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US OPENSeptember 2, 2003Mary PierceNEW YORK CITY THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. A lot of us had been talking to the tournament directors and everything about the weather stuff. Can you give us a player's perspective about what's the most important thing for you guys, what your biggest concern is about keeping playing, avoiding injury, all that kind of stuff. MARY PIERCE: I think staying warm. And there's not really a lot you could do. I mean, just kind of have to always be ready, you know, make sure you keep hydrated and eat. It would be good to try and get a workout in of some kind in the gym, if you can't go out and hit or something. Just so you don't, you know, sit around too much and, you know... Q. Are you worried that Justine has gotten her whole match in and has a day off, whereas you might have to go back on given whatever happens? MARY PIERCE: No. Q. How have you felt the communication has been among the players and the tournament officials? Have they been asking and making sure you have enough input in how they're doing things this year? It's very difficult. MARY PIERCE: No, because, I mean, I don't really get involved in that. I just let them do their job and then I just play whenever I can, so... Q. Do you go back and forth to the city? Once you come out here, do you just stay and just wait it out? MARY PIERCE: Yeah, no, I mean, I just stay. Yesterday I came in pretty late, like I guess 4 or 4:30 in the afternoon. I tried to wait it out in the hotel room as long as I could. So, you know, today I just came in a little bit earlier because I'm second, which I could be first potentially if they move the match in front of me. So since you never really know what's gonna happen, it's good to be here just in case. Q. How have you spent your rain delays? Have you found any quality diversions? MARY PIERCE: "Quality diversions"? Yeah, reading, listening to music, getting treatment on various little areas. Sometimes it's kind of crazy with a lot of girls here. Just can get some stuff done. Q. What's the most trying Grand Slam you've ever experienced on the tour as far as interruptions, weather? MARY PIERCE: I think pretty much almost anybody would say Wimbledon, because that's where it rains the most. So this is a little taste of Wimbledon-like weather. Q. Do you remember a particular year where it was just totally messed up? MARY PIERCE: I think I remember I had to play on the middle Sunday, which, like, never happens. It rained like maybe for four days in a row. So with Wimbledon, it's -- I mean, it's not as bad I guess because if you stay in the village, you can just stay right in your place and hang out there. Q. You think they should put a roof on this place? MARY PIERCE: I don't know. I mean, I don't care. Doesn't matter. If they want to, that's great. If not, then that's fine. I mean, the Australian Open has one. It's good so when it rains you can keep playing. If they had one here, yeah, they could keep playing on center court. You know... Q. Whether it be Wimbledon or here, you've experienced a lot of rain delays. It's not fun, but do you think it's more of an advantage to an experienced player as opposed to a younger player? MARY PIERCE: Yeah, I think it depends more on the individual and their personality. Also, I mean, okay, I think probably the experience does help 'cause you kind of have a little bit of an idea what has worked and not worked in the past and what you should do. I mean, I'm just, you know, I mean... I just stay pretty calm. There's nothing I can do about it. Just stay relaxed. When it's time to play, just start getting ready. Q. Could you talk a little bit about your fitness routine. MARY PIERCE: Okay (smiling). Q. How are you staying strong, especially if you're not playing? MARY PIERCE: Well, during tournaments isn't really a time where you're gonna be, you know, building or improving on certain things, strength or things like that. It's more about, you know, maintenance and recovery and staying fresh and things like that. So, I mean, during tournaments I'll just do some maintenance workouts, some light lifting and stretching and stuff like that. Q. How much is light lifting? MARY PIERCE: Half an hour, something like that. Q. Does this offset your physical regimen that you go through in terms of training and so forth? You're not sure if you're playing this day, "Should I do this type of exercise, should I not," in terms of preparation? MARY PIERCE: Yeah, 'cause you're kind of waiting to see if you're gonna play or not. You really don't want to do too much of a workout or something like that before a match. So you're kind of just always waiting to see when you're gonna play and to figure out, "Okay, I'm not gonna play." If you know you're not gonna play, you can go ahead and work out and do something. If you're not sure if you're gonna play or not, then you kind of just wait to see. Q. Now that you've reached the later rounds of the tournament, do you think there's more of a sense f urgency for players like yourself, players in the latter part of their careers, to really make a go of it? MARY PIERCE: No, I mean, I don't have a sense of urgency. I mean, I'd really like to do well - like always. I'm just gonna always do my best, whenever I play. Everybody likes to win; nobody likes to lose. So, you know, I'm just really happy with my progress and I'm feeling much better and I'm playing much better. Just look forward to continuing improving, you know, every day. Q. What is your thought on playing back-to-back days? MARY PIERCE: I think they're gonna probably do as much as they can for the tournament to be finished on the Sunday. It is a two-week event. You know, that, to me, I think is what they would probably try to do. Q. What prompted you to go back to working with Sven again? MARY PIERCE: I was looking for somebody that I felt knew me as a tennis player and also as a person, someone that cared about me, and someone that wasn't afraid to, you know, basically tell me the things that you need to be told or to speak honestly. So, you know, Sven was available. I was looking for somebody. The timing was just right. Q. Looked like a good choice, good decision on your part. MARY PIERCE: Thank you, I think so (smiling). End of FastScripts…. |
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