“Pressure is something positive for the athlete”

When we thought that Eugenie Bouchard could deliver the big coup in this Mutua Madrid Openappeared Martina Trevisan (Florence, 1993) to remind us that on the clay court tour not everyone can raise their voices. She is one of those indicated to give more than a scare in the spring, as she did years ago at Roland Garros, where she reached the quarterfinals in 2021 and the semifinals in 2022. Now the Italian wants to try herself in the capital of Spain and this Friday she started with his first win. Moments after knocking down the Canadian, she met with break point to talk about their objectives and their feelings in the tournament.

First victory in Madrid, congratulations.

I am very happy with my victory today, the first one here after several attempts. Eugenie is a player who has played many more games in her career in these conditions, but I am very proud of how I have gotten into the fight. I’m happy with the courts and with the ball, when playing with a little more altitude the ball bounces a little more, something that adapts perfectly to my forehand. I’m looking forward to playing my next match.

Do you feel more pressure when the dirt tour arrives?

Maybe yes, there is a little more pressure, but pressure is something positive for an athlete, it means that you have already done well in the past. Otherwise, I wouldn’t feel any kind of pressure, so I take it as a good thing for me, my thought is that I can always do better.

You are a semifinalist at Roland Garros, little joke.

I did very well in 2022, I have tremendous memories of my stay in Paris, my first semifinals in a Grand Slam tournament, but now we are here in Madrid and I have to focus only on this tournament. Then Rome will come and I can think of Rome. Until Paris comes, where I hope to arrive in my best form.

You are also the best Italian in the ranking.

Normally I don’t pay much attention to the ranking, neither when things are going well, nor when things are more negative. Of course, I am very satisfied with my entire journey, for all the effort I gave during these years, all the hours of training to improve, I always tried to take care of even the smallest detail on and off the track. I just try to make my way.

You reached the elite at a slightly older age, why?

I stopped playing tennis for five seasons, from the age of 16 to 20, this is the main reason why I arrived a little later than other players. During that stage I did not compete, until I decided to return and start from scratch

What happened?

Life. I couldn’t answer you because I wouldn’t have time, they were personal reasons.

What happened when you came back?

I really wanted to return, I perfectly remember the feelings I had when I played a game again almost five years later. I felt happy, I really enjoyed competing again. Since then, all I’ve tried is to be better than the day before.

Now you are top20, where do you see your ceiling?

I am clear about how important it is to keep fighting and fighting every day to be a better player, also to be a better person. It’s essential to pay attention to every detail of my race, so we’ll see how far my results take me, whatever it is will translate into qualifying.

In two days, Alycia Parks awaits you, another bone.

We are in the third round of a WTA 1000, any rival you come across will be very strong, they all play really well. I am going to review her match a bit to study it a bit and design the best strategy to face her. One way or another, I will need to give my best version if I want to have a chance of winning.