U.S. OPEN

September 2, 1994

Gabriela Sabatini

GABRIELA SABATINI: Yeah, probably. Yeah, it was a little easier than what I expected. She just started to play very well in the second set, the first was not that hard, but the second set she started to play very well and started serving much better and I had to play well, really well to win that too.

GABRIELA SABATINI: Yeah, I guess it's, you know, tough to play against Conchita and other players, but, still, if she was beating -- Ginger is playing very well and she's a very good player, so I have to win the next round, still, so I just want to go match by match and all the matches are very tough.

GABRIELA SABATINI: I feel very good since the first match, from the first match I started to feel very well. I played great first match, second one was very tough, and today I feel very good again. I'm feeling very good.

GABRIELA SABATINI: Yeah, yeah, much better.

GABRIELA SABATINI: No, I mean, I had moments where I felt very good, on and off. But here I think it's more consistent and I feel much more comfortable with my game.

GABRIELA SABATINI: Yeah, everybody wanted to be my coach. Yeah, that was a little bit hard because you start listening and it's kind of hard sometimes because everybody wants to tell you something, this should be like this, or like that. But I think I managed everything very well. I tried to listen to the person ahead and just focus on what I needed to do. I had moments where that was a little bit hard.

GABRIELA SABATINI: No. Sometimes, it doesn't matter if it is a Grand Slam or not, sometimes they come on trips, sometimes they don't. So, you know, it's good sometimes and sometimes maybe, you know, I just travel with my coach, which is good too, so...

GABRIELA SABATINI: Yes, I don't feel pressure from them. I never felt pressure from them. It's nice to have them, their company, their support, it's nice. And my brother is here this whole trip and that makes it easier having a very good relationship with him. So, I like it.

GABRIELA SABATINI: He's 29.

GABRIELA SABATINI: Yes.

GABRIELA SABATINI: Yes. Yeah, yeah, he was the one who started to play tennis, actually. I used to do everything he was doing and I remember my mother telling me to wear a skirt and I said, no, but my brother is not wearing a skirt. I didn't want to wear it. So I used to do everything that he was doing, so...

GABRIELA SABATINI: Well, that was a few years, it took me a few years to beat him. He's a male, so he was stronger than me, but when I started to play, like juniors in 1984 and then '85, he stopped playing tennis a little before that. So he wasn't playing that often.

GABRIELA SABATINI: I guess in 1984 when I went to Europe to play junior tournaments and I became the number one in the world that year.

GABRIELA SABATINI: I mean, I had people like when I first started to play, everyone was saying that I had a very natural game. My first teacher asked me if I worked with someone before because my backhand was -- it seemed like someone worked on my backhand before. So, I had great conditions. People were saying that.

GABRIELA SABATINI: Well, when I first started I was six.

GABRIELA SABATINI: I don't know, I just had it.

GABRIELA SABATINI: Yeah, I guess she was one of my favorite tennis players at the beginning, and I wasn't watching that much tennis, you know, probably my -- Vilas at that time and we only saw tennis when he was playing, but Martina-- she was one of my favorite players to watch because I loved the way she played, very aggressive, coming to the net, and I always liked that. And then when I first played her, I was just, you know, thinking oh my God, I'm playing against her and it was a great experience for me.

GABRIELA SABATINI: I don't really know which tournament it was. I think it was in '85, and you know, it meant much more -- much more to play against her than to win or lose.

GABRIELA SABATINI: I guess her personality, her character on the court and a great person, I think she is.

GABRIELA SABATINI: I like soccer, I like to play sometimes. I always played when I was a little girl, the guys used to come to my house and pick me up to play soccer. Of course, my mother would go after and take me by the ear because, you know, they were all guys and I was the only woman.

GABRIELA SABATINI: I was good, yeah.

GABRIELA SABATINI: Compared to what?

GABRIELA SABATINI: I'm feeling much better now -- I mean technically, I would say technically, I think everything is much better. I'm hitting the ball better, I'm moving better, my serve is better, and a big difference, I think.

GABRIELA SABATINI: I think so.

GABRIELA SABATINI: I think so, especially at the beginning, because I was looking -- I was always trying to follow him on everything and when I first saw him playing tennis, I said, oh, I would like to play. So he had a very big influence on me.

GABRIELA SABATINI: He's an actor, yes, in Argentina.

GABRIELA SABATINI: No, not really crazy, but good things. That was one of the things that I will always remember, when I was down or when I'm down, people I don't even know, they send me letters saying, you know, play, do this, or do that and come on, play with your heart and all things like that and it's really nice to hear that.

GABRIELA SABATINI: Very much.

GABRIELA SABATINI: Yes, probably.

GABRIELA SABATINI: Very small things. You know, very little things we changed on the technique. Nothing really big. But small things that made a big difference.

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