TMS - THE ERICSSON OPEN

March 21, 2001

Marissa Irvin

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

MARISSA IRVIN: Thank you.

MARISSA IRVIN: I met a president. I met President Reagan when I was younger, a lot younger. That's not why I want to go into politics in particular, but I always liked it. My parents were always involved when I was younger. They were a little less involved for the last eight years. It's just always been something that's been a topic of conversation at the dinner table, and I was able to go to the debate with Bush and Dukakis in '88 at Poly Pavilion. That, to me, was just the most exciting thing. I don't think most 8-year-olds would find it that interesting. Not that I really understood what they were saying, what they were talking about, but I always enjoyed it. It's always been something that I liked.

MARISSA IRVIN: No, actually I wasn't. In high school I was pretty busy after school, you know, with tennis. So I didn't really, you know, have time to, you know, be on like the Student Council per se. But, you know, I was part of the Young Republicans on campus at Stanford and part of the California Young Republicans. I didn't have much time to do much with it, but I'd like to maybe when I'm done.

MARISSA IRVIN: I don't know. I think I first have to graduate from Stanford in order to have any shot at anything. (Laughing.) But I don't really know what avenue I'd like to take with it. It's just, you know, something that I'm interested in. People are interested in various things. It's just my interest.

MARISSA IRVIN: I was -- I was probably seven. I mean, I was young. Actually, you know what, I met him when I was older than that. I met him several times, probably seven once, ten once, eleven once. I don't know exactly.

MARISSA IRVIN: I just, you know, at an event I met him. At several events I met him.

MARISSA IRVIN: Yeah, I was watching that quite avidly. I thought that, you know, that Florida's law calls for a recount if the election is as close as it was. I thought it was great that they did that, and I thought that the rest of it was unnecessary.

MARISSA IRVIN: Okay. I was -- it was definitely -- the conditions were very difficult out there. It was extremely windy and the wind was swirling, so there was no way to really get a grasp of which side of the court was better, so to speak, or which way the wind was blowing. It was really tough. And I -- my coach, before I went out, he just said, you know, "Someone's going to win this tournament and someone's going to deal with the wind better than the other person." So I just kind of thought about that because she's dealing with the wind; I'm dealing with the wind. One of us is going to win the match so I might as well deal with it a little better than her. I think I was able to do that, you know. I didn't play a great match. I don't think anyone can really play a great match out there, but I was definitely happy with the way I played.

MARISSA IRVIN: Normally if I'm able to execute my shots, you know, I would consider myself an aggressive baseliner in a sense that I look for any opportunity I can to get into the net. So I'm trying to be aggressive in the back court and looking for any opportunity to move in and mix -- I like to mix in a little serve-and-volley every now and then. So I like to move forward.

MARISSA IRVIN: You know, I don't know. I think, you know, everyone can -- everyone out here is a great player, and some have had much more success than others. But everyone out here is very tough and on a given day, you never know. So I don't want to make a prediction, but I think, you know, really anyone that's out here is capable of beating anyone else on a given day.

MARISSA IRVIN: I'm not. I'm taking a leave of absence from Stanford. I would be a junior. I finished two years. I would be a junior.

MARISSA IRVIN: What made me decide to leave was just tennis has always been my passion, aside from school. I love school. But, you know, it was time for me to pursue tennis. I'm 20 years old, and, you know, there's only a certain window of time to play tennis and to try to make something of it. School I can complete later, which I plan on doing.

MARISSA IRVIN: I went -- oh, full-time, right after school let out. So June. Last June, right after school finished.

MARISSA IRVIN: Well, it's definitely different. I don't really think you can compare college tennis to professional tennis. I think unless you played both, you really don't have any -- you can't really understand the difference. The level of play is just extremely different, and even -- well, last year there were a few different rules in college - there still are. You have to question linesmen, chair umpires in order to get a call changed. In the professional ranks, they do it automatically. There are little technical differences. The best thing college tennis did for me in preparing me for the professional Tour, you play a lot of matches. It's a good way to build confidence if you're winning a lot. Other than that, I don't think it was really, you know, I didn't use it really as a preparation for professional tennis. I used it more as it was something I wanted to do was to play college tennis, and I loved it. So...

