August, 23rd 2003
Capriati D Davenport 6-2, 4-0 retired
Q. Feel nice to win one again?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Yes, it sure does. Big monkey off my back now (smiling).
You know, you don't want to win like that, obviously. You know, Lindsay was
very gracious to me after and said, you know, that I still played great,
nothing to take away from her injury. You know, I feel like I did really
play well. I was playing well anyways to start off with.
Q. When did you know she was hurting?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Until she called the injury time-out, I didn't really know.
Q. When she came back out after that final game, could you see in her eyes
she couldn't go on anymore?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Well, I mean, you could tell she couldn't really serve,
she couldn't move at all, so... There's no point to really try to push it
like that, especially with a major coming up. But that's the only time I
really noticed anything.
Q. You say it was a monkey off your back. How frustrating was it not to be
able to win for so long?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Well, no, just to keep getting asked about it, I mean,
that's what I'm talking about (laughter).
Q. We'll stop now.
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: I don't have to answer it anymore (laughter).
Q. Was that the main problem? It didn't really bother you?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Well, I mean, of course it did. I mean, I'm a competitor.
I want to win, of course. It would just bother me to be close and to not win,
to not know really why. You know, I feel like now I'm playing a little bit
like my old self. You know, whatever it is, whatever, you know, has changed,
I mean, I think it's just been, you know, just my desire again has been
really fired up. You know, just by being home, you know, maybe taking some
time off, relaxing a little bit, mentally not stressing out about it. So
that definitely helps me to play better.
Q. Would you consider this your best week of tennis in a long time or
perhaps this year?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Yeah, in a while. It's one of the best weeks so far for
this year, I would say for sure.
Q. Did you lose some desire after winning the third major?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: No, it wasn't that. It was just, you know, some things
threw me off, you know, I maybe had some losses there that I shouldn't have
lost or I felt I shouldn't have lost. You know, there's a lot of hype and
stuff going on. You know, I'm finding when it comes to that, really it's
just not my thing. You know, so maybe the way I was dealing with it, you
know, in my own way, it's not like I was playing bad. You know, it's not
like I was having terrible results either. You know, it's just a combination
of things and also opponents. I mean, you've got to consider the other
players who are playing so much better, too.
Q. You were a late entry coming into this. How close were you to deciding maybe
skipping this tournament?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Well, if I had played -- been able to play the other
tournaments, I probably would have passed on playing this. But, you know, it
worked out perfect. I really had no practice at all. You know, you can't go
into The Open without playing a match for three weeks. I mean, it's too
tough, especially during the US Open. You know, I'm just really happy that I
was able to come and play injury-free - not only injury-free but also to
play well and win. I mean, that was just what I was thinking beforehand, was
just to at least, you know, go play some matches and see if I have any pain,
you know, where I'm at in that regard. To come out with a win, it's just a
big bonus.
Q. You must feel you have a real chance in New York.
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Well, you know, because of the way I'm playing, you know,
I feel confident now going in there. You know, but it's a Grand Slam. It's
tough. It's two weeks. You know, I just have to take it match by match, not
look ahead. You know, I can enjoy this now, but really, you know, after I
leave here, it's, you know, forget about it. You know, it's off to New York
and just concentrate on that.
Q. It's a long way back now, but you've had a couple of emotional US Opens.
Would that be another monkey off your back if you could win in New York?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Well, that would just be a real big thrill if I could win
in New York. So, yeah, among other things (smiling).
Q. How good was it to play out there in the breeze after the heat this week?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Well, I don't know. I didn't really like the wind. Maybe
I would have liked the heat better, humidity (laughter). But, no, I dealt
with it okay I think. Yeah, it was nice, a nice change. You know, physically,
yeah, I definitely felt fine out there.
Q. After Lindsay retired, you went over and whispered something in her ear.
Can you share with us what you exchanged with her?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: I just said that, you know, I hope she just gets better
for The Open. You know, I'm sorry, I know how she feels because I know, you
know, she's been struggling with this for a while. You know, just that kind
of stuff.
Q. Accepting that you've already said you're taking The Open match by match,
what do you think the likelihood -- where is your having a rematch-up today
two weeks from now?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: What do you mean? Rematch against Lindsay?
Q. Yes.
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Well, the only way we could meet is if we were in the
finals.
Q. Exactly.
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: I'd be pretty happy if I was in the finals, so (smiling).
I don't care who I would play. I would just be happy I was there.
Q. A bit of a generalization, but it seems like fans identify with women's
tennis players more than the men's game right now. How do you account for that?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: I don't know. 'Cause there's a lot more Americans, and
Americans have more personality (laughter). I don't know. I don't know. It's
just because we're girls and that's the way it is. We're women (smiling).
Q. Can we ask you how you liked your Michelob Ultra?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: No, it was good. It was a little warm, but...
Q. Can you talk about going into The Open off a win? Does it make a big
difference when you're going into a major off a victory?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Well, uhm, you know, it's good, but, you know, it can
work against you a little bit, you know, if you're riding too high on the
win, just really, you know, not concentrating. You think, "I've won, so I'm
going to go in and, you know, it's just going to roll over into that." I
mean, that's one of the things you have to be careful of. That's what I said,
you know, just try to, you know, put this behind me as fast as I can. Yeah,
I mean, still continue to play the same kind of tennis, but, you know,
mentally I want to almost believe that I haven't won a tournament, you know,
because that will make me just more hungry that way, you know, just kind of
start over.
Q. Somebody mentioned before the monkey off the back. Going into this next
two weeks, the Williams sisters out of the tournament, I don't know what the
status is of Mauresmo, but is that somewhat of a different mental
perspective going into this tournament? Do you feel like you have maybe a
bit of an edge or the monkey off your back with two of the top players in
the world out of the tournament?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Not really. Because, you know, for me, if I was only
losing to them, then maybe it would be something to talk about. You know,
there's many other competitors that, you know, I have trouble against that
are in The Open. You know, like I said before, it makes it open, a little
more open, for sure. But that's the case when you don't have, you know, all
the top players playing. But I still think it's just, you know, going to be
one of the most difficult tournaments to win.
Q. You and Lindsay have both been out here for a long time, had a lot of
success. Is there a real mutual respect with you two guys?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: I think so. I think so. You know, we've seen some changes,
you know, over the years from when we first started. I mean, I started
before Lindsay anyways, though. You know, we've had a lot of experience. I
think, you know, we just can respect each other and respect the game a
little more because of that experience, because of what we've gone through.
Q. I know one of the reasons you don't come here a lot is because it's the
week before The Open. If you win this, go to The Open, have a good run, will
it change your opinion about playing the week before The Open?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Maybe (smiling). Got to play the game right, you know.
Q. On the personal side, what do you do either the night before the game or
the morning before the game? Any rituals that you do? Any special food that
you eat?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Well, I try to not eat anything like crazy, exotic or
anything like that. You know, it's a risk getting food poisoning. No, I just
try to get to bed early and get a good night's rest, you know, get a
massage, some treatment. I've had some, you know, that's been with me all
week that I think has helped me a lot. Just to keep healthy that way.
Besides that, I mean, I'm really not into the ritual thing, you know, having
any kind of superstitions or anything.
ANNE WORCESTER: How are you going to celebrate?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: You can't ask questions. You're a tournament director (laughter).
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