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THE tennisreporters.net NEWSLETTER: SATURDAY,
MARCH 13, NO, 75
Her lips aren't sealed: Karatancheva
on her upcoming match with Sharapova,"I'm going to kick her
ass off"
Maria: 'I've never thought about
her in my life'
Bollettieri on Sesil: 'I sincerely believe I have a No. 1 player
again'
Lansdorp on Nick: 'The only reason to make a statement like that
in public is for himself'
By Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net
Courtesy of WTA Tour |
| Sesil, on why she bought the
shirt (above), "I liked the word 'knockout.' You just
go there, knock them out of the ring." |
FROM THE PACIFIC LIFE OPEN AT INDIAN WELLS
– There are few ways to leash a 14-year-old who is bold
enough to say that her mother doesn't even attempt control her
any more, especially one as ambitious and carefree as Sesil Karatancheva.
No seasoned veteran would have the gall to say that she is going
to "kick the ass off" the highly talented Maria Sharapova
when they play Monday.
But that's what the Bulgarian by way of the Nick Bollettieri Academy
said after squeaking out a 6-4, 2-6, 7-5 win over No. 25 Magui
Serna.
"That's the way I think," said Karatancheva. "Yes,
I do think I can kick her ass off. Yes, I do think that. I'm saying
that, I can kick her ass off."
These comments arrived after an allegedly scheduled practice match
(or fantasized match in Sharapova's head) between the two IMG
clients at Bollettieri's two weeks ago. "I was so prepared,
it was unbelievable," Karatancheva said. "I was just,
'Come on the court, you'll see what happen.' I was like, 'I'm
going to get there and play my best tennis, I'm going to do everything
I can.' The day when we were supposed to play, two hours before
the match, my agent (Oliver Vanlindoff) comes and goes, 'She called
it off.'
I'm like, 'Why did she call the match off?' 'Because you said
you going to kick her ass off.'
I'm like, you know what, it's my business who I'm telling I'm
going to kick her ass off or not. If I said it, I meant it, and
I'm not sorry about it. If she's too scared to come on the court,
her problem - her problem. I was like, 'Whatever. I'm going to
get you. She can't call it off this time, that's for sure. That's
the match I've waited for very long time. So, trust me, I won't
play 100%, I'll play 200%."
Sharapova, who showed a champion's mettle in pulling off a hard-fought
6-3, 4-6, 6-4 victory over Flavia Pennetta in which she cracked
seven winners in winning the last eight points of the match, wouldn't'
rise to the bait. The 16-year-old said that she wasn't aware of
the alleged match with Karatancheva and never called it off.
"I've seen her play. But no, I don't know her," said
Sharapova, who said she wasn't offended by the comment. "This
is a business. All I care about is when I go on court and perform.
... I've never though about her in my life. She 's a young player.
It doesn't bother me at all. I can't wait till Monday to just
play."
Bollettieri on Sesil: 'I sincerely believe
I have a No. 1 player again'
Nick Bollettieri, who once coached Andre Agassi, Monica
Seles and Mary Pierce, said that's he's back on the road because
of Karatancheva's potential.
"I sincerely believe I have a No. 1 player again," he
said. "If you tell her to run through the wall, she'll run
through the wall. She's a great athlete. She did the 40 in 4.8
seconds. She's a world-class sprinter. She has great anticipation,
great hands, movement's impeccable and she has no fear."
Sharapova's coach Robert Lansdorp, who coached both Tracy Austin
and Lindsay Davenport, said he wouldn't make such a boasts about
a 14-year-old player publicly because it puts her under tremendous
pressure."
"In private, I might tell Maria you are so good that one
so these days you can get to No. 1, but I try to instill those
feelings in the person, rather than putting it into the public,
which has no value," he said. "The only reason to make
a statement like that in public is for himself, to say that he's
working with a girl who's going to be No. 1."
Serna wasn't that impressed by Karatancheva's game, saying she
doesn't have No. 1 potential."
"I don't think so. She has to improve a lot of things, the
serve and the forehand. I don't think she can run well either.
Obviously she plays good for a 14-year-old. But I don't see her
right now as Top 10. Right now, Sharapova is playing much better
than this girl."
Karatancheva was impressive in coming back from a 3-5 deficit
in the third set, a feat she had never accomplished against a
big time player before.
"I always believed I can play with the big ones, I just never
had a chance to play against the big ones," she said. "That's
why I came here. I came because I want to win."
