TMS - INDIAN WELLS, WOMEN

March 9, 2001

Lindsay Davenport

MODERATOR: Questions for Lindsay.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Oh, it was early in the day, and a fairly short match. From what I've heard, I believe I have the day off tomorrow, so we just went out to hit a little bit more. Just try and keep the game going and rolling. I'm still out of here fairly early.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I was amazed. When I went out on the court, it was overcast and cold. When I warmed up, it was a lot warmer. It's fine. I mean, hopefully it will heat up as the tournament goes on.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: No, I didn't think there was going to be rain. Hopefully it will warm up next week.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Yeah. It's been a very solid, consistent year. Besides the one match in the Australian Open, which I would have liked to have played a little better in, everything's been going really well. Coming off two wins in a row coming in here certainly gives me a lot of confidence to try and keep the roll going and try to win here again. But extremely tough tournament. I mean, almost everybody's playing. So definitely have to stay sharp and probably one of the reasons why I went back out there to practice a little bit more.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Yeah. I mean, you play all the top players all the time, so you're going to win and lose. I didn't look at it like that, but it was nice to beat a player that had beaten me the time before, that's for sure.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Well, I mean, it's a little bit lighter here, and the ball flies a little bit more. But, you know, I spent a week in Scottsdale. It's light there, too. I feel like I'm used to these conditions. I've always liked fast and quicker conditions. The courts here are medium, a little slow, but hopefully it makes up in the air being so light, being able to hit through the ball here. But, yeah, I've always liked playing here. I've always liked the conditions here.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I never really hit there much.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I lived there, but I practiced in Newport. I don't think that helped me.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Not really. I mean, it did for a day, day and a half. I was really disappointed just because you'd rather be out there and play great and lose. I just thought that in all my times in big matches, I didn't feel like I came out at the best of my game. But I decided two days later to go to Tokyo. I think winning there and beating Martina, getting my first title win, definitely helped erase some of the bad feelings that occurred in Melbourne. But, no, it wasn't nearly as traumatic as losing two years before to Mauresmo. I was able to put the Capriati loss behind me rather quickly.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Yeah, and I think maybe just the situation. She went on to win it, played great in the finals. That helped. You never want to lose to someone that plays great and the next match they don't play well, they lose. So I was very happy to see her win. I mean, everybody was. She obviously was playing very well there. You know, it was one of those things where you say, "Well, it was her tournament, you know, let's move on."

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Well, you definitely have more requests or more obligations and are written about more. She's probably, in her case, thrust back into the limelight a little bit. It's always interesting to see how people react to winning their first Grand Slam. I mean, some players obviously handle it well and go on to win more, and some players don't. I mean, there's a few examples, especially on the women's tour. I think at this point in her life, her winning it at a little bit older age, I think she's going to handle it well. It seems like she's already been through the maybe tougher times with the press and with playing tennis. It seems like she really plays it now to enjoy it. I think she has a better mind on her than if she had won one at 17 or 18.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: No. I just said, "No, no thank you."

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Yeah, I think when you break through and win a Slam, that people definitely view you differently. I mean, it is the toughest thing to do. It's two weeks where you have to play well, you have to, in those two weeks, win matches while you're not playing well. It's going to happen sometime over the fortnight. Mentally, it's the toughest thing to overcome because it's the biggest thing that a tennis player can win. I mean, the way she, you know, went through the quarters, semis and finals, I think she earned a lot more respect from a lot of the players.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I don't know. I mean, it's tough because all those girls are very good. I mean, also there's Henin. She started off the year on fire, you know, slowed down a little bit. I think with all those girls, they've all done incredibly well. But who can maintain a certain level of consistency? I have no idea. I mean, those three are still like 17, 18, and are great players already. So, you know, who breaks in the Top 5, I have no clue. They all have the ability to do it; but mentally it's always a challenge to see who can do it.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I think they both have pretty unique records, where obviously Pete has the most Grand Slams and Andre has won one on each surface. I think they're both going to be remembered. Maybe Pete just because of the total Grand Slams he has.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I mean, it's a huge one to win. I think, what is it, having 13 now, he has broke the record? Right now they're calling him the greatest ever. I would have to say most likely he would be in terms of the record books. You know, Andre does hold the one where he's won one on each surface. I would probably just say Pete by sheer number of titles.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: No. I think he does just fine. I don't think he needs too much advice from anybody.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Yeah, he came -- that's my agent. He came out for a few days. Yeah, I mean, we work out. There's these few hills in Irvine. They're not mountains, but they're hills. We go and run them. My coach, Robert, was like, "Tony, don't start off fast, it's really long." Halfway through he like stopped (laughter). Yeah, I mean, just doing different things to work out, being in the gym, going outside to run uphills. We've had a lot of fun this year in trying to work on that part of, I guess, my game.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: We're just hoping make it up - no timing (laughter).

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: We do it three or four times, but like with some long breaks.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Yeah.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Yeah, I mean, some players feel like they need a new spark, new energy, new philosophies in their game. I've always felt consistency and just even loyalty knowing that, you know, he's on my side. He's basically part of my family. You know, someone like Martina has her mom and feels very confident with her. I feel the same with Robert, that he's part of my family. You know, no matter what happens, he's always on my side and he's very discreet, always holds whatever I tell him very, you know, sacred, doesn't go off and say a lot of things about me. He always has my best interests at heart. Definitely puts me at ease when something's going on, to know I have a friend like that.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Tough schedule. I mean, there's a lot of matches that we all have to play in the next few days. It's good. You know, I've got a tough draw. Next I play either Sidot or Courtois. After I get through that, it's either Testud or Raymond, maybe one of the Williams. I've got my work cut out for me. So far I feel like I'm playing well.