Lepchenko Talks About Success, Playing Fed Cup

Varvara Lepchenko talked about her breakthrough season last year as she looks to build her momentum on the clay courts of Charleston this week.

By Erik Gudris

(April 1st, 2013) -- After a breakthrough 2012 season, American Varvara Lepchenko is looking to once again find success on the clay courts as she earned a tough opening round win at the Family Circle Cup in Charleston.

Facing fellow American Christina McHale, Lepchenko split sets before jumping out to a 5-0 lead in the final set. Though she missed out on her first two match points, Lepchenko eventually served out the 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 win to reach the second round.

Afterwards Lepchenko talked about the special challenge of playing someone who was a frequent practice partner away from events.

"You know when I lost the second set I had memories of when we used to practice together a lot and how tough of an opponent she is and how you can never relax out there," said Lepchenko. "You have to deal with the next point and keep the intensity up. It was definitely not an easy first round."

In many ways, Lepchenko is still getting used to her recent success on the court that propelled her from outside the top 100 at the start of last year to being ranked just outside the top 20 at the beginning of 2013.

"You know it's been an amazing experience and of course it doesn't come easy, said Lepchenko who is currently ranked at No. 27, "I feel privileged every day to be able to do my job and comparing to where I've been in the past playing challengers and lower-ranked tournaments and now I've made that switch and I'm competing against top players."

With her rise up the ranks, Lepchenko is now earning more prize money and certainly getting more perks playing in the biggest events than she did grinding it out on the outskirts of the main tour. But Lepchenko is trying to keep focused on improving day by day and not so much on the monetary rewards.

"I just knew in the past that I could be up here. I just needed all the right things to come together. You reach a point where you don't look at it anymore. All you think about is the process and on how you can become the best you can be. You think, 'Okay I get more prize money. How can I invest it to be even better?' You don't really have the time to think about "Oh my gosh I'm getting all this prize money." It's hard work and it pays off as long as you do the right things."

This year has been so-so for Lepchenko. She holds a 4-7 win/loss record prior to Charleston, and her biggest shining moment was representing the U.S. in Fed Cup when they took on Italy. Lepchenko's wins over Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci on red clay had many talking up the American's chances to do well at Roland Garros later this spring.

"Fed Cup was an amazing experience for me. I was very honored to represent my country and I wanted to do the best that I could and I gave a hundred percent but then I really got sick and couldn't do much afterwards. But I really wanted to win for my country and play the best I could and I think I showed it in every way. Unfortunately we didn't pull it out, but it's something that I still hold on to and I still keep memories of that."

But with all her success, Lepchenko still views making the U.S. Olympic team for the Summer Games as one of her biggest accomplishments. A native of Uzbekistan, Lepchenko became a U.S. citizen in 2011. She didn't think she had a shot at getting on the team, but worked hard to try and make it. For her, dreams became a reality.

"It was a long term goal but it wasn't like I went on the court everyday and told myself, 'I want to be on the team. I have to do well.' It was more of making sure I worked on my footwork and worked on my form, things like that. It kind of paid off for me. It was amazing. As I said, it was a dream come true."

(Photo Credit: Andy Kentla)