EXCELLENT ENGLISH FLOWING FREELY
Even though she a chatterbox and gives little thought to what
she says, Karatancheva is highly entertaining and is a breath
of fresh air for the sport. Her English is tremendous (she's says
she learned it listening to the Spice Girls 24/7) for someone
who came to the US just three years ago. The daughter of a world-class
rower (dad) and volleyball player (mom), she began playing at
age 5 1/2. At first, it wasn't her favorite past time.
"I'm telling you right now, I hated tennis," she said.
"I thought this is the most ridiculous, boring, unbelievable
game anybody ever made in this world, okay? It wasn't even funny.
I'm like, 'Why am I wasting my time instead of going to the movies,
playing with my friends? Then when I started getting better, it
was like, 'Hey, that's not that bad.' People come tell you congratulations,
parents are happy, you get everything you want, that's all I need.
… When I got to the age of 11, I was like, 'You know what,
that's the thing I want to make my life with. That's the thing
I'm going to prove I'm something in this world.' "
Two years ago, she met Bollettieri at the Eddie Herr junior tournament.
He gave her a scholarship and off she went, eventually signing
with IMG. Last year, after she won a $50,000 Challenger in China,
she knew she was ready to step up.
"Nick the only one who thought I would win," she said.
"Every single coach was saying, 'She's too young. She's just
'boom boom, she doesn't have anything in her head. All she knows
is smack the hell out of the ball. No way she going to make it.'
"
Karatancheva is not just a handful, she's an armful. She's an
only child who sees her possibilities bursting at the seems.
"I have problems with my dad that I'm way too independent.
I had a couple fights with him about it. I want to be by myself.
I want to be independent. I just want to do everything. I think
I'm old enough for everything. I'm never wrong, I'm always right.
Whatever I say, that's it, point, no more. I've had couple troubles
with that. My mom, she has no power to argue with me. She's never
been that into tennis. But she's always been like, 'Congratulations,
good job.' She's always like, 'We need to go get your haircut,
girl.' Then like, 'You need to start wearing some clothes on.'
She would talk about shopping, everything else except tennis.
I'm like, 'Mom, I'm a tennis player, I'm not a model. If you want
something else, you have my dad for it.' "
BOLLETTIERI SAYS SHE'S TOO BOASTFUL
As Bollettieri said, Karatancheva was a little too boastful and
said that he leaving before the Sharapova
match because he wouldn't be able to bear watching it. These aren't
two psychotic boxers about to step in the ring, but when she essentially
called Sharapova gutless ("If she had the guts, she's going
to come kick my ass off and leave"), she set herself up for
a huge fall.
Susan Mullane/Camerawork USA |
| Maria asked coach Lansdorp,
"Are you going to kick my butt, too?" |
Then in a imitation of Dory from "Finding
Nemo." she described her fellow IMG client Sharapova as "Not
really charming. Not really charming. Not really charming. That's
what I can say, 'not really charming.' "
Even in her most cynical hours, Seles would have never said something
like that publicly. Neither would Sharapova, who's if nothing else,
is extremely polite and good-natured. While Lansdorp was sitting
talking to reporters about a half-hour after her press conference,
Sharapova came by and joked with Lansdorp, asking him whether he
was telling folks that he was going to "kick my ass, too."
"She's a great girl and a great person," said Lansdorp.
"She's nice, not a bitch. She doesn't go out and try to be
nasty. I really like her attitude."
Lansdorp said that the 24th-ranked Sharapova is a good two years
away from challenging Justine Henin-Hardenne and Kim Clijsters,
because she's simply not physically strong enough nor has the
endurance to hang with them yet. That might be an understatement
of Sharapova's medium term potential, but he's coached two Slam
champions and sees numerous areas where she needs to improve.
"She needs to close out points more at the net, but every
time she misses a volley long, she doesn't want to go back,"
he said. "She needs to do more with the short ball and play
more with instinct. She's so smart, she always wants to have tactics
before she goes out there. I tell her just to play with instinct.
But what was really encouraging against Pennetta was that she
was reading Maria the whole match until the end , when Maria started
to hit behind her. That's made all the difference in the world."
However, Lansdorp loves the ways Sharapova's progressed over the
past year. He won't boast, but he doesn't see her sitting still
in the Top 30. "I love her mental game and show she competes,"
he said. "She just needs a little more experience. There
are big steps in between being ranked No. 25, to 20, to 10, and
especially to the Top 5. But she's so willing to learn, I like
where's she headed."
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