U.S. OPEN

August 29, 1996

Steffi Graf

STEFFI GRAF: I was thinking of skipping it because of my calf and nothing else. That was only until Saturday when I first started to play again and realized that my calf would be okay.

STEFFI GRAF: Well, till Saturday. Saturday was the first time I played again.

STEFFI GRAF: I tried to play on Monday morning coming from Los Angeles. It happened like 10, 15 minutes into the practice that I pulled a little bit the calf muscle. The first time I played again was Saturday.

STEFFI GRAF: It took me a little long to get into the match. I made a lot of mistakes in the beginning, really rushed through points. It took me a while to calm down and started playing points a little better.

STEFFI GRAF: Not really. I felt in early games I didn't play very well. I just made way too many errors. I just wanted to prove -- I wanted to put my mind on the match always. I didn't really worry about the way she was playing. I just had to keep the ball in play and wait for the right shots. I just wanted to do that from that point on. I think it was a lot better till the end.

STEFFI GRAF: No, I do a lot less. I've been trying other things. I found out doing nothing is the best actually.

STEFFI GRAF: No. It started a little bit there, but it happened here coming from Los Angeles.

STEFFI GRAF: Not really, no. It really depends on the opponent, too. Some are afraid to play, some are not. I don't think it has a lot to do with whether it's early round or not.

STEFFI GRAF: Yeah, uh-huh.

STEFFI GRAF: I had it one and a half years ago. It took me at that time one and a half months. I was really lucky just four or five days.

STEFFI GRAF: It is always difficult to start all over again, obviously. I'm starting to get more used to it, kind of accepting it more or less, I don't maybe need as much preparation as I always thought I'd need. To always start on Saturday is really not a lot of fun.

STEFFI GRAF: It's been a few years. I mean, I'm feeling well now.

STEFFI GRAF: No, not at all.

STEFFI GRAF: No, just during the time I had my skiing accident where I had to play left-handed to be at least somewhat in shape.

STEFFI GRAF: No.

STEFFI GRAF: That's better for you to judge.

STEFFI GRAF: Well, I mean, these girls have different styles. It's really difficult to compare it to mine or to anybody else's. You know, it's good that these young kids still come up. I was definitely surprised with the way Venus played in Los Angeles. She was playing some great tennis. I was surprised because the few times I've seen her, she didn't show that. It just needs to come in on a steadier basis. Like a Jennifer, other kids, Monica, many others to mention, it's difficult to copy these players.

STEFFI GRAF: She's got a very good mind on the court. She doesn't have the physical ability, but she's very clever on what to do on the court. She's using the court very well you don't see that very often at that kind of age. I feel she's got a lot of potential there.

STEFFI GRAF: I haven't seen her really play at all so far.

STEFFI GRAF: I haven't seen her play. She played two matches here. We haven't played at the same time, so it's difficult to tell. It seems like she's picking up after the layoff and seems to be doing great.

STEFFI GRAF: I haven't seen her yet. I don't know. I can't judge it. I can only see the results. It seems like she's picking up her game again. She's had apparently some injuries and problems, so it took her some time to come back.

STEFFI GRAF: Well, there was a time when we had a lot of tough matches, a lot of three-setters. I felt that she lost a little bit of confidence after losing a few times. She never really played aggressive tennis again. I thought she should be able to do a little bit more.

STEFFI GRAF: And Arantxa.

STEFFI GRAF: Yeah, it seems like there hasn't been that much progress in a lot of the players, but also injuries have been such a big part in the last few years. We saw what Chanda went through after the season she had last year, early this year. Always seeing some great performances and then some letdowns. I think some players don't have the stability in their game, do it every week in and out.

STEFFI GRAF: Not really from the young players, no. The thing is, usually when I play these tournaments, I don't see a lot of the juniors play. I probably won't be the best person to ask.

STEFFI GRAF: I haven't really been doing a lot of other sports. I used to do a lot more. I used to play some basketball, I used to do some running, but that's pretty much it.

STEFFI GRAF: Today?

STEFFI GRAF: Love-1, 15-30?

STEFFI GRAF: Today?

STEFFI GRAF: First set?

STEFFI GRAF: I think it was actually 15-40.

STEFFI GRAF: Okay. (Laughter). I played some awful shots to start off with, a lot of mistakes early on. I knew I just had to concentrate a little better. At that point it was pretty difficult. I kept missing a lot of first serves, just not playing the points very well. I just tried to calm down a little bit.

STEFFI GRAF: Talking about last week?

STEFFI GRAF: Well, I mean, the only other time I've ever had an injury was one and a half years ago. Like I mentioned before, it took me one and a half months to get back on the circuit. That's why at that time I had to skip the Australian Open and the Tokyo, Japan Open. I just knew that experience. I didn't know how long at this time it was going to take. Fortunately it wasn't as serious as it was then. I've learned to not give up till the last second. Even though I doubted it, I never really thought not to give it a try.

STEFFI GRAF: Yeah. I mean, I'm just trying for too much in the moment. I don't have the patience, it seems, at times to play the long match. I just need to probably play a little bit more, to calm down a little bit more by the matches and play point by point. Probably a couple more days will be a little bit easier.

STEFFI GRAF: Doesn't matter.

STEFFI GRAF: Doesn't matter at all.