(Pic for Forty Deuce by Love All)
It's been discussed at length in the comments, but I'm posting it here because it's just too heartbreaking for words:
Q. You've play tennis all your life. You've been around tennis all
your life with your mom and all that and the club. Do you think you
missed out on anything outside of tennis?
DINARA SAFINA: I think
so. You know, it's because we have no other life, you know. We don't
know anything. You know, basically when we stop tennis we have to learn
so many new things. It's not easy to learn by age 30 or what to do in
your life. I think that's why many players keep playing, because they
try to stop but they cannot find themself.
Because like this, you know, you're playing tennis, you have to go to
practice, and suddenly you stop and you have so much time. You need to
occupy that. I mean, it's great for some people who has a family then.
You know, they take care of their kids.
But some of them, they don't have family. I think it's not an easy to
finish the tennis and to decide what you want to do in your life.
Q. Have you found some other things outside of the court that really interest you that maybe some day you'll pursue more?
DINARA SAFINA: Well, in my case, you know, I have I would like to have
a family, you know. This would be the first thing, you know. Because I
really love kids, you know. This, in my case, I would try to find
husband. (laughter.)
Q. That's the first thing, yeah.
DINARA SAFINA: Yeah, to have babies. So this is going to be the main thing. Well, and just grow them up and give all the love that I have to them. Beside tennis, I don't know. It also depends where I'm going to live,
you know. I mean, for sure it's going to be something with tennis or
with sport. Manager, I have to learn many things about this. But I
would like to experiment myself.
Q.
You say you feel like you missed out on things, some things growing up.
What do you think you missed out on, and would you change it?
DINARA SAFINA: Basically, this, you know, to have like kids, you know,
they go to school and they have so many friends, you know. I come to
Moscow it's good now. I have two, three friends, but there was a moment
there was nobody. You come home and you just you sit at home, and
there's nothing else to do. So now I start to create friends, you know. It's not easy, because you
can meet many fake people, and especially now when you're higher
ranked, you know, so many friends are going to be there. Like friends,
you know. So this kind of because when you grow up from school, then you know
they're really friends. So I think this, just hang around and just play
the games. These things I think I missed.
Q. Do you think you can have real friendships on the tennis tour? Do you find that some of them are also fake?
DINARA SAFINA: There is no friendship, you know. As I always say, we're
colleagues. Of course we talk to each other, but for sure you cannot
say to the girl how you feel, you know, that something is bothering
you. Maybe today you woke up on the wrong foot. I don't know, maybe somebody maybe a phone call. I mean, I had in
Australia before the match and they told me my grandfather died. To
whom can I go and cry except my team? My brother I can go, but if I
tell to one of the players, what's she going to go and talk to the
opponent, you know, she's feeling bad. Her grandfather just died. So these things are tough, you know. But like this you always can call
on the phone, call and to say like and to cry on your calls.
Q. That was your mother's father or father's father?
DINARA SAFINA: My father's father.
Q. Were you close to him?
DINARA SAFINA: I mean, yeah, very close, you know. It's it was they
didn't told me, actually, and it was strange. I was sitting at the
table, and suddenly my manager comes and says, you know, I'm sorry,
your grandfather died. It was already like two weeks ago and I had no
idea because my parents didn't want me because I was playing the
tournament. I really was shocked. Then I called my parents and I was like, Is it
true? Because it was like in the relaxing way. And they said, Yeah, it
happened, you know. I was glad that I just saw him before I left
Australia.
Because when I came from off season, I was like, Well, I want to see my
grandfather. And it's like I guess at least I saw him, and...
Q. So your manager said that just before the final or...
DINARA SAFINA: No, it was before my match against Kanepi.
Q. That must have been difficult to bring that all the way through, huh? You still managed to win?
DINARA SAFINA: But then you just I mean, he was 90 years old, so it was
already you start to feel like, okay, one day it can come, you know.
You always wish they can live forever, everybody.
Then I just said, Okay, I try to win this match for him. Actually, I
wanted to win the tournament for him. Pity I lost in the final.
Q. What did he do for a job, your grandfather?
DINARA SAFINA: He was in the World War, actually. And after that, I
mean, it's when I started to grow up, he was already retired. So he
didn't do anything, you know. But he was just so much into the tennis, you know. My grandmother, his
wife, passed away, and he was really down. My mom said like once, Just
live for the grandkids, you know. They still need you. It was in the
great moment that my brother started to play good. Suddenly he went so much into the tennis, and whenever I would go, he
was like, Work hard, come on everything. It was like it was really
amazing support that he was giving. I mean, by the age 90, he would still like be so much. He would call my
father and ask, What's going on? Why's he losing? My mom is like, No problem. Everything okay. He was really like so into it.
Q.
Because your brother was so popular and famous as you were growing up,
was that added pressure for you to succeed, or was it an asset for you
that you had that brother, or can you comment on that?
DINARA SAFINA:
Well, let's say in my case, you know, I was I always wanted to become
something myself. So for me, of course, it was a pressure, you know.
Brother is playing great. You know, I walk around and the people like,
Oh, you're little sister of Marat, and I didn't have the result. It was
some kind of pressure. I always feel like I want to do something better, and I feel like I can
be better than I am at that time, you know, than I was. And for me, I would say it was pressure, because I was really pushing myself to do every time better.
Q.
How much stronger do you think you became growing up by the fact that
everything was on tennis, you had to work for tennis, you had to get up
and practice, and there wasn't the friends growing up and regular
school and all that? Has that in one sense made you very strong, very
tough?
DINARA SAFINA: Strong? From other hand, you know, when you
enjoy more life, it gets easier. Maybe if I had friends, I would hang
around more, and I would not be so disappointing every time I would
lose a match, because like this you give 100%. I mean, I was giving
everything what I have, and I'm still giving everything what I have
into the tennis. So like this is more disappointing. You lose, and you're like, God,
like I give everything and I'm losing, and this was like hurting me. I don't know. It's two points. From other hand if I had other life, I
would enjoy more and maybe I would take the loses easier. But this
always keeping me, pushing always harder. So I don't know.
