WIMBLEDON 2000

    Magüi had in Wimbledon 2000 her best performance in a Grand Slam so far, reaching the quarterfinals.

    In this section, we include the words we’ve found after the different matches Magüi played in this tournament.

    In the second round, she defeated the French Mary Pierce, third seeded, getting one of her best wins, which allows her to play the Olympic Games in Sydney. Here her words after the match.

(Translation from Marca Digital(30/6/00))

THE SPANIARD DEFEATED THE FRENCH IN WIMBLEDON

Serna: “Winning this tournament is what I’ve always dreamt”

    María Luisa Serna said after her win against the French Mary Pierce that winning Wimbledon is what she’s always dreamt, and now she is in the good way and she expects the maximum.

    “This is my favourite tournament”, said Serna after reaching the third round in Wimbledon, “it’s the maximum and I’ve always dreamt of winning it, that’s why playing today on the Centre Court and defeating Pierce has been so incredible”, she commented.

    Magüi Serna said that she needed this result and she’s been looking for it for a long time. “I needed something that reflected the work I’ve been doing since I changed my coach, I had played some good matches in Roland Garros, but I needed to win a match like today’s, a good match, against an important player, in a special place, to get confidence, and Pierce and Wimbledon are that”, she said.

    “During the match I didn’t think I was playing against Pierce, the champion of Roland Garros. If I had done, maybe my arm had numbed . But I’ve had faith. I only thought I had already defeated her and I could do now because my game adapts well to grass, and hers suffers more here”, she commented.

    “Now that I’ve defeated Pierce, I know I can defeat anyone. I don’t want to have a goal, but I know I can do it and I don’t mind my rival”, she finished.
 
 

    In the third round, she defeated the Dutch Miriam Oremans, reaching  the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the fourth time in her career.
 

(Translation from La Provincia (2/7/00))

Serna: “After defeating Mary Pierce I couldn’t lose”

    The Canarian Magüi Serna said yesterday after reaching the fourth round in Wimbledon for the second time in her career that “after defeating the French Mary Pierce, I couldn’t lose”, and now she’ll fight to death.

    “I knew it would be a tough match because this is the best surface for Oremans and she has a very good volley”, said Serna, “but I thought that after defeating Pierce I couldn’t lose, I knew I couldn’t lose. Defeating Pierce was very important but also winning the following match, because I couldn’t relax”.

    “I’m as happy as I was, because reaching the fourth round in Wimbledon isn’t a thing that you get everyday and with chances, but anyone who gets this is playing well and can win. But it’s a quite accessible round”, she said.

    Serna said that in the first set she wasn’t in the match, but she recovered later. “When I won the second set I found a lot of strength”, she said.

    “My dream is winning the tournament, and I’m making it step by step. I’m living it well and I want to take this chance”, the Canarian said.

    About her next match, on Monday, against the American Lilia Osterlosh, Serna said  she has “many chances, but she respects her rival”.

    “I’ll fight to death”, said Magüi remembering how the first time she reached this round in Wimbledon was, two years ago, “I played Davenport then, and she kicked me out, but I have more chances this time”, said the player very satisfied with her performance on the grass of Wimbledon.
 

    By defeating the American Lilia Osterloh, she reached the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam for the first time in her career.

(Translation from Marca Digital (4/7/00))

"IN QUARTERS AGAINST DOKIC, MY SERVE WILL BE THE KEY”

Magüi Serna: “Now, I don’t want to stop”

    The Canarian Magüi Serna goes on her dream in Wimbledon, where she reached the quarterfinals for the first time, but Magüi said this isn’t the end and she doesn’t want to stop. “Once I’m here, what I want is to continue, not stopping”, said Serna excited. “ I haven’t thought of the fact of being among the best eight players of the tournament, but that’s really great and what I really want now is to be among the four best ones”. Serna will face the Australian Jelena Dokic, who defeated Gala León, and who defeated today the American Kristina Brandi by 6-2 and 6-3.

    “Tomorrow’s match is the most important match I’ve played so far”, she said, “and I don’t mind the rival. I don’t have preferences and I have enough confidence to face anyone”. “Against Dokic, my serve, which I’m hitting very well,  will be the key. It’s difficult to break it and I push a lot with the return”, she commented. About the match against Osterloh, Serna said the round was accessible.

The nerves

    “But I’ve been today more nervous than in other matches, because I knew I had a very important chance of reaching the quarterfinals and I was the favourite”, she said. “We have been very nervous, but finally, I’ve been able to win”, she continued. “I feel very good, because you can’t do this everyday and tomorrow I have chances, because when you’re  at this point, you have your chances against anyone. Not playing to a seed, even to reach the semifinals, gives you chances, and that’s very important”, she said.

    “ I’m going to fight to death, because the fact of having just defeated Pierce, champion of Roland Garros, gives me a lot of confidence. I think she’ll respect me”. Magüi confessed that before playing the match, she didn’t expect to be so far. “But you believe this when you win the matches”, she said. The Canarian commented that she has no time to listen to the messages she has received. “I have many messages in my mobile phone, and I haven’t listened to them yet. It’s going to be very expensive. People also write many messages to my mobile and in my room. I think the Canary Islands are revolutioned”, she said.
 

    These are words of Arantxa after losing to Seles and learning that Magüi was the only Spanish player in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon 2000.

(Translation from Marca Digital (4/7/00))

DEFEATED BY SELES, SHE SUPPORTS THE CANARIAN

Arantxa: “Magüi is the relay”

    Arantxa Sánchez Vicario said after losing in the fourth round of Wimbledon that at last “there’s a relay in the Spanish women’s tennis” and she was happy because Magüi was her substitute. “Finally, there’s a relay in the women’s tennis, and I’m happy because Magüi is the one who is there”, Arantxa said.

    “ I hope she continues and wins, now that I can’t”, she commented after losing to Monica Seles. “It’s very good for her and for women’s tennis in general”, Arantxa continued. “I’m happy because she is a great friend and she is doing a great tournament. She has nothing to lose and she likes the court, I think she can go quite far. When she wins matches, she has more confidence, and that’s good”.
 

     In the quarterfinals her dream was over, losing to the Australian Jelena Dokic.
 

(Translation from Marca Digital (4/7/00))

THE LAST SPANIARD IN WIMBLEDON 2000 RECOGNISES SHE LEFT NUMBED

Magüi: “I should have left more convinced”

    Magüi Serna said today after losing to the Australian Jelena Dokic in the quarterfinals in Wimbledon that she wasn’t convinced enough and she left too nervous in her first match in this round in a Grand Slam. “My nerves have betrayed me a little because I thought that this round was accessible and it was the first time I was there. You always think you could have done better, but I got numbed. If I played again, I’d be more calm”, said Serna, who leaves Wimbledon with 14 million pesetas in her pocket, a place for the Olympic Games in Sydney and a ranking close to 25 (she was the number 49 before Wimbledon)

    “I tried to develop my game, but she didn’t let me. My serve didn’t work like other days”, she complained. “But this is another match and you learn from everything, it was a pity that it was a quarterfinal and I couldn’t play better” “I could never get rid of the pressure”, said Serna when she commented how Dokic returns. “She was killing me with her strokes, she was comfortable returning and I didn’t give her problems in any moment”, she added. “It makes you furious because you see you can reach the semifinals, and once there, anything can happen”, she said analysing how she felt with the defeat.

    “However, it’s been a great experience, and you have to reach the quarterfinals to see the chance of reaching the semifinals, but one always expects more”