Interview with Magui Serna |
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Interview with Magui Serna |
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I caught up with 19-year-old Spanish star Magui Serna, a rising star from
Spain who has shot into the top 25 this year, a few hours after after her
quarterfinal loss to 2nd-seed Jana Novotna. We talked about the Novotna
match, her career goals and her origins in the Canary Islands.
Q: You've had some time now to think about that match [a 2-6, 6-1, 6-1 loss to Novotna]. It must have been a tough one to lose.
Magui: Well, yes. I played so good yesterday [a 6-4, 6-4 upset of Steffi Graf], and I was hoping to play as good as yesterday today. I started playing very well, but I think that the big thing today was that in the second and the third my serve wasn't working as well as in the first. So I served a lot of second serves, and she was coming to the net and putting pressure on me.
Q: When your first serve isn't working, does that affect your confidence in the rest of your game? Because you started making more errors on the ground.
Magui: Well a little bit... but more against Novotna. You know that with a second second serve she's going to be at the net, and you have to make the point, with a passing shot or something. So it's more difficult. I mean, if I play against another player who stays at the back, I don't care if my first serve... well, I care, but with Novotna it's more. Because you know she's coming to the net with the second, and it's difficult to pass her.
Q: This is the first time we've seen you in Montreal, and we haven't seen you that often. A Spanish player coming to the net as often as you did in this match is a bit unusual. Is that a big part of your game, or was it a specific plan for Novotna?
Magui: My game? I'm used to going to the net, I love going to the net. But especially today, because I knew I had to go first to the net, because I knew if she was coming in before me it would be very difficult because she's a great volley player and doubles player. So I tried going before her to the net.
Q: She said in her press conference that she thought you were having trouble with your racquets, when we asked her why there was such a big change between the second and third sets. That they were maybe too tight or something. Is that true, was that bothering you?
Magui: A little bit.I started with a racquet, and in the beginning of the second I broke a string. And the other one was a little bit tighter than the first one. It's more difficult to play slice with a tight racquet, and it's very difficult to play more spin. With one or two kilos less it's easier to make spin and slice.
Q: So there was a bit of a problem there.
Magui: A little bit, but I mean it wasn't a big problem.
Q: About your status now on the tour. You're ranked 26th. Somebody asked you yesterday what your goals were, and you said "top twenty". But you're almost there now.
Magui: You mean for the future?
Q: Yes.
Magui: Of course it's going to be like top ten, and top five eventually. But when I started this year I was ranked 45 or something, Iand I said from here to the end of the year I'm goiung to finish top twenty. And now I'm thinking maybe the the top fifteen or even better. I'm almost there, and I have all the indoor tournaments coming too, so I hope to do a bit more, I'm pretty sure that I could make it. So if I'm in the top twenty I'm not going to say "that's it", I'm going to go for more.
Q: So do you see yourself as somone who can maybe win a major tournament and reach the top five?
Magui: If I am playing like I'm playing now? Yes, I think so.
Q: Is there anything in particular you're trying to improve in your game right now to reach that level?
Magui: Well, hmmm... my return. But it's not only the game, it's more in my head. It's not going to be like this, like today. I'm trying to play the same the whole match. You win the first set and let her come back, and then it's not easy.
Q:It's not easy to come back and win a third set.
Magui: Yeah, you lose confidence and you're a little bit down...
Q: So it's maybe mentally, then, in your mind...
Magui: Well,
in the game you always have to improve something, get much better, more
power and everything. But I think my return, I'm working on that, and,
then more mental.
Q: If
I can ask you a few questions about yourself. You're from the Canary Islands?
Magui: Yes.
Q: When did you move from the Canary Islands to the mainland of Spain? How long did you live there?
Magui: I
moved when I was twelve.
Q: And
was that because of tennis?
Magui: Yes.
I went for one year in Switzerland, and have been living the the rest
of the time in Barcelona.
Q>
Transfer interrupted!
m the Canary Islands, or are you the first pro
player from there?
Magui: Yes,
there was one, but she was never top 100..
Q: Who
was she?
Magui: It was Noelia Pérez. She was like 120 or 150-something.
Q: And now you are having such success, they must be proud of you at home.
Magui: It's unreal there, people are going crazy!
Q: Is tennis very popular there?
Magui: Yes, there are a lot of people playing tennis there. The weather is perfect: winter, summer it's always hot, so you can play all the time. When I was 12, I won the 12 and under championship in Spain, then I won when I was 13 and 14. So I had good training when I was learning to play.
Q: Thanks Magui, best of luck in the US Open.
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