US OPEN

August 26, 1997

Iva Majoli

IVA MAJOLI: (laughter). I don't know. I just like the hat. Not a big fan of baseball.

Q. At least you know it's baseball. That's good.

IVA MAJOLI: Well, that's what I heard.

Q. You cannot name a single White Sox player?

IVA MAJOLI: I know Brady Anderson and Roberto Alomar. They play for Baltimore.

Q. How does it feel to be here at this tournament?

IVA MAJOLI: It feels great. Especially when you go through first round, which are always the toughest ones, you know. Everyone expects you to win, so you always have to kind of play well. But there's always a little bit more pressure in the first rounds. I think I played a good match today. I was feeling good. You know, I feel great to play here. This new stadium is really nice. Hopefully I get a chance to play on this new stadium. The whole atmosphere is pretty good. There is more room for the people, the player lounges are bigger. It's much better than it was before, I think.

Q. Iva, being the French Open champion, were you surprised you weren't playing on stadium?

IVA MAJOLI: Well, no. I mean, I know that maybe Americans are going to play. I don't know. But I wasn't surprised, no.

Q. Iva, how has being the French Open champion changed things for you, if at all, for you, your family? Has it made a big difference in your life or actually are you surprised?

IVA MAJOLI: It did make a difference in my life, I mean. I'm trying not to think about it. It's like great; I won it. But you have a tournament each week. If you just think, "I won the French," you don't concentrate on your career; everyone is going to beat you. It was a great moment. I went out a few days after with my friends and celebrated. But maybe when I come next year to the French, I'll feel, "Oh, my God, I'm the champion of this tournament." Things change. There is more people around you, more people coming to you. But, I mean, I think I didn't change really. I think I'm still the same person as I was before I won the French.

Q. Does it change what you think of yourself in terms of confidence or comfort level?

IVA MAJOLI: For confidence it is great. You feel that you beat all the best players, and you coming into the matches knowing that you can beat everybody. Of course, there is a lot more confidence. But there is also more pressure in the first rounds, because now everyone wants to beat me. I'm the one who has to really play good and win those first rounds.

Q. Did you feel more pressure then, today, than past Grand Slams in the first round?

IVA MAJOLI: Well, yeah. I could say that. There is more pressure. But, you know, I just try to forget about that. I'm sure there is pressure for everybody, like first two or three games, but then you just forget and you start playing your game. That's the only way you can win the matches.

Q. Iva, everybody seems to be chasing Martina. Of course, you're one of the only people who have beaten her this year. Do you have a different attitude toward her, do you think, because you've beaten her? Do you have a different attitude towards her than anyone else on The Tour right now? Do you think, "Martina, so what, I can beat her"?

IVA MAJOLI: I mean, you do get confidence, you know, when you beat her. But Martina, I think she's a great athlete. She's handling the things great. I mean, being only 16 and No. 1, winning everything, I think she's really down-to-earth. So we're pretty good. I don't think anything changed after I beat her because she beat me before and I beat her. So, you know, the day after I beat her, she was like, "You deserved; you played better tennis." So, I mean, I never thought, "Oh, my God, I'm one of only two players who beat her this year." I think it would be great for women's tennis if there would be more people start to beat her, it would be more interesting. Monica is coming back. I think she's playing much better than at the beginning of the year. So, you know, we're all fighting for No. 2 position because we are all close. So, yeah, of course I would love to get to No. 2 and then think after.

Q. Can you see yourself like with this long-standing rivalry with Martina that, you're both young, you'll be playing each other in big tournaments when you're 45 or something?

IVA MAJOLI: No (laughter). Well, yeah. I think like the young players are coming, Anna Kournikova, Venus, there is a girl from Croatia, Lucic, who is also good. I think maybe Steffi and Arantxa, they're kind of going away because they've been playing for such a long time and they can't be at the top forever. So I'm sure we all going to have great matches. Of course, either me or Anna are not going to let Martina stay No. 1 forever. We all going to try to get that first place. I think it's going to be a lot more mentally, you know, than physically, about tennis.

Q. What's your feeling about the rule of the age eligibility? Anna said yesterday she didn't think it was fair she didn't get to play, and Lucic got to play this year. Do you think that is fair? How do you feel about the rule?

IVA MAJOLI: It's hard for -- I'm sure Anna is not happy because she was in the same position and they didn't allow her to play. So I would also not be happy if they allowed somebody else for the same thing to play. But, you know, Lucic is from my country, so I don't really want to say anything about it. I mean, I started also pretty young. I was 14 or 15. But I started pretty slow. I played small tournaments. Then when I was 16, I started to play bigger ones. I think the rule is pretty good, you know. When you're 15, just to start in the smaller ones. I think the parents are putting so much pressure on the kids, that at 15 they have to be No. 1 because Martina is No. 1 at 16. I don't know how much the kids enjoy playing or if it's more just parents who are pushing them, they have to be at the top of their game at 15 or 16. I think there is plenty of time to play, you know, professional, till you're 28, 30. So I don't think that there is so much rush. Like Venus, she didn't play any junior tournaments. I think you should play some junior tournaments. She's like 17 and a half now, and I don't think she played enough matches to get, like they said, that she's going to be No. 1 when she's 18. I don't know. It's tough without the matches.

Q. How well do you know Lucic?

IVA MAJOLI: Well, I mean, we don't live in the same city. I known her. She's a really nice person. She works very hard. I think very soon she's going to be a tough girl to beat.

Q. We've focused a lot on Venus. Do you think Lucic actually has more of a game?

IVA MAJOLI: Me, I think she's a better player than Venus. You know, I don't care. Martina, it's great if she gets all the attention, she kind of deserves because she's No. 1. I know Venus is very popular. I don't think she did that great results to be like this unbelievable person. Because she's in her 18th year and she's like Top 50, 60. Maybe just a little bit too much everything, you know.

Q. What do you think Lucic has that Venus doesn't?

IVA MAJOLI: Well, I think she's more consistent. You know, she just played a few tournaments professional, and she reached all of them Finals or won. Her strokes are great. Her serve, you know, she has almost everything that you need for the game, power. I think, you know, she's going to be in a year very tough to beat.

Q. Is that the general impression, Iva, what you said about the fact that people think Venus might have gotten too much attention too fast? Is that the general impression among the women players?

IVA MAJOLI: I don't know. I never talk too much about it. That's my impression, you know. I mean, I think if you deserve all the attention, it's great to get it. But if you don't make like so many great results, you know.

Q. Does it bother you? Not to belabor the point, but does it bother you she's playing on the centre court, hasn't gotten past the second round of a Grand Slam?

IVA MAJOLI: I don't really care anymore. She's so now like famous, that everyone wants to see Venus play. We'll see. We'll see how she's going to be in a year or two.

Q. I'm just curious, do you think that most of the players feel that Venus is more a media creation they sit around and say, "Lucic, this is the player to look at." When is comes to tennis, is that --

IVA MAJOLI: For me I would say it's true. But everyone has their own impressions. I can't say Venus is a bad player, because she's not; she's a good player. But is she that good, like everyone is talking?

Q. Having played in tournaments, two-week type tournaments, is it important to get in some sort of mental rhythm so you're always thinking about your matches at the right time, not the wrong time?

IVA MAJOLI: I think it's important to be relaxed and take time to rest at these tournaments, because every match is really tough. I just want to go each match, not think of who I could play in the quarters or Round of 16. I just want to concentrate match by match and hopefully go far.

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