TELECOM ITALIA MASTERS

May 16, 2003

Ai Sugiyama

Q. What you did today is a historical feat. You are the first Japanese player to come to a semifinal in Rome. What do you think about it?

AI SUGIYAMA: Well, yeah, normally I like hard court, and clay court is kind of toughest surface for me. This is first time I'm doing well here in Rome. I enjoy playing on clay court. I start to like it. I think I played good yesterday and today. What makes me feel good about it is I understand how to play on clay court little bit more, and I practiced hard on clay court. So that makes it feel comfortable little bit.

AI SUGIYAMA: At the moment? You mean in the next round?

AI SUGIYAMA: My feet, I think my footwork is working. Last week in Berlin I wasn't move enough. I wasn't sure where should I stand. I didn't understand the game. But now I move better on clay courts. That's why I can, you know, play my game like hard court. And then because of this clay court, it's little bit faster than normal, so I like it, the pace, very much. I try to play aggressive, and that's the game I like to play so it's been working.

AI SUGIYAMA: Yes.

AI SUGIYAMA: Yeah, she's my coach now. We've been working together for two and a half year. It's been great. It's always helps. She knows my history of my tennis career. And we started when we were down, kind of like was out of 50, Top 50, and we start to work together. It's been great. It always helps when someone from your family or boyfriend or something that is traveling with you. So it's been great.

AI SUGIYAMA: Well, first of all, we have to see who's gonna win tonight. It's gonna be -- of course it's gonna be a tough match for me. She's been playing unbelievably tennis for a long time now, and she's No. 2 in the world. If I play against her, well, on clay it's going to be a different story for sure. I have to work on my footwork as well. And, yeah, it's gonna be a good challenge for me.

AI SUGIYAMA: No, actually, Claudio hasn't taken me to the dinner yet. But most of the time I enjoy Italian food. I love Italian food. But yesterday I went to the Japanese restaurant as the first time in the city. But the food here is unbelievably great, so I normally go to eat Japanese food a lot but not in here (smiling).

AI SUGIYAMA: She's my idol? I respect her a lot. Yeah, what she's done is really unbelievable thing for Japanese tennis. She is still really famous and popular in Japan. Yeah, I like her a lot. She's finishing -- well, she quit quite a long time ago now. Yeah, she's still my idol, but... yeah (smiling).