"Kuznetsova will marry a Russian" - Interview Translation

This post is a bit different than what I usually do, but I volunteered to translate a tabloid inteview with Svetlana Kuznetsova, and I guess some of you might find it interesting :) Just one precaution - while Russian is my first language, I'll probably mess it up where current colloquialisms are involved, so sorry in advance for that. Still, I hope you find it more useful than Google Translate (which I used to help me here from time to time).

The original interview is here.

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The famous tennis player confessed that she doesn't live in Monaco anymore. 

She won more than $15 million in her career, but doesn't see anything wrong with taking a subway ride. Svetlana KUZNETSOVA rarely speaks of love, but here she suddenly spilled it all out.

- Sveta, in your career you went through many coaches. How did you part with them? With mutual grievances? 
- I signed a contract with each coach. And I parted well with almost all of them. The cooperation between a sportswoman and her coach is similar in a way to the relationship between a girl and a guy. Both feel it when there's a rift, and the relationship comes to an end.
- The press said that you had an affair with the Spaniard Carlos Cuadrado. Did this hot brunet misbehave at some point?
- It's funny to me. What affair? (Smiles) I don't mix personal relationships with professional ones. Carlos stopped playing early, and I hoped that he would want to bring to life his unrealized ambitions, as a coach. Maybe it will turn out that way later on, but in the meantime Carlos obviously doesn't have enough experience. That's why I returned to Larisa Savchenko.
- And how did Anastasia Myskina come to be a part of your coaching team?
- With Savchenko's help.
- She's one who did have an affair with a coach once - the German Jens Gerlach. According to Myskina, Gerlach taught her many things about life. 
- I was rumoured to have affairs with all my coaches. Even my sparring partners were called my lovers. For example, Alexander Krasnorutsky. And the Spanish Antonio Baldeo. Once in the "Luzhniki" stadium, I messed up his hair, and a photographer captured that. And immediately it started: "Kuznetsova is in love with the Spaniard!".

Exiting the airpoty, Sasha Krasnorutsky, as a true gentleman, didn't let Kuznetsova out of his hands.

- But here's Masha Sharapova, who declared that she'll marry Sasha Vujacic, without hiding.
- She was probably tired of hiding it. Sharapova - with all her popularity - has a life that's not easy at all. Her every step is literally watched. 
- Are you being chased by the Papparazzi? 
- People don't point at me, don't guard the entrance to my home. You can't compare it to Sharapova, I'd say.
- Elena Dementieva married in July, even quit her career for that. Are you already thinking about a family?
- I'll marry, too. But not now.
- Name three major qualities in a man that's able to match Svetlana Kuznetsova.
- I need to think. First of all, a man has to have a core, I love people that are true to their word. He needs to be loyal to me. And he must be honest. Of course, anything can happen in life, but I think that only a Russian man can truly understand me. I'm not likely to marry a foreigner.
- You're a millionaire. Will you marry someone poor?
- If a person has an inner core, it doesn't matter how much he earns. But a weak man won't last with me. He'll have a constant complex that his wife gets paid more than him.
- What can't you forgive?
- Betrayal. In our life, every day someone betrays you.
- Really, every day?
- Almost.
- What do you think about the saying that there's no such thing as female friendship?
- I believe it exists. I think that if two [female] friends love the same man, they should let him choose.

 

In dad's hotel

- Vladimir Kamelzon said the following about your current coach, Larisa Savchenko: What kind of coach is that, Kuznetsova can ask her to set the table and go with her to a bar. Like a friend.
- I only met Kamelzon three times in my life, and didn't hear anything about his coaching achievements. When I won the 2009 Roland Garros in Paris, he came to me and said: come on over, Sveta, I'll help you. I didn't even understand where exactly I'm supposed to come. Then he looked at my workout, which was led by Savchenko. Stayed for three minutes at the most. What could he notice there?! I don't understand how somebody, who was never on a team, can make such statements. And in the Roland Garros, by the way, Savchenko helped me to win. Our friendly relationship worked for the best, not the worst.
- Shamil Tarpischev once claimed that Svetlana Kuznetsova acted like a star.
- I didn't even get where this "star" came from. I didnt come to some ceremony in Moscow, where tennis players received prizes according to their year results. They tried to convince me, but I said from the start: I won't come. If I don't like something, I say it as it is. But Shamil Anvyarovich was hurt by me, decided that I was acting like a star.

Svetlana gently patted Spanish Baldeo on the cheek...

- You left your parents' nest early. Do you feel any pull home to your mom and dad, even a little bit?
- In June I was in my hometown, St. Petersburg. I strolled along the Neva, and took a boat ride on the river. Imagine that, it was my longtime dream, but I didn't have the time previously. I was so happy! Saw my parents, my nephews. Went to my father's cycle track. My father built there tennis courts, as well as the cycle track. And a hotel. I stayed in it, too. 
- Your father, Alexander Kuznetsov, raised a lot of first class cyclists. Does he advise you, as a coach?
- My dad never came to my matches. What advice? He only gives me reccommendations about my physical preparation. My mom doesn't come to the tennis, either, because I asked her not to. She's too upset when she's there. Generally, I miss my mother. I sometimes wish I could have her family name - Tsareva. She was a very famous cyclist, five-time world champion.

... and, forgetting about the crowd, even hugged him.

 

Ashamed of the bad language

- Your residency is listed as Monaco. Are you trying to lessen your taxes that way?
- I wasn't in Monaco too often, I rented an apartment there. And the taxes for the prize money are usually calculated in the country where the tournament's being held. By the way, I recently changed my residency. For now, won't say where I moved to. In principle, eight months out of a tennis player's year are continuous tournaments and traveling.
- You played doubles with the legendary Martina Navratilova. Didn't it bother you that she's a lesbian? And it's not only her, is it? Amelie Mauresmo, Conchita Martinez, Mary Joe Fernandez* - the list goes on. Does the pro tennis promote same-sex love?
- I've thought about it more than once. In fact, there is a problem. I think some of the players become that way because of loneliness. I like Amelie Mauresmo, I trained with her coach at one point - the Frenchman Loic Courteau. When I found out that Amelie's not interested in men, I was shocked. However, I don't want to judge anyone. It's their life. 
[* Note: Mary Joe Fernandez is married with children. Someone should inform the reporter, I gues... - Anna]
- Are you going to perform in the Olympics next year?
- Yes, I'd like that.
- But Russia doesn't really have grass courts, and the Olympic Games in London will be on grass. Where will you prepare?
- That's a problem. The Chinese federation already rented the courts near Wimbledon for its players. A year in advance. When the 2012 Wimbledon will be over, everybody will leave, but the Chinese players will stay for three more weeks - until the start of the Olympics. They'll train in near-Olympic conditions. Maybe Shamil Tarpischev will find something similar for us. 
- Would you have wanted to be in the Chinese players' place?
- I talked with the Chinese girls - they're shocked by their leaders' decision. They'll have to stay away from home for more than a month. But that's the Chinese way: if the country said so, you have to follow. In my opinion, after a tough tournament like Wimbledon, you'd better rest, and come to the Olympic capital eight to ten days before the start.
- Do you use bad language on court?
- Oh, that happens! The words fly out involuntarily. Afterwards I'm ashamed.

By the way
Kuznetsova has four tattoos. On Svetlana's left hand you can see some letters. Those are her parents' and grandparetns' initials.