The Daily Forehand Talks to Akgul Amanmuradova

CINCINNATI--Akgul Amanmuradova is playing the best tennis of her life. 

Entering the Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open in the qualifying draw, Akgul won two matches to reach the main draw, and then won two main draw matches against fellow qualifiers Kimiko Date Krumm and Bojana Jovanovski, only dropping a total of five games in those two matches.

In the third round, Akgul notched the biggest win of her career, upsetting WTA #2 and Cincinnati's top seed Jelena Jankovic 7-6(3), 6-4 for a spot in Friday's quarterfinals, where she will face Ana Ivanovic.

After her first round win over Date Krumm, I got the chance to sit down with Akgul for a fairly lengthy one-on-one interview.  Among other things, we discussed about her decisive win over Date Krumm, the state of tennis in Central Asia, her memories of the 2008 Olympics, and her unique on-court fashion stylings.

TDF: What was the key to playing so well against her today?

Akgul Amanmuradova:  Well I had two matches in qualies, and I really felt the rhythm.  I was serving well.  I knew that she's a very experience player, and that she's been giving a lot of players a lot of trouble since she came back.  I knew I would have to really serve well, and that was the key.  And if I do, I will always get the short ball after, or she will miss.  And I knew that if I played flat with her, she is very good at this, playing from the baseline.  If you hit hard with her, she plays better.  So I was trying to change the rhythm, with some slice, and change the volume of my shot, with a lot of rotation.  And not only moving her side to side, but also forward.  I think that changing the rhythm, and the serves today, were the key.

TDF: You made 82% of first serves today, which for someone who serves as hard as you do is really impressive.  How are you able to balance consistency and power that well?

Akgul Amanmuradova: Well, as I said, I've been serving well the last few matches.  And today, I was really focused.  I was thinking that if I put more first serves, I have more chances to have weaker returns.  Against her, it's very important.  Because with second serves, she really smashes it back, and puts me in trouble. It worked well today (laughs).  I didn't do anything special, in terms of how I managed to do it.  Just was trying to be focused and have a plan.

TDF: You've had a lot of success in Cincinnati before, making the semifinals here in 2007 which was sort of your breakthrough tournament, and now again this year you're doing well.  What is it about playing here in Cincinnati that you do so well with? Do you do better in heat than most players?

Akgul Amanmuradova: Well I am from a country where it's pretty hot (laughs).  Heat--It bothers me, anyway, because it's not easy to play here.  It's humid, and if you run a lot it's tough.  I don't know if there is something special [here], and that's why I do well, it's just...you get here, and you get the feeling, and you can play well.  The tournament is very well organized.  I've played here four times--two times I lost in the first round, two times I win some matches.  So I can't really say that the tournament always brings me luck, or something like that (laughs).

TDF: You did a really good job of coming to net off short balls and putting points away there.  It seems like your game, with your big serve and net play, would translate really well to grass, but so far in your career it hasn't.  Why do you think that is?

Akgul Amanmuradova: Well, first, I really like to run around my backhand and play forehands.  On grass, I am not able to do that, because it's very fast.  I also have a big swing on the forehand, which is not so great for grass.  And I am quite tall, so all those low balls... Plus, I played only on grass during Wimbledon or--we don't really have grass courts, and I never really liked it.  I never really felt good moving out there.  Didn't really feel like myself.  On clay, I can slide, and I can stop, and I can use my power.  Same on hard.  I can take a big step and hit with my power, with all the weight I have.  On grass...

TDF: You do seem to be getting better at grass, you had a great match with Kuznetsova at Wimbledon this year.

Akgul Amanmuradova: Yes, and last year I won a doubles tournament with Ai Sugiyama on grass [Eastbourne].  I had a good match this year with Sveta, which I think was one of my best matches on grass.  Definitely, one of the best matches in my career, even.  I served really well, like sixteen aces.  But, I have to improve my return if I want to do better on that surface.  But it's getting better (laughs).

TDF: You talked about being from Uzbekistan.  It seems like tennis from there is improving a lot.  You're doing better and better, and Denis Istomin, also, is close to the top 50 now.  What is it about Uzbek tennis that has made it more successful than other countries in that region?

