World No. 22 Ekaterina Alexandrova discussed her results this season. She lost to Moyuka Uchijima in the fourth round of the Madrid tournament today (4/6, 6/7(5)).
– The season is going well, except for a couple of unsuccessful tournaments – albeit major ones, like Indian Wells and Miami. Last year, I only won one match throughout the entire clay court season; now I can`t complain – I`m happy.
– In Madrid alone, you won twice as many clay court matches as you did throughout the entire last season. What has changed?
– I changed my approach drastically because last year was a complete failure. It`s good that it`s working so far. On clay, you often have to do things you don`t want to: step back, add spin, endure long rallies.
– You mentioned that your new coach Igor Andreev adds more thought to your game. Is that what you`re referring to?
– Yes, yes, he teaches finding options that will work in a specific situation. If what I usually do isn`t working, I need to change something: if hitting isn`t working – add spin, if spinning isn`t working – slice. I need to be more aware, not waste balls, appreciate rallies more.
– Does this mean you`ve realized that you lacked thought before?
– Maybe, in some places, I did. Because my tennis was like this: if you hit it and it goes in – you win and you`re happy; if it doesn`t go in – well, it wasn`t meant to be. But now, if hitting isn`t working, you try something else. You serve 180 km/h and miss – maybe it`s not worth hitting 180, try a bit slower and add spin? That`s how we think now.
Alexandrova also shared what she did after the power outage in Madrid on Monday.
– Some people go far away where there`s no reception to disconnect from everything, but here life provided it itself. What were your impressions?
– There was almost no connection; I barely used my phone. I thought I needed to save the battery in case there was no power until morning – so I could at least see the time.
It was unusual, of course – when everything is tied to phones, to being online. To live a day without all that is a small detox. We went out for walks, for groceries, walked up to the seventh floor to train.
I read a book – while it was still light. But in the evening, I had to use the flashlight on my phone.
