2012 CitiOpen Interview: Chanelle Scheepers
Steve Fogleman, TennisEastCoast.com

Chanelle Scheepers tripled up this week with new coach Jeff Wilson and Irina Falconi. The South African veteran had just booked a spot into the WTA CitiOpen doubles final along with Falconi when she gave us some time at the players lounge on Thursday.

You have a new coach as of, Sunday? What made you go with Jeff Wilson?

I was looking for a while. What I really liked about him is that he’s really positive and we’ve known him for a very long time. For me, it’s really important to have someone who is positive, so that’s why I went with him.

You also have a new doubles partner in Irina Falconi.

We actually played at Wimbledon and we played really well. It just made sense that since we played well and we have the same coach, to try and play more tournaments together.

Didn’t you play in a doubles final with Abigail Spears?

I pretty much just played with whoever before. I was really focused on my singles before and played doubles if I could get in and at tournaments where I wanted to play. It’s nice to play with someone you can work together on some stuff.

Although you have singles titles, you’re still looking for a doubles title, aren’t you?

It will be nice to get that first doubles one, but we just go out there, try our best and enjoy. I really enjoy playing with Irina. I have a lot of fun.

You two seem to get to know your opponents in the first set, and by the time the super-breaker comes around, it’s almost as if you didn’t even need to play it!

It’s funny that all the matches went that way. We really build momentum through the match. From the beginning, we had a clear sense of what we wanted to do with our plans. As the match progressed, we started playing better and better.

Chanelle with Coach Wilson in background