TMS - FORO ITALICO

May 18, 2000

Jelena Dokic

Q. It was a very impressive win. Is it the best you've had since Wimbledon first round last year?

JELENA DOKIC: Yeah, definitely. I think, you know, to beat a Top 5 player at a tournament like this, and I played well, too. So it was an important match I think. I've been, you know, playing well the last couple of months and I played well here this week and, you know, my confidence has been growing. So I believed that I could win that match out there today and I did, which is great.

JELENA DOKIC: No, probably not. I've been, you know, working on my game very hard for the last about six months to improve my game. It was just a matter of time to start doing it in matches and get confident. And I think, you know, a few matches make a big difference, and I went out there in the match today confident that I could win and if I played my game that, you know, Venus was beatable. And, like I said, I've been playing the last couple of months and my confidence is growing and I feel great out there.

JELENA DOKIC: I think a lot depends on the match tomorrow. That will be probably one of the tougher matches and a very tough opponent. And, you know, the match tonight, you know, I played well, it's given me confidence. There's still a few things to improve on. If I play well tomorrow, I mean, I think there's a good chance for me to get at least to the Final. And, you know, it's very hard to say at the moment because there's just, you know, still great players in the tournament. The Quarterfinals, even if I did that, it's a long way to go and I'm just taking it a match at a time.

JELENA DOKIC: I spoke to him after my second match, I had -- it's been a day since I spoke to him. But, you know, we just talked about, you know, how my game has been going and what we've been working on. And like I said, if I do what I've been working on, I should be doing well in tournaments. And the last couple of months I, you know, I've done that. And, you know, I think I believe that I could go out there and win that match today and I think so did he. But, you know, there's always -- I mean playing someone like Venus, she's a tough competitor. But, you know, he's given me a lot of confidence and a lot of support.

JELENA DOKIC: Well, I think the crucial game was when I lost my serve at 4-Love, but I was still, you know, a break up. She held the serve 4-2. In Love-30 I was sort of rushing a little bit. I felt like, you know, everything had to go quick and then she got a, you know, she got a few games. So I slowed down a little bit. I think I played a good game there to come back, which was good. But if I didn't hold, it would have been very tough, a different story. Anything could have happened. But I think mentally I was tough there, and I've been tough in my matches, long games I've been trying to win, and, you know, break serves and hold my serve. And that's also helped me I think a lot, too.

JELENA DOKIC: I think after Wimbledon I, you know, had a few tough matches, you know, maybe I could have won some of those but, you know, I played well for, you know, a couple of years and I think mentally and physically I just wasn't there in a few tournaments, then that sort of let me down a little bit and my confidence was down. But, like I said, I've been, you know, even if I lose in a tournament, I've been working hard and working on my game and I knew that, you know, eventually it would come together because I think it's just, you know, confidence. That's all it was. And, you know, I had some -- I had two good tournaments just recently and I've had three good wins. It's helped me a lot to come into this tournament, and I've played three consistently good matches here and hopefully I'm back on track. But I think it's working out because what I've been working on with Tony Roche is, you know, I've been trying to put that into matches, you know, win or lose. And I knew that if I did that, you know, I'll get back on track.

JELENA DOKIC: No. I played Fed Cup this year and if everything works out and I'm healthy, I'll play.

JELENA DOKIC: Mostly English, a bit of both sometimes. I see her around locker rooms, I've spoken to her before. You know, we had a few conversations, you know, about tennis and, you know, different things before. So we know each other and -- but I think just like everybody, I try to talk to everyone.

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