US OPEN

September 6, 2000

Lindsay Davenport

MODERATOR: Questions for Lindsay.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Probably maybe the Australian Open, the final there. You know, it's obviously nice to get through this one. It's a little disappointing, only the quarterfinals, because it felt like a really big match. You know, I went out today and played exactly the way my coach and I wanted me to, did what I was supposed to. I was able to be really consistent doing it. That's tough to do when you go for a lot of shots and still have a consistent margin with it.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Yeah. I mean, it's tough returning her serve. I was able to get a few of them back in play and just kind of get them deep and kind of, you know, just get a lot of balls back, then be aggressive when I needed to. It was great. I thought I did, like I said, everything that I wanted to do.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: No, I wasn't kidding. We didn't have like a serious talk. I mean, we get along very well and we joke around. But she was just giving me a hard time. "Okay, come on, you have to do this finally. You never win. Beat her." I mean, it wasn't like a serious talk. We always joke about things like that.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: No. I mean --.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Obviously it feels great to get over the hurdle of beating her after a while. You know, I'm only in the semis. It's not like I just won the tournament or anything. It was a big match to get through, but you got to come back and play again pretty soon on Friday. Don't want to take anything for granted. But I'm really happy with the way I played and excited I was able to get through a tough draw so far and get to the semis. I'll look to keep going.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I don't know. I mean, the thing I find funny is people that grunt loud play a lot of times and don't grunt, then all of a sudden on a bigger point they always start grunting. I kind of wonder, "Hmm, why are they doing this now?" I don't know, it's just natural. If I tried to grunt, it would probably sound really funny.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Well, I didn't think it was so bad last year being the defending champion. I would have loved to come back this year winning The Open twice in a row. There's definitely been much more hype on other players in this tournament. You know, I've always kind of enjoyed that - being able to have a little bit more privacy and be able to play my matches along the way a little bit more quietly. You know, like I said, I'm just happy I won today. There wasn't a lot of pressure on me this tournament I didn't feel, especially, like I said, with the attention focused on some other players. I really felt, you know, good the whole tournament so far.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Yeah. I mean, it's, like I said, great to still be in the US Open, be in the semifinals. There's no revenge. I mean, I'm going to lose to her again. I'm going to beat her again. That's the way it goes. I was disappointed actually losing the final a few weeks ago in LA, thought I really should have won that. Just happy to get through. I'm glad, if I had to win one of those matches, I'd rather win here. So happy to do that.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: He thought that -- I mean, there's obviously basic things. You have to serve well, you have to do this. He really thought that I should, you know, play to the same spot in the court a lot, for a number of times before I went to the open court. You know, Serena is a very quick player. You know, it's hard to describe, but I'll try. To keep the ball in the same spot a lot of times and not mix it around too much, because maybe she gets a better groove that way. Keep the balls deep. I think we practiced that yesterday and today, really getting a lot more depth on the ball, even if I was going to miss them long, just be patient with her and all that kind of stuff.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Well, I think, you know, she had a lot of opportunities in the beginning of the first. I didn't think I was playing that well then. When I finally broke her at 4-All, then served out the set, that kind of probably deflated her a little bit because she had a number of breakpoints in the first set and didn't take advantage of them. Really, when I got up two breaks, I thought that I was playing well. I really thought I was trying to go for it and force her into some errors. I thought that a lot of the reason was because of myself. You know, I'm sure she thought I didn't play well, but I thought I played well not to make her play well.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Yeah. I mean, I wanted to be more aggressive and be in control of the points. You know, saying that and doing it is a different thing. You know, I really felt tonight I got a good hit at the ball and wasn't being jerked around too much and was able to dictate where the ball was going. Like I said, you know, that's what I'd love to do every time. It's tougher sometimes than others. I was able to, you know, return her serve pretty well and get on top of the points that way.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Yeah. I mean, such a frustrating four or five months, middle of the year. Sometimes I haven't gone through. It feels great to be able to play here a hundred percent and not have to worry about injuries and little things going wrong, being able to just play full out. I haven't had this much freedom on the court physically since probably almost a year ago. That's the number one thing I'm happy about. You know, just trying to finish the year off well now.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Well, I think just because I feel a lot healthier out there. You know, back injury in the middle of the year hurt me a lot in terms of just confidence and moving and also just training. You know, hurting my foot a few weeks ago was a downer, but I stayed really positive about it. I really felt like the last two weeks I've been able to practice really hard, chase after a lot of balls, in the matches go for them. I felt in a good rhythm, a lot of matches, felt like I was able to practice moving. I'm not going to get every ball, but if I try my hardest, and physically I'm a hundred percent, I'm not the slowest thing out there.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: It was funny, because it had the feel of a 5-4 game, 6-5. It felt so tense. My last match point I had a second serve. It was by far the slowest serve I had all evening. I was like, "Oh, my God." Go to the chair, I was thinking, you know, it felt at that time like it was so close. You look up and it's only 5-2. So that was a relief because that game was pretty tense. When I looked at it, when I took a step back, I was still up two breaks, you know, still in good position. You know, served a good last game, two aces. It was a good way to put an end to the match.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: The ball was so far out. She was telling me it was in. The changeover, I said, "I'll give you a thousand dollars if you go down there, look at the mark and tell me that's in, because there was no way that ball was in." She was like, "Oh, well."

