09 novembre 2002
Capriati D M. Maleeva 6-2, 4-6, 6-1
Q. Did it seem like nobody was ever going to hold serve there for a while?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: It's tough, because we were both returning well. I think
she was returning well, especially on my serves, so yeah, I didn't have any
trouble returning her serve, and I felt like I was still serving well, but
you know, that was her strongest game, and it was just kind of there in the
second set I guess it was harder.
Q. Jennifer, player after player this week has said, oh, I'm tired, I'm not
up to it, essentially I don't have a real fighting spirit. Earlier this week
you talked about that issue and you said, yeah, I'm really tired, I came
back from Europe, but you sort of have to decide it's the end of the year,
do I really want to fight for it or just pack it in. Do you think that's
been an advantage for you this week, and do you think some of the others
have packed it in too much?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: I can't really comment on anybody else. I don't really
know what everybody else is feeling. Just myself, that if I had that
attitude, I just wouldn't come at all, you know.
Q. To follow up, it's important for you to give this all you possibly can?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Yeah. I think I said before that I'm motivated to be here,
and it's nice having the championships and the new facility and the new
city, so I think that's just part of the motivation. I've got nothing to
lose, and so, I feel fresh, because maybe I didn't play that well in Europe
or have that many long tough matches. I was home for a week, and I recharged
my batteries, so I feel like I'm playing well right now. I mean, I'm
definitely not going to pack it in. Otherwise, if I really was that tired
and didn't want to be here, I wouldn't be here.
Q.
You say you have nothing to lose. You face Serena again, who you haven't
beaten this year. Is there a little pride involved there?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Well, she has to still win first.
Q. Right, but assuming?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: I'm going to go in there and just play my game and not
think about all the other matches and all the other stuff, and just try to
play like I have been playing, and just play the ball and try to play my own
game.
Q. You said the other day in terms of your recent matches with Serena, it
wasn't so much the technical part or the shots, but it was more mentally and
playing the big points big. How can you upgrade? How can you work on that
mental side and playing the big points big?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: I think it's just a matter of just when you're getting in
that situation, is just to really slow down and take my time and just also
just play aggressive and go for it, and kind of think to myself, well, now's
the time where I just got to play like how I have been playing my game and
just kind of have that attitude instead of getting tense or maybe getting
afraid to win or thinking about the moment too much. It's just a matter of
if you're feeling loose and relaxed from the get-go.
Q. When you get rolling so fast, is it hard for you to slow down in a tense
situation?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Well, I'm not going to change completely the way, you
know, I go about it on the court and my whole rhythm especially. Sometimes
we have a tendency to be nervous, that maybe some people go faster, whatever.
As long as it's not that, then it's fine.
Q.
You have been working with a new trainer since the Open. Do you want to talk
about some of the things she's been helping you with?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: I mean, usually all the trainers I've worked with before,
they all kind of get together and talk about it, so there is not too many
changes and too many things going on, so it's basically the same things that
I always work on.
Q. Do you and other players regard this as the world championship of women's
tennis, which is how it's advertised? No disrespect to her, but if Clijsters
wins it, do you all hail her as the world champion? What is the actual
prestige involved in this event?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: I think it's up there like winning a Gland Slam, but I
wouldn't go as far as to say whoever wins this is the real world champion or
No. 1. It's a pretty important tournament and very difficult to win. The
status is definitely high, but I wouldn't go so far as to say that.
Q. But you would go so far as to consider this a Grand Slam?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Yeah, it's just as important. Yeah, it's just the
prestige is there. Yeah, it's like a second week of a Grand Slam. It's
pretty important.
Q. In this match you win 8 of the first 9 points and then lose 10 of the
next 12 and then win 10 of 12 again. What does it tell you about your tennis
when you say your playing in bursts like that?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: I'm playing an opponent, so you've got to give her some
credit, too. It's just not very -- it's not always one-sided. That's tennis.
