The rap on Nadia Petrova has always been that she lacks mental toughness; that she’ll play well enough against inferior opponents but lose her game against the players she needs to beat to get to the next level, especially on big occasions. You want mentally tough, she’ll give you mentally tough – she’s going to dump her new coach (Alexander Mityaev) now that he’s pulled her through to the Australian Open quarterfinals because he lacks . . . mental toughness!
Her reasoning provides a nice glimpse into the mind of a top pro. When asked how things are working out with Mityaev, Petrova groused:
Does he push you hard enough?
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Not about this. He could have been little bit harder on me. But I like people if, for example, I'm not behaving well or I'm not happy about something on court, I start to be kind of (nutty?) that he can pull me back and say, "Listen, you have to be this and this." You know, I like that the coach has everything in his hands, all the practice process and that he is in charge. Not me in charge of the coach. So that's the way it works out now, that I'm having everything in my hands. I tell him what I need to do.
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Pausing a moment to reflect, she added: “ I'm doing well, but still it's too much, it's too much for me. It's too many things I have to think of.”
Credit the reporter for cutting right to the heart of the issue with this follow-up question: Do you think maybe he's afraid of you because you're actually the boss?
“In kind of way, yes,” Petrova replied, “That's how he feels.”