Sara Errani: "I don't have a goal, I'm playing because I love tennis"
Sara Errani, a former top-5 player in singles and former World No. 1 in doubles, has already achieved plenty in the sport. However, the 36-year-old Italian continues to play on the tour because she is propelled by one thing and one thing only -- her love for tennis.
Errani will be in action at the 2023 Italian Open this week, where she received a wildcard into the main draw. She will take on fellow former French Open finalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the opening round.
Speaking to the WTA ahead of the clash, Sara Errani reflected on her career over the years. She admitted that she has no "goal" in her mind anymore other than enjoying herself and making some good memories on the court.
"I don't have a goal anymore, really," Sara Errani said. "In my head, I want to try to enjoy, to have more good memories. I'm playing because I love tennis and I love being on court. Until I can, I think I'm going to do this."
Errani had to take a brief break from the sport she loved so much in 2017-18, as a result of a failed drug test that later resulted in a suspension for negligence by the ITF Tribunal. Although the World No. 78 mounted a comeback soon, it was never the same again for her mentally.
Errani recalled how she worked with a pyscholgist to get over her "serving yips" at the time. But the Italian knew what she had to do to get over the situation: simply suffer through it.
"It was tough, and a lot of it was mental. I worked with a psychologist. There was a lot of fear, I was afraid to serve and I understood that. Many players were in that situation, like [Elena] Dementieva," Errani said.
"Guillermo Coria even stopped tennis because of it. I wanted to still have fun with tennis, and I understood that I had to go over that situation, even if it was making me suffer so much. It happens to me when there are nerves or bad situations but I try to affrontare, to pass through it. If you want to enjoy things, you have to pass through the bad situations," she added.
"I'm going to enjoy it more than I did the last time" - Sara Errani on being back inside the top 100
Sara Errani broke back into the top 100 of the WTA rankings earlier this year, after spending more than four years languishing just outside. The 36-year-old appeared relieved to have finally conquered her "personal" goal, and stated that she was going to enjoy being inside the world's top 100 more than she did in previous years.
"For three, four years I was around 103, 104," Sara Errani said. "I was thinking a lot about being back in the Top 100 and I was near, I was near but I couldn't. I did it more for me. It was a personal goal. And now I did what I wanted to do, so now I'm going to enjoy it more than I did the last time."