CHASE CHAMPIONSHIPS OF THE COREL WTA TOUR

November 18, 1996

Iva Majoli

IVA MAJOLI: Well, it was a really tough match. Anke has been in great form this year, she's been playing really good. She won the last few tournaments. I knew it was going to be very tough. I think one of the toughest first matches. And this is my fourth year, and I always lost first round. I tried to concentrate hard and try to win this first match. And it wasn't easy, you get a little bit tight when you start thinking, oh, I can win it, for the first time. But I handled it pretty good and I won. I'm very happy.

IVA MAJOLI: I think she didn't play maybe her best match. But I think it's tough for everyone to play at the championship. Everyone is a little bit tight. Everyone is thinking of winning the match. So I think my balls were pretty deep and I put some pressure on her serve. She was making quite a lot of double faults. And I think I served pretty good, which was very important. And I don't know, I mean it was a good match for me. And it's hard to say how did Anke play and how did she feel.

IVA MAJOLI: I know, that's what I felt, too. And like I said, it stopped. It's tough to play the first match. The players are very tight. And you try not to make the mistakes and you put the ball more in the middle of the court than the angles. I was up 5-2 in the first set, and it's difficult. When a player is down, you usually play better, and go for the shots. And Anke started playing really good, she came back to 5-All and I won the first set. And in the second set she was down, and started playing better and better and went for the shots then it was more difficult for me because I didn't know what to expect. I served for the match -- did I serve? Yes, I served.

IVA MAJOLI: Well, you know, it's too bad that Kimiko and Gaby are leaving, they're both such nice persons and they're such great players. But I think the younger players are coming, like Martina and Chanda and Lindsay and myself. So I think everything has to change sometime. And I guess now is the time for change. And Gaby has been playing for many, many years, and Kimiko has been playing a pretty long time in the top 10. I think women's tennis improved a lot in the last year or two. And I think it's getting closer to men's, even top 50 player can beat the top 5 player. So I think it's more exciting now than it was a couple of years ago. And I think it's going to get stronger and stronger even next year, because of the new ranking, players are going to play much more and they're not going to worry too much about the ranking. It's going to be tough next year, lots of tournaments. You're going to have to be in great shape.