Noting that she feels the responsibility of her supporters' expectations of success in every tennis competition in which she participates, Şenoğlu said being eliminated in the first round or being champion cannot be the criteria for her overall tennis performance or her overall success in tennis. However, it would have a certain impact on the sport in Turkey. “I have a responsibility to succeed, and I aim for the top in every competition, not only in the İstanbul Cup. I play in various tennis tournaments for 25 to 30 weeks every year. If I could be the champion in every one of them, I would rank at the top of the WTA list. Of course, the İstanbul Cup is a tournament in which I play with the support of the spectators, and being successful, especially in İstanbul, makes me happier. I will do my best as always. I hope I will get good results. Besides, I think my success in the İstanbul Cup will contribute more to Turkish tennis, which is already progressing, than it contributes to my career and that it will speed up this progress,” Şenoğlu explained. Stressing that the tournament is important not only for Turkish tennis but for sports in Turkey as well, Şenoğlu said that through the İstanbul Cup, Turkey can raise its profile in tennis and has shown its presence in the tennis world. “I hope this profile will get higher in the WTA Tour Championships, which will be held in two years' time [in İstanbul],” she added. WTA Tour Championships are played annually at the end of the season for the top-ranked tennis players on the WTA tour.
Stating that she is not complaining about being less well known than, for example, a footballer who plays in international championships, Şenoğlu said she is now recognized by Turkish people although it has taken a while. “People are aware of my successes. They experience the pride of my success with me. I can feel it from the messages and mails they send me,” she said.
Şenoğlu's aims are not only concerned with individual achievements; she has other goals, such as being a model for society. She aims to represent Turkey in the best possible way, to promote and improve tennis in the country and to support and encourage new tennis players. She attributes having these aims to her personality and to the sport's current situation in Turkey. “I am not content with small achievements. I do my best all the time. I think I have something to do not only as a sportswoman, but also as a woman and sister,” she added.
Unlike some of the very successful women tennis players of today, like Venus Williams, for example, who became a professional tennis player at the age of 14, Şenoğlu started tennis professionally in her early 20s despite beginning to practice the sport when she was around 5 years old. She says there is no point in talking about what would be happening now if she had started her professional tennis career earlier, but she said she always looked forward and is happy with what she has done so far and with what she aims to achieve in the future. “I have three goals in the long term: first, the 2012 Olympics, second playing in the championships and third, winning a title in a Grand Slam tennis tournament.”
About İpek Şenoğlu
Şenoğlu is currently Turkey's most successful tennis player, winning 41 national championship titles in numerous age groups and in both singles and doubles and wearing Turkey's national tennis team jersey 107 times. Starting her professional career in 2002, Şenoğlu is placed among the top 300 in singles and among the top 90 in doubles and is the first and only Turkish tennis player in the main draws of Grand Slams. She is also known for playing an intercontinental show game on the Bosporus Bridge with Venus Williams in 2006 to promote the İstanbul Cup.
