WIMBLEDON

June 28, 2000

Louise Latimer

MODERATOR: Good afternoon, everyone. Louise for you.

LOUISE LATIMER: Not really. I mean, obviously it's a very big chance to play somebody ranked 11 or 12, whatever ranking she is. You don't get that sort of chance every day. But I didn't really feel that I had had really any chances to win. After the first set, I thought she came out a lot more positive. She came to the net a bit more. She seemed -- even my first serve, she seemed to be hitting very deep. I just felt a bit on my back foot the whole time really.

LOUISE LATIMER: Yeah, I would say so.

LOUISE LATIMER: Yeah. Sort of the first set and a half, near the end again, I mean, I felt a bit like she was dominating. But I didn't really feel out of place. That's the sort of player I need to sort of play against more of the time. Hopefully if I can take this form onto the hard courts, hopefully I can get my ranking up higher.

LOUISE LATIMER: I think the main areas really were serve and return. I just missed a few too many first serves second two sets. She was hitting my second serve very well, really deep. It's very tough to get that back in well and stay in the rally. I mean, she served pretty well most of the time. When I did have the chance, I didn't quite take them maybe as well as I could have done.

LOUISE LATIMER: Yeah. Also in the second set when I broke back to go 2-All, if I could have held my serve then, as well. I mean, she's not ranked 11 or 12, whatever she is, for no reason. She's a very good player.

LOUISE LATIMER: I'm not entirely sure. I think it probably comes from the lack of people playing the game really. There's not a big enough base to pick people out from. Then there's sort of no competition, or there hasn't been. It's getting better. There's a good group I think of 15- to 17-year-olds who hopefully will come up through. In the past, there hasn't been the competition with the juniors to sort of fight for places to go on the trips abroad and things. I think it's improving a lot. Hopefully in the next few years, we'll see something happening.

LOUISE LATIMER: When I was a junior, I didn't have much international experience because I wasn't really that good when I was a junior. I sort of improved a lot later. I think it's improving now, with the juniors battling a lot harder with each other.

LOUISE LATIMER: Well, I mean, my aim is to get inside 100, to start with. When I get there, then I'll reassess the goals and go from there. I can't say I'm ever going to be a Top 10 player, so.

LOUISE LATIMER: I don't think so. I think I've got fighting spirit. I just think it's a case she was too good today.

LOUISE LATIMER: Yeah. I've got doubles to play, as well. I don't know when that will be, tomorrow or Friday.

LOUISE LATIMER: It's a big help. It's nice to know that they're all supporting you really.

LOUISE LATIMER: Sort of try and concentrate on the first game of the second set. I mean, she came out with some very good returns, and came in I think three times. I think that was one of the turning points really. She sort of was stamping her authority from the beginning of that set.

LOUISE LATIMER: Yeah. I mean, I thought if I could play well, I was in with a chance. There's no point in going on court if you think, "I'm going to lose." Might as well not bother.

LOUISE LATIMER: I was getting a bit tired. I mean, I had to fight so hard for every point that I was winning, which I haven't really sort of played at that level before. I mean, it's very different to what I've been used to.

LOUISE LATIMER: I'll probably get the video, if I can somehow. I might watch it. I probably will watch it, just have a look and see sort of what happened, when.

LOUISE LATIMER: Yeah.

LOUISE LATIMER: Parents, brother and friends.

LOUISE LATIMER: I don't know. I'm playing.

LOUISE LATIMER: No.

LOUISE LATIMER: Become a role model. There's sort of not -- young girls aren't going to be saying, "I want to be playing tennis." It's a bit of a Catch-22. To get somebody playing, you need somebody to sort of look up. To have somebody to look up to, you need more people playing. I'm not quite sure.

LOUISE LATIMER: Steffi Graf.

LOUISE LATIMER: Something I have to work on really. Everybody can always get fitter. I think there's a lot that I can do to improve. Just when I was growing up, she was winning everything.

LOUISE LATIMER: I played three matches on 13. Yeah, I preferred the court today. It was a bit less green. The grass seemed a bit shorter than on Monday. Less slippery. Felt comfortable moving.

LOUISE LATIMER: I mean, if I can continue playing like I did today against the people ranked lower, then I think I can win a lot more matches at the Challenger level and hopefully progress higher.

LOUISE LATIMER: Yeah, it would be nice to see.