Dubai: Russia’s Elena Vesnina is pinning her hopes on some ‘home support,’ including her parents, as she embarks on a mission to register a huge improvement in her fortunes in 2017.
Making her tenth visit, the 30-year-old’s best performance in Dubai was a 2009 quarter-final loss to Kaia Kanepi and a doubles final with partner Sania Mirza in 2012 when the duo lost in straight sets to Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond.
“It is nice to return to Dubai where I have had some great moments and some great wins. I love being here and I am really looking forward to play my first match here this year,” Vesnina told Gulf News after the customary draws ceremony held at The Majlis at the Aviation Club on Saturday.
“The weather has been a bit tricky at the moment as we experienced a sand storm yesterday followed by a cloudy outlook today. Let’s hope it is a bit sunny and warm during the next few days,” she added.
Vesnina has always managed to fire up her game drawing on the large number of Russian fans who turn up for the annual event. A huge motivation, however, was the arrival later in the evening of her parents Sergey and Irina from Moscow. Worried due to a minor glitch with the ticketing, Vesnina took a quick moment off before returning to the interview after sorting out the ticket issue.
“I am excited about my parents flying in. I am really waiting for them to arrive. For me, it is a huge motivation to have both of them here. It is always a strength to have them around whenever I can as I hardly get enough of both at the same time,” Vesnina said.
Vesnina’s father, who also doubles up as her coach, was here when she lost to China’s Shuai Peng exactly two years back. “Having them is the best support I have when I am on court. I am anxiously waiting for my parents,” she said.
Vesnina married businessman Pavel Tabuntsov in November 2015.
Considered a late bloomer, Vesnina witnessed a transformation in her game after her marriage. Starting 2016 outside of the top-100, she managed to reach a career-high No.16 in the first week of November with her first-ever semi-final appearance at Wimbledon.
Naturally, the lanky Russian is now hoping she can carry forward her form and advance a few steps up in the rankings. “Hopefully this season will be good for me as well. I have done a lot of hard work, physically, running, jogging, getting into shape and biking during the pre-season back home. I hope all this will come together and I am looking forward to this year to improve my ranking and my game,” she said.
“The start of 2017 could have been better, but it is tough to predict how one is going to start a season. I am slowly getting back my form, trying to feel the ball a little bit better and trying to get some more good wins,” Vesnina added.
