WIMBLEDON 2000

    Magüi had in Wimbledon 2000 her best performance in a Grand Slam so far, reaching the quarterfinals.

     In this section, we include two interviews we’ve found related to the matches Magüi played in this tournament.

     In the second round, she defeated the French Mary Pierce, third seeded, getting one of her best wins, which allows her to play the Olympic Games in Sydney. Here an interview after the match:
 

( www.wimbledon.org (29/06/00))

M.SERNA/M. Pierce 7-6, 7-6

Q. Was this as big a win as you've had?

MAGÜI SERNA: Well, I beat her already once at the French Open, but she wasn't No. 3 of the world. I beat Novotna when she was No. 3. It's like close my best win ever.

Q. Did you watch the French Open final?

MAGÜI SERNA: Yes. I was in Birmingham playing my tournament on grass. I saw the final there.

Q. How much different did you think she played today than what you saw against Conchita?

MAGÜI SERNA: It's completely different. Here is grass court, over there is clay court. I think she prefer to play on clay court than on grass. She doesn't like to play so much on grass. I knew she was going to be like with a lot of confidence. When she play against Conchi, she hits very hard. On clay you can hit hard. Here if you play with slice and come into the net, it's not that easy to move here on grass. She doesn't have that much time to prepare grass like I do. I played Birmingham, then I went to Eastbourne, then I came here. She just played the French Open.

Q. Seemed like she had a hard time finding her rhythm.

MAGÜI SERNA: It's very difficult to get rhythm here on grass court. Points, they don't last that long as clay court, as on hard court. Just have serve. If you serve well, it's difficult to play a point. That's why, I don't know, she wasn't getting the rhythm.
 

    By defeating the American Lilia Osterloh, she reached the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam for the first time in her career.

(Translation from La Provincia (4/7/00))

“I want to go farther”

    She had just reached the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam for the first time in her life, but the Spaniard Magüi Serna wanted more: “I want to go farther”

    Her win by 7-6 (7-1) and 6-3 against the American Lilia Osterloh in an hour and nine minutes lets her face the winner of Dokic-Brandi to search a place in the semifinals of Wimbledon, the most prestigious tournament.

    Serna, who was born in Las Palmas, is the third Spaniard who reaches the quarterfinals in Wimbledon in the Open Era. Lili Álvarez, finalist in 1926, 1927 and 1928, had done it in the first part of the century.

Q: You’re among the eight best players of the most prestigious tournament of the world…

M.S.: I haven’t thought about that. I’m only thinking about the next match, which is as important or more than the matches I’ve played so far. But being among the best eight of the tournament is great. I want to be now among the four best ones. I’m very confident.

Q: What did you do yesterday (Sunday) in a strange day, without tennis?

M.S.: It was very strange. I came here, I trained for a while and later we had lunch and we left in the afternoon.

Q: When you came here, did you think of reaching the quarterfinals?

M.S.: Not at all! Even dreaming, but when you win matches, you begin to believe it.

Q: What happened in the locker?

M.S.: Nothing, they congratulated me and nothing else. It wasn’t like when I defeated Pierce. That day came everyone, it was an impact. For me it was key because with that win I qualified for the Olympics. Then, when I went into the locker and I learnt I could be in Sydney, I was very happy.

Q.: Have you received many calls from Spain?

M.S.: Yes, my phone is ringing all the time, all the calls are kept. I haven’t listened to them. I have received letters everyday and they have written to me from the Canary Islands. I think everything is revolutioned.

Q: Why don’t you listen to your messages?

M.S.: Because it’s very expensive to listen to them.

Q: In the two last Grand Slams, two Canarians in quarters. How is your relationship with Marta Marrero?

M.S.: I don’t know her much, I know more her older sister, who is my age, and with whom I trained. She lives in the Canary Islands and I live in Barcelona. I saw her very well in Paris. I know she’s changed her trainer, that she’s doing very well. I see her seldom, but I’m happy because she’s Canarian.

Q: Have you changed your trainer?

M.S.: Yes, since I’m in the academy I’ve done very important changes. I had never been in academies before. That’s why the change has been so important. The way of training is completely different, many hours. The results have begun to arrive now.