PORTO 2002

    Magüi's words after her first-round win in Porto 2002

(Translation from  http://www.portoopen.com)

Serna starts winning, but she remains cautious

    Magüi Serna started the Porto Open with a win against the Ukranian Tatiana Perebyinis by 6-2, 7-5.

    Last year’s runner-up won her first match on clay after many months without playing on this surface:

    “I don’t even remember the last time I played on clay”, confessed the Canarian after the match. "I had some difficulties, because I hadn’t played on clay since July, and that affected my game".

    In spite of the win, Serna didn’t hide she is still looking for her best moment. The adaptation to a new surface and the early elimination in some tournamets make more difficult come back to the best level, as she recognises:

    “You notice the change of surface. Besides, I was eliminated early in some tournaments and this affects your confidence”. This year Serna came back home (Las Palmas), after 9 years training in Barcelona, a change in the routine that has consequences in Serna’s tennis:

    “All these changes affect you, go with you”.

    The Canarian player remembers nicely Porto, because she reached here her first WTA final last year, although this doesn’t push her too much:

    “This is a tournament more. I have strong rivals, but I think match after match. I don’t have much confidence, so I just try to put the balls on the court. But I think I’ll recover the confidence little by little”.

    "I hope to keep the happy memories that I have of this tournament. Last year I reached the final and now I don’t want to do worse. I know it’s my first tournament on clay and it’s always difficult, but today I’ve won in confidence and I could do good things".

    Yesterday’s win was very important for Serna: “ Winning the first match was very important, besides in two sets”, said the Canarian, whose goals are to be top 15 and win some tournaments.

    Some Magüi’s word after her win in the second round, not to happy in spite of winning.

    "Mi rival hasn’t played well, but I’ve made many mistakes. And everything was even more difficult with the wind and the water on the court".

    "The only positive aspect of this match has been the score".

    Magüi's words after reaching the semifinals.

(Translation from http://www.portoopen.com)

    "In the first set there has been a lot of equality and the points have been very long. Anyway, I was serving for the set with 5-3, so I could have solved the match earlier. But as I didn’t do it, I was forced to play till 7-5. In the second set I’ve had more confidence and that has been reflected in the score of 6-1. Last year I defeated Cara Black, but she is the strongest in this tournament. I don’t know Gubacsi".

    "Today it was a little bit more difficult, very windy, very cold, it seemed it could rain at any moment. And yesterday it was very sunny. There are big contrasts. The courts dry, later they are wet again and the balls are too hard. But I’m very happy because I’ve played better than the previous days and each day I feel more comfortable on the court".

    Magüi's words after reaching the final in Porto 2002

    Serna, who played her best match on the tournament so far, needed over an hour and a half to beat Gubacsi in a very close match with very long games. In the first set both keeped serve till the eigthth game, where Serna could break to lead and win finally by 6-3.

   In the second set, also the equality domined the match and both players lost their serves in the third and fourth game. With 5-5 Serna broke the Hungarian's serve and finally won by 7-5.

    Magüi Serna was very satisfied with her performance on the court, in a match " very hard because only the fact of reaching the semifinals implies equality and higher difficulty". The coldness and the nerves dominated the Canarian player during the first minutes of the match: "But once concentrated I think I've played a great game. I have felt very comfortable and I've been able to develope my game".

    Talking about the final, the player from Las Palmas will try to take the great chance of getting her first WTA singles title (last year she won her first doubles title in Knokke-Heist together with Virgina Ruano). Serna says that this time the final is gonna be closer: "Without wanting to underrate nobody, Arantxa was a tougher rival, you can't make many errors against her. I think this year the final is going to be harder-fought and I'll have more chances of winning".

    "At the beginning it was really cold. I was frozen. Besides, I hadn’t played on that court and it took long to get used to it. But I’m very satisfied with my game and now we’ll try to do better than last year".

    About Montolio: "She likes a lot playing on clay and the matches against her are always very long. She runs a lot and makes a great effort. She is not a very aggressive player, but she makes her rival become exasperated".

    Magüi's words after the final.

(Translation from http://www.portoopen.com)

    Magüi Serna was desolated. The Canarian lost again the Porto final, so she wasn’t able to get her first WTA title.

   "I knew it was going to be very difficult, because she is a fighter and she had just to expect my errors. And besides at the beginning I’ve been very rash... In the second set I was calmer, I didn’t risk so much, and in the third one I had some chances to win the match, but I didn’t take them".

    " I won’t have many times more chances to win than the ones that I’ve had today. 2-0 in the third set, 3-2 and serve...".

    In fact, after a first set in which she only won a game (with Montolio’s serve) and a second set in which she dominated, Serna lost the concentration in the third set, when she made 4 doubles faults, one of them in the game that gave the win to her rival.

    In Serna’s opinion, the fave player for the crow at the Centre Court ("I’ve been surprised by the crowd’s support, I didn’t expect it"), the problem was to serve badly, one of her weapons. Besides, the rain that has been falling during the previous days has made the courts harder and slower: "For me the court was too slow and it take me long to adapt to it. This benefitted Montolio, who prefers slower to faster courts, contrary to me", she explained.

    In spite of the defeat, Serna was happy with the tournament she has made, because she was feeling better match after match, and she has more confidence now".

    Now Serna travels to Estoril, where she played last year, and she finds the tennis practised there faster, although it’s also a clay court tournament.

    "I’m gonna try to win. Last year I played there for the first time and I think the surface is faster than here. I’m gonna give everything in each match".