Camila Osorio talks about her performance in 2021 – Tennis – Sports

The 2021 of Camila Osorio started with a frustrated pass to the main draw of the Australian Open: fell in the preliminary rounds against the French Clara Burel by 6-4 and 6-3. However, ten months later the season ends as the best Latin American tennis player in the world, followed by Nadia Podoroska, from Argentina, who is ranked 84th on the list.

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Osorio got his first WTA title in Bogotá, beating the Slovenian Tamara Zidansek 5-7, 6-3 and 6-4; She reached another final in Tenerife, where she lost against the American Ann Li 6-1 and 6-4, in addition to also achieving the most important victory so far in her career, against the sixth best tennis player in the world, Elina Svitolina, by 5-7, 6-3 and 6-2. These two finals are added to the semi-finals in Charleston and Belgrade.

Although Colombia’s number one racket failed to enter the Australian Open, it got a place at Roland Garros from the previous rounds and qualified for the main draw of the US Open (it was in the second round) and Wimbledon (it lost in the third round against the second in the world , Aryna Sabalenka).

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Camila returned to Colombia after competing in Tenerife, a tournament that was played last week, and from Cúcuta, her homeland, she spoke with EL TIEMPO about the great performance she had in 2021.

An unimaginable year

How did you feel after being eliminated in Australia in January?
I can’t say that I never imagined anything that happened, nothing. One dreams of being on this side, that this happens and so on. But when you already live everything, you only think about when everything happened. There are things that one dreams of, but they happen and when they happen I realize and say ‘I wanted to do this, I wanted to play against him. I wanted to be in such a tournament ‘, things like that. I’m doing. All year I was in airplane mode and now that I realize I say ‘God, what a blessing’.

And if you look back, what do you see?
It makes me laugh. I think about what I was thinking at the time. I said ‘no, now what am I going to do, my career is over’ – just kidding – I thought this chance escaped me, when will I ever have the opportunity to play another main draw or be in the last round of a qualifier. But God gave me the option of the next grand slam (Roland Garros), to pass qualifying and to be able to touch the main draw of a grand slam. One sometimes worries a lot about things and it is not in one’s own time, but in what God wants. For some it is luck, for me it is God.

(Of interest: Camila Osorio finished her 2021 season and rose through the ranks)

What feeling does being part of the same generation of Leylah Fernández and Emma Raducanu leave you?
I am happy to meet the goals that I have set for myself and to see that we are all there. Two years ago we played between all the junior tournaments and things like that. Now we are living all this, this replacement makes me very happy. They also work and want to be on top. It is very beautiful and motivating.

How did you see Raducanu at the US Open?
She played excellent, she was very loose playing that tournament. He played very good tennis and nothing, it was his tournament. She had been playing very well, at Wimbledon she got sick with breathing, but for the rest she had been playing excellent. Confirmation is the great tournament he did, winning from qualys.

Naomi Osaka and Simone Biles are examples of the importance of mental health in athletes. How do you handle pressure?
The important thing is to be calm. It must be very difficult to feel anxiety, depression. Many things that can affect you in life, not in sports. I have no problems, I feel very calm. You have to pay attention and be careful. Social networks lend themselves a lot for comments, it is not so pretty. It is sad to lose a game and receive hundreds of comments telling you that you are bad or threatening you. Now I don’t pay attention to them, at first I do.

You learn: I was one of those who felt bad and said ‘I’m not doing anything wrong, I’m practicing a sport, which I like’. I did not understand why they offended me, it touched my heart what many people said. I won a week ago and they were celebrating me, now they say ugly things to me. That’s right, I have to turn off the notifications when I go to play tournaments. That makes you stronger.

(Read: Raducanu won a match again after the US Open)

How is your relationship with Ricardo Sánchez, your coach?
I’m going to meet him for two years, we’ve done well. I like it and I feel that what works I must maintain. As in restaurants, if it is full of people, why change. This is how I feel with Richi, we are calm, we have found a way to understand each other and it is good because the results are coming. You have to wait and see what happens.

Evolution in your game

How did your attitude on the court change with the promotion you’ve had in your career?
It has always been the same. It has always been there, but it depends a lot on the game. There are times when I am winning very calmly and there are others where I get involved and want to win, something changes in me. I like to watch my reruns and wonder why I make those faces. It is something that comes to me in the moment and if it works for me, I will continue to do so.

His tennis is also more aggressive since he won in Bogotá …
I wanted that, I wanted to be more aggressive to apply the variants that I like. It has worked for me and I have trained it, trying to take time away from my rivals when I am playing. Improve everything, if I want to be the best I must improve in absolutely everything that I can physically and mentally control my tennis. You have to work a lot, I have many hours left in the field.

The change from junior to professional is strong, how does it feel to finish?
I’m tired. It is my first year and I have to prepare myself better physically to be able to endure this trot of traveling all year long. The physical part is essential to avoid injuries. After Wimbledon I had a lot of pain in my legs, that made me stop. So I didn’t prepare well for the hard court tour and that’s where I say ‘well, I have to be careful’.

I can’t risk one thing for another. In Tenerife I had a discomfort in the abdomen and I decided not to play the missing tournaments because I already had the experience that if I am not 100 percent, it is not worth entering a field. I’m not going to be at the level. I have to be better to avoid these things.

(Also: Cabal and Farah, heading to the Masters Tournament in Turin)

How did you feel on the hard court in recent tournaments?
I don’t feel like I didn’t dominate her, just that I wasn’t ready. It is not playing for the sake of playing, you cannot expect to win if you are not ready. Then I got more into the rhythm, the speed of the ball. But the games came and it hurt me because I was there, I have chances and they escape me. I have the advantages to go up in the set, to close and not close.

I didn’t know what was going on. I was looking forward to it. I felt that I was going to arrive and I was already there, I was playing well, I had to let go and take advantage of the opportunities. At Indian Wells I played a fastball and a high ball. There I made a change, a colleague gave me an idea, I consulted with Richi and we practiced it. In Tenerife I put it into practice and it worked for me. I tried to hit more forehand with the backhand, I was hitting more inverted, playing high on a hard court. I took the initiative and it worked.

He beat Svitolina, but he says that the victory against Camila Giorgi was his most intense match, why?
It hit him really hard! I did not enter with fear, I had already beaten Svitolina, I could compete face to face with anyone. When I came in I was hitting him very hard, without a midpoint. It was going as fast as it could. It was intense, it went upstairs. Then I took him out and went back. He was taking me out in pure first serves. Then the tide went out and I started taking chances. It was very hard.

The numbers it left this year already put it among the best rackets in Colombia in history, what does this tell you?
I am calm, happy, living my dream. I thank God every day. Since I was 6 years old I dreamed of being a professional and here I am, playing and doing what I like. When all this happens it makes me very happy. Somehow I want more, I’m happy, but it is not until here. I know I have to work ten times longer if I want to be the best. How nice, but more things are coming.

Your name is already with those of Fabiola Zuluaga, Isabel Fernández and Mariana Duque, how is your relationship with them?
I really admire what they all did. For me they were the references, I remember a lot about Mariana. I didn’t see Fabi play, I see her now on YouTube. That helps me to believe, especially about Fabiola. A tennis player from Cúcuta, they don’t have much faith in that. In what has happened I say that nothing is impossible. If you want and you propose, you can get it.

Hugo Santiago Caro Jimenez
Editor of EL TIEMPO
In Twitter: @HugoCaroJ