sara-errani-interview-2015-tennis-lords-sky-sport
We finally made it and we are proud to present you the most intimate inteview ever released by our Sara Errani. This documentary was created, filmed and edited by Sky Sport to celebrate Sara’s carreer path and success until this day. Enjoy it!n
(T.n. Non-official translation by G.Caporello)
“Simpleness has always been my trademark. It didn’t matter how much success I could get, I have been working to stay humble and do not let it influence my life. I keep myself close to the ones who support me and love me no matter what, both in good and bad times. Tennis may make you think you are somebody important just because you earn more than ordinary people, but I am nobody special, really. I have always felt like I am one of them.“
“I think Serena Williams is the best women’s tennis player of all time. She comes from space, she is on another level. Her eagerness is something out of this world, her technical skills are almost perfect. No one is more competitive than her. You gather all these things together and you get Serena. She’s going for the Grand Slam in singles this year and I find that amazing, I think she deserves to make it.”
“My opinion is that this tennis era is packed with champions – Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Serena just to name a few – and still the level keeps growing over and over every year. Also, there are lots of great tennis players aside from them, they are always in their best shape and their technics constantly improve; that means you do not have any other choice but keep up with the pace. Working on your game, practicing, staying healty at your best day after day.”
“When I was 12 years old my family agreed to let me go training at Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Florida: I was totally hyped right there and then, but as soon as I took my seat on the plane I realized it was going to be more of a survival test for me. Nevertheless, I was eager to learn and get better, and I was starting to believe I could make my dream come true: being a professional tennis player.“
“As a kid, I looked up to Andre Agassi, he was my idol. We share the same birthday – April 29 – I was in love with the way he dressed and stayed on court. I did not have the chance to watch many tennis matches on tv though, I was out almost the whole day, at school in the morning, at the sport center in the afternoon. Anyway, I like him very much.”
“Pablo (Lozano) has been my coach for almost 11 years now, we know each other like the back of our hands. I think he is the reason why I made it this far, I probably owe him everything. I have to say we grew together: the first time we met he was like 22-23 years old, so you can say we started and worked side to side, we got into professional tennis together. We are deeply bound, he is the n.1 for me!
From time to time we bicker just like it happened in Austria few days ago. I was down 0-3 and he left the court. Of course he did not mean to leave me alone, his aim was to get a strong reaction out of me and he got it. He sure knows how to push me the right way, how to get the best of me, even by making me a little angry, because that’s what you need sometimes in tennis: competitiveness is always the key. You need to keep it on a high level every day, both during practice and matches – and believe me – it’s not easy at all. Sometimes you are just exhausted, drowned from all your energy, yet he always knows what to say and how to say to get me hyped again. I am like a bull: whenever I see red you best believe the stampede is on. *laughs*”
“I always try to be a good example for the kids. I feel lucky I had mine when I was younger, that is why I think that is something important to care for. Of course when you’re out on court and you are overwhelmed by competitiveness it gets harder to control yourself every single time, but I try to do my best in that sense.”
“What other player I would compare myself to? None, really. I always look up to Nadal and Ferrer but I cannot compare myself to them, they’re too much of beasts. They are so inspiring, inside – because of how they fight – and outside the court – because of their personality. They are humble and down to the earth, you can always have a chat with them and that’s beautiful to me. If anybody ever pronounced my name and theirs in the same sentence, I could not help but being honoured.“
“(referring to Roland Garros) Sometimes people tend to forget about how hard tennis really is. To win it once it’s..WOW, to win it 9 times it’s just…inconceivable. That’s why as soon as you start to lose a few matches here and there people get immediately worried. Tennis is really an all-year-round sport: you cannot be at 100% every day of the year, on the contrary, you probably won’t be so most of the times. You have to have a strong survival instinct. It’s hard but you need to work it out with what you have.“
“I’m not sure Roland Garros is my favourite place to be, I have always had Australia in my heart: I love to play there and I have also thought about moving there maybe, one day. Of course Paris is the most special to me: singles final and doubles title in 2 days, it was just amazing. The best feeling I ever had was back when I sat on my chair waiting for singles trophy ceremony: I finally had the time to stop and relax, thinking about I had really made it, that is the exact moment when I realised it wasn’t a dream. It was living it for real.”
“Also whenever I think about having done the Grand Slam with Roberta (Vinci).. It’s still unbelievable to me. Most of all, I totally didn’t expect to win Wimbledon, I still think about it and wonder how we made it. We have always laughed about it, like “It is not going to happen. Period.” *laughs*. It’s quite something impossible to believe in my mind: Wimbledon has always been one of my bêtes-noires because of grass; I don’t feel confortable playing on it. I recall on the same day of the final me and Robi were taking a walk together and chatting like “..You know we are about to play Wimbledon’s final, right!?” *laughs*”
“It was one of the toughest decisions, to split up, but we played both singles and doubles every year for almost 5 years and we felt the need to take some rest, especially me. Playing doubles it’s wonderful and fun but it also means you work overtime every day, and that gets you more and more tired. Nothing has changed between us, we’re still best friends. The only difference is the quantity of time spent together.”
“World Group I Playoffs in Brindisi (Federation Cup) have been amazing as well. Both Serena and Venus were supposed to be part of USA Team, but eventually “only” Serena showed up. Lots of emotions going on, especially while playing and winning the decisive doubles match with Flavia (Pennetta). I remember having a lot of pressure on me for stepping first on court against Davis to get the first point, and then on Sunday I had been only two points away from the victory against the world’s n.1… Shame I could not make it but Flavia won and took us to the doubles and that’s what really mattered. We played great.
Flavia and Schiavo (Francesca Schiavone) were and are still today a monumental presence in italian women’s tennis. They paved the way for us, they have always been the best example to follow for me; I learnt a lot from them and I am grateful for how we have been pushing one another for the past years.”
“The guys are doing great too! Fognini, Seppi, Bolelli… they are playing very well so you can easily tell why they managed to win Australian Open Doubles title this year. Also, I know lots of our younger players are improving, I think the italian movement is getting stronger.”
“2012 was probably something impossible to foresee or plan. Whatever happened was just inconceivable, win after win, singles and doubles. 2013 as well, to partecipate to WTA Masters two years in a row both in singles and doubles. I do not really know how to explain that, perhaps it’s because I don’t judge myself enough capable to do it, or to repeat it.. I do not have an explanation for all these achievements. Maybe I do not consider myself to be that strong.. it’s even difficult for me to talk about it… I cannot picture myself saying “I deserved it”… it is too much I cannot bear it sometimes. I did not even consider myself strong enough to reach the n.5 position in world rankings either! Even if I always proved everything I have achieved on court, so that I’m sure nobody gave it to me for free, I still find very hard to say to myself “You deserved what you got because you’re that good” *blushes*”
“Giving a good piece of advice to young players is not easy at all.. I would say the first thing you want to make sure to have is passion. Passion for the sport, passion for tennis, passion for competing. You are going to experience a lot of hard times, and you would not make it through unless you have passion. Secondly, you need to enjoy yourself while doing it: fun is one crucial thing to have, even if it is professional sport we are taking into consideration. No matter what level of tennis you are right know, you have to have love for the game.“
“I do not have any clue about what am I going to do or where will I be in 10 years from now. I am not quite sure about it but I think whenever I retired I would probably cut with tennis. Life is beautiful and I am sure it is full of new things to live and try. I would love to try something brand new.”
