Daniyal Zagidullin: It is my dream to play at the Universiade in Kazan 01.02.2012

— Daniyal, you have changed your coach Rustem Urmeev who went to the USA. Can you tell why it happened so?
— There were several reasons for that. First of all, I did not finish that good last year…

— You were not listed among 8 top world players who decided the fate of the world championship title at the end of 2011?
— Yeah, something like that. (Laughs) I had several unpleasant declines in my performance. For example, I couldn’t show a good play in Japan. But then I got back to Kazan and won a local tournament but that was not what I considered a good result. Together with Rustem we decided that something should be changed. He said: «Apparently I’ve given you all I could.» That doesn’t mean we had an argument, and although we are going our separate ways now, we are still friends. And we write each other emails sometimes. It is quite probable that Urmeev will come back to Kazan soon. As for me, I didn’t have a coach for some time, and then sparred with Vladislav Gorshenin. Later that year Marat Safin came to Kazan, observed my training sessions and suggested going to Valencia. He knew a good academy there where a number of strong players were practicing. For example, Evgeny Donskoy, Alexander Lobkov, sometimes Denis Matsukevitch and Andrey Kuznetzov. I started to practice there last September.

— As far as I remember, during our first interview two years ago, we were talking about imperfections in your physical condition. Now it’s quite obvious to me that you’ve been working hard on that.
— Yes, I have taken all recommendations regarding my physical shape into consideration and in the end of last year I had a great pre-season session: I had an intensive six-week training and paid particular attention to my physical fitness. Well, and for the last two years I have matured, which, in fact, is not a surprise. I just need to take advantage of what I am right now.

— A lot of famous tennis players had games in Kazan for the past two years. What is their opinion about our city (off the record, so to speak)?

— The first impression is usually the astonishment from our academy. Athletes came not only to compete, but also to practice before a season started and they shared their thoughts afterwards. They found it unbelievable that it was built in Russia. They also mention a good level of tournament management. A word-of-mouth principle works for tennis players, because we always share our opinion about tournaments and their quality of organisation. And during one of the tournaments other players were asking me and those who had played there about the way things work in Kazan. And all the impressions of the Kazan Kremlin Cup were positive; we managed to persuade them that it is organised on a high level. So here they are now. There is only one disadvantage that constant participants of the tournament mention; it is really cold here during the tournament.

— And this tendency can be seen during all 3 years.
— True. I came to Kazan for New Year’s Eve and the weather was quite comfortable. Shall we move the tournament to the New Year season? By the way, we discussed this with Romanian player Marius Copil I will be playing doubles with and he asked jokingly: «All this cold weather, is it because I’ve arrived in your city?»

— It would be especially hard for African Malek Jaziri. By the way, what can you tell us about the tournament’s highest-ranked player? As for me, tennis and Tunisia have nothing in common, except a little bit of pronunciation.
— I agree. We haven’t heard much about good tennis players from this country. I have played in Tunisia but I don’t know anything about Jaziri. But Denis Matsukevitch knows him quite well and will be playing doubles with him at the tournament in Kazan.

— Have you ever wondered what happened to previous participants of the Kazan Kremlin Cup?
— I do not purposely keep track of their careers, but I keep an aye on Evgeny Donskoy’s performance. We are in good terms and practice together in Spain. He finished last year successfully and it’s quite probable that he will be among top 100 players at the end of 2012. I think he is the most gifted one among young Russian tennis players.

— The univesiade will take place in Kazan in 18 months. What should be done to take part in it?
— To have good results in tennis and be a student. As for me, I am currently a second-year Economics major at Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University. I am having an extramural education of course, I pass all my tests and exams during short periods when I am in Kazan. Speaking about the Universiade… Allah birsa (‘If God allows’ in Tatar. – The Editor’s Note), I will win a chance to be on Team Russia’s roster because I really want to play at home, in front of my dear audience.

Dzhaudat Abdullin

Special to kazan2013.com