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<font size= 3>Tauziat Still Sharp-Tongued After All These Years </font size><br /> <br />Capriati, Williams & Davenport All Come Under Fire <br /> <br />08 November 2001
By Francois Thomazeau
PARIS (Reuters) - Impending retirement has done nothing to muzzle outspoken French tennis stalwart Nathalie Tauziat as she proved with a sharp-tongued assault on the game's current leading names.
The experienced campaigner retires after this week's Fed Cup in Madrid, but proved she is sharper than ever when it comes to speaking her mind.
Americans Venus Williams, Lindsay Davenport and Jennifer Capriati all came under fire but, by contrast, the 34-year-old was full of praise for Martina Hingis in an interview published by sports daily L'Equipe.
"I don't know if she (Hingis) would accept that we discuss it together, but honestly it bugs me when I see that she could fare much better ... and that she takes such beatings from the Williamses (Venus and younger sister Serena) or Davenport who, for me, do not really play tennis," she said.
Tauziat sealed her reputation as a merciless observer of women's tennis when she published a book called "Women's tennis stripped bare" last year.
Australian and French Open champion Jennifer Capriati was not spared either by Tauziat, who said: "When she came back on the tour, she was fat.
SOCIAL SKILLS
"I never would have thought that she could play the way she does today."
Tauziat said she thought that Venus Williams was currently the strongest player in the world, but said she doesn't think much of her social skills.
"Frankly today for me Venus is the strongest ... I'm not sure she respects a lot of people.
"But it's because she's the best and (thinks) that she must not be nice to others to stay the best," she said.
"Otherwise, she's not an unpleasant girl," she added.
Tauziat is far kinder to German Steffi Graf, whom she rates as the best player ever.
"Graf was too fast for me. She was my real bete noire. I never beat her in 21 matches and I didn't even win a set," she said.
"In the history of the game, I put her up there, in front of Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert," she said.
<br />It might be old news and I guess it's not all that sensational, but you can read the whole thing at <a href="http://www.sport365.com/Tennis_news/page_9_38313.shtml" target="_blank">http://www.sport365.com/Tennis_news/page_9_38313.shtml</a>
By Francois Thomazeau
PARIS (Reuters) - Impending retirement has done nothing to muzzle outspoken French tennis stalwart Nathalie Tauziat as she proved with a sharp-tongued assault on the game's current leading names.
The experienced campaigner retires after this week's Fed Cup in Madrid, but proved she is sharper than ever when it comes to speaking her mind.
Americans Venus Williams, Lindsay Davenport and Jennifer Capriati all came under fire but, by contrast, the 34-year-old was full of praise for Martina Hingis in an interview published by sports daily L'Equipe.
"I don't know if she (Hingis) would accept that we discuss it together, but honestly it bugs me when I see that she could fare much better ... and that she takes such beatings from the Williamses (Venus and younger sister Serena) or Davenport who, for me, do not really play tennis," she said.
Tauziat sealed her reputation as a merciless observer of women's tennis when she published a book called "Women's tennis stripped bare" last year.
Australian and French Open champion Jennifer Capriati was not spared either by Tauziat, who said: "When she came back on the tour, she was fat.
SOCIAL SKILLS
"I never would have thought that she could play the way she does today."
Tauziat said she thought that Venus Williams was currently the strongest player in the world, but said she doesn't think much of her social skills.
"Frankly today for me Venus is the strongest ... I'm not sure she respects a lot of people.
"But it's because she's the best and (thinks) that she must not be nice to others to stay the best," she said.
"Otherwise, she's not an unpleasant girl," she added.
Tauziat is far kinder to German Steffi Graf, whom she rates as the best player ever.
"Graf was too fast for me. She was my real bete noire. I never beat her in 21 matches and I didn't even win a set," she said.
"In the history of the game, I put her up there, in front of Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert," she said.
<br />It might be old news and I guess it's not all that sensational, but you can read the whole thing at <a href="http://www.sport365.com/Tennis_news/page_9_38313.shtml" target="_blank">http://www.sport365.com/Tennis_news/page_9_38313.shtml</a>