Send any questions that you would like to ask the girls , and as they become available, we will post them in this section of the site.

 

Contact Us: postmaster@blackandhuber.com  

 

new addition

Question from Benjamin, Kaiserslautern, Germany:

Hi Cara, I used to be a great fan of your brothers Byron and Wayne. Could you please give me news about them? What are they doing now? Thanks and say hello to them!

Cara : Hi Benjamin, my brothers are doing very well thank you. Byron is now living in South Africa and working in property development and Wayne is in London coaching tennis. both are enjoying life very much, I will pass on your message.

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Question from Siobhan, Galway, Ireland :

How does the Player’s council work? What do you do exactly? Do you have examples of actions?

Liezel : The players' council is a sub-committee under the board. The board consists of the Tour, the tournaments and the players. We have 4 players board reps on the board. They are business people and sometimes former players. On the council we have 8 players. We represent the players thoughts and ideas and make the best decisions on what we think they want. For instance, do we award ranking points at The Olympic Games? I personally didn't want them, but the players did, so we voted for them. We also have on-court coaching. We need to decide to implement it full-time, keep testing it or scrap it. For now we are testing it through the end of the year.

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Question from Jean, Marseille, France :

How does a player commit to a tournament? By e-mail? By phone? When is the deadline? And how does a player commit in doubles in a tournament? Thanks!

Liezel : On the WTA Tour there is an entry deadline of 7-9 weeks before an event. You fill out an entry form, which you can fax in or hand in at a tournament. Nothing by phone. We also have a website for players with your own log in where you can enter and withdraw and find tournament information. Like anything, there is a membership to be paid. We have full- and associate memberships. There are criteria that have to be met to be a full member and then you get certain great benefits like medical insurance at a huge discount! 
Doubles however has not entry system. It seems crazy. You can just show up and enter. The Tour does ask the top teams their schedules ahead of time, so they can try and promote us a little better. It's up to the individual to ask another player to play doubles. Sometimes agents do it or coaches, but it's mostly the players who arrange their partners.

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Question from Carolyn, Newcastle, UK :

Hi, you both have had long and successful careers but if you could turn back time is there anything you would do differently?

Liezel : Ideally I would have liked to be injury free. I have had three surgeries and two stress fractures. That is the only thing I would change if I could :-)

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Question from Go!Taiwan, Taipei, Taiwan :

What is your opinion about the Argentine doubles player Paola Suarez who is playing her last doubles tournament in the US Open? What do you think about her retirement? Do you have memories of matches played against her in singles and doubles ?

Liezel : Paola will be missed a lot! She was such a great player and extremely smart on the court. You knew when you played her that you had to bring your best game. It is a pity that she had so many injuries in the last couple of years. We had great memories playing each other. The first time was when we were 12 years old and then of course we also played each other in the 2005 French Open finals! I also played some with Paola! I know she will be happy in her life, because she is such a wonderful person!

Cara : I think its so sad that Paola is retiring but she has had a fantastic career that she can be very proud of. She is a great girl and I will miss seeing her out on the tour. We had many great matches against each other especially in doubles and she even let me win a few!!!!! I wish her all the best in her life after tennis.

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Question from Sabrina, France :

You are always together, you know each other very well on and probably out of the court so can you both tell us the best quality of your partner outside of a court ?

Liezel : Cara loves to sleep late! I'm not sure if that's a good quality, but I would like to have that quality, because I am always up with the sun. So I envy that quality of Cara. She is very easy going and I admire that quality. She also has a very big heart and likes to help people, so I like that!

Cara : The best quality of Liezel off the court is her involvement and caring for others. She is always looking and willing to help someone in need and I think this is a great quality to have and very rewarding.

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Question from Nelson, Brasil :

What do you think about the no ad and super tie break rules ?

Liezel : It's tough and it puts a lot of pressure on us. I think to some extend it is not so great for the fans. When we played Davenport and Raymond last week, I think the fans would have much rather have preferred us playing the third set out.

Cara : it has been hard to adjust to the new super tie break rules but now having played quite a few matches in the new system we have gotten used to it. It is very cut throat and you need to be there 100% all the time because the momentum can change very quickly. It is very challenging!

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Question from Pauline, France :

Cara and Liezel, since when have you known each other?

Cara : We have known each other since I was about 13. Liezel came to Zimbabwe to play a $10000 futures tournament and we actually played each other first round! She beat me in three sets! So since then we have known each other on the tour.

Liezel : Cara and I have known each other for at least 15 years! We both played the satellite tournaments in Africa. We even played against each other once in singles...Cara said I hit a lot of drop shots... hehe

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Question from Tobias, Germany :

How did you decide to play full time together?

Liezel : Neither of us had partners and knew our games would suit each others, so we thought we would give it a try. The rest is history!

Cara : At the end of last year, we decided to play together full time because it just made sense; we are really good friends, we have a lot in common, our games are well suited and we have a lot of fun out there.

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Question from Matt, Canada :

Who are your best friends on the Tour (except your partner) ?

Cara : Well we basically have a team that we travel with: our husbands' Brett (Moose) and Tony, our great stringer Alicia, my coach Christian and another great friend of ours Julia Vakulenko. So we are altogether pretty much most of the time.

Liezel : My husband ! But I guess he doesn't count. I am friends with everyone. Sania Mirza is a great friend of mine and of course Martina Navratilova !

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Question from Mike, USA :

What is your best tennis memory so far?

Liezel : Winning Wimbledon the first time! It was my first Grand Slam and our first together.

Cara : I think winning our two Wimbledon titles together in 2005 and 2007 are the best two memories for me.

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Question from Alicia, Spain :

What are your favourite tournaments?

Cara : Of course I have to say Wimbledon is one of the best tournaments of the year, first because I love playing on grass and also because I live in London so I get to stay at home for the tournament!! I also love San Diego and the Gold Coast.

Liezel : Australian Open

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Question from Lucie, France :

What are your favourite singers/groups?

Cara : Cold Play, Third Eye Blind, Match Box 20, Dido, Robbie Williams, Alice DJ, ABBA, Kings of Leon, Ryan Adams, Foo Fighters, Pink Floyd.