“First place in the ranking is a bonus, not an end in itself” – Sport – Kommersant

One of the tennis players who have made great progress this year is the Russian Veronika Kudermetova, according to its results, she became the ninth racket of the world in singles and the second in doubles. In an interview with a Kommersant correspondent Evgeny Fedyakov The quarter-finalist of Roland Garros, who won the final tournament of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) in Fort Worth last week together with Belgian Elise Mertens, assessed her recent successes, spoke about how she has been working in training with her husband Sergey Demekhin for more than ten years , and shared plans for the next season.

– At the beginning of the year, you were only 31st in the singles rating, and 14th in the doubles. Could you imagine that now you will stand there so high?

– To be honest, I always knew that my level of play is worthy of the highest positions in the ranking. It was simply not clear when the whole mosaic would take shape, which would allow these positions to be achieved. And I set myself the highest goals, as always. I can’t do it otherwise.

— Due to what you managed to achieve such noticeable progress?

“It didn’t happen all at once. If you look back, then year after year I gradually moved forward in the rankings. It’s just that everyone has their own way, and our vision with Sergey was just that.

The result of this season is the result of everyday work over the years both on and off the court.

But my journey continues. I know where I can add even more, and this is inspiring.

– Last year, together with Elena Vesnina, you suffered two very disappointing defeats in doubles – in the Wimbledon final and in the match for third place in the Olympic tournament. To what extent is the self-confidence that you now show in decisive moments the result of cooperation with a psychologist?

– Working with a psychologist is only part of what you do during the training process. In addition, over many years of performances, certain experience is acquired, including psychological. I think that through all this, I really gained confidence, which helps.

– How did you and Eliza Mertens manage to outplay the Czech pair of Katerina Sinyakova and Barbora Kreichikova at the end of the WTA Finals, who were leading 7:2 in the super tie-break?

“Honestly, I don’t even know what helped us. We just didn’t give up, fought to the end and somehow managed to win. Probably, to a certain extent, the experience that I lacked in the matches you mentioned in the previous question just affected.

– How did it happen that you and Mertens established an excellent understanding at the very first tournament that you won in Istanbul last year?

– We are two single skaters with a good level of play, so we managed to quickly find contact on the court and form a good pair. It could have formed on a permanent basis last season, but because of the preparations for the Olympics, I had to postpone this idea for this year.

– For about ten years you have been coached by your husband – Sergey Demekhin, which for the WTA at the present time can be considered almost a unique story. How successful was the experience of attracting other specialists to your team?

– Indeed, Sergey has been with me for a very long time. This is a man who has studied me well both on the court and in life.

Few people realize what work we have done over the years and what we have had to go through. Therefore, I trust him, and whoever joins our team, Sergey’s opinion will be the most important for me.

But indeed, last season we took Vladimir Platenik to the team (a Slovak coach who once worked with Nadezhda Petrova and Daria Kasatkina.— “b”), and this year they took Argentinean Franco Davin (former coach of Roland Garros-2004 champion Gaston Gaudio and Juan Martin del Potro.— “b”). Each of them helped me and shared their knowledge. Franco will be on my team next year as well.

“This year is an unusual situation. Three tennis players at once – you, as well as Americans Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff – finished in the top 10 in both singles and doubles ratings. What do you think explains this?

We did not discuss this topic with them. But the main reason, I think, is that in almost all tournaments we played both alone and in pairs. And we have a level of play. So there is nothing surprising here.

To what extent does the practice you get in doubles help you in singles and have you had to sacrifice a pair this year?

– The couple helped me a lot on the path of my formation as a training in acquiring many necessary skills. In addition, a couple is a kind of psychological and financial support, especially when not everything goes smoothly when alone.

Of course, when periodically good results in both categories overlap, it is not easy to play at the end of the tournament. But this is part of my job, so I have to adapt.

– Do you plan to continue playing with Mertens next season? And do you understand that since doubles leader Katerina Sinyakova will have to defend a lot of ranking points at the beginning of next season, you have a real chance to become the first racket of the world?

– I’m not going to guess anything yet. But I will say one thing for sure: next year I would like to try to concentrate a little more on singles, so the pair, apparently, will not have to play everywhere.

As for the title of the first racket, I do not concentrate on this at all.

For me, the first place in the ranking is just a bonus, not an end in itself. I myself will do everything possible to become better day by day, and no one knows what result will be achieved.

– How long will you rest and where do you intend to spend pre-season training?

— The plans for one week at sea. After that, I will return to Russia and start preparing for the next season at home.