US OPEN

August 26, 1997

Tami Jones

Q. What was it like to play for two?

TAMI JONES: Well, it was quite an experience. I mean, I kind of laughed when I saw my draw. In fact, how I found out was on CNN originally. It was a bit intimidating concerning my condition, but at the same time, my husband thought what a great way to go out, playing on the new Arthur Ashe Stadium, playing Martina Hingis. It's a good story for our child, though, right?

TAMI JONES: No. We're going to wait. In about another month, you can find out. We're going to find out.

TAMI JONES: 15.

TAMI JONES: This is it. This was my last Corel WTA tournament. I'm going to play World Team tennis right after this. I'm playing the doubles aspect of it. I'm going to do that.

TAMI JONES: It starts right after the US Open. So I'm playing for Milwaukee, which is my home state.

TAMI JONES: I guess I leave all options open. I kind of look at this as the end of this chapter of my life, and on to the next. I've been looking forward to having a family, so I see this as a nice way to probably end my career.

TAMI JONES: Uh-huh, yeah.

TAMI JONES: Actually probably within the next month or so.

TAMI JONES: Yeah, my sister is there, and we decided since we're starting our family, we'd like to be near family. It's a nice place to settle down, so.

TAMI JONES: Yeah. I mean, I was worried and I talked to him. He just wanted to make sure that I was drinking enough fluids, and it was very important that I not become dehydrated. So I was trying to drink lots of water. I went to the bathroom about ten times before going out on the court. I asked how many bathroom breaks I was allowed. Thank God I didn't use any of them. He just said to be careful. He said really he felt like I would know, you know, I would be able to know if there was something funny going on.

TAMI JONES: No, I've been lucky. Actually, I felt great. I've just been more tired. That's the only real thing that I've noticed.

TAMI JONES: She was a good sport. She was talking to me a little bit about it before we went on. When I won my game, she said what a great shot that was. She was really nice about it.

TAMI JONES: Yeah, she did.

TAMI JONES: Yeah, he did. He just said to me that I needed to take a lot of fluids and make sure not to get dehydrated. He said as long as I'm doing that and I feel good, he gave me the okay to play.

TAMI JONES: Yeah. He said basically, you know, it's kind of up to me. He said with singles, what I will just notice is my stamina is not the same, and that I won't be as quick, which was very apparent to me on the court. One of my assets has been my quickness, and I was significantly slower and out of breath. So, you know, after playing out there, I knew that this would definitely be my last singles match. You know, playing doubles is different. I don't cover as much court, and I still feel pretty agile playing doubles. So, you know, he felt I could play that a little bit longer.

TAMI JONES: Yeah.

TAMI JONES: That was the idea. I thought, "What the heck. This is really a neat way to go out." No matter what happened out there, whether I embarrassed myself out there or it went well, I was going to have a good time, so I did.

TAMI JONES: Well, obviously I would have liked to have a longer and closer match. But, yes, thank God I got that game. You know, I had a few other game points. She was just serving so well and so big. She's just on top of every ball. So, you know, I just probably needed to be in better, top form to be playing her. I wasn't exactly. But, you know, it was just exciting for me. I actually have never played her before. I got to say at least I did.

TAMI JONES: Oh, yeah, of course. I mean --

TAMI JONES: I kind of joked with the baby and said, "This is our debut," how exciting it would be. Actually, our last tournament.

TAMI JONES: In a way I think someone was smiling on me when I drew Martina Hingis. My whole family came here, being as that was my last tournament. They got to see me play out on the stadium and play Martina. You know, like I said, it's definitely something to remember.

TAMI JONES: I got a little jab from my parents. They were not happy that I took Whitlinger out of my name. They were hoping to see Whitlinger-Jones up there. I told them it was time to just be Tami Jones, so.

TAMI JONES: He's going to play till the end of the year. He's also coaching Alex O'Brien right now, so he's kind of doing double duty. At the end of the year, he'll sort of evaluate how he feels. I think at this moment he's thinking that this will be his last year, but he feels like if he's still at the end of the year playing good tennis, maybe he'll leave his options open.

TAMI JONES: Not yet exactly, not so far. My little tummy is coming out.

TAMI JONES: We don't know. Both of us have chosen not to talk about names yet. We thought at one point that it was just too early. It was taboo to talk about names too early. We'll see what we have to decide. It will be a special name or unusual name, one or the other.

TAMI JONES: Exactly.