It seems to me that, despite your professional successes, and especially the latter, you are less and less impressed with a person who is ready to give everything for the sport, everything for the sake of victory.
Well, how can you think about the same thing for twenty-four hours? I cant. I would be crazy. I was lucky in life: my friends are just excellent. I like life.
It’s strange. In one of your interviews, I read, as you said, that good young tennis players in our country are not enough just because of their too much love for life, that is, for entertainment.
In the Russian province it is impossible to become a good tennis player: there are no normal courts, equipment, coaches and partners with whom you can practice. So they go to Moscow, try to find their tennis happiness here - and Moscow spoils them. Living in Moscow only with professional sports is very difficult: there are too many distractions here. We have a wonderful life here, parties, everyone lives beautifully. And children, unfortunately, break down - because there are so many different sweets that are difficult for them to say “no” at their age. And they come up with excuses for themselves: the trainer is not the one, this is not this, then not this. And they just want to live beautifully, and in principle this is a normal desire. But in order to achieve something in sports, you need to sacrifice a lot.
And how did you resist at a young age all Moscow temptations? What and how did they sacrifice?
But I didn’t study tennis here; at fourteen I went to Spain for eight years. I then made a great sacrifice. I was just taken by the scruff of my neck and sent to Spain– and they did it right. This is the parents decided. I didn’t have money, that is, we didn’t have any money in our family, but they found a sponsor for me. I really could not argue. You can say: they gave me a ticket to life, and I could not throw out this trench. Anyway. Well, no way. I absolutely did not like the life that I lived as a boy in Moscow.
What kind of life did you live?
This is the hopelessness of the first half of the 90s — the hopelessness of the middle class. But you did your favorite sport even then! At age 14, they don’t earn money. The middle class hopelessness is about my parents. My mom was a coach - for 200 rubles a month. My dad was the administrator of one tennis court - for 400 rubles a month. 400 rubles a month is nothing at all, especially since we had two children. So count. This is she herself, hopelessness. And nothing real shone in this life for me. And so they gave me, that is, they spent 300 thousand on me. Can you imagine? 300 thousand in the 90s! Yes, for 300 thousand then you could buy part of the ruble.
Have you ever thought that a swami would have become if you had not left?
I don’t even want to think about it, because it just becomes scary. Now the times are different: some people have money, some do not, but still young and talented athletes have more chances to find a sponsor, much more.
Is Russian tennis player different from western tennis player? Does the head of a western athlete work differently? Otherwise resists the temptations there?
And how should it be different? I can only characterize, say, every nation in tennis. Americans, for example, are very euphoric: if they have it, it means it is, and if not, they don’t understand what to do on the court. The French are super talented people and very dude. And narcissists - in sports, in principle, it helps. Italians can’t play well just because all their attention goes into some other areas. Well, there are no great Italian tennis players. It used to be, but now it’s a failure. Italians generally have a separate topic: a talented nation, and talented people are always difficult to understand. German tennis players are people who don’t see anything around. They have everything straight, everything is framed, and, probably, it fetters them so much that they can’t feel at ease uninhibited. And in order to play tennis well, the horizons should still be wider. And then they are like horses - in blinkers.
What kind of Russians?
Russians? We had wonderful tennis players: Chesnokov, Zhenya Kafelnikov. But in those days, we did not have the opportunity to travel freely around the world. Ninety percent of the geniuses remained banned - and melted away without dawn.
When asking about the differences, I tried to understand why many Russian athletes, getting to the West, quickly blown away. Is big money to blame?
Well, let's look at the example of football, because I really like football. Firstly, in order to shine somewhere - in the fields of Italy, Spain or Germany - you have to be a good football player. I believe that the best of the last players is Mostovoi. Sasha Bridge Shi-car-ne-shiy was a first-class player. Unfortunately, there are no more. Before, stars like Sasha were bought cheaply there and were taken almost on a meager salary. In those days, making money in Russian sport was unrealistic. So ours went there. But they broke down not because of money, I think, but because of the sports level. Russia is still not a football power.
Perhaps the point is that individual sports, such as tennis, for example, are now better developed in Russia than team sports due to some social and, possibly, even political reasons?
Why so? Here are the girls with us, the volleyball team, recently they became world champions. Well, take football again. Roughly speaking, we have too many individuals, and managing them is very difficult. This is a problem not only of our football, but team sports in general. “Barcelona”, for example, came across a coach who managed to put everyone together in one team, but in Madrid “Real” there are so many stars - and they can do nothing.
I do not know where Russian tennis players have fun, but it seems to be nowhere. Dementieva, Myskina and Sharapova seem to have slightly different goals than yours. They seem to be entirely tennis-oriented. Why is that?
True, do not go anywhere. At least I do not meet them anywhere in Moscow. Each has its own philosophy and goals are different. Man and woman are two different sexes. No wonder they say "the opposite sex." For Dementieva, Myskina, Sharapova, tennis is a business, a job, it is a lot of money, ogr-ohm simple. They already feel that they are independent women: they don’t report to anyone, they can afford to buy an apartment, they can drive any car they want.
