US OPEN

September 8, 1998

Monica Seles

Q. You had beaten Martina the last two times. What was the difference tonight in her game and yours?

MONICA SELES: I really feel just a couple of key points, she played a lot higher percentage tennis than I did. She got a lot of free points on her first serve. And today I didn't get that many free points off my serve.

MONICA SELES: I mean, I'm not a player that likes to play in the wind, but it's the same for Martina, too, obviously. There were some points that it was hard to control the ball. But that goes for both players.

MONICA SELES: I knew coming in she's going to want to win this match really badly. So she's going to try to raise her level of game. And I think she did that. She definitely did that at key times when I kind of didn't raise my level of game or maybe went just a tiny notch below, because really the match was decided on a couple of key points at key times. And she just got back more balls I think today, which in these conditions, it's a lot tougher to finish the point off than I did.

MONICA SELES: I don't know. I really don't. That's the question in my mind I have right now, too.

MONICA SELES: Well, it's on that windy side. I mean, the wind was just blowing so much, it was taking me so much back. I think both of us stayed really far on that one side back.

MONICA SELES: I don't think there's any -- just take it a point at a time. You just have to play better tennis, higher percentage tennis at every opportunity, because Martina doesn't give you any free points. The last time that I beat her, I've done that. Tonight I wasn't capable of doing that, and that's why she won the match.

MONICA SELES: I think she was the same way, at least when I played her in Montreal. I think the clay tournament, the French is hard to compare, different surface, different matchplay. But at key times, in Canada, I lifted my game. Today I just went down a notch. In Canada, for instance the key points I won, and the key points Martina won today.

MONICA SELES: Probably a little, I'm sure getting to some balls, no question. But in terms of tiredness and that stuff, no.

MONICA SELES: Well, I felt I was playing pretty good. I played well in Canada. I can't say I was playing great tennis the entire summer, and coming in here the way I played every single of my matches up to leading to this match, have been, in my opinion, horrible. But this match I felt I raised my level of game and I knew that coming into the match against Martina, that I have to do that. But it wasn't enough, I think.

MONICA SELES: I think it will probably depend how windy it will be. I think like Patty had a terrible time today with the wind, more tougher than really playing Jana. That's a tough one. I don't know. I mean, I like both of their chances.

MONICA SELES: I plan to, yeah.

MONICA SELES: No. I mean, I felt a few times how - I'm going to repeat myself again - I had my chances to break her, and I let them go. But when she hit the net cord, I mean, it was one shot, obviously a key shot to hit the net cord. But I still felt I could still hang in there and maybe break her. But I never really got a chance on both of her last two service games. She won them pretty easily.

MONICA SELES: To who, Jana?

MONICA SELES: To me she isn't. I look at Jana is Jana. I played Jana many times before the stabbing. I had difficulty playing her. Played her many times after the stabbing, same thing. For me, I think Jana -- most players should have won Wimbledon much earlier than she did. It was great to see that she finally did it, but I don't view her differently at all.

MONICA SELES: It's the wind for me. I just don't feel comfortable playing with the wind. It's simple. I knew that coming into this tournament. I didn't think it would be this windy the entire time. But that's something for next year I have to learn and deal with, what I do in the wind, because I just felt lost the entire tournament with this much wind out there.

MONICA SELES: That's hard to say. I mean, that's a tough one. I would not go into that.

MONICA SELES: At this point, I don't think so.

MONICA SELES: Oh, practicing?

MONICA SELES: I thought tonight (laughter).

MONICA SELES: Oh, boy. Definitely, I think so. I mean, I think my game needs that, up here (pointing to head), it's needed everywhere, just to have a consistency of training really, not just ten days, but at least a couple of months, I think. I'm going to need to do that if I want to raise my level of game. If I don't, it's a different story. I think that's a decision I'll have to make.

MONICA SELES: Well, I think, yeah. This obviously isn't starting off really not on a good note, not playing Australia, one of my favorite Grand Slams. I did great at the French, so it was very disappointing to lose to Arantxa. I think probably Wimbledon was probably the most disappointing, losing to Natasha. That was not a loss I can look back to. Tonight I thought I gave it a good shot. It was a tough match. It's not like when I lost to Natasha. I felt horrible. Tonight I came off knowing a few things I need to do. But it's tough against the No. 1 player, because she also will always raise her level of game, so it's going to be a tough fight ahead. But this is the least probably prepared, this and probably last year and the year before, I ever came into Grand Slams. So I think with the preparations I had, I have to say I'm reasonably happy with the way things have gone.

MONICA SELES: Oh, I think that's easy. Just to win a Grand Slam. I think for me really, that would be it. Then play some solid tennis really in and out at big tournaments. I think at the French I raised my level of game for a few matches, but then I couldn't do that throughout. That's really what I'm going to try to work towards for next year.

MONICA SELES: Some players will do that; not me. I think I'm going to have to practice in it, though, a little bit more. I cannot go and be a defensive player when it's windy, which I have done really the entire tournament, or I can do that if I get in great physical shape. Then I can just go and defend like some players do. But at this point, that's just not going to pass, I think with the Top 5 or 7 players in the world.

MONICA SELES: I think Martina played really well. She didn't give me too many second serves. I'm not sure what her first serve percentage was, but to me it felt high. Not too many mistakes. I did feel I played pretty good on key -- most points, so. I mean, I definitely played tons better than I've done the last one, two, three, four matches.

MONICA SELES: I hope so. I really hope one day I'm going to get comfortable to be able to do that. Right now it's very difficult because of what happened for me to feel safe to go back there. It's just nothing else. I mean, two of my friends live there, and they keep inviting me. And I might go back to visit them. That's a totally different category for me than to play there because I just feel it was a total injustice in everything that happened to me.

MONICA SELES: Personal visits, no, no.

MONICA SELES: Before then I worked really hard to play like that over the years, so I'm going to have to do that right now obviously. Everyone says it's a distraction what I had. But a lot of things were happening in my life. I think my life is getting simpler every day, I hope so. And if I can go back to the focus that I had, and put in the work that I was, definitely. But without that, it's not going to happen. I know that. I'm realistic about that.

MONICA SELES: I think for me it's totally different because I've been back many times. It's not like I haven't been back there for a while, which I think for Martina was totally different. I think it was under Communism then. Now it's a different story. I never had to escape or leave my family behind. So for me it's nothing like what Martina had to go through. I think it was tons worse than anything I could imagine.

MONICA SELES: I think she's very quick. I don't think people give her enough credit. Is that quickness or is that that she reads the ball very well? I think it's probably a combination of both and she puts her racquet there and the ball comes back, and you have to finish the point off. It's a different type of quickness than, let's say, Venus has. But I knew that. I mean, I've known that every single match, that the ball is going to come back against a few players like her, Arantxa, Venus. You just expect that.