It was a solid revenge win for Masha over Jay-Z last night. She was absolutely solid off the ground and served well for one and a half sets before getting the tossing yips towards the end of the second, giving away some DFs to give Jay-Z some hope. It was really powerful and impressive hitting from both ladies. And credit to Jay-Z for fighting to the end. I really thought she was going to force a third set. But she definitely earned the respect from the record-breaking crowd (it was the largest session attendance for the tourney). They gave her a hearty ovation as she left the court. It really is amazing how someone so small can compete and compete well with these big hitters.
After the match the media center was packed as we waited for Masha's presser. Typically, the presser's take place about 30-45 minutes after the match. Masha strode in at about 9:40pm, pink recovery drink and black Cole Haan bag in tow. Overall it was a fairly straightforward presser, though I was surprised at her...huh...what's the best word here.... Well, put it this way, after she left I turned to Chris and said all I could think during the presser was that she was either drunk or on quaaludes. I really can't explain it any other way.
[Note: I wrote that immediately after her presser. Having now relistened to the audio I take a bit of it back. I think she was just tired and kind of over it. But her tone and drawl really was quaaludey. Kind of like how Ana's speed talking is a bit cokey.]
She was quite dismissive of her loss to Jay-Z in Indian Wells, ruefully shaking her head, "That was a really scratchy match. I wasn't playing very good there." She talked a bit about expectations, her match against Serena, and the physicality of the sport.
"If you really think about it it's so dumb. You have a grip in your hand, strings in the racquet, and this yellow fuzzy ball and you're hitting it since four years old. It's ridiculous. (laughter) It's dumb if you think about it. But it's what we do. And there's you're hitting thousands and thousands of balls from such a young age. And you're running and not only are you playing tennis but you're doing so many other things in order to get your body to where you want it be and right. I've done everything. I've been a gymnast, a boxer, I was so many things in order to help me to be stronger to be more flexible to get me to where I wanted to be in tennis."
That was actually her response to someone trying to compare golf to tennis. She doesn't put golf in the same ballpark as tennis, let alone the same universe.
All it all, it was fun to sit in a Masha presser. She definitely commands the room and despite the fact that she's only a few months older than Ana, she looks and acts like a world weary soldier. Just to be clear, the presser wasn't bad. It simply was unexpected. But that's probably more on me than her.
Presser clips after the jump:
On her Wimby loss, patience, and Jay Z.
On expectations.
