FÈS, Morocco - Russia has been the dominant country on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour for several years now, but who will lead its next generation of top stars? One of the frontrunners is Alisa Kleybanova, who made her big breakthrough at the Australian Open this year and has subsequently gotten herself within striking distance of the world's Top 20, currently holding the No.25 spot. The 19-year-old Muscovite is also this week's blogger as the No.2 seed in Fès.
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Saturday, May 2, 2009
Hi everyone!
I'm sorry I couldn't write yesterday. I got pretty sick in the morning, and I'm surprised I was even able to play both of my matches. I couldn't even warm up before my match. When I came back to the hotel I went straight to sleep. I'm still feeling pretty bad, but a bit better than yesterday at least.
It was unbelievably windy today. Very difficult to play well! But Ekaterina and I had good tactics and were able to win the doubles title. It was the first Sony Ericsson WTA Tour title for each of us. It feels great - it gives us both confidence, even if it's doubles. We made the final last year and did one better this year :)
I'm trying to see the positives from my first singles semifinal too. I was sick and it prevented me from playing at 100%, but I'm just really looking forward to next week and continuing to work hard. You learn from all of your matches.
Unfortunately, I never really saw anything in Fès. We're leaving soon to drive to Casablanca, as I have a flight very early in the morning... It was a good week here, though. They've really improved this tournament, and I'd love to come back here next year if I can. I got sick, but that happens sometimes.
It was very interesting to do my first blog! I'll have one when my website comes. It's fun for me to talk to my fans. And I like telling you about myself, because I don't think just seeing the scores on the website lets everyone get to know all of us. Lots of people here thanked me for doing the blog... but really it was my pleasure! Of course I want to thank all of you for reading it. I got a lot of e-mails and I thank you for all of the questions too.
I'd say bye, but I'm going to keep going with the blog soon. I'm excited to talk to you all again.
Take care!
Alisa
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Thursday, April 30, 2009
It was another long, hard day :)
My singles match wasn't too difficult today. I don't feel I played that well, but it was one of those times where you have to win when your game isn't 100%. She had a good serve and good shots, so she gave me trouble. I'm not even thinking about the semifinals now - it's hard to think about playing Ekaterina, my friend and doubles partner! I just need to stay calm. I can't think of who I'm playing!
Ekaterina and I won our doubles match 18-16 in the super tie-break! The other girls had match points, then we did, and it went back and forth for a long time. It was unbelievable fight. The tie-break probably went as long as a set! We were trying to be aggressive on our first few match points but it wasn't working, so on the last one we said we just had to stop that and keep everything in, and it worked. The match was so much fun - there were so many funny winners and funny mistakes - but we just couldn't play any longer!
I just want to get some good rest now, recover well and be ready for tomorrow...
Talk to you then!!
Alisa
What was the most bizarre dream you ever had? - Sara, UK
I dream something unbelievable almost every night, but I forget them so quickly! I'd say most of my dreams have me playing tennis. It's strange. I play tennis so much every day and then it's in my dreams too. Sometimes I dream about the things that aren't working so well in practice, and when I wake up, I know I have to work on them. And when I'm thinking of improving something in real life, I go to sleep and dream about it as well. Sometimes my coach will come up to me in the morning and tell me he was dreaming about tennis, and I'll say the same thing. I don't know why but this happens a lot!
Who are your best friends on the Tour? - Jess
I'm good friends with Ekaterina Makarova - we've been playing against each other and doubles with each other since the juniors. We come from the same city, too. Another one is Evgeniya Rodina. We're the same age. We usually play different tournaments though. It's funny, when we're all back home, we don't see each other too much, because we live in different parts of the city. Sometimes we can be home for two weeks and not even see each other! When you get back home from a long trip, you have like 100 things to do every day. We see each other more during tournaments. But back home we'll talk on the phone and try to go out. I'm friendly with a lot of the girls on the Tour, too, but with the rest it's mostly just talking and maybe going out to eat when we're at tournaments.
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Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Hi guys - I'm writing this right before I completely fall asleep :)
I had another good win today. I made too many unforced errors in the first set but finished well, and overall it was better than yesterday. I'm happy about it!
We got on quite a bit later than we expected, because Anabel's match before me went to a long three-setter. I was ready to go around 1pm but waited a few hours before going on! So, I finished a bit late again. But it's okay. I'm worried about my coach though - he's a little bit sick, I think there's something going around here, because some of the players are getting sick too. I'm not sure what's happening, but I hope I will make it to the end of the tournament!
I'm first on tomorrow but it's not until 11am, so it's just fine. I'll wake up around 8am, eat breakfast then go to the club and warm up with my doubles partner. I'll be in bed by 9 or 930pm tonight anyway! I've never played Polona before, nor have I seen her play, but I'll just prepare the best I can. Everyone here is playing well. I have to be at my best. Even if her ranking isn't so high, nothing is easy.
That's about it for today, nothing's really happening except my coach getting sick! I'll have to be careful with the food and water :)
Keep the questions coming... talk to you tomorrow!
