The following is a translation of excerpts from an interview Sergiy Stakhovsky gave to Ivan Grachev for XSport.ua. To sum up the parts I haven’t translated word for word: Stakhovsky’s contract with Fabrice Santoro is currently in place until after the 2015 US Open, he appreciates Santoro’s advice as a coach a lot, his goal for this season – to get into the top 30. He was also asked about fighting between doubles partners, and said that when players play doubles you usually don’t know if they’re fighting (but Nestor and Zimonjic, for example, were hardly talking to each other outside of matches when they were no.1 in the world).

What follows is a full translation from Russian of the rest of the interview. - Anna





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Q: You’re known for your openness and readiness to discuss any subject, even the most uncomfortable ones. Let’s talk about a subject that’s usually avoided. Are there any representatives of sexual minorities on the tour?

A: I think not.

And yet I have my doubts…

Give me a name? Give me a name?

This isn’t about a specific person – I can’t judge or support him – but about the general picture.

You see, on the ATP – we have a normal atmosphere. If there was anything, we’d know about it, because it’s a very closed circle. Earlier there used to be talk about Gasquet, about Nadal. Even about Federer. I won’t sacrifice my hand for the whole tour and the new guys, who are just joining, but in the backbone of the top-100 there are definitely no gays.





Martina Navratilova, for example, thinks differently.

She can think that in the women’s locker room. She has no clue at all what men’s tennis is. And she’s has nothing to do with it [men’s tennis]. On the WTA tour, almost every other player is a lesbian. Can you imagine – half of them! So I for sure won’t send my daughter to play tennis.





Let’s change the subject a bit. Tell me, wouldn’t you want to see Taisia Stakhovsky in professional sports?

Why not ? In golf – of course (laughs). Why notIn golf – of course (laughs).





Let’s imagine that in 25 years, Taisia comes to you and tells you: “Dad, I’m going to marry a tennis player”. Your reaction?

I’ll shoot! In the beginning, as soon as our daughter was born, I understood that I need to get a gun, arm myself (laughs). Seriously though, I will always respect my daughter’s choice. I think that a lot in that matter depends on the parent. I mean, if Anfisa and I raise her well, she’ll pick someone worthy. Of course, love can be cruel, but I don’t intend to fight with my daughter because she fell in love with someone. I looked at my father in law, and saw how difficult it was for him to let his two daughters go, so I understand that something similar will happen to me. I’ll shoot! In the beginning, as soon as our daughter was born, I understood that I need to get a gun, arm myself (laughs). Seriously though, I will always respect my daughter’s choice. I think that a lot in that matter depends on the parent. I mean, if Anfisa and I raise her well, she’ll pick someone worthy. Of course, love can be cruel, but I don’t intend to fight with my daughter because she fell in love with someone. I looked at my father in law, and saw how difficult it was for him to let his two daughters go, so I understand that something similar will happen to me.



