COMPAQ GRAND SLAM CUP

September 30, 1998

Jana Novotna

Q. It looked as if it was going to be an easy win, then everything changed?

JANA NOVOTNA: Well, it sure did look like it in the beginning because Patty Schnyder wasn't playing well at all. I think she was making a lot of mistakes in the beginning of the match. Simply I was playing quite well, being very aggressive, playing some good indoor tennis. Of course, you know in every match, everybody gets another chance. She started to play much better towards the end of the second set. She was going more for her shots. I was getting a little bit tired because I had the flu last week, so I was practicing only maybe an hour, hour and a half a day. So I think that was the reason why I got tired very quickly. Patty Schnyder is an experienced player. She saw it. All she started to do is to keep me on the move and she made me even more tired. So it was pretty obvious that it's going to be hard to finish the match off as the match was progressing. But nevertheless, let's take this as a preparation, you know, focus on the next tournaments.

JANA NOVOTNA: Well, I was getting cramps towards the end of the third set, so that was -- well, you don't really call it an injury, you just call it cramps. That's really hard to move.

JANA NOVOTNA: Friday.

JANA NOVOTNA: No, probably because I'm playing in Filderstadt next week, so I may stay around for a couple more days. My family is coming over, so hopefully we'll get a chance to celebrate the birthday here. Then I will go to Filderstadt. You can bring all your presents on Friday (laughter).

JANA NOVOTNA: If you have any. Well, I don't know if we go to the Oktoberfest. Surely we will have a good look around Munich. It's a beautiful city. I've been here before many times. I like to enjoy this time.

JANA NOVOTNA: I think I have achieved already what was my main goal. I think the main goal for me before the end of my career was to win one Grand Slam. I won Wimbledon this year. That made it even more special. So far, I had a very successful year, so for me right now is just to finish the season nicely and do well at the main tournaments, which is the Masters in New York, where I will be going as the defending champion. You know, simply let's recover after this season, take some time off, and look into the future and see what I want to achieve, what I want to do, how much and how far I want to play.