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AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 15, 2003

Evie Dominikovic

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA

Q. You're back where you were two years ago.

EVIE DOMINIKOVIC: Yeah. I mean, I'm pretty happy to be in the same position as I was. Hopefully there's more to come.

Q. Nicole Pratt was in here before. She said she really looked at her side of the draw at the start of the tournament, thought, "Fourth round, I can do that." How did you approach it?

EVIE DOMINIKOVIC: Well, I knew I had not a bad chance, playing Anne Kremer before. I lost to her like four years ago, five years ago, a tight one, a three-setter. I knew if I got past that one, I knew I was playing Alexandra. I played her at the French in the third round. With Capriati losing early in my half, you never know what's going to happen.

Q. Have you played your opponent, Chladkova, in the next round before?

EVIE DOMINIKOVIC: No.

Q. There's been a lot of talk, Nicole spoke to it, Samantha also, Nicole is the veteran, you're in the middle, Samantha is starting out, that everyone is feeding off each other, there's a really good sort of feel at the moment.

EVIE DOMINIKOVIC: Yeah. Alicia did well last week. If she can do it, why can't we all do it, the rest of the Aussies? I suppose that all spurred us on. I heard this is the first time since '94 that three Aussies are in the third round. I mean, yeah, it's a great opportunity to take it, so why not take it?

Q. What did you get out of the camp that you all had?

EVIE DOMINIKOVIC: I didn't actually go. I stayed home and trained. I played challengers. I would have been home five days, then went away, so I decided to stay home.

Q. Did your coach again say, "Be attacking, be positive"?

EVIE DOMINIKOVIC: Yeah. I played a lot better today than I did the first round. I attacked a lot more than I did in my first match up until 5-3. Anne stepped it up a little bit and started to play better. All I kept saying to myself was, "Just keep hitting the ball, hitting out, get on top."

Q. Did you get the jitters at all? It took a while to put it away, didn't it?

EVIE DOMINIKOVIC: I mean, yeah. I was nervous because I was a point away to get in the third round (smiling). Yeah, I mean, it's normal, I suppose. As I said, Anne played quite well towards the end.

Q. You said you were nervous, a point away from the third. You are obviously thinking positive about going further now?

EVIE DOMINIKOVIC: Yeah. I mean, hopefully I can get through a couple more rounds and I'll be happy. Next one is going to be an important one. She's probably Top 50 in the world. But it's a great opportunity for both of us.

Q. How would you compare your game now and your state of mind to when you were last in this position in the third round?

EVIE DOMINIKOVIC: I'm more confident this time around, where last time around, I mean, I had a good shot against Rita Grande, but I didn't really believe I could get past her. She was Top 20 is what she was back then. Yeah, but I've been in the circuit a couple years, and I'm pretty confident.

Q. Does it make a big difference playing on a show court?

EVIE DOMINIKOVIC: Yeah. I mean, the supporters are great. Without the supporters, you don't get fired up as much. Supporters help me quite a lot, they really do.

Q. How many people in the crowd were genuinely with you, people, coach, family, whatever?

EVIE DOMINIKOVIC: Quite a few. I don't know how many. I can't think off my head. Probably like 12 people, 15 people.

Q. Were you as fired up as you were against Rittner?

EVIE DOMINIKOVIC: No. I was more fired up today than I was in the first round. I mean, first round is always tough to win. Today, yeah, I was pretty pumped, pretty fired up. I play my best tennis when I'm fired up.

End of FastScriptsâ€¦.

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