Dubai: Accused in the past of mental fragility and known for her on-court tantrums, world number three Vera Zvonareva sees her evolution into a player who still holds the interest of the sport at heart.
"I am much more experienced and much more mature now. I think people talk a lot about it just because you have a couple of emotions on the court, then and there. I am an emotional person and it is part of the game. Any sport you take is an emotional sport. You can see fans and there is no sport without emotions because if there is no emotion then it's not interesting any more," Zvonareva said.
"You get tired not only physically but also mentally and it is very important to have some people that support you around, but also knowledgable people that can do so."
Zvonareva, who has been accused by former players like Lindsay Davenport and Pam Shriver of self-destructing on court due to her mental weakness, justified her stance of being emotional.
"I am not like Serena Williams as I can't serve aces. I am not like Maria Sharapova as I can't hit a winner on every single ball. I don't have all these things and I am still among the top three players out there," she said.
"So if you think I am not mentally tough or something, well how can I win the tennis matches then? There is a big difference between being mentally tough and being emotional. It's a huge difference," she added.
So far, Zvonareva has won ten WTA Tour singles titles while also reaching the year-ending WTA Tour Championships in 2008 and the finals in Wimbledon and the US Open. She also won the singles bronze at the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008.
"I will always be emotional. As long as I use those emotions to my advantage, that's only a plus to me. If I need to break the racquet to pump myself up, then I will break the racquet. I don't care.
"But sometimes you need to calm yourself down and say, ‘Hey it's OK, just take it easy.' So as long as I use those emotions to my advantage, it only helps me," Zvonareva said.
