01 settembre 2003
Capriati D Dementieva 6-2, 7-5
Q. You seemed in a bit of a hurry when you got back out there
the third or fourth time or whatever it was.
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Yeah. Now, it -- then it was okay to hurry, right.
Usually not, but...
Q. How tough was that?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: It was very tough. After the first, second time, I was
all right. But then the third, and I didn't know if it was gonna happen
again, it was just getting pretty annoying.
I was just getting tired. You know, it's hard to play matches like that once
you actually do get out there, because your rhythm is broken up. You know,
you're worrying if you're gonna get the match in. You're thinking ahead,
like tomorrow if you don't have to play ... I mean, if you don't finish, you
have to come back tomorrow. So it is very difficult.
Q. During that last stretch there, that last segment on the court, you
had a short stretch where you sort of lost your ground strokes before you
found them again. Just needed to recalibrate, or what happened?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: I guess. I mean, I was just -- I don't know. Maybe I felt
a little tired then, and just, you know, was just kind of just not in my
concentration mode and the rhythm was... you know, with everything. Then I
realized that, you know, "What am I doing here? Let's get it together, you
know, try to finish the match."
Q. They just called it again (referring to rain)?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: No?
Q. You were saying you took a nap during the first break. Is there a
couch in the locker room?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: No, in the lounge there's these couches, so...
Q. For how long?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: I don't know. Could have been like an hour or something
like that.
Q. How can you relax enough to be able to sleep when you've got -- I mean,
you're wondering whether or not you're going to get called on?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: I knew it wasn't gonna be for a while. I didn't think it
was gonna stop. I don't know, when I want to sleep, I can sleep, so...
Q. Was your nap too long, short?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Usually I'm taking a nap every day. So I'm used to taking
naps every day.
Q. You're a napper?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Yeah.
Q. How difficult was it to get proper nutrition? I saw you nibbling maybe
bread or something when you came back on the court.
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Yeah.
Q. That can be the difference in a match, I would imagine.
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Yeah, well, actually, like 'cause it was so quick, all of
a sudden. It stopped raining, and they would just go dry the court real
quick. You'd get 10 minutes' notice. I just felt when I went out there, when
I had the bread, I was hungry, and so, you know, that would have sustained
me.
But then, you know, after it rained again, I definitely -- I went and got
something substantial to eat. You know, actually I was eating, and then it
stopped again. They were, you know -- I couldn't really finish. You know,
but it's -- you don't want to eat too much. Then you go out there and...
then you're in trouble.
Q. Like you said, you were in a hurry to get off the court
that last time. Did you feel you imposed your pace on Dementieva a little
bit and that gave you an advantage? It seemed like she was trying to hold
you off.
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Yeah, if I was losing too, that would be the play I would
try, is just to take as much time as possible.
But she still played on. I think I just was more aggressive overall with my
shots and my tennis, too. You know, I was just really going for it. That's
what I wanted to do, is just try to, you know, get through it and go for it.
If it didn't work, then it didn't work.
But fortunately, I was just -- it paid off.
Q. What did you think of her second serve ball toss?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: You know, it's a little weird. But, you know, I've had my
fair share of problems with that, too. So I can sympathize with her.
I don't know if she's maybe injured or something's going on with that. But,
I mean, if she would just improve that, she'd be a really great player.
Q. The start of the match you were up 4-love, 40-30 in 14 minutes. You
went off court. Was your feeling like, "I can roll through this match
quickly"?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: No. I mean, I just -- I never felt that kind of momentum
leave me anyways, you know. So I went back out there and I still -- you know,
even though I won that game. But even though I lost the two games, still it
felt all right to me.
Then, you know, I was just maybe playing with a little more anxiousness just
because, you know, the weather and really don't know if you're gonna get it
in or not. You know, I really just tried to concentrate just on my game. You
know, I was just feeling the ball well anyway. So it's just playing my game.
Q. In the studio over there you were talking a little bit about how you're
in a good place in your life. You've been there before, but you have to
learn it again. Can you talk about that process, of having to go through
stuff over and over again?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: I mean, you know, it's like a cycle, you know, just goes
over and over. If it's not one thing, it's another thing. You know, I just
learn that you can't just expect everything to be perfect and work out the
way you want it. Even yourself, you know. It's like sometimes I don't even
understand, you know, the kind of moods that I go in and out, whatever.
You know, I'm just happy for what I have and really, you know, have no
complaints. I shouldn't complain at all. I've already -- I don't have to
prove anything to myself, to anybody or myself, really. I feel like, you
know, I've realized that I've achieved a lot, at least in my tennis, my
career. That's one less worry, you know. That was kind of a worry before.
You know, I let that go.
And then even just having confidence in myself also. You know, I was getting
hurt by a few relationships here and there. That was difficult. So I learned
how to get through that, cope with those kind of things. You know, just the
support system has to be there as well.
Q. Last year it was not that feeling. We didn't get the sense you were at
the same place when you left Flushing Meadows last year as you are right now.
Is that a fair assessment?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Yeah. Yeah, I mean, that's the kind of changes I've gone
through, evolved. You know, I went through some relationship stuff, too,
that, you know, I had to get through. Also with my career, you know, what I
wanted from it and how I wanted to -- what I wanted to take from it.
You know, so I'm not gonna go into real big detail, but, you know...
Q. This relationship thing, though, did you reach a point where you
realized it's not everybody, no matter who they are, how famous they are,
not famous, everybody had problems with some amount of relationships in
their life, and that's just life?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Yeah. I mean, that's -- I realize that, absolutely. I
mean, that's just -- maybe other people don't realize that but, you know...
Really, I'm just a human like everyone else. Probably gonna have more
problems because of, you know, who I am, whatever, what I do.
But you can't take things too personally. That's what I learned.
Q. You and Lindsay are now through to the quarterfinals. What is your
relationship with her like? Are you friends? Are you close? Can you talk
about that a little bit.
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Just, I mean, we have a mutual respect for each other, I
think. I mean, we've never been like really close friends or best friends. I
mean, I don't think we ever will be.
But, you know, just we respect each other and that's it. We'll say hi and
talk, whatever.
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