Monday on the grounds of Cincinnati’s Linder Family Tennis Center had the feeling of a zoo when all animals are awake and out in the sun: Everywhere you looked, stars and familiar faces crossed paths with fans faster than the latter could fumble for their cameras.
Anna Chakvetadze won here in 2007
“Who’s that? And that? And that player over there?” asked excited fans, bordering on dizziness from watching six practice courts and the autograph row. “The trick is to get here early on the first day,” one visitor said. “I was here at eight. Venus and Serena were practicing side-by-side, and Dementieva was out for an hour. Hardly anyone was here.”
Ana Ivanovic beat Melanie Oudin in the first round on Monday
The highlight of the day, however, occurred away from the fans, during the media All-Access Hour with several top players. TalkAboutTennis.com joined the press corps in a tent where each player sat alone and journalists table-hopped to conduct interviews. Jelena Jankovic (in all-black athletic wear) stayed the longest, appearing happy to chat with everyone, though her table was rarely as full as Venus Williams’. Arriving in a colorful tie-dyed maxi dress, Williams found a throng of reporters waiting at her assigned table. Svetlana Kuznetsova (in a T-shirt and shorts) and Caroline Wozniacki (in practice attire) also didn’t draw full audiences, and World No. 1 Dinara Safina (in a white cotton shirt and cropped warm-up pants) stood most of the time with television crews, towering over everyone. Serena Williams (dressed casually) arrived toward the end and stayed for less than ten minutes, reportedly trying to recover from the flu.
Dinara Safina listens to a reporter's question
Here are the highlights of TalkAboutTennis.com’s visit with some of the top seeds:
Caroline Wozniacki
Having recently met David Beckham, on which soccer star she would like to meet most: “Fernando Torres, for sure. He’s scoring so many goals, he’s so good. And he’s a good-looking guy, too.”
Wozniacki is seeded 8th in Cincinnati
On being tagged the “next big thing” on the WTA: “So far, it’s been really good. I’ve been playing some good tennis. I mean, people start to expect more, that I win and go far in tournaments, but I’m just putting my own pressure on myself. I just want to improve every time and not think about the results.”
On how the tour has changed since Kim Clijsters left: “I mean, I didn’t play then, but now it’s not anymore the Top 10 players win easily against the rest. Everyone can beat everyone on a day, so it’s tougher.”
Jelena Jankovic
On the Cincinnati weather: “It’s nice, but it’s very humid. Last week I was in San Diego, and the weather was much drier. Yesterday was my first practice, and it took me some time to adjust to the heat and humidity.”
On the return of Clijsters: “It’s great for our game that she’s coming back. She has a great personality and she was a great champion before. It’s good for tennis, to have more great athletes and entertaining players.”
On memories of Clijsters: “When I came on tour, I played her in my second tournament. I was 16. I got a wild card into Stanford and played her in the quarterfinal and lost 6-4, 6-4. I remember she does the splits, just like me. It’s something we have in common. There aren’t many players who can do that.”
On Marion Bartoli’s comments that she is afraid to play Clijsters: “I’m not afraid of playing anybody. I have no fear against anybody. I go out there to play the best that I can and try to win. You always have to go out there and believe you can do it. Sometime you don’t do it, but you have to go out there and do your best.”
Seeded 5th, the Serb will face Maria Kirilenko in the second round
On how the tour has changed since Clijsters left: “It has become more powerful. Girls hit the ball much, much harder. All the girls become stronger, they go to the gym. It’s amazing, if you see the Top 10 players, they’re all tall and big. I’m 177 [cm] and I’m one of the smallest. You can imagine how big the others are.”
On the hard-court season: “I’m looking forward [to] it. The most famous hard court event is coming up. I played finals there last year, so I’d like to prepare the best I can. I feel good. I lost a little body weight and I feel much faster on the court, much better. My game is coming together.”
Serena Williams
On getting the flu this week: “I’m feeling better than yesterday at least.”
On changes since Clijsters left: “Everyone – at least against me – is a tough player. Everyone is at least 15 or 20 years younger than me. So that’s how much it’s changed.”
Although under the weather, Serena Williams looked excited to be at the tournament
On the likelihood that she will find herself on Tour with a baby: “Well, I plan on playing a long time. If that means I have to pop one out and keep going, I will.”
On the state of the WTA if Clijsters should beat Top 10 players: “She’s a good player, a great player. I actually expect her to do well.”
On her form since Wimbledon: “I feel like I tried to keep that form and not take too much time off. Hopefully that will pay off.”
On her accomplishments: “I’ve been taking my time. I feel like I’m too young, and if I do look back, I’ll be like, wow, that was pretty good; so I don’t want to look back.”
On the relative difficulty of winning tournaments in the hard-court season: “I don’t know. It’s always super competitive the beginning of the year, because everyone has fresh legs. That’s a really good question.”
More photos from the 2009 Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open Tennis Tournament.
Photos: Megan Fernandez, Kelly Fritz