US OPEN

September 1, 1998

Jana Novotna

Q. Did you know what to expect out of her today?

JANA NOVOTNA: Well, I think is always difficult to play somebody who you didn't play for a while. No question about it. Going out there I had spoken with some players who already played Jennifer this year, so I have been asking around a little bit how is she playing and all that, but you never know. I pretty much expected what I got on the court today. She was hitting hard from the back, you know, not consistent enough to beat me today. But she is definitely on the right track. I see that she lost some weight, she was moving much better. I think, in order for her to get better or get her ranking back, she needs to play a lot of matches and just simply get a little bit more patient and little more consistent.

JANA NOVOTNA: I felt pretty good about my game. It wasn't easy to play against Jennifer today. Obviously everybody was rooting for her so it wasn't an easy first round, but I thought I handled myself very well. Played reasonably good and just happy to be in the second round.

JANA NOVOTNA: I think I got up in the second set really easily and I was -- within 10 minutes I was up 5-Love and I didn't really have to put up a fight. Then I had a match point and I missed that volley and suddenly everything turned around; she started to put everything in and one let cord there, one line there, and you know, just for a moment maybe lost my concentration a little bit, but then I got it back right away.

JANA NOVOTNA: It feels much better, much better. The court is much better now. I feel like it is more cozy and it is not as open and it is definitely a very nice court to play on.

JANA NOVOTNA: I think there is generally a feeling -- yeah, I definitely feel much more relaxed and very confident going into the matches. Again, I feel like I can just go out there and perform good tennis and just look forward and, yeah, I do feel different. I feel better. No question about it.

JANA NOVOTNA: You have to realize that Jennifer has been through some tough times and I guess it is very natural that she got such ovations and people wanted to see her go into the second round or they wanted to see a breakthrough and finally, you know, that something is going to happen for her in a good way, but you just have to deal with that. I mean, what can I do? I won Wimbledon, but I can't expect everybody to root for me at every single tournament. I think that is very natural that she was the underdog today and people wanted her to see win, and, you know, it is just fine with me.

JANA NOVOTNA: Well, the funny thing was when I saw her for the first time in Eastbourne this year, that was probably just her second tournament when she played after the surgery, I already dare felt that she is playing really well, but obviously she was losing matches to players that she never lost before. I think it was just a matter of time for her to get, you know, into the match groove and start to win more matches and keep on winning. I played her last week in New Haven and she played a tremendous match against Lindsay Davenport; then she played a great match against me. So in my eyes I think she is back and she is going to be very dangerous.

JANA NOVOTNA: No, really I haven't thought about it yet. I think it still enough time for me to decide if I want to go to Australia or not. But I have been asked the same question in the last week and now when me and Lindsay are pretty close to Martina and there is a great chance that one of us could become No. 1 in the world if that could be the case, it would be a matter of a few points here or there, I would maybe decide to go to Australia, but if -- that would be the only reason. Otherwise I still won't go because my indoor season is very, very busy and I need the time off.

JANA NOVOTNA: Not really in my mind. I always said that in order to become No. 1 player in the world you have to keep playing good tennis and you have to keep on winning, so, for me in order to become No. 1 player in the world I only need to focus on myself and focus on winning and playing good tennis. And I think that ranking would come automatically, so, there is something that is going on that I know about it; that there is a great possibility for me to become No. 1 player in world but it is not like a major, major goal in my career.

JANA NOVOTNA: Well, I think, yes, I think it would be fair enough or it would be great for women's tennis to have equal prize money at every Grand Slam, but every tournament, every country has a different view over this, but I think that nowadays, as women's tennis is as strong as ever, I think the possibility of having equal prize money at every Grand Slam is very near and I am sure it is going to happen in the near future.

JANA NOVOTNA: Where I would be in five years from now?

JANA NOVOTNA: On the court. (smiles).

JANA NOVOTNA: Yeah. (smiles) No, I really don't know. That is really -- you know, this is really funny. I think when you are young, when you are 18 years old or 20 years old you can easily answer that question just going to say, you know, I know exactly where I am going to be; I know exactly what I will be doing when you get to my age, I think that I am taking my tennis career as it comes and I cannot look at this moment five years from now because it is just too far away. My next goal or as far as I look is the end of the season and then I will take it from there. And you know, I will see if I am happy, if I am enjoying tennis, if I am healthy enough, or if I am good enough to compete against all these other players and if I am, then I will make a decision and I will go on and play another season or so. But I cannot tell you where I will be or where I am going to be five years from now.

JANA NOVOTNA: I will finish this season, definitely, and I will then sit down and just, you know, see how I feel about next year and about next couple of years and I will make a decision. But I feel pretty good and I do see myself playing for another two or three years, but I cannot really tell you what is going to happen. I may get injured, you never know.

JANA NOVOTNA: Well, I don't know because I didn't play her in Eastbourne and I only played her after a while just now in New Haven but what I meant to say that when I saw her in Eastbourne, I thought already there that she is playing extremely well. The only difference was that she was still losing these matches so it was a different, one or two points here and there. Now, what I saw in New Haven is the old Steffi. She was very -- she was moving very well. She was hitting hard and she was very confident, very aggressive, so, there is nothing new about it. I mean, nothing new that we didn't know already. But it is finally back and that is why she is playing so well.

JANA NOVOTNA: As I told you, I saw her for the first time now, I didn't see her for half a year, maybe or so when I haven't played her for years, but what I see, which is already a very positive sign is that she lost some weight, I think that she is more focused than she was before. And I think that she is really trying hard to come back. I just told you, I think if she is going to stay on the right track it is just a matter of time when it is going to happen for her because she still has a great ground strokes; she hits the ball very hard. She hits great passing shots. I think all she needs to get is little more consistent, confidence back and win a couple of more matches. But that shouldn't be that difficult because she has been there before. She knows how to handle big situations and she knows how to play on a big occasion. So for her, it is a matter of consistent work from one week to another, playing as many matches as she can and then I am sure that she has a great future ahead of her. She is still very young, and that is the great advantage of that.

JANA NOVOTNA: Well, I think -- I always said that you have to do well at the Grand Slams to get your recognition, I think that I have been playing this tournament for many, many years. I have made it to the semifinals here and I am sure that people know who I am. It is just a matter of playing well here. I think the New York crowd is a little bit different from any other crowd. They will love you when you do well here.