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Reunited?

Schnyder's mother in attendance at Italian Open

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Posted: Wednesday May 05, 1999 12:18 PM

Schynder has played erratically since opening the year by winning at the Gold Coast tournament. Gary M. Prior/Allsport

ROME (AP) -- Patty Schnyder's estrangement from her parents is apparently over.

The Swiss tennis player said Wednesday that her mother has joined her at the Italian Open, months after the 20-year-old broke off relations with her family.

Schnyder acknowledged in a news conference after a second-round victory at the Foro Italico that the strain of the family problems had been affecting her game.

"It's difficult to stay concentrated. At the moment I don't feel really confident on the court," the fifth-seeded Schnyder said after beating local wild card entry Adriana Serra Zanetti 6-2, 7-5. "I have a lot of thoughts on my mind."

She said she saw her mother Saturday for the first time in two months.

Schnyder's behavior has been under scrutiny since she started working with German trainer Rainer Harnecker, 42, early this year. Harnecker has little experience in tennis and has been pushing Schnyder to drink several quarts of orange juice each day, telling a Zurich newspaper it is "almost identical to mother's milk."

Harnecker, described as a faith healer, is under investigation in Germany for practicing medicine without a proper license.

Since that relationship began, Schnyder had broken relations with her parents, her former boyfriend and her coach.

Schnyder said her mother had often offered to come to tournaments. "I told her I would like to have her here and she came," the player said.

Schynder has played erratically since opening the year by taking the title at the Gold Coast tournament in Australia, making it as far as the semifinals at only one other event.

She skipped the Federation Cup last month, and she has fallen out of the WTA's top 10.

"My ranking is dropping, I know," she said, "and that's pressure I put on myself. It's my tennis I have to get back, and I don't know how long it will take."

 

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