US OPEN

August 25, 2003

Ashley Harkleroad

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Ashley.

ASHLEY HARKLEROAD: That's why I didn't play this summer, was because I had a tear in my ligament. So now I'm just coming back. It's a lot better. I have no pain now.

ASHLEY HARKLEROAD: I didn't play Stanford, San Diego, LA, Toronto. You know, just trying to rest it, get it better.

ASHLEY HARKLEROAD: Pretty much. You know, I wasn't supposed to serve for a while. But the tape and the ice, I'm just continuing to try and let it continue to get better, save that.

ASHLEY HARKLEROAD: Yeah. Oh, yeah. It's not a big deal. It's a little tear, tiny.

ASHLEY HARKLEROAD: I was, you know, extremely happy with the way that I played. Being here at the US Open sometimes there's so much going on that it's kind of difficult for me to sometimes focus and just, you know, stay within myself. But today I think I have matured a lot since last year. I was very excited with the way I played today because of my injury and I've been out for the whole summer. I'm very excited about the way that I played.

ASHLEY HARKLEROAD: I usually just try and rest, not do so much. I'll practice once, maybe twice, work out a little bit with my trainer, then I'm back to the hotel as soon as possible, resting, watching movies and stuff.

ASHLEY HARKLEROAD: I will probably tonight maybe, since I don't play tomorrow. But usually I just want to rest as much as I can for my match the next day.

ASHLEY HARKLEROAD: The first one, I think the memories were just of me in my nice little outfit, you know, just having a good time and playing.

ASHLEY HARKLEROAD: Not really. I really don't think about it that much. I like to wear, you know, cute outfits and stuff like that. I am just 18 years old. That's fun for me (smiling). You know, I just kind of wear whatever I feel comfortable in.

ASHLEY HARKLEROAD: What's the question again?

ASHLEY HARKLEROAD: I just think a lot of it is maturing and growing into my game, having confidence. I have a great coach that's, you know, very caring. It's nice for me to be able to talk to him, you know, grow with my game. You know, like I said, I'm very thankful for, you know, the year that I've had so far. Hopefully can keep going.

ASHLEY HARKLEROAD: I just try and take it one match at a time, one point at a time. We don't look ahead of ourselves. I just go out there and play one point at a time.

ASHLEY HARKLEROAD: Well, I just think that anybody who knows anything about tennis will understand that you don't ever want to look ahead; you always want to stay, you know, in the match, in the moment that you're in. You just stay right there. You don't ever look forward. You definitely have the confidence to know that you can do, you know, what you can. And you have confidence in yourself. But you never want to look ahead.

ASHLEY HARKLEROAD: I guess I just take it as a compliment. I didn't see that. I don't really look at that. Right now it's just tennis that I focus on, take everything else as compliments that people, you know, like to say things like that, that's really nice.

ASHLEY HARKLEROAD: I was in Flintstone like two months ago, I think, after I got back from Europe. That was fun. I got to spend time with my family. I really enjoy it there.

ASHLEY HARKLEROAD: Yeah, everybody. Everybody lives there. Five minutes away from each other, all my family.