MARISSA IRVIN: I mean, I'm enjoying this more in a sense that this is what I want to do, especially my last year, my sophomore year. I was kind of itching to go and especially I had a good result. I played well at the Australian Open. I wanted to leave, but I had made a commitment to my team. I mean, but college tennis was the best, probably the best thing I ever did. And those girls on the team are dear, dear friends of mine. In fact, I talk to them basically every night. So computers are a good thing.

MARISSA IRVIN: Well, it's, I mean, I don't think you can do it unless you love playing tennis. If tennis is any -- if it's a chore at all for you, then it's not really for you because it is a lot of hotels and a lot of traveling and a lot of missing things that you kind of wish you could be there for. And, you know, in my case, you know, college is a lot of fun and I'm missing, you know, some fun at college. But it's definitely worth it for me because I would like to pursue this and I'm enjoying this and this is, you know, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I really thank God basically for the opportunity because not everyone has it.

MARISSA IRVIN: For my first year, I've been pleased. It's definitely a big adjustment. There are a few -- I know I wish I could have done a little better. I was injured for a lot of the fall. I sprained my ankle pretty badly and I hurt my arm so I missed some tournaments and that was unfortunate. But on the whole, I've been very happy. I played -- I tried to play quite a bit my last year in college, too, and had some good results there. So overall I'm really enjoying it.

MARISSA IRVIN: How did I hurt it? That's a good question. I'm not sure how I hurt it. I sprained my ankle, that's pretty obvious how I did that. But my arm, I had tendinitis flare up in my arm and it was very bad.

MARISSA IRVIN: Yeah. That's still like... Comes up all the time. (Laughing.) That was actually in the 10-and-under satellites in Santa Monica. That was a long time ago. Yes, I mean I've known both of the Williams sisters since then.

MARISSA IRVIN: She was not a little kid. I was a little kid. She was probably twice my size. Yeah, I mean, I don't know. I think the match was 0-0, I had no idea.

MARISSA IRVIN: We were both -- I think we were both ten I guess.

MARISSA IRVIN: Yes.

MARISSA IRVIN: Yes. Well, both. I did play volleyball when I was younger. I love playing volleyball. I wish I could still do it, but I can't. My dad, yes, he was a three-time All-American at UCLA. He won three NCAA titles for UCLA. I was recruited by UCLA. I live about less than ten minutes from the campus. UCLA's a great school, and I just, you know, Stanford -- I don't know how anyone could turn down Stanford. I loved it the moment I set foot on campus, so I went there. UCLA, I love it there, too.

MARISSA IRVIN: He's a businessman.

MARISSA IRVIN: I'd prefer not to say what he does.

MARISSA IRVIN: Yeah, my brother, he's 16 and he is the starting varsity quarterback and starting third baseman for his school, and he was a starting quarterback as a freshman, which is like the first time that's ever happened. So he's a good little athlete, yep.

MARISSA IRVIN: Harvard-Westlake High School. It's a private school. It's in West Hollywood.

MARISSA IRVIN: No, he does not. He can, but he doesn't. No one in my family plays tennis except for me.

MARISSA IRVIN: My goals for this year are to - I need to start winning some more matches and lift my ranking back into the top 100. I was up to 66, and I dropped, partly due to being hurt and also partly due to just, you know, not winning some matches. So I'd like to get back up there.

MARISSA IRVIN: Well, I think, you know, none of us -- very few of us are fortunate enough to go on the court feeling perfect. A lot of people have nagging injuries and go out and compete. Sometimes you're unable to compete, so I can't really comment on her situation because I don't know exactly what was going on. But I think there is a certain obligation on the part of the players to compete as, you know, as long as they're able to and to put on a good show because the fans are what make our sport and what provide the money for us. So there's an obligation. But like I said, everyone's played hurt and everyone's played injured and everyone's played in that circumstance, so...

MARISSA IRVIN: My mom is here. My brother's at school and my dad is with him.