AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 15, 2003

Anna Kournikova

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Anna, please.

ANNA KOURNIKOVA: About it?

ANNA KOURNIKOVA: Well, it was a tough -- sorry?

ANNA KOURNIKOVA: Well, we were both on the court. I think it was a match. It was a tough match, you know. It was -- Justine played really, really well. She didn't give me any opportunities or any chances. When I did have them in the second set, you know, I missed a couple easy volleys and stuff. It was very hard to get into the match. She started off playing really, really well. Every single point, she was fighting for it. I was always on the defense, and she was always a step ahead of me. She was being -- she was playing aggressive. And, you know, I really had no weapons against her today. I couldn't find that spot where I should have played, so...

ANNA KOURNIKOVA: Yeah.

ANNA KOURNIKOVA: Well, it wasn't too bad. But, yeah, well, I guess it's just -- the matches are -- the matches were so different than the first one. This one, here I knew that I had to do a little more. I had to not give her so many opportunities, and I went for a little too much probably sometimes.

ANNA KOURNIKOVA: Obviously, there's a huge difference between the last opponent I had and Justine today.

ANNA KOURNIKOVA: Well, I try to get into the match, you know, as we were playing. I was really fighting for every ball. You know, I tried to turn it around and find some kind of a weakness in her game today, but there was just none. You know, she was just hitting great backhands, as she normally does. She didn't make too many mistakes on her forehand, which is I think her weaker spot. She was playing really confident from that side today, too. She was serving extremely well. So, you know, like I said, I tried to find a way during the match, but it was just too hard.

ANNA KOURNIKOVA: Well, I think I really don't see, you know, how it is different from other players or I really don't think about it, you know. It's been like this ever since I was a little girl, so I'm kind of used to it and I don't really pay attention to it.

ANNA KOURNIKOVA: Who said that? I wish I would earn as much as everybody says, which is not true obviously.

ANNA KOURNIKOVA: I'm sorry? I didn't get the question.

ANNA KOURNIKOVA: Phone number, and then do what?

ANNA KOURNIKOVA: No, I'm used to that attention.

ANNA KOURNIKOVA: Oh, good, somebody noticed that (laughing)!

ANNA KOURNIKOVA: Yeah... I noticed that, too (smiling). You know, like I said, it was just -- I guess I knew that she was really ready to return and everything. I tried to go for too much. I tried to make her think too much. I probably maybe should have played more simpler, more simple. I'm going to have to go and practice more.

ANNA KOURNIKOVA: Disappointing, obviously. But, you know, it's just, you know, she's No. 5 player in the world or something like that. So obviously, you know, she's a great player and we had some close points today, even though the score was pretty bad. I'm just going to have to go and practice and work harder and, you know, get ready for the next tournament in Tokyo.

ANNA KOURNIKOVA: No, I don't think it really mattered. One game, two games, it's not a big difference.

ANNA KOURNIKOVA: No, no.

ANNA KOURNIKOVA: No, not at all. We've all played Juniors and under-10s together, so I knew, you know, that we have great tennis players. We always had great competitions, a lot of young kids and a lot of tennis clubs, and there's just a lot of kids playing, and it was a very popular sport, especially with Yeltsin being the president. It was just a matter of time before everybody could travel and had enough money to travel and get out of the country.

ANNA KOURNIKOVA: Well, I would say that it's all -- I don't think it has to do anything with the years and stuff. I think there is just -- first of all, two years ago I got really badly injured around this time in February, so it's going to be two years. I didn't play for eight months, and it's very hard to come back after that. I had also some bad injuries before that, when I was 16 and stuff. So, but, I've been playing some great tennis even last year, I played great in the summer and indoors. I played great. It's also kind of hard, you know, but for people forget how early the Australian Open is and everything. This was just my third match of the year. I know a lot of players go through that and everything. I tend to play better the more matches I play and more tournaments I play in a row. So I'm just -- you know, it's the beginning of the season. I'm looking forward to a long and healthy one. That's the most important for me. But that's been the trouble, staying healthy in the last years.

ANNA KOURNIKOVA: Yeah, I think that in general my game has gotten better. Before I was just hitting the ball hard. Now I play a little smarter.

ANNA KOURNIKOVA: Well, I mean, obviously it doesn't stand still, you know. But it changes all the time. Just like it changed ten years ago, you know. People I'm sure could tell the difference, and people can tell the difference now. It's going to be different two years from now. It's a normal process of things growing and developing and, you know, it always happens.

ANNA KOURNIKOVA: Well, we were just watching, in fact, some tapes of old matches they were showing on TV. It's a huge difference from before and now. I mean, you can't stop that process. It's just gonna get better and change even more.

ANNA KOURNIKOVA: I don't know yet. I haven't decided.

ANNA KOURNIKOVA: It feels great, but I don't go there back -- back there that often. It's awesome that kids are getting involved into tennis, and that's the way it should be. We should have as many kids playing as possible.

ANNA KOURNIKOVA: Enjoy it, make sure you enjoy it, first of all, and work hard.