FUCK YOU.

24.5.05

you have no idea what is pain.

Myskina bore a good portion of her private life on Sunday at the champion's press conference, informing the world for the first time that her mother, Galina, has been battling a serious illness, which is believed to be cancer. Myskina has known about it since January and it has clearly affected her play, as she has only reached one semi final this year.

"It's been a pretty hard time," said Myskina, who will play Spain's Maria Sanchez Lorenzo on Monday. "But I'm a professional tennis player and I have to play no matter what. I'm going to try to do my best. It's my favourite tournament, so I really want to do great here."

Myskina has also been dealing with a nagging shoulder injury, which caused her to pull out of Fed Cup and had her doubting whether she could play Roland Garros.

"Of course it's not 100 percent, she said. "You can't heal that fast. But it's getting better. I've been serving a lot and even though it gets tired. I still need to do it."

Last year, Myskina became the first Russian woman to win a Grand Slam singles title when she beat Elena Dementieva in the final.

Two weeks ago, no confidence

She ended the 2004 ranked a career high No. 3 and declared her intention of taking over the No.1 ranking. But after being stunned by Nathalie Dechy at the 2005 Australian Open, her game slid downhill. Two weeks ago in Berlin, she was shocked by German wild card Julia Schruff and said that she had absolutely no confidence in her game.

But on Sunday after getting a good workout at her beloved Roland Garros, she felt much better.

"I'll try to believe because I played such a great tournament here last year," said Myskina, who beat Kim Clijsters 6-1 in a practice set. "I'm hoping to come back here and get my confidence back. Even though today was a practice match, I was really happy that I played well and look forward to Monday."

Last week, Myskina's coach, Jens Gerlach, said his student is going to have to rediscover her inner fire at Roland Garros.

"She's been a champion and knows how to dig deep like a champion," he said. "If she gets to Paris and wins a couple of good matches, maybe she'll feel the magic of Roland Garros again."

Myskina, who took down Venus in last year's quarterfinals, could play her US foe again in the fourth round. Like her coach, she's hoping to rekindle her fire.

i am so sorry for her.

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