Alisa Kleybanova: The Perfect Time - 俄網 Tennis

http://www.wtatennis.com/

LANDISVILLE, PA, USA -

It may not have been a WTA-level tournament, but a win is a win - and after
everything she's been through, this was a big one. Alisa Kleybanova made a
return to the courts at a $10,000 ITF Women's Circuit event last week, winning
eight matches in a row to take the title.

Last March, Kleybanova returned from eight months out due to Hodgkin's lymphoma
and won her comeback match in Miami, eventually falling second round - but she
didn't play again for over a year.

"I wasn't playing too much," Kleybanova said of her time out. "I was doing more
fitness. I struggled with my recovery when I came back in Miami and really
didn't want to overdo things. I was waiting until I really felt better, and
basically I felt better a couple of weeks ago. I decided that it was time to
play some small tournaments just to see how it goes, and if I would recover
from my matches and play every day without too many ups and downs, physically.
It was the perfect time to try to come back.

"And I made a good start - I don't think I'll have to stop anymore."

Playing the Koser Jewelers Pro Circuit Tennis Challenge, held at the Hempfield
Recreation Center in Landisville, Pennsylvania, Kleybanova made it through
three rounds of qualifying then five main draw matches in a row, the biggest
test coming in the semifinals against Hiroko Kuwata, coming back from 5-1 down
in the third set and eventually saving seven match points to beat the Japanese,
63 46 75.

Kleybanova cruised to a 63 60 win over American Natalie Pluskota in the final
to take the title.

"I didn't care if I started in qualifying or main draw, I just thought it would
be a great test for me to see if I could make it through that many matches in a
week without any trouble. It wasn't such a high level of tennis, but playing
eight matches in a row after such a long break was such a great test,
especially since we never even have to play eight matches in any tournaments
at WTA level. The quantity was there, and I was happy with everything
physically, so I feel really good about my tournament.

"Of course there's always positive emotions when you win, even when you're
tired!"

And what about that semifinal thriller? "I was struggling with my tennis the
whole match," she said. "Training and tournaments are always different. Plus
there were so many expectations on me there - it wasn't easy to go on the court
and compete against players who have completely nothing to lose.

"The semifinal match was crazy. I was lost a little bit, kind of making too
many unforced errors, and the girl I was playing started feeling more and more
confident and she was up 5-1 in the final set, and she had something like
seven match points. I just thought to myself, 'I want to stay here, so if she
wants to win it she has to do something big. I'm not going to give it to her
like that.' So I put myself together and fought for every point, and as it got
to 5-2 and 5-3, I could feel that she was struggling to close it out. I kept
fighting and my game kept getting better, and by the end I had no trouble
anymore.

"Hiroko played very well, though. Her ranking has nothing to do with her level.
If she keeps going the same way, I'm sure she'll improve a lot and have some
big results. I really wish her luck."

The Russian, a former Top 20 player in singles and Top 10 player in doubles,
seems on the verge of a full comeback. "I need to go to Russia now and do a
few things, but I'll continue training and I'm playing World TeamTennis in
July for the Springfield Lasers. I may even play an event before that. But
after that I will try to play tournaments as much as I can. It's difficult to
say 100%, because it depends on using wildcards and my protected ranking, and
where I can play without any of those, so we'll see."



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