But Kournikova was not like that: independent, but not at all absorbed in tennis alone.
Kournikova went to extremes - she began to act too much, in her life in general there were many different distractions. And she did not have a person nearby who would direct her in the right direction.
So she is such a victim of the 90s?
There were other times, and maybe the girls had a hard time. But she was the first of us to become a real star. Mega Star! She made a huge PR for tennis - in America, she still popidol. So which of her victims is now, she feels great: she has earned a lot of money. And in tennis, she did not achieve more, most likely because she was engaged in it in childhood. Maybe she’s just tired. Our schedule is: work, work, work - and so from morning to night. Well, I remember she was training on the court next to me. If you become a professional, you start earning the first money, you should automatically understand that you have to sacrifice something, because all these parties and festivities will not lead to good. When I come to Moscow, I can afford to go to clubs and restaurants. When I leave on tour for two to three months - no entertainment. At nine he got up - he went to the court, at nine he returned - he had dinner, massage, and to the side. And so two months. Two months live on such a schedule - can you imagine? Of course, after all this you come here to Moscow, and you want to see something new and interesting, to see people. I like to relax like that - I like parties, I enjoy it. Why not?
Secular life in Moscow seems more interesting to you than in the same Monte Carlo, where is your home? Or than in London?
Yes, I have this social life on the drum: what is there, who is there, who is who and how. It’s not interesting to me at all. I live my life, I don’t even read newspapers, I don’t watch TV. So many secular names have appeared - this one, this one, and I don’t even know anyone. I also like to go to the cinema. Spike Lee’s films are a pleasure: I’ve watched the 25th hour, a great movie. Actor Edward Norton seems to be a wonderful person. When I first saw Norton, I thought: this is dude! I read about him somewhere that he knows Japanese. He is such a cult! My soul lies with him. It happens like this: I’m not yet familiar with a person, but you already like him.
The Chelsea team is called English because it is physically located in England, and so is the owner of a Russian player from around the world. I don’t know how Chelsea players feel, in the sense of what they play for, for which country? But what do you personally play for?
I really love and respect Russia. I am very proud when they say something good about Russia. In the West, Russia is greatly respected when they hear that you are from Russia, they say: oh!
Who respects? If you read the Western press, everything is exactly the opposite.
I say it responsibly: we are very respected so that you do not doubt. We are respected in the world like no other. You underestimate probably our country. Maybe you didn’t live in Germany, but I lived in Germany, I lived in Spain, in America, I live in Monte Carlo. We have the most promising, most hefty country with great opportunities, with great talents. Yes, in no other country ... Well, how can you compare our country with the United States? What is there to compare? Look, what a rich history we have, what people! Yes, I play for Russia, because I love her, and I love with all her shortcomings.
You are talking about Russia as a foreigner who was strolled around Moscow clubs and Novikov restaurants. Russia is also a very poor country.
What about the fact that you are sitting in New York in the Cipriani restaurant on the street terrace and a homeless person comes up to you and begins to beg? They have problems there too. By the way - so that you understand - the homeless in America have a place to go, they have special shelters. Only he doesn’t want to go there, he wants to feel like a bum, probably, he even likes to live like that - on the street. If you don’t have friends and you don’t want to go anywhere, then something in yourself is wrong.
A tennis career is the life your parents have chosen for you. Doesn't this thought put any pressure on you? Doesn’t such an idea arise, for example, that you need to come up with something for yourself? Radically new?
Come up with a future? Are you talking about retirement after thirty?
Too painful topic?
Well no. Life, it is one, but for an athlete it is divided into several stages. The first stage, when you just play and play, will end at some point, and I understand that very well. Then a completely different life will begin. Most likely, I will stay somewhere close to tennis - this is what I understand, this is what is given to me from God. My ambitions are, of course, Napoleonic, but I need to really assess myself and my capabilities: what you are, how you can be useful to this world. The problem with many people is that they overestimate themselves, put themselves a little higher than who they really are. This cannot be done in any way, hence the direct road to self-disappointment, and then to depression.
What else would you like to achieve?
Why, why ... There is such a thing: hurry up, tell us about something in advance, and that will never come true. I do not want to lose what I had in mind, and therefore I will not tell you anything. But once I felt so confident, felt that no one in the world could beat me, so everything went well, it was so wonderful! When you are the first in the world, when you are overwhelmed with strength and confidence, the feeling is, of course, gorgeous. Euphoria! Now the situation has changed. Me how much? I'm twenty six. I have already won a lot. The career may not have ended up the way I wanted, due to two serious injuries. But now I enjoy the fact that after all these injuries I returned and continue to play at a high level.
During the Kremlin Cup, did you blog online — is it from under the stick or on your own?
Well, I was just asked. I’m actually a person far from the Internet. And I am not a writer to write memoirs.
TEXT ELENA JEGEREVA, ESQUIRE - specially for PROSPORT
PHOTO VLADIMIR VASILCHIKOV