Warsaw next week but we will see what my doctor, Francesco Parra, says. He travels around the world and helps a lot of the Italian players out. We call him "Doc" like in Back to the Future, which is such a good movie! In Italy he is famous. Whenever he comes to tournaments he gives us so much support.
Hopefully you all enjoyed my blog the few days I was here. I'll blog again soon!!
Ciao :)
Tathiana
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Tuesday, April 24, 2007
So I began my day with some practice in the morning, just for about 20 minutes. It's a much different feeling than in Castellaneta in Italy, where we played Fed Cup on the weekend. It is a completely different ball here, and the courts are different too. I really need to get more time on these courts to get used to it all! Luckily I'll have more time tomorrow...
You may have seen that my first round match actually got stopped because it started raining. Nuria won the first set and I won the second, and after one point we stopped. I didn't know if I was going to catch up with her, because I was having some problems with my leg, but it was good enough and I was able to win that second set. Something funny happened in that set actually; the umpire made a mistake with the scoring! It was only 30-40, but he said it was game, and so I went down 4-3. Nuria told me she was sorry she couldn't do anything, because the umpire already called it, but it was okay. We were both laughing about it. These things happen. Luckily I won the set anyway. I have a lot more confidence now and so even when I'm not playing my best, I know I can still do it.
There are good and bad things about stopping at the beginning of a third set. It's tough to go out the next day and play one set for the whole match; you have to go out and be focused from the very first point. But there are more good things about it: you get an extra day to rest, which is good for me because I am still tired from Fed Cup; you only have to play one more set, so it's not like three more hours or anything; and you can also go back and think about what you need to do better in the rest of the match. It will be interesting tomorrow!
I really appreciate it when the other Italian players come and watch my matches - they were supporting me in the crowd. Knapp, Camerin, Brianti. We watch each other's matches a lot of the time when we're at tournaments together. It's great.
Other than my match, not much else went on today. I find rain delays REALLY boring! The good thing is I bring a PSP with me wherever I go. I have PlayStation at home, but on the road and at tournaments that won't do. I bring it to every tournament. Right now I am playing a lot of World Series of Poker... I don't play poker at casinos though, just PSP :)
I'll talk to you all after I finish my match tomorrow...
Ciao!!
Tathiana
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Monday, April 23, 2007
Hello everyone!
I'm really looking forward to writing the blog this week. I'm hoping everyone will know me a little better by the end of it and I hope my fans will enjoy it. I had a blog once, for a few months; it was on a website and newspaper in Italy. A lot of people would write to me and ask my questions about it, which was really cute. I've never kept a journal for myself but for the fans out there I'm happy to do it!
I'm coming off a wonderful weekend of Fed Cup. We played our first round with China back home in Italy and won it, 5-0. They were really tough but I won both of my singles matches, which was great. There were lots of emotions because there were lots of people there, like my friends and family, and I really wanted to do well. Also, because it was played in front of our home crowd, it was very special; even last year, when we won the Fed Cup, we played the final in Belgium so it wasn't as emotional... although of course we partied afterwards! But this weekend we were prepared for a tough battle, especially with Peng playing, and we gave everything. We couldn't stop screaming and spraying each other with water afterwards; we were screaming for like five hours. But we didn't get a chance to celebrate last night, because I had to come here, and the rest of them had to go home... and we were all so tired too.
It's funny I'm having my best year now, when I'm almost 30! I don't know how this is happening. I have a talisman on my neck and whenever I have a problem I rub it... but really, I think all the work I've been doing is finally paying off. In winter I worked hard on my game and with my experience it's coming together now. Last fall in Portoroz I was beginning to wonder how much longer I'd be playing but now I'm playing my best and I am not wondering about that anymore.
One thing I've also accomplished is I'm now the No.1-ranked player in Italy. It's great, but I really want people to know that I'm not aiming to be the No.1 Italian. I try to do the best I can. I don't want to fight with the other Italians, who are my friends; we are all friends. I want us all to do well. So it doesn't make me happier to know I'm higher than them, I'm just trying to get my own best ranking.
Budapest is a special place for me; this is the only tournament I've won before. I also love playing in Italy, like in Rome and Palermo, so those are also some of my preferred ones. But this week is also going to be special because I'm the top seed, so I'm the one everyone is gunning for. It's a little more extra pressure but I'm just going to try my best in every match and see how it goes!
I play Nuria Llagostera Vives in my first round match Tuesday. She's a very good player; she was ranked pretty high a few years back and then had an injury for about a year now, but she's coming back. I will have to fight a lot. She is also just coming from Fed Cup so we'll be in the same situation. We'll see how it goes!
I had a long weekend so I'll probably take it easy tonight and practice tomorrow before the match a little bit. I'll talk to you guys afterwards!
Ciao!
Tathiana
