Valery Lutkov: Echpochmaks will perfectly demonstrate local color 13.08.2010

On August 9 the ITF International Women’s Tennis Tournament started in Kazan. Tournament Supervisor Valery Lutkov gave an exclusive interview to kazan2013.com and told a few words about the ongoing competition

- Having compared the entry lists of the Men’s Tennis Tournament Kazan Kremlin Cup (Challenger Tour ATP) and of the women’s Tatarstan Open 2010 an observant onlooker will notice that the previous tournament featured more foreign athletes. And in this event there are mainly Russian tennis players. What’s the reason of such a difference?
- If you look at the world’s top 100 female tennis players list you will come across the names of Maria Sharapova, Dinara Safina, Elena Dementyeva, Elena Zvonareva, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Nadezhda Petrova, Anna Chakvetadze and Alisa Kleybanova. Their rivals are perfectly aware that they do not stand a chance here. That’s why the Kazan tournament is not an ordinary sporting event. Many thanks to the Tatarstan government for deciding to hold the current event. Now nobody cannot move it.
As for the tennis players who arrived in Kazan you’ll see the second top 10 ratings tennis players of Russia: Ksenia Pervak, Anna Lapuschenkova, Evgeniya Rodina, Ekaterina Bychkova, Alexandra Panova and Arina Rodionova. Moreover these athletes are in action at present. Pervak succeeded in Austria, Rodina in Astana, Kazakhstan, Bychkova in Moscow. Vitalia Diatchenko was brilliant in doubles events in Copenhagen, Denmark.

- Valery Valeryevich, the tournament’s unofficial source, so-called bush telegraph, distributed information that two tennis players had got sunstroken and had been taken to the hospital. Can you tell the names of the poor things?
- I’m sorry to disappoint the bush telegraph but there were no such accidents. You play tennis in a worse weather. Sure, it’s hot in Kazan, today it’s 34 degrees since 10am. Such a heat was a common weather condition this summer in Europe. A few girls felt unwell because last week in Moscow they had had to play in smog that covered the capital of Tatarstan as well. They arrived here intoxicated already and they didn’t have enough strength for recovery. Tennis is a professional sport and everyone understands that athletes come here to win a money prize, to move up in rankings.

- Do you expect that we’ll witness the longest match in tennis history like the one between Frenchman Mahut and American Isner during the Wimbledon tournament? How would you come out of such a situation?
- Thankfully enough it’s technically impossible. Only in the Grand Slam, Wimbledon, Roland Garros, the Australian open, the US Open and Davis Cup there is a deciding set without a tie-break. And in the Tatarstan Open the third set is ended by a break. But still the girls set a record here, the longest match lasted 3 hours 20 minutes. And nothing – everyone survived. As you remember after the above mentioned Wimbledon record-breaking match Isner had another long game against American Fish who needed medical help after the end of the meet.

- It’s no wonder. Mardy Fish’s last name speaks for itself. A fish cannot leave without water. Speaking seriously what can you say about one young tournament entrant, Anna Smolina? I heard that she intended to represent Tatarstan.
- I’ve seen her at several junior tournaments. As far as I know she earned a slot in the Russian national reserve team. Anna is a very goal-oriented girl, her performance improves, she played in a $10,000 tournament last year. Now she plays in a $50,000 tournament. I just want to specify that a three-year period is a long term and everything may happen.

- I’ve looked through the national reserve team list and found another name that can be interesting to Tatarstan tennis-lovers – Veronika Kudermetova from Moscow. Can you say a few words about her?
- No, I don’t know her as I don’t follow junior tournaments that much. Who is she? A rising star? I’m intrigued.

- The Ak Bars supporters will recognize her as the daughter of former Ak Bars forward player Eduard Kudermetov, who ended his career in CSKA. Well, it’s OK that you don’t know her, maybe we will hear about her someday. During the press conference you’ve mentioned that the Tennis Academy was not ready yet. What did you mean by saying that?
- We have five outdoor courts at our disposal: the central court and four additional ones. That’s enough for holding the tournament like this one but not enough for a larger event. Its is expected that 12 or 14 outdoor courts will be built to stage serious tournaments including the Universiade. I’m sure that in future we’ll see advertising banners, LCD displays, a digital scoreboard. I’m sure that there’s a lot more to come. The court we are standing on was built less then a week ago.

- Strawberries and cream like in Wimbledon?
- I think that national cuisine will be more appropriate, chak-chak or echpochmaks (Tatar national dishes. – translator’s note) for example (smiles).