There is a lot of things always going on.
Q. Jennifer, when you talk about your game, what are the aspects that define
your game and what are the things that are going to make you say in the
course of the points that, oh, yeah, I'm playing my game?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Well, I think you can sort of tell the way I play, if I'm
playing aggressive, and I'm hitting deep along the baseline, and then kind
of moving the ball around, when I'm up on the court and got that just real
aggressive mental attitude going on, and I just feel like moving forward a
lot, and I can't really explain everything to what I feel. It's my game.
Q. Jennifer, you were talking to Mary Jo about your eyesight and this
condition from being out in the sun so many years. Can you tell us a little
more about that and what you're going to have to do to take care of it.
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: It's different from the surgery I had before, which is
the vision correction lasik surgery. Now because I have had that, it's
important that I don't let it go too much, because it could interfere with
that other surgery. It's a common thing. A lot of people have it that are
out in the sun a lot?
Q. Is it a blurry thing?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Well, the doctor actually explained it the best way by
saying it's like a windshield wiper, the glass is not clear, you know, it's
never going to be clear. There is something stuck on the glass.
Q. What's the procedure called exactly?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: I don't know. I mean, it's just a trigium (ph.) removal.
Q. When are you going to have it done?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Next week.
Q. How long have you been playing with a dirty windshield?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Yeah, well, I guess I identified it quite a long time, a
few years. I mean, the more you're out in the sun, the worse it gets.
Q. I remember you complaining about it this summer.
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: I guess they're getting worse, that's why I'm getting it
done.
Q. What would winning this event mean for your year? Put that into some
perspective for us.
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: It would be great. I mean, I would be thrilled. It would
be like winning the first one and winning the last one. Who cares what
happens in between, you know?
Q. If it is Serena, although you've gone seven times three sets, will you
feel like an underdog?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: No. I never feel like an underdog going against Serena.
It's just we always just have really tough matches, close matches, and it
just seems like who's really on that day or, you know, who's just playing
well that day. It could just always go either way. It's a matter of a couple
points here or there. That's how I always feel, which is pretty close. I
never feel like the underdog.
Q. Jennifer, it seemed like last year when you played her, you were able to
kind of will yourself to victory. This year it seemed like when it got
really, really tight she was the one able to do that. Talk about how you
feel and can you will yourself over her again?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Of course, I can. I definitely believe that. You've got
to give her credit on that's what she's improved on, is being mentally tough
on those important points, and you know, it's something that I've just got
to get back to doing also.
Q. In the general discussion on tennis the other day you said you admire the
spirit of Andre Agassi. Could you say what you do admire about his spirit
and what you can learn from that?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Well, I feel almost like we play similar games, just, you
know, strong off the baseline, and kind of just have that "never say die"
attitude. He's just a great shot maker, and just when you think no way can
he hit a shot and make a winner, I mean, he does. You know, he's just a
pretty amazing player to watch, and I always love watching him, because I
think I can always learn something from his game and the way he plays points
and his strategy and stuff like that.
Q. Your footwork seems to be really solid out there. Does that help set up
the ground strokes?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Yeah, when I'm feeling light and when I'm feeling fast on
my feet, I think that's always just a big part of my game, and you know, I
can hit great shots, but if I'm not there set up for the ball, then it
doesn't matter. A lot of my game is timing I think, so when I get myself in
position, I feel more confident hitting the shot, and automatically it just
lifts my game up.
Q. It seemed like in the third set you were doing extremely well. That
sounds like maybe a key in a game like yours.
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Yeah, I felt really good out there moving-wise, and I
guess fitness is starting to pay off a little.
Q. When you dropped the second set, was there any doubt in your mind that
you would take the third set?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: No, I mean, I didn't want to underestimate Maggie either,
but I think that second set I sort of let it slip away and just -- you know,
she got lucky on some shots and I missed some easy shots. I felt like I was
pretty much in control the whole match.
|
.gif){kind=small}