Tennis Interviews

Currently ranked No. 22 in the world, the Russian sat down with TAT after advancing to the quarterfinals of the Grand Prix Hassan II ATP World Tour tournament in Casablanca, where he was the top seed.

TAT: Igor, can you clarify your coaching situation? You’ve been alone for over a year now. Are you looking?
IA: I’m alone for now. It’s possible that for the period up to Roland Garros someone will be traveling with me, either a physio or someone from Valencia. But so far, I’m OK alone. So, really, I’m not “on a hunt,” such that I must find someone.

Of course, there are moments when you need training, help getting into playing shape, but overall, I’m still pretty satisfied as is.

TAT: And when you’re training in Valencia are you alone there also, or you have someone there?
IA: Well, in Valencia, it’s an academy. I’ve been there a long time, and there are coaches there, guys you can practice with. Same in Moscow. So, things like practices and such, there are no problems with that.

After their first loss of the 2009 season, to Rohan Bopanna and Jarkko Nieminen in the quarterfinals of the SAP Open in San Jose, Calif., the top-ranked doubles team of Bob and Mike Bryan sat down with TalkAboutTennis.com to share their thoughts on their past and their future—both on and off the court.

TAT: So, that was your first loss of the year?

Mike Bryan (MB): Yeah, it kind of reduces a little bit of the pressure. You can’t ever be perfect. We’re looking forward to having next week off. We can go home and then obviously on the horizon is a big match against Switzerland. Trying to get up to play, and we’ve got Delray [Beach] right in front of there. So we’re going to go home and train, try to think about that, what we have to do to slay Roger Federer and Wawrinka, the gold medalists.

TAT: You’re pretty sure that’s who you’ll play?

Tournament Director Bill Rapp sat down with TalkAboutTennis.com to discuss his nine years of running the SAP Open, his 27-year history with the ATP tournament, and his involvement with tennis in the San Francisco Bay Area. Rapp will next fly to Memphis, where he is also the tournament director of the joint ATP/WTA Regions Morgan Keegan Championships and the Cellular South Cup.

The SAP Open is the first stop of the year for the ATP World Tour, and 2009 marks the 121st staging of the event. First played in 1889 at Old Del Monte Lodge in Monterey, CA, it is the second oldest men’s professional tennis tournament in the United States . The tournament predates the French, Italian, and Australian Opens.

TAT: What’s the secret of your success, after so many years involved in this event?

(In Part One of our interview with Bud Collins, we learned about the origins of Bud's career and received some insights into players and matches that he has covered over the years. We pick up the conversation with Bud telling us about his historic interview with Natasha Zvereva following the 1989 Family Circle Cup final.)

Bud has conductedsome legendary interviews and even “non-interviews,” such as Roger Federer’s refusal to talk following his 2007 loss in the French Open final. However, many tennis fans consider his post-match discussion with Natasha (then known as Natalia) Zvereva following her loss to Steffi Graf in the final of the 1989 Family Circle Cup to be among the most memorable. When we broach the subject with Bud, he is delighted to retell the day.

“The funny thing about that interview is that most people don’t remember my comments at the opening of the match.” The subject of the Soviet Tennis Federation taking most of the players’ winnings had been brought up in a pre-match discussion between Bud and his colleague in the commentators’ booth that day, Dick Enberg. “I had stated in my opening commentary that Mr. Gorbachev needed to let players make more money.”