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U.S. OPEN

September 7, 1993

Gabriela Sabatini

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK

Q. Did you do anything different in the second set as compared to the first and the third?

GABRIELA SABATINI: Really, I thought I hit the ball a little bit harder in the second set than the way I was hitting it in the first. I was just trying to play the same, being more aggressive; tried to hit the ball a little bit harder. Play to both sides, too.

Q. What turned it around in the third set for Steffi?

GABRIELA SABATINI: I felt very good at the beginning of the third set. I thought I had a good chance there. I was 1-Love and I had a chance for 2-Love. Then I don't think I played bad. She played very well. I lost my concentration for probably one game after 2-1, the next game I lost little bit my concentration. But she was just playing like if it was just the beginning of the match. She was moving very well and attacking and also she did very well, she was coming in a lot. She did it very well.

Q. How tired were you in the third set? Were you tired?

GABRIELA SABATINI: Just a little bit, but, I mean, I was able to move and to play.

Q. Given that you struggled against lower ranked opponents in your previous two matches, do you consider taking a set off Steffi shows that you are moving in the right direction, or the fact that you lost to her, is that a blow to your --

GABRIELA SABATINI: No. I don't think so at all. I am very satisfied with my performance here. I had some tough matches, I have to admit that, and my level was very good. I felt very good and mentally strong and today I had a good match. I thought it was a good match. She just played better.

Q. Dennis said that if he didn't think you wanted to be number one again he wouldn't work with you anymore. Do you have a timeframe?

GABRIELA SABATINI: No I don't. I don't have a timeframe.

Q. You really want to get going again?

GABRIELA SABATINI: Yeah, I would like to reach the top. I would like to be the best. I try to keep improving and to keep changing things if I have to, just to get better and to be the best.

Q. Gaby, when you went and changed at 1-4, you didn't -- did it work against you that you come back, you were away for a while, and get cold?

GABRIELA SABATINI: I felt cold after the 2-1; started to get very cold; probably I should have changed after 2-1, instead of 4-1. You know, it started to get a little bit cold.

Q. Gabriela, do you have to start hitting a bigger serve hitting in the 95 and over 100s to be able to win, to be able to beat Steffi and Monica when she comes back?

GABRIELA SABATINI: Yeah, I think it is a good thing to mix the serve a lot, to do different things. Probably I am going to have to go for them a little bit more, to hit it harder, you know, in some moments, but not all the time. I don't think all the time. I just have to mix the serve a lot.

Q. Does the rivalry with her mean anything special to you? Is it easier for you to get excited to play her?

GABRIELA SABATINI: No. I always get excited when I play Steffi, since the beginning. We play, I think, the best matches and I get very excited and, you know, we both play our best and it is at a very good level. We play great tennis, I think.

Q. Do you know why in the rivalry it goes in such -- like you had seven of eight and she had five straight. Does one of you change your game, or does one catch up or is it just coincidence?

GABRIELA SABATINI: That she is --

Q. Like you won seven of eight, now she has five straights, it goes in chunks; do you know why?

GABRIELA SABATINI: Matches?

Q. Yes.

GABRIELA SABATINI: It is hard to tell. Depends on the moment, you know, how she is playing; how I am playing. Depends a lot on that. I think that has a lot to do -- I didn't have a very good year, this one. I played very few times where I was not playing my best level, but we didn't play too many times this year.

Q. Can you talk, Gaby, about your strategy during the match? At times today you were coming in off her serve, off the return, other times you serve and volleyed a few times. You were fairly successful and you would back off again; play from the backcourt. What was going through your mind during the crucial points of the match?

GABRIELA SABATINI: Well, I tried to be aggressive all the time. It is not that sometimes I tried to get back or sometimes I tried to go in, to go at the net. Depending on the moment, I was on -- on the returns I didn't come in, on the return of serve I didn't come in all the time. That was the only thing I didn't do all the time. But then the rest on the rallies I tried to come in every chance I had.

Q. Is it because of the year you have had that you say you can be satisfied with a match like today; and what you have done here or is it because of where you are at this stage of your career that you say that?

GABRIELA SABATINI: I would say both things. Probably a little bit more for the year I had. This was one of the best matches I played in -- that is why I am very satisfied with that.

Q. Gaby, that shot between the legs, is that something that you practiced or does it come spontaneously?

GABRIELA SABATINI: No, I never practice that.

Q. Does she make it difficult to carry out a game plan? Like watching you, you could say go to her backhand; but is it hard to do what you want to do against her versus other players?

GABRIELA SABATINI: It is hard because of the way she moves. She is trying to move to hit her forehand all the time and today she was doing it very well. She was not doing any errors. In the first set she played great. She was not missing those shots. I think it is one of the best matches I have seen from Steffi.

RICHARD FINN: Anything else in English?

Q. When you saw her result, what night was it, Sunday, 48 minutes and you know, 8 unforced errors. Do you think about it or can you just block it out of your mind?

GABRIELA SABATINI: Not really because against each other we always have some very good matches and I know it is a little bit different. I played her so many times and I know pretty much how to play against her, so it wasn't in my mind at all.

Q. Is Dennis Ralston going to continue as your coach?

GABRIELA SABATINI: We haven't talked yet.

Q. Gabriela, do you still hold the same opinion that you had when you refused to vote about the Seles's standings?

GABRIELA SABATINI: What is that?

Q. The fact that you didn't work when they had the WTA vote about what to do with Monica Seles's standings; do you still hold that opinion?

GABRIELA SABATINI: It is a very hard situation. I prefer not to talk about it very much.

End of FastScripts....

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