US OPEN

August 26, 2002

Anna Kournikova

MODERATOR: Questions for Anna.

ANNA KOURNIKOVA: Very disappointing, obviously. I think I just -- I didn't play well obviously at all. I wasn't in the match. I was just not there. I didn't play well. It was just a very bad match for me.

ANNA KOURNIKOVA: I think I just played totally wrong way. I mean, I was going for winners after a second shot. I was just not in the match for some reason.

ANNA KOURNIKOVA: No, I'm not trying to prove myself to anybody. I try to do what I have to do. I go on the court and I try to play. Today was just a really, really bad match for me. Of course, it's really disappointing, you know, for it to happen at a Grand Slam. The good thing is that I did play well, you know, in the last couple months or so, so that's a good thing. But, you know, I guess I'll just have to, you know, do better and work harder next time.

ANNA KOURNIKOVA: Well, I think, I mean, I should have played -- I should have kept the ball more in play. I should have gave her more chance to hit the balls because I didn't give her any chances. I made like a million mistakes. I think that she hit like two winners and that's it. Everything else was my unforced errors. It was kind of weird, because I had all the opportunities. I set up the point, and then when I had to put it away, I was missing it. So that was kind of horrible.

ANNA KOURNIKOVA: No, I just, you know, I set it up and then it was just a mistake. Sometimes I went for too much on the wrong shots. If I'm behind the baseline or something like that, you know, I went for too much.

ANNA KOURNIKOVA: Yeah, I was hitting pretty good in practice. I was feeling pretty good.

ANNA KOURNIKOVA: Well, just like before any match, I mean, you're pretty, you know, excited and tense, a little bit nervous, I guess. You know, I haven't played here last year, so it was fun coming back, you know, being here again. It was good.

ANNA KOURNIKOVA: You know, I'm still in the tournament, so I'm just going to practice and go out there and play a totally different game. But, you know, it's fun. You know, I'm just going to go out there and we're going to try to win. I mean, it is hard to be around, but it's fine.

ANNA KOURNIKOVA: I'm disappointed about myself that I didn't give myself a good show. But, you know, definitely I don't think it was a pretty match for anyone - especially for me.

ANNA KOURNIKOVA: It happened to me before. It happens, you know, a lot of times to all players.

ANNA KOURNIKOVA: Yeah, I'm definitely disappointed. I mean, you know, I didn't expect it to be this way at all. You know, I thought I had a pretty good draw. You know, in the first round to play against her... I did know that she's a good player. She was a good junior player and stuff. But, you know, obviously I didn't expect it to be that easy for her.

ANNA KOURNIKOVA: I don't think I have an explanation yet. I just finished a half an hour or so ago. I think I'm going to go and think to a conclusion what happened. I don't like to make fast decisions.

ANNA KOURNIKOVA: Well, I think if I didn't think I could improve, I wouldn't be, you know, trying. And I think that anybody can improve at anything if they work hard and do the things they have to do. You know, it's not like I play the way I played today all the time. That's okay. That's good. I'm just going to, you know, try again.

ANNA KOURNIKOVA: All of that: emotional, philosophical, to heart, everything.

ANNA KOURNIKOVA: Oh, good. Good if they don't show up anymore.

ANNA KOURNIKOVA: Well, that was your impression probably. But I just felt like I tried everything, you know, nothing was just going my way. You know, I guess I was going faster and faster and faster, and that was my mistake. But, you know, for me, for myself, I do know that I do work hard.