SYDNEY '2000

    Magüi plays for the first time in her career in the Olympic Games. This is what she said before making her debut.

(Translation from Diario La Provincia (17/09/00))

Magüi Serna: “I’ve recovered the hope”

    Magüi Serna is already in the place where other 63 tennis players from all over the world will try to get the Olympic gold. “To be able to represent Spain in Sydney means an enourmous happiness for me and is a dream made true”, the Canarian comments for LA PROVINCIA/DLP from the Olympic Village where the Games that begin the third millenium will take place.

    The extraordinary Canarian lefty, Arantxa and Conchita have a chance to improve the four medals the Spanish women’s tennis has got so far. “Everything is possible in this competition”, she says. “ we’re going to face very tough rivals, such as the Williams sisters, Davenport and Seles, among others. But as I’ve told you, everything can happen”

    Magüi confesses she has found again “the hope I had lost because the last season the results didn’t show my tennis potential”  The ‘breakage’ with her coach could influence in her short  bad patch. “Fortunately, everything is different now, I’ve recovered the lost confidence and I have a very high moral”  It is no wonder if we see the great results she’s got during the last months. She’s been again top 30 after reaching the quarterfinals in Wimbledon and the fourth round in the US Open. All of this with wins against Mary Pierce- current Roland Garros champion-, which let her compete in the Olympic Games in Sydney; and her recent win against Amanda Coetzer, always a tough rival.

    “ I’m really having a very good period of game and results. I feel currently very good, I’ve recovered the confidence in my game, I’m very excited and, above all, I enjoy playing, which is very important. I’m looking forward to the competition because this is one of the experiences you never forget. I’m going to try to do my best so that everyone enjoys these Games as much as I’m going to do”, she concluded from Sydney.
 

(Translation from www.yahoo.es (17/09/00))

Magüi Serna: “All the players want a medal”

    The Canarian player, 31st in the WTA ranking, faces her first participation in the Olympic Games and her first rival will be the French Nathalie Dechy, 11th-seeded and number 21 in the world.

    “I haven’t played her for a long time, since we were juniors, but I’ve come here to do my best and I hope to win”, commented the Canarian about her chances of  reaching the following round.

    Magüi is very happy because she is in the Olympic Village because of two reasons: Arantxa and Conchita aren’t there, so she has a room for herself, something that doesn’t happen in any case: “Most people envy me when I tell them that I’m alone and they want to come to my room”. Smiling she says that the ones that wanted to share room with her were girls, “don’t think the worst!!”

    About the women’s draw she says Venus Williams is the favourite, although she says she isn’t unbeatable: “She has a lot of confidence because she hasn’t lost for a long time and that makes her an even tougher rival. She’s very strong physically. She’s very big and makes you think the court is very small, because she doesn’t leave you space. Besides, she hits the ball with a lot of power”

    Magüi Serna said that getting a medal is very difficult because “all the players come to the Olympic Games with hope “
 

   Magüi wasn’t lucky and lost by 6-1, 6-2 in the first round of the Olympic Games against the French Nathalie Dechy, 11th-seeded. These are her words after the match.

(Translation from www.sportsya.com (19/09/00))

Sydney 2000. Magüi Serna loses to Nathalie Dechy

   The Spaniard Magüi Serna lost in the first round of the women’s tennis Olympic tournament in Sydney to the French Nathalie Dechy by 6-1 and 6-2 in 59 minutes. The Canarian didn’t find her game at any moment against the French and lost the first set by 6-1 after losing her serve three times. Serna tried to react in the second set, but the French player didn’t give her any option.

   After the match, the Canarian was disappointed and said she couldn’t talk about her game, because she hadn’t been able to develop it at any moment. “ I knew it would be a tough match, but in your first Olympic Games you always think you’re going to do well. That’s why it hurts and I’m disappointed”, she commented.

    “I had a cold and I couldn’t breathe properly, but it can’t be an excuse because I have never developed my game. What happens is that when you’re behind in the score and can’t draw the match you get more nervous and then you can’t breathe”, she explained.

   “It’s the same in all sports, and especially in these of direct disqualification, if you have a bad day, you say goodbye”, said the Spanish player, who said that “playing like in Wimbledon or in the US Open, any rival was accessible”.

    “But because of any circumstance I can’t talk about my game, and that way you always depend a lot on the other. If she doesn’t make mistakes, she defeats you. She played her tennis and I didn’t cause her any problem”, added Serna, who qualified her human experience in the Games as “very positive”, she is going to stay in Sydney some days to watch other sports and later she will face the indoor season. “I’ll try to enjoy the Games calmly. The experience here, in the Village, is very positive, I’ve loved it because the atmosphere is very good, you meet lots of people and sportspeople you don’t usually meet”, she said.

   The Canarian player loved, for example, being at the Opening Ceremony and share a little moment with the handball, volleyball, basketball ...players, but above all, she met Fernando León (sailing), also from the Canary Islands.