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November 9, 2002

Jelena Dokic

JELENA DOKIC: No. I have an ankle injury. It was a little bit hard to move, and, yeah, I wasn't even sure I was going to play. I was hurting a little bit more in the second set.

JELENA DOKIC: I did it the first day I was practicing. I sprained it.

JELENA DOKIC: If I was limping, I wouldn't be on the court. If you're limping, you don't play, but, you know, I was good enough to maybe play a set or two, but, you know, against Serena you have to be 100 percent, which I wasn't.

JELENA DOKIC: I wasn't even sure I would play the first one. I did enough in that match, but it hasn't gotten better. It's more than a sprain, but it's hard. It needs rest. You know, it was since maybe the last few matches I wanted to come out and play anyway.

JELENA DOKIC: Right.

JELENA DOKIC: Stretched ligaments so far. I don't know. I haven't had the full MRIs.

JELENA DOKIC: Yeah. I think I just had trouble moving, so even when I had the chances, I had to go for my shots more. It wasn't so easy to move against her. I had to go for winners earlier.

JELENA DOKIC: But it would help also if you can move too, so either way, you know, couldn't have asked for a better first set. I could have won it, but, you know, considering everything, and that I wasn't 100 percent, it wasn't too bad.

JELENA DOKIC: We'll see tomorrow. I can't even feel it right now.

JELENA DOKIC: Maybe. The foot was getting worse, so you know, it would be very hard to win the second set, and she would always lift her game up like she did. It would be very hard and the third wouldn't be so easy, so either way, I think it would have been very tough to win the match.

JELENA DOKIC: Yes.

JELENA DOKIC: Tokyo.

JELENA DOKIC: Me?

JELENA DOKIC: We'll see.

JELENA DOKIC: I just don't think -- I don't feel like I'm ready to go back, and I don't think it would be a good idea. I don't think I would have a great reaction from media, fans, everyone. I don't think it's a very good idea to go back there. It would be very complicated. Mentally, I don't think I would feel great to play there.

JELENA DOKIC: I had no problem until I had to go. I had a lot of problems with the media. In the end, I feel the people started to feel the same way, too. I think either way, you know, I wouldn't have too many people supporting me. It's a risk to go, and I never know what can happen, and you know, if something went wrong mentally, I wouldn't feel good after that.

JELENA DOKIC: I think he has trouble playing there. I think his worst results have been there. They give a lot of pressure to the players, whether it's good or bad. I'm sure it's tough for him, too. They have no reason to blame as much as they do. I had even more problems than that.

JELENA DOKIC: I have a few months now. I will definitely work that out. I don't know. I will see what's better for me and what to do. I'll definitely stay in Europe, that's for sure, where I am right now, but, you know, I will try and sort my schedule and see what I'm going to do.

JELENA DOKIC: I think she didn't start so well, but she's hardly lost any matches this year. I think that's what has pulled her through. I haven't played her in the last two years. I think for me to play the Williams officers would be for difficult than I didn't know. It was a tough first set, but I will be trying, you know, to improve my game a little bit more next year and maybe be closer.

JELENA DOKIC: Pretty much. They're 1 and 2 right now. They've dominated tournaments, Grand Slams the whole year, so it just depends on how long it lasts and how well they do the next few weeks. There are a lot of good players out there that could give them a hard time. It just depends. We're going to have to improve a lot in our games and physically to beat them.

JELENA DOKIC: Definitely they've dominated tennis this year. We'll see what happens here, but they've dominated tennis.

JELENA DOKIC: There is so many. Monica can always play well, Lindsay also, and Amelie and Jennifer. I think a lot of us that are in the top ten right now can play tough matches with them.

JELENA DOKIC: Not necessarily. I played a good few games to get up. I have played better before, and it's hard to say. It was very quick. You start to get a rhythm against her. It's hard to say.