Alisa
What are your goals for this year? - Alexis, France
I want to be as close to the Top 10 as possible. Of course I have to take it step by step, so first I need to get into the Top 20, then I'll try to keep moving up. The dream is to be No.1. I have lots of things to improve though, and I've been working a lot on everything. It's also important for me to defend all the points I got last year. In terms of tournaments, the Grand Slams are the ones I look forward to the most, but every match is important, no matter the tournament. Everyone is fighting for every point even in the small ones. Nothing is easy.
Do you have a favorite male tennis player? - Joehan, Indonesia
I don't really watch men's tennis too much :) I don't have any specific players who are my favorite, but I've always enjoyed watching the great players play each other, like when Federer and Nadal play, or Federer and Safin, Agassi and Sampras... but I don't follow one player alone. I used to really like watching women's players, like Kim Clijsters, Steffi Graf... When I was a kid they wrote in a newspaper that I was playing like Monica Seles, maybe because of the power, which was nice to hear. I liked her a lot too.
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Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Definitely a good day for me today! I had my first clay court matches of the year and I'm happy with the results. I played my singles early in the day and my doubles in the evening, and I won both. The matches weren't too tough but on clay it's never easy, so I had to give a lot of energy out there.
We got back pretty late from the club, because we finished our doubles match quite late. We were there from morning until night. We came back to the hotel and ate. It's now 9:30 and I think I'll go to sleep soon :) There was a player dinner tonight but a lot of people were playing so late that I'm not so sure if everyone was able to go to it. I'm sure it was really nice though!
I played both my matches on outside courts today, so there weren't too many people watching. There were quite a lot of people on center court though. I'm not sure where I'm playing tomorrow yet. But the people here are so nice. It feels different to tournaments in Europe and America, because it's almost all the same people working here as last year, and they remember me from making the final in doubles last year, so they're really friendly and make it very comfortable.
I still haven't visited anything outside of the club or hotel yet. Hopefully soon. The courts and hotels are usually the same wherever you play. The food is a bit different from what we're used to, but they have everything here. When we play in Asia it feels really different everywhere, but so far it doesn't feel too different here in Morocco. It wasn't too hot today either. It actually got very cold in the evening. But during the day there was no rain, which is the most important thing!
Until tomorrow :)
Alisa
I saw your match against Jelena Dokic at the Australian Open and was wondering how you felt about playing with a huge crowd supporting your opposition. - Jamie, Australia
I always enjoy playing when there's a big crowd. If there was no crowd, there would be no tennis. We play tennis for the people - it's a show. We work hard to play well and make it enjoyable for everyone. It does feel strange when the crowd is against you, but if you show good tennis and a big fight, there will be people supporting you too. I just try to give everything on the court and play my best. I don't worry too much about who they're cheering for.
What hobbies do you have other than tennis? - Yuki, Australia
I really like skiing, but it's not really a hobby, I just do it whenever I go on vacation back home. When I'm travelling I always bring books with me. I like reading a lot. It doesn't matter what kind of book it is. It could be serious or historical, or something easier like a detective story. Anything to get my mind off of everything else. Tennis can be very stressful and heavy on you. I also bring my computer everywhere with me, and I watch movies on it or just go on the internet. It's one of my favorite ways to relax. I also like to swim a lot, I was a swimmer when I was younger, so I try to do that whenever I can. And I don't do this as much now, but at home I used to like making things out of beads, and if anyone has noticed my bracelet, I made it myself :)
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Monday, April 27, 2009
Welcome to my blog! I've been working on my official website, which will be coming soon, and this will be good practice for that :)
I came to Morocco yesterday. I was practicing with the Russian Fed Cup team in Italy, and I was supposed to come here Saturday evening but the flight was delayed, and I ended up missing my connection :( Anyway, I got to Casablanca yesterday and drove here, but I was so tired I slept all day. No practice. It was really windy and rainy so maybe that was a good thing. Today is perfect playing conditions though! I'm here with my coach, Iulian Vespan. He comes to all my tournaments with me. From Madrid I'll start having my physio with me as well.
I'm really happy to be back in Fès. I played well here last year, getting to the quarterfinals in singles and the final in doubles, with Ekaterina Makarova. I'm playing with Ekaterina again this year so I'm hoping it'll be another good week. I have my first matches in singles and doubles tomorrow. We'll see what happens!
It feels different this year. Last year this was a smaller tournament but now it's much stronger - the site is much better, the gym and locker rooms are really nice and the organization is great, so they've really been working harder to make this tournament better. I'm also a different player this year. Last year I was ranked around No.80 and now I'm No.25. My expectations are higher. I've been working hard to prepare for the clay. I'm looking forward to playing some good tennis.
I can't say this is my best surface, but I enjoy it the most. Moving on hardcourts is tougher on your body. I've had some big results on grass and hardcourts though, so I don't know! I'm playing a lot of tournaments on clay this year, so we'll see if I can continue to play well here and in the rest of the spring.
There's not too much else to tell yet. I've just been in the hotel or at the courts so far, and the gym in between. I'll hopefully have some time to do other things in the next few days. Tomorrow night is the player party, but after two matches, I don't know if I'll make it. And it's not like I'll be able to dance anyway :)
Also, I'd love to hear your questions this week. Please send them in!
We'll talk again tomorrow!
Alisa
