OLYMPIC TENNIS TOURNAMENT

August 19, 2004

Justine Henin

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: No. Not any match is easy and today I knew I had to play good tennis if I wanted to win. Mary is the kind of player who is very dangerous. She is hitting the ball very hard, so you don't know what to expect on each point. So you need to stay focused and that's what I did from the first point till the end. So I'm pretty happy.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: Yeah, like I said, I worked pretty hard on my first serve and especially in the first set. I served very good. I have, yeah. It's very intense and I have a good technique now. So it's pretty good, actually. I win a lot of points on my first serve. I hope it's going to help me again tomorrow.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: But, I mean, it's very personal. I just worked on my serve and I found the confidence that I need to serve pretty good on the important points.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: My life changed for sure, but I stayed the same person. I'm probably a different player because I got a lot of confidence with all my victories. Dreams came true in the last year and a half. It seems very far away already for now. But it changed a lot of things because I am a different player. I show another confidence, I show another -- yeah, I'm sure of myself. I feel it on the court and I think the other players, they see it also. So, yeah, it changed a lot of things. But I stayed the same person. I have another life apart tennis and it didn't change anything. Even if I am No. 1 player in the world, for sure you have a lot of things to do and busy schedule. But it's part of my life.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: You know, I don't play for money; I play because I love tennis. And we play for money the whole year. So here there is no money, and that's very good like that because it's another atmosphere. I think we all very proud of it. So I hope I can -- now I feel that the Olympic Games, it's very important, even for myself now that I'm here in Athens, that I live this experience. I hope I can win the medal, but I need to stay focused on my next match, and then we'll see.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: Yeah, I -- last time on hard court it was, I think, in Indian Wells and then at the US Open. I won both of them. I lost in Leipzig. It's pretty close always between us. Myskina, she got a lot of confidence after her victory in Paris, and she's this kind of player who's not giving anything, she's big fighter, she's going on every point. She has very good mentality. And every time she's on the court, she's going for the winners. She's not putting too much pressure on herself. It's going to be another tough mission for me. But I'm very happy the way I play right now, and I hope I can keep going.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: I think I served pretty good, especially in the first set. I lost a little bit my first serve in the second set, but I kept my concentration the whole match, even if it was hard because sometimes, not so much rhythm. So I just kept focused on my game. I think I can play better on the return, especially I need to be a little bit more consistent. But I hope that the next match is going to help me to find it.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: I think everything is important. Serving well is very important. The first two shots of the point is very important against Myskina because she has been hitting the ball very hard. I had a good test today, and I hope that tomorrow is going to be as good as it was tonight.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: She's very nice person, first. She's very -- we have good relationship, and that's pretty good. But she is hitting the ball very fast and so you have to be careful all the time and very quick. So I'll have to move well and I'll have to play my best tennis. But I never say if I like to play against a player or no because who knows what can happen tomorrow.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: Oh, I think that I have a lot of respect for all the players here, not only for the players who won Grand Slams. But I think that probably she's different player. She got a lot of confidence. I didn't watch too much tennis in the last few months, so I cannot say.

JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE: Oh, I don't think about New York right now.