U.S. OPEN

September 5, 1995

Gabriela Sabatini

GABRIELA SABATINI: Yeah, actually I like to come from behind, you know, like no one is talking about me. I like that situation. I feel pretty good with my tennis, with every single match. I think in this particular tournament, I have been very focused on each match and that is why probably I made them easier, or the results looked easy. So there is nothing I could say about my game that was wrong or something I need to do a little better. I know, you know, now it is going to be a hard one -- I look forward to be in the semis again one more time in New York. This is a tournament that, you know, gave me so much -- so many things, you know. I won here. I always did very well here and so it is a very special tournament, so I am glad to be in the semis again.

GABRIELA SABATINI: Yeah, I guess, you know, you work on a lot of things and that is what I have been doing and finally I am seeing a lot of results. I guess that is the result of me getting, you know, a little more motivated, even more focused. I feel that all the things are getting together. When you feel good, technically, physically, mentally, that is the key to get all those things together and that is how I feel today.

GABRIELA SABATINI: I think I had -- a lot of things happened on and off the court. I felt my game got stuck a little bit in those two years. And, you know, I think that is really the reason why, you know, I wasn't being very consistent or very focused.

GABRIELA SABATINI: Yeah, that had a lot to do. My mind was into that a lot, trying to find the right person for me and it was a little hard. It took me more than a year to find a coach and I think that had a lot to do.

GABRIELA SABATINI: I have to say New York and I have to say the crowd is, you know, it is a great crowd. I think it is one of the best ones. They really get involved into the matches and they really -- you can tell that they are enjoying the matches very much and it is more exciting for us too.

GABRIELA SABATINI: Carlos gave me a lot of things. He gave me many, many things and I learned a lot from him. And there came a moment where I needed to stop working with him because I wasn't learning anymore. I think I had took everything I needed to take from him and it was very good. He helped me a lot. So I just needed to move on to get another person and Juan, I think, he knows a lot about tennis. He knew my game very well, and all the things that I needed to work on and particularly on trying to make me play a little bit more aggressive and work on my serve and try to improve that.

GABRIELA SABATINI: I was trying to mix it up a little bit today. Sometimes I wasn't putting my first serve in and I felt like I needed to put it in, you know, to make a good first serve that wasn't too powerful, but good enough, because she was attacking my second serve a lot and coming in.

GABRIELA SABATINI: The last matches?

GABRIELA SABATINI: Yeah, actually it came to my mind a little bit. You know what happens with Mary Joe when she is down, she starts playing great tennis and, you know, she was coming in very much all the time and it was hard for me to, you know, to play my game. I started to play a little short too so I helped her a little bit too, so, you know, but I try not to really get involved with the last match or that match that I lost to her, not to get really involved thinking of that. I thought I needed to change it and to try something different and to go for it; not just waiting until she is going to miss it.

GABRIELA SABATINI: I just focused on the point, on hitting the ball, just keep being aggressive; not just letting her attack me and I played deep balls.

GABRIELA SABATINI: I think that has a lot to do. You know, some people say, oh, you are playing like 1990 or what is the difference, and I think today I am more mature on the court. Like I am more aware of what I am doing on the court. I know what each ball -- where each ball is going and what I am doing with each ball and that is because I am 25 today and I have been on the circuit for a long time.

GABRIELA SABATINI: Yeah, that is something that you really have to do a lot, be patient and wait and don't get crazy; especially if you are not getting good results, you know, you can get really frustrated. Like I got a little frustrated at some point, but, you know, I realized that I needed to be really patient and just focus on what I need to work on and that is all.

GABRIELA SABATINI: Yeah, we are good friends off the court. We are good friends and I think we both know that inside the court we have to beat each other, so we forget a little bit about that and try to play our best on the court.

GABRIELA SABATINI: Like I said before, just try to focus on the next point and instead of my mind going crazy, just thinking about something else, you know, just, you know, keep being focused; don't go away; just play your game, keep playing your game, keep hitting the ball, you know and I think that was the difference when I lost to her at the French, that match.

GABRIELA SABATINI: Yeah. Well, when those things start happening, you know, I think each time you are winning like that what happens, the opponents starts -- just she has nothing to lose, so she starts going for it and she starts coming in and doing different things and, you know, so you have to keep being focused; don't lose it.

GABRIELA SABATINI: Definitely. I think it is a little break in that wall of those things. I lost a lot of matches like that and, you know, it is frustrating to lose like that, so, you know, I guess, you know, today I was able -- I was mentally able to confront that and, you know, to finish it get it over with.

GABRIELA SABATINI: Yeah, I believe, you know, I can beat them. I beat them in the past and I am so much better today, so I don't see why I shouldn't be beating those players.

GABRIELA SABATINI: Definitely. I thought it was going to be a little even closer than what it was. Even the results says that maybe it was easy, but the match wasn't easy at all. It is like each point, you know, I had to play good tennis and fight a lot each point. Mary Joe doesn't give you anything, so, but it does -- it gives me a lot of confidence.

GABRIELA SABATINI: Not really. I don't really spend that much time in Miami. That is why we don't practice that much. We practice in tournaments sometimes.

GABRIELA SABATINI: No, it could be. I think it is more mental in what happens in those moments, you know, like like moments from the past or a situation like that that happened before.

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