U.S. OPEN

September 1, 1996

Monica Seles

MONICA SELES: I think I probably didn't -- I started off a little bit slower today. I was hitting the ball much shorter than I'm used to, not attacking the ball. She served pretty well. I started a little nervous, went up two breaks. I was glad to come back and close out that first set. After that, I felt more comfortable, although I still didn't play some great tennis.

MONICA SELES: No. I think it's hard to come out every day and be very focused. I had some not easy but a little bit easier matches than I'm used to. It's hard every day to be a hundred percent and up for it every single point. And I wasn't doing that today in the beginning. She was serving some pretty strong first serves, it was 3-All, I got a little more uptight, a couple of loose shots, and she was up 5-3.

MONICA SELES: No. I think it's one or two points that go, and that happened before '91. I had some great comebacks here at the Open, a lot of tournaments, '93, too. I think that's normal, that's going to happen. Happens to all the players. I think the good thing is, I was able to come back today, which in the past I didn't do that well. That's going to be the consistency, being more focused every day I step out on the court.

MONICA SELES: I really wasn't nervous because I felt pretty good. I felt if I just hang in there, because I had 40-15 before her service game to break her, and I lost. I just told myself, "Just go for your shots. Even if you lose the set, no big deal. There's still another set to go."

MONICA SELES: I don't know if they played each other before. I know Steffi and Anna have not played each other. I think it's going to be a great match, if Anna stays aggressive and plays like they did yesterday. I think Steffi is playing some great tennis, too. Just have to wait and see. I mean, it's hard to predict. Against Arantxa and Martina, I don't know if they played in the past before. I don't know. Martina has a great chance. It's a hard call. I think you'll have to see who is playing better that day, who is less nervous, who is going to be a little more focused.

MONICA SELES: I think whenever you go out on the court against anybody, you have a chance. Hopefully all the 120 players entered here think they can win the tournament. I hope so. That's the only way you go into a tournament. Yesterday I heard this interview with Tiger Woods, people were surprised when he said, "I'm here to win." Gosh, that's why you're playing a tournament, there to win it. It may not happen. That's a different reality. But you're here to try to win.

MONICA SELES: The young players?

MONICA SELES: I think they're definitely good. I think Anna, Martina, then Venus and probably a couple more will come up in the next few years, definitely. That's the evolution of the game. It was Gaby, Steffi, then it was Jennifer, Monica, then those three. I think it's great. They're attacking the ball. Always going to raise the level of women's tennis the next higher.

MONICA SELES: When I play them, it's a big difference. They have totally different styles of game. When you go out against either of them, it's a totally different focus in my mind the way I'm going to try to play, the way I go into the match. But the one thing that they both have is they're both very quick and they're both so competitive. They don't give you one free point; got to earn every single point against the two of them.

MONICA SELES: That's really hard because a lot of times just a day can make a difference. Some matches I feel more comfortable and some I don't. I think, of course, the serve part is bugging me, so. Like today, it has been letting me down constantly, even the early-round matches. I think as long as I'm playing my game and being a little bit more awake from early on like I have been in the first few rounds today, I wasn't doing that, but I still came back. It's hard to compare. I don't like to do that.

MONICA SELES: I never had doubts that I couldn't be at the top level in my mind at least. I just had maybe some -- well, I can't say regrets, I don't know what would be the right word for it, that I was stopped at the height of my career and I have to restart literally instead of continuing like all the other players. That would have been a lot better. Two and a half years out of my career. That's not the reality. I just have to think about the future and try to make up for that as much as I can.

MONICA SELES: Because it's practice. I haven't played tennis for two and a half years. I think when players take a break that long, I've been pretty lucky that I got back to this level so quick that I've played some great tennis. Of course, the consistency hasn't been there. That's a long break. Nobody has had to do like I have done, to come back at such an early point in their career, have it stopped at age 19 the way it was stopped, all the issues with it. I'm not too hard on myself over that at all.

MONICA SELES: I mean, I don't know. That's his opinion. I respect his opinion. That's all I can say about Nick.

