MALEEVA HAS SEEN IT ALL

Views on BG | January 31, 2002, Thursday // 00:00

The Yomiuri Shimbun/Daily
BY JIM ALLEN


The secret to longevity on the women's tennis circuit is confidence and knowing when to put on the brakes, according to Bulgaria's Magdalena Maleeva, who has been a professional for nearly half of her 27 years.

Maleeva, ranked 14th in the world and the youngest of three tennis-playing sisters, gets a little nostalgic looking at the new crop of youngsters on the tour.

"I don't feel old, but I feel older than they are," she said after her first-round victory at the Toray Pan Pacific Open on Tuesday. "It does make me remember how I felt when I was their age.
"If you are young, you need to have the right people around you to give you the right advice. And I have been quite fortunate with having those around me. I used to count on my family and I have a great manager."

The years have taught Maleeva that sometimes lucrative offers need to be turned down, if they keep her from taking a much-needed break and keeping her "investment" in the game healthy.
"This you learn later... When you're young, you think you can do it all.

"But I feel much healthier than when I was 18 or 19 and I think it is also because I've matured.
"Physically I don't get injured. I've always done a lot of physical conditioning, so I believe that my body is fit enough to handle everything I have to do. Whereas when I was younger, I thought I always had to work more and more, and it was never enough. It was more mental that I would inflict my injuries."

With concentration a prime commodity on the court, Maleeva occasionally gets as far away from the game as possible.

"It takes a lot of effort to really concentrate on what you have to do and not let your mind wander. I try to go home and be with my friends who don't play tennis and be with people who have other kinds of lives, who have other problems than my own.

"It always brings me back to earth, because this is a very closed environment, and there is a tendency that you really think that you are the center of the world.

"Maybe when you are a student and you go to university you have a more normal life where you see people struggling looking for jobs, whereas we have quite a privileged environment."

While Maleeva sees the constant travel as a mixed blessing, it has opened her eyes to the world and Tokyo is one of her favorite stops on the tour.

"I love coming to Japan. I love going to places which are completely different. Our tournaments are mostly in western Europe and America and they are about the same.

"Here, it's just the way they talk and the way they don't say, 'no.' They would never say 'no.' They're special."

A victory in the second round today would set up a quarterfinal match against Martina Hingis, but Maleeva was more concerned with today's opponent, Thailand's Tamarine Tanasugarn.

"I've played (her) and I've lost so I really have to play my best game."

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!

Views on BG » Be a reporter: Write and send your article

Advertisement
Advertisement
Bulgaria news Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency - www.sofianewsagency.com) is unique with being a real time news provider in English that informs its readers about the latest Bulgarian news. The editorial staff also publishes a daily online newspaper "Sofia Morning News." Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency - www.sofianewsagency.com) and Sofia Morning News publish the latest economic, political and cultural news that take place in Bulgaria. Foreign media analysis on Bulgaria and World News in Brief are also part of the web site and the online newspaper. News Bulgaria