US OPEN

August 31, 2004

Nicole Pratt

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

NICOLE PRATT: I actually came out playing really well. I was down 5-1 in the first set. Fortunately, I picked up two games there that I think changed the momentum of the match. I started to hit out a little bit more, then brought that into the second. I played, you knoow, pretty well in the third. Could have been a little closer. No, I'm very happy to get through that one.

NICOLE PRATT: Oh, every Grand Slam I go into now, I set a goal of reaching a quarterfinal. I think that would be sort of a really good result for me. And obviously to do that, you've got to beat, you know, a couple Top 10 players along the way. Here I've got a Top 10 in the second round. Kuznetsova, who obviously has been playing really well. You know, it's up to me to step up and go out there and give her a run.

NICOLE PRATT: No, never. Played her in doubles before. Alicia has played her a lot. So I'm going to have a chat to Molly.

NICOLE PRATT: Molly's doing great. It's really good to see. She's been working hard, deserves this success.

NICOLE PRATT: Yeah.

NICOLE PRATT: We were roommates at the Olympics. We had a good time there. We had had probably 10 days there together. You know, Sam's just starting. You know, she's got a lot to learn. Hopefully today's a bit of a breakthrough for her because she hasn't really kicked on this year after doing so well in Gold Coast. She's got a new coach. Hopefully she'll put it together.

NICOLE PRATT: I haven't put a time frame on it yet. I've always said as long as I keep improving -- if I feel like I keep improving and I feel like I can be competitive against, you know, the Top 10 players, I'll keep playing. I mean, as long as the body holds out, as well. No, I mean, I still think I've got room for improvement. I'm going to keep playing as long as, you know, that's happening. The day that I feel like I'm not improving and I'm not putting in the hard yards, then I know it's time to stop. But it hasn't happened yet.