Wimbledon fairytale: articulate Vesnina into semis

The Wimbledon women’s semifinal line-up include some of the game’s usual suspects.

There’s Serena Williams, who’s won 21 major titles and knows a thing or two about going deep at a Slam. Ditto sister Venus, the eighth seed gunning for her sixth trophy at the All England Club. Angelique Kerber, the No.4 seed and reigning Australian Open champion, is also in the mix.

And then there’s Elena Vesnina.

The unseeded Russian, ranked 50th, is the unexpected interloper among the four, through to her first Grand Slam singles semifinal.

That was made possible by an impressive 6-2 6-2 victory over Dominika Cibulkova, ending the Eastbourn champion’s nine-match winning streak in the quarterfinals on Tuesday.

Yet it was Vesnina’s performance in press that perhaps even outshined her on-court heroics.

The Russian, a soon-to-be-30-year-old veteran of the tour – and a frequent presence at the top of the doubles game – was an articulate, candid and refreshing presence in the media conference room in an age of prepared, inorganic responses and edited, stylised performances.

Here are some of the highlights …

On her improved self-belief:

“I think it’s coming with experience altogether. You really appreciate more what you have now. You really enjoying what you doing. I love playing tennis. It’s the best thing what can happen with me. I’m really enjoying my time on the court, and off the court as well. I had really difficult beginning of the year, end of the year. I dropped out of the top 100. I was playing all tournaments starting from qualifications. I had a lot of matches under my belt. It was not easy, to be honest, because I was in top 30, then I was like 120 or something … I’m really happy that it didn’t break me up. I think the difficult times, every single player has to go through it because it makes you better, it makes you stronger.”

On facing Serena in the semifinals:

“That’s a dream semifinal. I think nothing can be better than playing against Serena in semifinal on Centre Court at Wimbledon.  It’s special. Of course, I need to try to win this match. It’s not only about, like, you know, you have to show your best tennis. You have to stick to your game, you have to be solid, you have to enjoy yourself on the court. Of course, I will try to win it. Serena, I’m admiring her. I’m always watching. She’s No.1 in the world. She’s best player in the world. I respect both Serena and Venus. What they bring to the sport is just incredible. It will be big challenge for me, but I hope I can accept this challenge.”

On how doubles play and success helps her singles:

“It gives you a lot. We have so many tournaments through the year, it’s always up and down. You can’t be consistent. You can’t be playing final or semifinal every week. When you’re down, you lost first or second round in singles, you still have doubles. You can practice your game. You’re still in the tournament. It gives you some confidence, some wins. You have the trophy at the end of the week. It gives you some self?belief. It gives you some positive thinking. It gives you, like, confidence in your shots as well because you’re practicing serves, volleys, returns. Then next week, you’re coming, you have some wins under your belt. Somebody lost first round, being practicing one week, coming next week. You can be unlucky with the draw, then two weeks in a row you’re losing first round and second round. It’s not giving you that much confidence. I think young players, they should play more doubles from the beginning of their career because it really helps to build your game. You will be the complete player. You will have all-court game, not only on the baseline, also at the net.”

On what she learned from watching the Australian Open 2016 final:

“I was watching her final against Angelique in Australian Open on the court. It was great atmosphere over there. I saw how Angelique, she was sticking into her game from the first till the last. She was not giving up. Yeah, maybe Serena didn’t play her best tennis, and that was the key, and Angelique used her chances on that moment. Maybe that’s going to be the key for me as well. You have to use your chances against Serena. If she’s giving you that chances, you need to be there. If she’s serving aces all over the place, hitting winners, nothing you can do. You just have to stick and wait and be there, stick with her.”

On her approach to tennis:

“I’m a very positive person. I’m never getting down too much on myself. I know that there is a life besides of tennis. So I’m really trying to be fast to forgive all the losses, just to forget it, just move forward. I’m the person like that in life. It’s no matter what, it’s not tennis, it’s just the life thinking. I know that now I’m close to 30. Most of you are thinking that it’s end of the career. But look at Venus. Look at Serena. It’s just depends on how you feel and how you want to keep going, how you want to continue your matches, your games. I think a lot of players in this age, they start to understand and appreciate what they have more than when I was, let’s say, 19 or 20. I think that’s the key, as well.”