Conchita! - woman tennis player Conchita Martinez - Interview

Interview, Sept, 1994 by Sophie B. Hawkins

SOPHIE B. HAWKINS: Is Conchie there?

CONCHITA MARTINEZ: No, I'm not here.

SBH: Awww, c'mon. Listen, Conchie, there's a woman on the phone named Esther [Percal] who's here to translate any of my questions into Spanish if you don't quite understand what I'm asking you. Anyway, are you there?

CM: No. [both laugh]

SBH: That's a great beginning. I love that. So here we go. While you were playing the women's singles finals at Wimbledon, a couple of people called out "artista," and I think that was when you hit those line drives with your backhand. My first question is: What is the art of tennis in your own words?

CM: For me, playing tennis is wonderful because it keeps me happy. I can express myself on the court, also.

SBH: Express yourself on the court?

CM: Yeah, I'm not the same on the court as I am normally.

SBH: That's funny. How do you think that you're different?

CM: Well, that's another question.

SBH: I'm not allowed to ask another question?

CM: No. [laughs]

SBH: Well, I am going to. I want to know if, when you picked up a tennis racket and hit the ball for the very first time, did this other side of you instantly come out, or did it take a while?

CM: When I first picked up my racket?

SBH: Yes.

CM: Well, what came out was that tennis was very naturally for me.

SBH: Do you work creatively when you practice? Is it something--

CM: I try to. You know, sometimes it's boring when you have to hit the same ball a lot of times. I mean, everybody has to hit the same ball, like, a thousand times.

SBH: So what do you do? You think of different ways--

CM: Well, yeah, I like to do different exercises and, you know, keep smiling on the court.

SBH: Right. Do you ever make them up yourself, the exercises?

CM: Well, if I get bored in a practice I will say something like, Let's do this one and be a little bit more, I don't know, fun.

SBH: So it's not just technical work all the time.

CM: Well, it is a lot, but once you have this technical part down, then you have to create your own game.

SBH: When you're not playing and you're just hanging around, are you thinking of different ways to improve your game or to expand it? Are you preoccupied with tennis, is what I'm asking. And are there other things in life besides tennis that give you ideas for when you're playing tennis, for expanding your game? Like, say, if you go fishing or you're riding your motorcycle... Do you ever get ideas for new ways to do thing on the court?

CM: [pauses] No, not really.

SBH: That's interesting. So, do you think that if I took you, say, boxing, and I put a pair of gloves on you--you box in Spain, right?

CM: No.

SBH: You don't? I mean, you have it there. You have boxing there.

CM: Ah, yes, but I don't.

SBH: No, I know you don't. That's the point. But say I said, "C'mon, Conchita, let's box." And you started with me and whatever.... Do you think any of that physicality would give you another idea, another concept?

CM: No, because I don't like aggressive things, aggressive sports.

SBH: Oh, you don't like 'em.

CM: So I get really offensive...um, defensive? So if you give me the gloves, then I'd let you hit me.

SBH: Well, we won't box then. O.K., since you began tennis, has your conception of the game as a whole changed with each new tournament, each new experience? Do you see it differently?

CM: Yeah, you learn a lot. When I started tennis, I played really relaxed. Because I played without pressure, I didn't have anything to lose. When I was seventeen, I was playing unbelievable. But then there came a point where the pressure was coming and the tension and all that. You know, if you're good at the beginning you have to defend, you have to show the world that you can be good for more years.

SBH: So how do you balance that as you get older?

CM: Well, you learn a lot about the different situations. For instance, you learn a lot from losing matches.

SBH: Right.... Oh, fuck, I forgot what I was going to ask you. Hmmm. So, Conchita, is there anything that you do that's just for yourself, that you don't involve anybody else in, that doesn't involve your career, that's just for you to relax?

CM: Yeah. You want to know?

SBH: Only if you want to tell.

CM: Then it wouldn't be for myself.

SBH: I know, so don't tell me. For God's sake! O.K., this might throw you for a loop. I've seen you off the court, out for dinner and such, and I would say that you hold yourself like a very confident and dignified woman. You also--

CM: That you?

SBH: That you--

CM: Yeah, that I'm what?

SBH: You hold yourself very confidently.

CM: What does it mean, "hold myself"?

SBH: How you carry yourself. You seem confident and dignified off the court.

CM: Confident?

SBH: Confident.

CM: Really?

SBH: Yes.

CM: O.K., go on. [laughs]

SBH: And you also have a very unique style of dressing. To me, it looks like a cross between Katharine Hepburn and Sean Penn. Are you aware that you have your own style? When you get dressed, do you feel like, Oh yeah, this is my style, I feel comfortable in it?

CM: Yeah. Mmmm-hmmm.

SBH: Are you aware of the effect that it has on other people?