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Yeah, I mean, what can you do? I don't like it when, you know, the mark's there, it's out. She's telling me it's in. She should say she doesn't see it or wasn't looking instead of telling me it's in. "Wait, I can promise you that ball was not in." She didn't look, so.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: A little bit of both. I mean, sometimes that's the way points go. But I was trying to, like I said, just hit to one spot a lot of the times, and a lot of times once the first or second ball of the rally went there, I just stayed with it going there, then waited till maybe the court opened up to go to her forehand side. You know, once I saw she was missing a few, I mean, she's going to come up with some good shots and I'm going to stay with that game plan.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I didn't think my first serve percentage was all that high, especially in the first set. I think it's a little bit of trying to go for too much and then just not making enough first serves in. I tried to get just a few in to get some rhythm, you know, a little bit off the hundred percent serve. Found it a little bit more. But, you know, that was the one thing I maybe could have done a little better. I didn't get broken, but I don't think I had a very high percentage of first serves.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I mean, I think for a righty, that's the natural, more difficult side. You're not really hitting side spin, you've got to hit it inside out. I think that's a little more difficult. So I'll try and work on that the next few days.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Yeah, that helped. Then even serving for the match, I was able to get one out wide. So I'm going to come up with some once in a while. But just had to get back in a good rhythm doing it.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I think I learned a little bit from playing in LA maybe about where she likes to go or maybe trying to see with her toss a little bit. I mean, you have to guess a little bit. A lot of times, sometimes that just happens, you guess right. Then I think she started missing a few more because I started maybe to get a few of them back in play that she didn't expect. Then she gave me a lot more second serves as the match went on.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: What do you mean?

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: No.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: No. The umpire was just telling me, "No, no, that ball was in." You know, I knew she was wrong, so I was only going to put money on something when I know I'm right. No, I mean, there was no bets made with Martina and I.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Well, no. It started last year because I played the first semifinal against Serena and she played Venus. She's like, "Well, you better, you know, win." So I lost. I saw her in the locker room. She was like shaking her head at me right before she played. Obviously she won. This time she's, "You're first again." I don't want too big a deal made of this. We get along very well. You know, I think she feels like she sides with me against them. I don't know.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: She's fun to joke with. You know, Venus doesn't talk to me much. Serena, I don't see all that much. I mean, she's a little bit more friendly maybe. But, I mean, Martina and I have talked for many, many years, you know, have a better rapport with her.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: (Laughter).

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I mean, I haven't obviously thought about it too much. I played her a number of times this year. Good player. I mean, she must be playing well here. She hits the ball hard. You know, what I've had success with in the past is trying to take advantage of her serve. If you hit the balls hard and deep, in the past she's had a little bit of trouble with that. So I'm going to try and do that again. I haven't thought about it too much. I'll probably think about it more tomorrow.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Oh, God, I think everyone's made too big a deal of this.

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