Teymuraz Gabashvili: I’ve payed at the Universiade. Now it’s time for the Olympics 02.02.2012

— I have mixed feelings about my performance in China. On one hand, I was glad to get this medal. On the other hand, I expected to win the gold considering the fact that I was the first one the list. And I lost to a player from Korea, not a really strong country in tennis, except table tennis. With all due respect, he played 100% and was fantastic. I heard his interview after the game and he said that he was training specifically for the Universiade and he deserved that place. On my side I was satisfied with my own game. I played 5 or 6 matches there and showed quite a good level. After China I took part in ATP Challenger finals and thanks to good shape I was in after the Universiade. And my team was also satisfied with my performance in Shenzhen.

— Which university are you studying at?
— I am a student on a Psychology Faculty at the University of Fenix. And I am on a distant learning there. I am also studying at Russian State University of Physical Education in Moscow on extramural basis. I will be presenting my Russian University during the Universiade but my main goal is to graduate in the USA.

— Teymuraz in the Soviet times it was really prestigious for tennis players to take part in the Universiade. The reason for that was that our athletes had very few international competitions because they were considered amateurs and couldn’t play on ATP tournaments. After this barrier had been removed, tennis part of the Universiade became less desirable. How would you evaluate prestige of the competition in Shenzhen?
— I would answer so. As good was USSR education, as much it has changed since then. There were times when a MSU graduate of the 90’s was not hired while the 70s graduate didn’t have such problems.

Photo of Rashit Shiriyazdanov

— Let’s talk about Russian team that became closer to us after last year’s Davis Cup in Kazan. You have once been its member. Is there a chance you would join it again?
— Improving one’s abilities is the means to get an invitation to the national team.

— And as for now you hope for ‘help from abroad”? I mean the invitation Alex Bogomolov got to join the American team. He lives in the US but has Russian roots.
— As an alternative — yes. But in Bogomolov’s particular case pay attention to the fact that he is 29. A critical age for a newcomer in our tennis team. How long will he play on that level? A year, or two, or even 4 years. And what next? We need young players that is trained systematically. Let’s take my example. I became number 260 when I was 18 and was not considered very promising at that point. I was just a good player, nothing more. Right now there are no players like me then. At this age young players are much lower. Thanks God, President of the Russian Tennis Federation of Tennis Shamil Tarpishchev has decided to work on preparing the reserve. Much work is being done in preparing our national team’s reserve and there are money for that. They are looking for gifted players across the country to help in grow. Our program of tennis development looks a little bit like the French one that gave great results. But that would be more difficult for us because French Federation of Tennis has Grand Slam tournament. Roland Garros bring a lot of money. Our financial opportunities are smaller. But we will involve less people into the program where they will organize the teams with their own coaches and competition involvement. Now we need to wait for 4-5-6 years when the program will start to work.
Our current team should keep us in the Davis Cup’s World group. We cannot even dream about the victories, finals and all that sparkle of the recent past.

Photo of Rashit Shiriyazdanov

— It is known that Russian tennis players start their careers at home but then continue all around the world. Safin family and Svetlana Kuznetzova are in Spain, Maria Sharapova in the USA, Nikolay Davidenko in Germany. And where was Teymuraz Gabashvili’s alma matter? And where is he heading to?
— My alma mater is in Moscow, where I started to practice with Andrey Kesarev at the age of 8. And my route was to Spain where I went to at 16. I was trained by Andrey Olegovich until I was 18 and then I worked with several other coaches. I stayed in Spain for 7 years. But when I came there I was around 200 in ATP list and people around could see that I had potential.

— Spain is big. Do the Russians go to the places where there are already their fellows?
— Of course. Parents would want their children to go somewhere and be surrounded by strangers. It is always easier to follow an already existing path that discover something new. That is why Russians are heading to the academies that have already been tested. For example Sanches – Casal Academy (opened by the most famous Spanish tennis players Emilio Sanches and Sergio Casal. — Author’s note) where Svetlana Kuznetzova is. Or the one in Valencia where there are a lot of our players thanks to Marat Safin and Dinara Safina.

Photo of Egor Aleev

— What are you goals for the championship in Kazan?
— I came there after two months of training in Maiami. I fill great. I came to win this tournament but that would be a challenging task. I should say that when I cam there for the first time I found a great tennis center there and that is very important for our athletes.

— How would you as a newcomer evaluate the level of KAZAN KREMLIN CUP?
— Speaking about tournaments of such level, I would put this one somewhere in the middle. There are plenty of tournaments of ATP Challenger level. There are championships people love to watch like Grand Slam’s start. People relax their time there because they can get other services apart from the game. And 7 days of the tournament become a holiday week for the audience and the fans. But there are also tournaments where there is no one except for the players and the staff. Your tournament is a good one but there is still space for improvements if you want to reach a higher level.

— The Olympics will start in 6 months. What must be done to get to London?
— My main goal is to get into Olympics singles but I need to be rated 65-70 for that. There is a rule in tennis that no more than 4 players can represent one country, but only if more than 4 players from this country are among the top 50. There are very few such countries. Spain, France, Argentina, USA probably. I was once among the top 60 and now I’m going to get back. And for that I need to gain points right now and here, starting from the Kazan tournament. If I manage that, I would be glad to receive an invitation to the national team in doubles or mixed.

— Teymuraz, you have made the right choice at the start of the season. Tobias Kamke from Germany was a finalist there in 2010 and when finished was crowned to be “world’s best young player”. Yulia Putintseva won Tatatrstan Open last year and last week was in Australian Open juniors final.
— But wait, Michael Pzhisezhni has won there and right now is somewhere in 400 of the world list (Teymuraz Gabashvili is talking about Michal Przysiezny but pronounce his name in English.— Author’s note).

— One more example of a good game in winter Kazan. After his victory in 2010 Przysiezny moved from 172 into the first hundred. And last year he didn’t come here. Result — misfortunes and number 307 of the world rating.
— So that’s the case. I will hope for my luck here and a good season.

Dzhaudat Abdullin

Special to kazan2013.com