WTA Championships 2010 Pre-Tournament Interview

Pre-Tournament Interview

Q. How do you rate your year so far?
ELENA DEMENTIEVA: I think it's been a good year so far. I had some good moments, especially in the beginning of the season. I think coming to this championship I was playing some good tennis in Tokyo and Beijing, so it feels good so far.

Q. I think you've been here ten times. What's the secret to this fantastic record?
ELENA DEMENTIEVA: I guess I was pretty consistent during all these years. I feel like I played the Championships in so many different places. Well, it's been great to be able to participate in every Championship.
Every time it's a different challenge, but I just feel as exciting as it was ten years ago when I reached my first Championships in New York, Madison Square Garden. It feels great.

Q. Is it getting the schedule right or is it physical?
ELENA DEMENTIEVA: I guess it's a combination. You have to be physically fit. My motivation was always there. It's always been a goal of mine to be in the Championships at the end of the season.
So, yeah, it's I think mostly it's motivation.

Q. The Williams sisters aren't here. What impact do you think that has on the tournament for you as a player?
ELENA DEMENTIEVA: I feel sorry Serena and Venus are not coming here. They both are great champions. Injury unfortunately is a part of the game, so just wish they have a fast recovery and playing the new season.
But I think even without them, it's going to be a great Championships. The rest of the players are here, and it's going to be a great challenge for all of us.

Q. How are you physically? You have you got a slight ankle injury at the moment?
ELENA DEMENTIEVA: Yeah, I had some ankle problems last week and took some days off and doing some physio, so it feels better.

Q. It's 40 years since the original nine broke away and started up the original women's tour. What sort of respect to the current players have for the original nine that broke away 14 years ago?
ELENA DEMENTIEVA: Well, I think we have a great respect for that. Well, it's as pleasure. I just feel very honored to be part of the tour. You know, looking back, we realize how different it is for the moment.
So I feel very lucky to be a part of the tour and represent the tour. It's really an honor for me.

Q. What can you say about Caroline Wozniacki as the new No. 1? Does she deserve that title?
ELENA DEMENTIEVA: Think it's a great achievement for her. She was playing so well, especially this season, so I'm just happy for her. She was working very hard and improve her game a lot. Reaching a No. 1 position at such as early age, I think it's a quite achievement.

Q. What would say are the real strengths of the women's tour at the moment? How would you describe the strength of the tour overall?
ELENA DEMENTIEVA: I think the competition is really tough. This is what's so wonderful to see for the moment. It's not only about one or two favorites that are going to win a tournament. I think it's about the possibility for all of us to hold the title in the end.
This is what's so interesting for the crowd and for us as players, knowing that we all have chances to win. It makes great competition.

Q. Are you inspired to think of next year as maybe that one year when you make that Grand Slam breakthrough?
ELENA DEMENTIEVA: I don't think about next year. I'm just thinking about this week.

Q. You say that Wozniacki has improved her game a lot. Can you elaborate on that? What has she improved?
ELENA DEMENTIEVA: I think she always been very consistent. For the moment it looks like she's very solid all around the court. I think physically she's so much better and her serve is getting better.
So it's a whole package. When you look at her game, you don't see big weapons, but everything is very solid. Playing against her, you know there is nothing going to be easy. You have to work out every point to win the match against Caroline.
Also being so consistent week after week, you know, winning so many tournaments and being able to beat all of the players from the top 10, it's very impressive.

Q. Every time a player makes No. 1 and hasn't won a major, there's a lot of criticism. What do you think?
ELENA DEMENTIEVA: I think it's fair to be No. 1 without winning a Grand Slam, because that's how our ranking system works. That means that she was able to win some other big tournaments and was able to play very consistent during the whole season.
So I think she definitely deserves the No. 1 position. I mean, there is no one who had such impressive result this season. I think for sure she's going to win a Grand Slam sooner or later. She's only 20 years old, so it's coming.

Q. You always play very even matches. Talk about your game compared to her game?
ELENA DEMENTIEVA: Yeah, we play a couple times. I think everyone in my group played a couple of the matches against each other this season, so we know exactly what to expect.
I think this week it's going to be more about dealing with the tough weather conditions with all the expectations. I think most of all the mental preparation before the match.
Like I said, we all know what to expect against Caroline. We had such close matches this season. To play against No. 1 it's always a great challenge. I'm looking forward.

Q. Sam Stosur has also improved a lot this year. What do you see in her game that's better than before?
ELENA DEMENTIEVA: I think her backhand was a bit something to work on, and right now it feels like she's more solid on that part of the game. Her serve was one of the best on the tour for a long time already. I think physically she's a great athlete. So she really improved a lot.
This season I think she was very close to winning in Paris, the French Open, so very solid and very consistent player.

Q. You play in a lot of variable temperatures and conditions throughout the year. How tough is this playing in the evening here? Feels a lot hotter this year than last year.
ELENA DEMENTIEVA: Unfortunately, it doesn't get any better when it's comes to the evening, so this kind of climate reminds me of two places: Kuala Lumpur and Cincinnati. It's going to be a survivor week for all of us. It's a big issue to deal with the heat this week.

Q. What do you have to do to take care of yourself and make sure you're physically prepared?
ELENA DEMENTIEVA: I think you really have to pay attention to the temperature, make sure that your warm-up is a little bit shorter, and you have plenty of water before going on the court.
You don't really want to go into very long matches hopefully. But I think it's important to realize that it's tough for everyone. We're all in the same conditions. So it's better not to think too much about how hot and humid is it out there and just try to do what have to do on the court.

Q. So your ankle, maybe you can elaborate on your ankle. How is it feeling. Are you feeling 100%, 90%? How would you characterize your fitness?
ELENA DEMENTIEVA: Well, I took some days off and I did a lot of physio, I was able to practice a couple days, feeling fine. So for sure I'm going to use tape support for the match, and hopefully it's going to be okay.

Q. You say it's going to be a survivor week for all of you because of the weather conditions. Would you have preferred the Championships being in another spot?
ELENA DEMENTIEVA: Well, I think we are very lucky to have the Championships here for the three years. It's been very well organized, and we feel so welcome here. It's actually sad it's the last time here in Qatar, because it's been great for the players and for the crowd, I think, all of these three years.
It's going to be good in Istanbul next season, but it's kind of sad is that it's our last time here.