AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 22, 2003

Meghann Shaughnessy

THE MODERATOR: First question, please.

MEGHANN SHAUGHNESSY: No, I actually had a good plan in mind. You know, in the first set I really didn't feel like I was playing very badly. She just came out there really aggressive. She looked very confident from the beginning. So it was, you know, all credit to her. I think she played a great match.

MEGHANN SHAUGHNESSY: I think she's being nice (laughing). No, but it's true, I mean, in the beginning I really didn't feel like I was able to do anything. Towards the end of the first set and second set I had some chances that I didn't use, and I should have been much more aggressive. But she played really well.

MEGHANN SHAUGHNESSY: It's an adjustment, that's also what I felt. I've been here playing in Australia for three weeks now, playing great tennis. In the beginning it was a little bit of a shock how fast the ball was coming. It was coming with a lot more power than anyone I played here so far. You just have to be alert and ready and expect what's coming.

MEGHANN SHAUGHNESSY: Yeah, I had a great start to the year. Started in Canberra, played great there, came here, and it's my first quarterfinal, so I am very happy with that. But I have a lot of work to do to get where I want to be.

MEGHANN SHAUGHNESSY: Not really. I mean, you know, I'm focused on myself. I didn't do a lot of things today that I would have liked to do. So I'm disappointed with that. But it's a good learning experience and I'll do much better next time.

MEGHANN SHAUGHNESSY: It was, partially. In the first set, I just said earlier that I didn't feel like I was doing anything wrong. She was just playing great. But there were -- she gave me a couple openings that I didn't take, and I'll take them next time.

MEGHANN SHAUGHNESSY: Yeah, that was going through my mind, actually. Yeah, I wouldn't say I was getting it, but I was starting to feel a little more comfortable. Like I said, it's just a learning process. I'm going to take today and go home and work really hard and come back better.

MEGHANN SHAUGHNESSY: Of course.

MEGHANN SHAUGHNESSY: It's not all power. I mean, I feel like I have the weapons to play at the top level as well. Just I need to go out there and have the confidence to use them.

MEGHANN SHAUGHNESSY: Everything. I'm always working on everything. I think that, you know, no matter how great I play a match or a tournament, there's always things to work on. That's what I mean by that.

MEGHANN SHAUGHNESSY: Yeah, it was her. She was, you know, playing at another speed. I was a little bit nervous. But I really get nervous for just about every match I play, so I can't say that that was the reason.

MEGHANN SHAUGHNESSY: Definitely. That's why she is where she is. All great players, when it's a breakpoint or key point or important game or whatever, they always pick up the level.

MEGHANN SHAUGHNESSY: Definitely, there are things that I would have loved to have done better today.

MEGHANN SHAUGHNESSY: Well, I really didn't find the range on my serve much today at all. There in the end I hit a couple good serves, but I just -- I haven't seen the stats yet. I don't know what my first serve percentage was, but I'm sure it was very low. That was another problem, was that I was hitting too many second serves, to start the point already on the defensive, because she was attacking my second serve a lot, is not a good thing to do.

MEGHANN SHAUGHNESSY: Oh, okay. The second...?

MEGHANN SHAUGHNESSY: Yeah, I mean, that's the way I like to play, is really look for my forehand on the return and attack it. That's another great thing she did today, is she was mixing up the serves. I didn't really know where it was coming, serving me out wide so I couldn't cheat to my backhand side a little bit. She really did well with that as well.

MEGHANN SHAUGHNESSY: I mean, you can do your best. I mean, definitely closer to play with men that are more powerful. It's a little bit better. But it's more just being out there. And it's not the same to have it in practice as it is in a match either, so...

MEGHANN SHAUGHNESSY: You know, that's hard to say. That's impossible. I mean, there's -- everyone's playing such great tennis, both Justine and Kim, Venus and Serena. I mean, they all have a chance.

MEGHANN SHAUGHNESSY: No, I've got the same goals I started the year with.