MONICA SELES: It's the same, about every third serve. It hasn't gotten better or worse.

MONICA SELES: No, then it's not hurting me. It's just when I have a contact with the ball or weights or anything like that.

MONICA SELES: Mostly on the serve, yeah.

MONICA SELES: Well, with Fed Cup at this point, I'm not even thinking about that. I think after the US Open, after Japan is over, our focus of the whole US team is really against Spain, because we lost to them. When that is over, then I'll think about that, what will happen. So many things can happen. Not to be philosophical or anything, but, wow, that's a long way off.

MONICA SELES: When I decided to come back, I didn't put any expectations of myself. Maybe that has been good for this year. Maybe for next year I should do a little bit more of expectations. Really, even the beginning of my career, I never had that. I never said -- I know everybody thinks here about the targets last Sunday, "Seles is going to hit all the targets because she's been doing all her life." Everybody in my career knew what I was practicing. You saw, I couldn't hit two, three targets the whole 25 balls. It's been the same thing with the other issue, which is, you know, even when I never -- when I was younger, wow, I never thought that -- my goal in tennis was never to be No. 1 and win the Grand Slams. It was always to try to play tennis. Always lucky that I did so well. Unbelievable the last three years I had before the stabbing.

MONICA SELES: Yes.

MONICA SELES: Well, difference this year, it's a little bit more quieter. It has gone back to a little more normality. Last year was such an adrenaline. Nothing I ever felt like that before. This year, wow, it's a little hard to compare. I hate to do that because then you think one is good and one is bad, and both are good. What I had last year, can never be repeated, that feeling. This year it's like I'm playing, I'm back, not just another Grand Slam, I really want to do well, try to take it a round at a time, stay focused.

MONICA SELES: You can try it. I love it. I usually would be nervous of changing shoes a week before a tournament. I felt absolutely comfortable doing that with this shoe.

MONICA SELES: Yes, I did. I went to the Nike campus in Portland, Oregon, and met with a couple people designing the shoe. I talked to them, what I wanted in the shoe. My two concerns were stability and to be low to the ground. The shoe provides that. And to be very light.

MONICA SELES: You have to ask Nike that. I'm just happy they have it for women first.

MONICA SELES: There's no buildings named after a female athlete. Whoever it is, doesn't matter, as long as it's a female athlete. Gail Devers, Jackie Joiner-Kersee. Great athletes. There's a lot of competition ahead of me in that department. I think just any female athlete would be great.

MONICA SELES: Thank you.

MONICA SELES: I was really lucky that I found a writer, Nancy, who is about seven years older than I am, so I could relate to her really well. She stayed with me a couple of months. It was a long process. There were some subjects that were really difficult to talk about, and I had a very hard time. In some ways, after I did that, I felt like some burden has just been released from me, felt so much better. In that term it was great. The other part that was a lot of fun was looking back at some childhood pictures that I haven't seen for a long time and reliving some of the memories from the past has been great. I think the main reason why I started doing it is because after I started coming back, after Atlantic City, the amount of letters that I received and my agent calls from parents that I would talk to their kids, has been unbelievable. I never thought that I kind of reached that audience, or however I would phrase it, and hopefully maybe somebody going through a tougher time, in anything, because I did meet a lot of kids who for no reason are going through some terrible times, it will help them a little bit at least.

MONICA SELES: Not much activities outside of tennis except to try to keep a normal, balanced life like everybody else. I think I see to be No. 1. I think it's really important to have a normal life because at the end of your life, I think it would be nice to look back and say, "Okay, I had a great time, played some great tennis, but also had fun." That's what I try to do, try to have a balance, but still practice hard, still have a life, too. That's my main goal.

MONICA SELES: By far the one, the first time I had my tennis racquet in my hand with my brother on family vacation, by far. I was like this little (indicating). I don't even know what I had on. The racquet was bigger than I was literally. It was a tiny racquet. By far, that brings back the most joyous memories.

MONICA SELES: That was in Dubrovnik when I was on vacation.