Thailand’s Tamarine Tanasugarn hopes to clean up against Jelena Jankovic at Wimbledon after lifting the lid on her bathroom superstition.
Tamarine, 31, faces Serbian second seed Jankovic in the fourth round and has no intention of changing the ritual she has followed to the brink of her best ever Grand Slam performance.
Before every match, Tamarine uses the same shower and toilet in the women’s locker room and, suitably refreshed, she has gone out to win three matches in a Grand Slam for the first time since 2004.
PHOTO: AP
“This year I went to the same toilet and shower before every match. I’m not usually superstitious. I just feel comfortable in that room, I don’t know why,” Tamarine said.
A victory over Jankovic, who faces a race to be fit after suffering a knee injury against Caroline Wozniacki in the third round, would clinch a first appearance in the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam for the Thai, who has come agonizingly close on seven occasions.
Six times at Wimbledon and once at the Australian Open she has made it to the last 16 and gone no further.
Tamarine admits she used to agonize over those defeats, but now she takes a more mature, relaxed approach that befits the oldest player left in the women’s singles at Wimbledon.
“I’ve played the fourth round many times here at Wimbledon and I was really keen to go on to the quarter-finals. When I didn’t make it I was so disappointed,” she said. “But this year, I just said getting to the fourth round of Wimbledon, or any Grand Slam, is really good already. If I made the quarter-final that’s great, but if I lost in the last 16 that’s still good. If I win or lose I’m still happy.”
“I think it’s good to be over 30 and happy. You focus better than when you are in your 20s,” she said. “You have experience. You have good times and bad times and you learn from it. I think I’m happy the way I am, even if I’m the oldest one. I know how to think about tennis and life, so you enjoy it and understand more. I’m not so serious and always thinking I have to win. If you don’t do well you have another tournament to do well in.”
Tamarine lost her only previous meeting with Jankovic on clay in Strasbourg last year, a performance she has completely forgotten.
“Did I play her before? I can’t remember, I’ll have to check,” she said. “Jelena is a tough opponent for me. She’s made such good performances in the last couple of years and she’s No. 3 in the world right now. It’s good for me to have the chance to play against her. I’m happy to be this far and I’ve got nothing to lose.”
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