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CHASE CHAMPIONSHIPS OF THE COREL WTA TOUR

November 16, 1998

Arantxa Sanchez Vicario

MADISON SQUARE GARDEN, NEW YORK

Q. You did not look comfortable out there. You did come out on the court not feeling your usual lovely, jumpy self?

ARANTXA SANCHEZ VICARIO: Well, I mean, I give my best, but at the end of the year everybody is very tired. I just think that I have some chances to win, you know, to do well in the first set and it went away. After that, probably was much more tired and she got more confidence and she would be able to win in straight sets. Definitely I was very tired out there.

Q. How disappointing was it for you, Arantxa, not to have been able to have more energy?

ARANTXA SANCHEZ VICARIO: Well, obviously I want to still be in the tournament. I am a human being. It has been a great year for me. I was very tired, you know, I just gave my best, but it didn't go my way. There is nothing I can do right now. I am just going to try to get my body relaxed a little bit and get some energy back and start over well next year.

Q. Conchita was saying before that this is her least favorite surface indoors, fairly fast. Do you feel the same about it?

ARANTXA SANCHEZ VICARIO: Well, obviously, it's a very fast surface and I just think that you have to be, you know, very good used to this surface. I mean, probably for us Spanish, we prefer to play outdoors. I was ready to play here. I played the two tournaments before, but definitely it is much more faster. Yeah, you have to play different.

Q. Did you ask to play on Wednesday, to have one more day to rest or not?

ARANTXA SANCHEZ VICARIO: No.

Q. How difficult is it, this sort of time of the year for you to plan your tournaments so you can come here a little fitter because I suppose you had the problem -- you need to get used to the indoor courts again after a lot of time outdoors, or the risk of playing too much and then being tired by the time you get here, how difficult is it to plan your program?

ARANTXA SANCHEZ VICARIO: Well, it is not hard. But obviously this year I have been playing a lot because I was injured for three and a half months at the beginning of the year, so I have to catch up if I wanted to do well. Obviously I cannot ask for better, because it has been a better year than I thought. I won a Grand Slam, and I did pretty well in the other two, and summertime I played some good matches and got to the finals in a few tournaments beating some top players. So obviously everybody is coming to this tournament really tired and my body just feels it. Today you can see it there. But I just still try my best. It happened the first set, but the second set I didn't have much energy left.

Q. Going to the second set, how much were you still thinking about the last shot in the tiebreak? Was that on your mind too much?

ARANTXA SANCHEZ VICARIO: No. I mean, there were some close calls. Obviously nothing you can do about it. But it changed a lot of things, but couldn't go your way, couldn't go, but, you know, I just still tried to be focused, but I guess I didn't have too much energy left.

Q. You seemed to miss a couple of very - to me, looked like easy setups at the net. Is that part of the whole part of being tired?

ARANTXA SANCHEZ VICARIO: Of course, if you don't get good to the ball, you miss.

Q. You seemed to be there, though.

ARANTXA SANCHEZ VICARIO: Sometimes I was; sometimes I was not there. I just try, but it didn't work out.

Q. All the ladies on the Tour are talking about how long a year it is; how many matches you have played 50, 60, 70 matches. Is there any talk among the players that this has really got to stop or are they going to wait until somebody really gets injured because when you are tired you are susceptible to injuries more often?

ARANTXA SANCHEZ VICARIO: That is a good question. You should tell that to the WTA. Not us. Players feel we play enough, a lot. Maybe the only sport that we don't have an off-season. It is only one month. Definitely, it should be probably some more time between. Otherwise, you know, yeah, I mean, we can get hurt any time because we are human beings, but definitely I mean, we try to be as much healthy as we can, but definitely it is impossible to be always 100% each tournament. I guess hopefully it will change that.

Q. How much collective pressure is there from the players to try and get things changed? We are hearing some of the girls now say they are tired coming into this week; the men are all saying they are tired going to Hannover, two of them have dropped out. It does seem to be a serious problem that tennis has got to face.

ARANTXA SANCHEZ VICARIO: Yeah, it is. I mean, we play because we like it, because it is our profession, but we are, like I say, human beings, we cannot always play 100% even the men or women get hurt and then it is even worse. I mean, we keep saying that but it is not only depending on us, like I say. Whoever is responsible for that, should listen maybe change things.

Q. Steffi is back. You have enjoyed a very good run with her. Are you looking forward to more matches? Does that motivate you even further?

ARANTXA SANCHEZ VICARIO: Well, first of all, it is great that she is back. I mean, she is one of the best players -- best player probably in the whole era. It is unbelievable that she is recovering so quick from the injuries and she is doing so well. I am happy for her to win two straight tournaments and come here again. Obviously Spirlea has a very similar game, but I think that they are different players, but, yeah, I look forward to maybe playing once against Steffi again. Who knows, I mean, we have to see during the tournaments, but definitely it will be good, yeah.

Q. Have you decided on at doubles partner for next year?

ARANTXA SANCHEZ VICARIO: No. I am just thinking to relax a little bit.

Q. Are you planning to play the Australian?

ARANTXA SANCHEZ VICARIO: Yeah.

End of FastScripts....

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