adidas International

January 14, 2004

Lindsay Davenport

THE MODERATOR: Lindsay, do you want to give us your thoughts on the match today.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Yeah, I think in the end I was very happy and relieved to get through that match. I think the conditions out especially on Court 1 were quite difficult - a lot of wind, a lot of swirling conditions. Especially with the way I started off, I mean, I started off 1-6 losing the first set. I'm happy that I was able to turn it around, play better, and in the end just be able to pull out the close match. I think she played very well, especially in the beginning. Was going for a lot of big shots, seemed to handle the wind much better than I did in the beginning. Second set I was able to get on top of the rallies a little bit faster than she was and was able to turn the tide a little bit. The third set was just pretty much a struggle. I mean, it seemed like on the one side, you know, against the wind, it was really tough to win games. And, you know, it was just very tough conditions out there.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: No (laughing).

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I think each case, it can be different, I mean, depending upon your opponent and what style of game they play. Today it was also different because of the conditions. I mean, just on one side, you were so much with the wind, you know, you really had to control the balls or else they would go long on you. On the other side, you had to hit it as hard as you could because it's very strong wind against you. But, you know, at the end, I think I was finally able to hold serve at 5-all against the wind. And then, you know, to break her was tough. I had a few good shots the last game, couple winners, and match is over.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Well, it was absolutely fantastic for me overall - the confidence it gave me, to be able to get my feet wet slowly playing matches again. And to play the kind of tennis I did after really struggling last season with my foot and then having surgery was great. On the other hand, I mean, definitely it's a little bit tiring to play all those matches, singles and mixed, and come here and, again, I'm playing doubles again, singles. Just a lot of tennis. So, if anything, just want to work on keeping -- just keeping the big picture in mind and really worry in the back of my mind about how my game's progressing, not necessarily results. But I came here because I wanted to get used to the wind and the heat. Today I got the wind; maybe tomorrow I'll get the heat (smiling).

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I mean, I feel great. I mean, last week was a big step for me and an important step for me to make. Beat some really good players. Proved to myself that I can play well and that I held up the whole week injury-free and was still able to play great tennis every match. That was a bit of a question mark last year - one, my preparation for tournaments was limited; two, physically, my foot would just get worse and worse as the week went on. It's nice not to have that in the back of my mind and have to worry about that anymore. You know, this week I'm going to do my best. I know I'm a little bit tired from Perth. But, overall, I think I'm playing well. Didn't play fantastic today. A lot of that was because of my opponent; a lot of that was because of the conditions. But, you know, excited to try to keep improving my game.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Well, no, I know now it's not. I knew the second I -- well, as soon as I got out of my cast and off the crutches, just like the first step I took, it didn't hurt. That's been a really long time since that had happened. So I kind of knew immediately. About a week or two after I got out of surgery, I put on a pair of normal shoes, like off-court shoes, kind of pointed toe. Didn't hurt at all, which I wasn't able to do for a really long time. So my foot problems are behind me. I think more it's just getting my game better, knowing that I practiced pretty hard in December, and just getting my game there.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Yeah, you know, I had agreed to play doubles here before I got the call to go to Hopman Cup. In hindsight it probably is not the best decision. But I'm playing with one of my best friends, Corina, coming back from a lot of injuries. I really didn't want to let her down. Like I said, we had agreed to play in November. It would have been fine just to play here and Melbourne. When Perth was added, I just didn't want to back out on her. So I knew that going in. We had a tough match yesterday; we're going to have a very tough match today against Lisa and Martina. But it was exciting really to win yesterday with her. It's a tough battle, but she's been through so much and she was just so excited we won our first-round doubles match. It was very, very cute to be a part of.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: You know, there's still a lot of steps to take before that could happen. You know, I've always said a lot of it depends on luck - I mean, scheduling or draws or how you play on certain a day. Hopefully, you play bad on your days off and you play really well when you're supposed to play a match (laughing). But if I can keep mentally fresh and feel like I'm improving my game through the next few weeks, I mean, I'm still playing because I feel like I can be a threat. Whether that's winning and holding up the trophy, I don't know. But my confidence is so much higher now than it was, you know, middle to end of last year just in the fact that I'm able to , I feel like, do the things necessary to keep improving my game.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: So much more. It was a lot more fun to go practice in December and feel good and know that physically I was able to run for balls and be out there for as long as I wanted or didn't want to and it wasn't dictated by anything in particular. Had a good time. So, you know, hopefully that stays up. I'll keep playing as long as that will last.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Yeah, it's difficult mentally for sure because you know in the back of your mind you're not as prepared or haven't done as much things as you'd like. I still think she's okay considering it happened a lot closer to Melbourne. She's only gonna have like a week or two where her preparations weren't great. She's a tremendous athlete and a great fighter. For me, it was more like the end of four months of hardly practicing, and it was kind of just a wear. There's no question it's a test, it's going to be a test for her. But I think that, like I said, she's a tremendous athlete. If you can get through the first few rounds and get a good draw there and build your way in, it helps a lot, slowly get back into things.