XXVI OLYMPIC GAMES

July 31, 1996

Mary Joe Fernandez

MARY JOE FERNANDEZ: No, it's a bit of the flu.

MARY JOE FERNANDEZ: No, I've actually had it for the last three or four days. So I'm better. I'm feeling much better today.

MARY JOE FERNANDEZ: Actually for me it looked like it was fast motion, because her ball comes so fast it's hard to get prepared and hurt her. And she served really well and big points, she really puts you on the defensive right away. Unless you're serving really, really well or taking the offense away from her, it's very tough to play her.

MARY JOE FERNANDEZ: It was just a couple of points that turned it around. I think I might have had a breakpoint to go down 5-1, and I hung in there, won that game 4-2. And then I won the game to break back even. Once you're even, you're back in the match. I was a little bit unfortunate not to win that second set. I served for it 6-5 and had a couple of set points in the tiebreak. So obviously that was a critical time of the match.

MARY JOE FERNANDEZ: I think it's getting easier. I think this was easier than last time when we played. We just kind of go out there now and we know each other's games really well, and just do the best that we can. And whoever played better was going to win. And she played better today.

MARY JOE FERNANDEZ: Yes. We know our tendencies, on a deuce point she usually serves up the tee. So I thought she'd serve wide, because she usually serves up the tee. I think a lot of that was going on. That's normal because we practice with each other so often.

MARY JOE FERNANDEZ: I congratulated her because she played so well. And she said sorry, and that was about it.

MARY JOE FERNANDEZ: I think she would have shown more emotion if it had been somebody else. The friendship there I think comes into play where you don't want to make the other person feel bad. So I know she's very, very happy and she's worked very hard and she deserves to be in the final.

MARY JOE FERNANDEZ: It's a little bit of a different match, but in one aspect I still have to play aggressively. Novotna is going to come in and attack as much as she can, even though she doesn't hit the ball maybe as hard as Lindsay does, she slices it very well, and has a first serve and second serve like Lindsay. So I'm going to have to try to attack a little bit more. It's not easy to do when someone is coming at you all the time. But she's playing really, really good tennis. That's something I'm going to have to do to beat her.

MARY JOE FERNANDEZ: (Speaking Spanish.)

MARY JOE FERNANDEZ: That's the positive thing, no matter what happens, at least someone who you like and who is a good friend goes on. That's important. Sure, you're always disappointed when you lose, but I had a great tournament and hopefully it's not over yet. I'll play one more good match. But like I said earlier, she hit the ball very well, had big points. I had a lot of chances in the beginning of the first set to win games, but she came up with big shots. And she was just too good.

MARY JOE FERNANDEZ: I think it's going to be a good match. I think if Lindsay hits the ball as well as she's been hitting it she has a great opportunity. Arantxa is a fighter and she's going to hang in there and not give up. But hopefully Lindsay will be hitting the ball well off the ground from the start and win the gold.

MARY JOE FERNANDEZ: I think to enjoy the moment. It's a big moment for her and she's already secured a medal, so I think she can relax about that aspect of it and just go out there and play her best. She knows she can win and it's just a matter of executing her game.

MARY JOE FERNANDEZ: No, I'm feeling a lot better today. So I should be fine. I'm playing in about half an hour. So I'll be ready.

MARY JOE FERNANDEZ: I think I'm never out there, no matter who I'm playing, big attitude that I'm going to kill them. I go out there and play my game. And I'm very competitive, I hate to lose, no matter if it was a friend or not a friend. I think it was just easier than last time at Wimbledon because it was the first time we played after becoming good friends. And I knew that she felt a little bit of the stress because of it. And that was tough. But today it was fine. She handled it fine and I think we both did our best.

MARY JOE FERNANDEZ: We've talked about our matches before. I'm sure we'll talk about it. I'm sure she'll say, good job no faulting on set point. And I'll say you were choking, you were up sets 6-2, 4-1. So we'll laugh about it.