E-Paper
Early tears help Myskina triumph
Elena Dementieva was left in floods of tears after losing Saturday's French Open final to Anastasia Myskina. The champion, however, did all her crying before the match.
Vanquished Elena Dementieva was left in floods of tears after losing Saturday's French Open final to Anastasia Myskina. The champion, however, did all her crying before the match.
Both gripped by nerves ahead of the first all-Russian final of a grand slam tournament, Myskina explained that she could not contain the emotion while waiting in her locker room to face her old friend and compatriot.
"I was crying before the match in the locker room," the 22-year-old Muscovite smiled after beating Dementieva 6-1 6-2 to become Russia's first women's grand slam champion.
"Yeah, I was really crying. About what, I really don't know.
"When you hold your emotions during the two weeks, you know, hard matches, I won from match point (down) against (Svetlana) Kuznetsova (in the fourth round). It all just came out before the match.
"It's good that and not during the match," she grinned.
Dementieva admitted after the final that she had struggled with her breathing on court after being gripped by nerves.
Myskina said her physiotherapist had helped her overcome similar problems.
"The physio really helped me," she said. "Just explain what I should do on the court, how I have to breathe, because it's really... it was really emotional before.
"You know, it's really hard to hold emotions. But if you can control yourself, if you are able to do it, it's much, much easier to play these important matches.
"And I was able to control myself today. Just, you know, I can't really explain how... it just happened."
BEING UPSET
The player who has become notorious for screaming and yelling at former boyfriend and coach Jens Gerlach during matches was a picture of inner peace on Saturday and says this is something she has been working on.
"I have been working on myself," she said. "I know that it doesn't help if you yell at somebody. I mean, first of all I was yelling at myself more than anybody.
"You know, it's hard work. And my coach has helped me a lot on that part. Finally, I have become more professional on the court."
As elated as she was at winning her first grand slam title, Dementieva's tears at the end were hard for Myskina to stomach.
"It's hard. When you are on the court, you don't really think about who you are playing against, you just think how to win.
"But after the match, it's hard to see your friend crying or your friend being upset.
"Especially in that match, it was a really important match for both of us."
"For me it is a dream. It's a lot of emotions, it's a lot of things going on right now. You know, it's really hard to explain what I'm feeling, but I'm still shaking."