Akgul Amanmuradova: Well, our federation is doing a good job.  They invest money in the development of tennis in Uzbekistan.  We have a lot of courts, we have a lot of facilities.  Much more than we did.  Much more equipment--balls, strings, racquets, everything.  And now the results from that are coming.  We still have a lot of, especially in women's tennis, players leaving the country, coming to the States to study.  For example, I am 26 now, and the #2 player, she is 16.  So that ten years, that's what we're missing.  That's where they really missed the time.  And now I think they're trying to recover that, and they're doing much more now than before those girls.  And for the guys, it's the same.  They end up with no players.  Then they start to support Denis, and a few other guys, so hopefully... And also, I believe it's individual work as well.  Because We started to travel more, we start to see that we can do it.  We get a couple good wins, and we start to believe in ourselves more.  And when the juniors see that someone from their country can do it, they start to believe more in themselves than if they see just an American or a French guy doing well--that doesn't mean anything to them.  But if they see a person practicing on the next court over, and then see him or her in the draw of a big tournament, doing well, or watch them on TV, they start to believe that it's possible.  It's a different feeling.

TDF: Do you think it also helps to have the WTA tournament you have in Tashkent?

Akgul Amanmuradova: For sure.  We have now much more tournaments.  We have now seven or eight ITF challengers and futures tournaments for guys, and one WTA for girls, and I think three $25ks.  And we start to have more in the region, in Kazakhstan and Russia, which is closer.  Because when I started, for example, the closest place we had to go was India, which is like a three or four hour flight.  Which is far, and expensive.  But now, there's much more playing opportunities.  And people can travel, and get more experience.

TDF: You mentioned Kazakh tennis, and they've been doing something interesting recently, where they've been paying Russian players to play for Kazakhstan.  What are your thoughts about that?

Akgul Amanmuradova: Well, so far, it helps to develop tennis in their country.  They never had anyone in the top hundred.  Well they had one guy a long time ago, but after that, they never had anyone close.  If this helps, well--personally, I still think that they have to develop tennis also there, not only buying players.  But also try to support all the young players they have, like Zarina Diyas.  So they have a few girls, and I believe they have some younger ones but I don't really know them yet.  But still, they have to support them a lot.  It's good, it's good what's happening, because Yaroslava [Shvedova] just won Wimbledon, and she's doing really well.  But at the same time, they can't forget that they have the juniors coming up.

TDF: Have you been approached by them to play for Kazakhstan?

Akgul Amanmuradova: No, never.  But we're kind of rivals (laughs).  So I don't think that they're going to approach me.  I can't do that.  Not for Kazakhstan, no (laughs).  Because my country would not understand, and I still want to come back there (laughs).

TDF: One of the Russian players I talked to who switched said that it was okay because Russia and Kazakhstan are like brothers, but it's not the same for Uzbekistan, you're saying?

Akgul Amanmuradova: No, because the Uzbek Tennis Federation has helped me so much, since I was 19.  All the people at my University, my school, my parents, everybody.  It wouldn't be right, for myself.  But I totally understand all the Russian girls who can get this very good opportunity which helps their tennis.  It's alright that they can do that.  I'm not against it, I'm not judging them.  Of course, they got a fantastic opportunity to play Fed Cup, to get a chance to play in the Olympic Games, which everybody dreams about.  And on the Russian team, it's very tough to get on.

TDF: You played for Uzbekistan in the 2008 Olympics.  What was that like, getting to represent your country there?

Akgul Amanmuradova: Well, for those two weeks, I was the happiest person on this planet.  Because it was always my dream.  I always watched the opening ceremony, closing ceremony, and whatever sport was on TV.  I always dreamed about going there, and being at the ceremony.  And it finally happened.  It was a fantastic experience.  Two weeks of great, great life (laughs). 

TDF: You switched--I think you used to be with Adidas for clothing, is that right?

Akgul Amanmuradova: No, I've never had any clothing contract.

TDF: But you switched to Babolat?

Akgul Amanmuradova: I don't have any clothing contract, but I have a contract for racquets with Babolat, and I just asked if they could help me with the clothing, because I don't have anyone.  I was just buying stuff from Adidas, which fit me.  But I never had a deal with them.

TDF: It seems like you wear a lot of looser clothing than most players, more shirts and shorts. What made you decide to do that, instead of the women's tennis dresses and such?

Akgul Amanmuradova: Well I've been dressing like this since I was very young.  And I just have my personality--this is the way I am on the court.  I feel comfortable in this, and I don't really wear skirts much.  I don't understand why I should change.  I think now it's pretty boring.  Everyone wears the same thing, and I'm something different.  But it's not that I want to be different, it's that I'm comfortable in that, and I am more like the size of a basketball than a tennis player.  I can't imagine myself in a skirt on the court (laughs).