US OPEN

August 30, 1999

Mary Joe Fernandez

Q. Mary Joe, you're off to another good start here at the U.S. Open, the third set was your strongest. You really seemed to want to close that out. Of course I ran into Tony in the parking lot, and he said that's why she played so well.

MARY JOE FERNANDEZ: I think I got momentum going, I got some confidence after winning the second set. It helped me that I got off to a good lead in the third. I think I broke in the second or third game and I got a little bit more confidence.

MARY JOE FERNANDEZ: Yeah.

MARY JOE FERNANDEZ: Well, I've been struggling with my wrist for a little while. It's kind of been haunting me for the last couple weeks and I'm struggling a little bit, trying to get through it and work through soreness and stuff. It's getting better. It's just difficult. These courts are pretty fast so I'm having a tough time with the racquet, hitting the ball. But besides that, everything else is okay.

MARY JOE FERNANDEZ: She's great. She's a lot of fun to play with. She's very funny on the court. Also you learn how intense she is, how focused she can be. No matter what the score is, she's always there, she always wants to win that next point. You definitely learn a lot from her and she's one of my good friends so it's fun to play with her.

MARY JOE FERNANDEZ: I'm pretty focused on my tennis still even though the wedding stuff coming along. I got my mom and sister working on it. It's kind of in the background right now. Right now the U.S. Open is at hand, trying to get through each match at a time and see how far I can go.

MARY JOE FERNANDEZ: She's very funny.

MARY JOE FERNANDEZ: Oh, I can't share any of the funny stories (laughter) .

MARY JOE FERNANDEZ: I can't remember. She's just very great. She's just so down to earth and, you know, you just say stuff out there. You don't expect Monica Seles to say what she's saying.

MARY JOE FERNANDEZ: I'm sure she does. It's hard for me to just pinpoint one thing that she says. But, like I said, I mean I know her really well so it's fun to play with her.

MARY JOE FERNANDEZ: Yeah.

MARY JOE FERNANDEZ: April 8th.

MARY JOE FERNANDEZ: It's up in Miami Beach, Miami Beach.

MARY JOE FERNANDEZ: St. Patrick's.

MARY JOE FERNANDEZ: I don't know yet. We're working on that right now.

MARY JOE FERNANDEZ: I doubt it (laughter.)

MARY JOE FERNANDEZ: Right after Ericsson.

MARY JOE FERNANDEZ: No. Actually, it's a week off. The next week.

MARY JOE FERNANDEZ: It might be. I'm kind of taking it, you know, a month at a time and Billie Jean King a few years ago gave me great advice. She said, "Listen, you play each week and then you get through a season and you always evaluate where you are, how you are feeling health-wise, number one. It's silly to say, 'Oh, I'm going to play five more years or two more years when at the end of each season is really when you know how you feel.'" I'm going to play to the end of this year, see how it all goes, how my wrist is, and we'll take it from there. I'm not setting a date or saying I don't know.

MARY JOE FERNANDEZ: There's been a few.

MARY JOE FERNANDEZ: No.

MARY JOE FERNANDEZ: Anybody else that's married? On the tour still? Christine Kunze. That's right, she's married. Corina's getting married in November. Arantxa is getting married next July. Lisa Horn's getting married next year, too.

MARY JOE FERNANDEZ: Yeah.

MARY JOE FERNANDEZ: The obvious is women want to have kids eventually. You can't do that when you're 45, so I think that's what happens. You know. Female instincts kick in. The maternal instincts.

MARY JOE FERNANDEZ: I don't know.

MARY JOE FERNANDEZ: I have no idea, I have to check it out.

MARY JOE FERNANDEZ: I'm okay.

MARY JOE FERNANDEZ: My wrist is sore. But getting through it.