US OPEN

August 27, 1997

Tara Snyder

Q. So, you break her first serve. What are you thinking then?

TARA SNYDER: I was pumped the first couple of games. I wanted to come out and start out strong because I know -- I knew she really didn't know who I was, hasn't seen me play before, so I wanted to use it for my advantage and kind of come out and not be intimidated, but go ahead and play to win.

TARA SNYDER: Yeah, definitely. I wanted to go out and compete as well as I could and kind of gauge where I am at this point. I hadn't really played anyone within the top 50. So, I mean, I definitely thought if I went out there and competed hard that anything could happen.

TARA SNYDER: Not really the first game, because my returns, I relied a lot on, almost a lot of times more than serving it. I think I have a pretty strong return, so I actually felt comfortable when she said she wanted to serve first. I was like, "Great." Then when I held and I got up 2-Love and had chances, I think the third game went to deuce, that is when I kind of not woke up, but I was kind of like, "Wow, I am in the stadium," you know, It took a few games for it to hit.

TARA SNYDER: Yeah. And I think -- I thought a lot about it before I went out there, that I really wanted to focus mainly on the ball, not the opponent. It is hard when you do have Seles who is ranked No. 2 -- it is hard to play the ball and not the player. So I really wanted to just concentrate and keep my focus on the ball. And compete against the ball instead of who is across the net.

TARA SNYDER: I wanted to get into some better rallies. I think once we kind of got into some longer rallies I was better off -- once I was up 2-Love, I was ending the point too quick, going for maybe too much too soon. So I wanted to -- I started to throw in more second serves, because I thought the percentage was pretty low. I definitely wanted to have some rallies and step up like I did the first couple of games and play aggressive.

TARA SNYDER: Oh, really? Yeah. I have worked a lot on my serve in the last year. So I definitely feel I am better about my serve. It seems to be improving. I had a shoulder problem, so I wasn't serving much last year, but my shoulder has improved and I have been doing rehab so I am starting to feel more comfortable serving.

TARA SNYDER: With my shoulder?

TARA SNYDER: Definitely. We have worked a lot on the serve. I think when you play at the level like Monica, you have to be able to hold your serve and really focus on breaking, because it is tough when you are always thinking, you know, before to hold your serve. If you have a strong serve, it takes a lot of the pressure off of returning. Because I think I started to put -- when I didn't hold early in the first or after the two games, then I started to put more pressure on my returns and if you notice the second set, I started to hold serve better at least, so it kind of took some of my pressure off the return games.

TARA SNYDER: Actually I thought about it all week. I feel very comfortable playing here in New York. Even when I am out there, I haven't played on the stadium that I played on today, but I played here two days ago. And just being back, I felt like it was kind of like being back home, even though I am not from here. I have always said this is my favorite tournament. I enjoy the atmosphere and the crowd and everything is great. Walking out I saw the grandstand as I was going onto the stadium, I thought, "Wow, that is where I won the juniors." So that was kind of nice right before going out to play Monica, because it gave -- it gives you a little extra confidence.

TARA SNYDER: No, I haven't practiced -- practiced on the stadium this morning since that is where we were playing.

TARA SNYDER: Yeah, it is a good gauge of where I am at because I haven't been able to play any of the higher ranked players, so hopefully from here I can continue to improve my game and I would like to be competing at this level every week and playing these players -- seeing these players on a more regular basis, that is definitely my goal even for next year is to try to get my ranking up to where I am in the main draw of the Slams and get a chance to play these players, hopefully, every week would be great.

TARA SNYDER: I think it is very crucial, you know, I think at the age that I am at, I am still fairly young, so to get the experience now gives me a base to kind of grow on and that is definitely what I want to do is kind of get the foundation because I feel like a lot of it is there and then just keep working towards hopefully getting to a level that where I am competing on a regular basis and feel very comfortable out there. But, I think just going out there for your first time, you need to kind of get the experience of the stadium and the crowd and playing a player like that. And, even in the juniors, it took me a year just, you know, sometime to kind of get my ranking up, but I always felt like I took smaller steps and it was easier for me because I -- I had that chance to play some of the top players as a junior and now I feel like if I get that same chance as a pro, it is definitely going to help.

TARA SNYDER: It definitely got me pumped, yeah. That is one thing I love about New York is that when you are American, a lot of times the crowd is very much behind you. I really felt the support. I think it helps to hear people chanting "Tara." It definitely helped get me pumped for some of those points.

TARA SNYDER: Yes. Yes.

TARA SNYDER: I think Monica anticipates very well. A lot of people have said, well, maybe she is not in the best shape that she is. But, she makes up for that because she has such great anticipation. And, I knew that even before going out there, like regardless of what people have said, that she has still got to get to a lot of balls and anticipate -- well, what she is good at -- I thought several times I played a pretty strong shot and she will come up -- she would still come up with a pretty -- she will make you play the extra one or two shots which maybe you might not have to play for maybe depending on the ranking, the type of player. But, so, I thought she anticipated pretty well and moved well.

TARA SNYDER: Yeah, at this point, I think. When I went out there I guess you always expect, you know, maybe the worst of her, to come out blast and everything. Once I got into rallies and I was stepping in it, sometimes I felt like I was hitting pretty good with her. Then I started to feel pretty comfortable like I could hang in there. So, I think that is the thing that helps with the confidence to know that I can play at this level, and it gives me something to go home and really work hard to achieve to where I can hopefully play Seles again soon.

TARA SNYDER: Yes.

TARA SNYDER: Yeah.

End of FastScripts….