Myskina wasn't ready for French Open win

Anastasia Myskina has gone on record to say that her French Open win came too early for her:

“Things happened so suddenly. My whole life changed after I won the French Open in 2004. I realised that, all of a sudden, I have become so famous, people coming up for handshakes and pictures. The fact that I was becoming popular was okay, but for a young person like me, things were happening too fast,” Myskina revealed yesterday.

“Soon after the French Open triumph, I was in the newspapers everyday. With me becoming popular, expectations of fans went up as well. All of a sudden I was expected to win every event I took part in or reach the final at least,” recalled the Russian, who has not won a WTA Tour title since January last year.

“The expectations of the fans and the global attention became too much for me. I couldn’t handle the pressure associated with fame and success,’ said Myskina.

The Russian wondered how England football captain David Beckham handles the media glare and the public attention so well. “I sometimes wonder how Beckham copes with the attention that he gets all the time. How does he manage himself in front of such public adulation or media focus,” asked the Russian.

Despite the public pressure and the media frenzy following her Roland Garros triumph, Myskina said the happenings of 2004 for good for Russian tennis. “That year, not only I but Maria Sharapova and Svetlana Kuznetsova also won Grand Slams. In all, three Russians won three of the four Grand Slam titles. That made tennis a huge sport at home. That is still the case and I am happy about it,” Myskina, who has 10 titles to her credit,” said.

It is ncie to see someone being honest about not being able to handle the pressure.