U.S. OPEN

September 1, 1995

Gabriela Sabatini

GABRIELA SABATINI: Yeah, I expect it to be a more difficult match. She has been playing very well this tournament and, you know, she is one of the players that is coming up, you know, very strong. She has a great game, great tennis, so yeah. I never played her before, so it is going to be a very exciting match.

GABRIELA SABATINI: I don't know. I always play pretty good, you know, in this tournament. This year, I think I am playing, I don't know, I think a little more on the court, like more aware of what I am doing on the court. And one of the things that I have been doing very well is playing very deep and very close to the lines, and you know, I am able to take control of the match, you know, by playing like that.

GABRIELA SABATINI: I think a lot of things, the surface is very good. I feel very comfortable on hardcourts. New York is a place that I like to come and visit and it is fun. And the crowd is great too. I mean, they really get involved in the matches and it is really great. It is nice. It is special to play here.

GABRIELA SABATINI: Yeah, now that I play her, I was thinking, geez, I was 14 when I played my first U.S. Open. I don't know what kind of advice. For the moment she seems to be pretty happy with everything. I hope that she doesn't feel any pressure or anything like that from media or parents, you know, that is the only thing. But otherwise, she has a great potential. She has a great game.

GABRIELA SABATINI: You know, I have come this far, so everything I did was pretty good. I was lucky to have great people around me, great family that supported me; never put any pressure on me, and I was just very happy because I was doing what I wanted to do and I was fine with doing that. I wasn't feeling any pressure.

GABRIELA SABATINI: No not at all. Every point I had to really fight a lot to play really my best to win each point. She is a player that is not going to give you anything and she fights every single ball and she runs to everything and she is a very smart player, you know, she studies the game very well and she always has a good plan and so, you know, the score has nothing to do with the match.

GABRIELA SABATINI: I think today was a tougher match than when I play her a few years ago, a lot tougher. I think she has improved a lot, her game. She is trying to come into the net a little bit more. She is being a little bit more aggressive and I think that is the change that she has made since that moment.

GABRIELA SABATINI: Not so much this tournament, but I watch her before at other tournaments and, you know, she has a very solid game from the baseline and she comes in sometimes, but she moves very well, very easily, she moves from the baseline and she has pretty good mentality, so I think I am going to have to keep playing the same way I have been doing it, just mixing the ball a lot and just try not to give her any rhythm.

GABRIELA SABATINI: Well, it is a pleasure to be playing with her, you know, there are so many players that she could have played with and to be playing with her is really an honor, so Martina has, you know, so much experience on the Tour and I mean, she won so many titles, in doubles as well, so I think we can do very well. I have been playing a lot of doubles, winning a few tournaments, so I think we have pretty good chances to win.

GABRIELA SABATINI: Yeah, we try to, I guess, get to know each other on-the-court-strategy and what to do and I talk to her, yeah, sure because I think she knows so much and it is so good to ask her anything, so I do that when I need to.

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