TMS - THE ERICSSON OPEN

March 28, 2000

Lindsay Davenport

WTA: Questions for Lindsay.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I've lost both toenails in the process of three tournaments. I just didn't take it off yet, sorry (laughter).

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I don't know what it is. On the hard courts, I think in so many matches, it's just wearing on my feet.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Yeah, like if I step into a backhand or run for a ball and stop suddenly.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I knew who she was. I'd never seen her play before. I had heard that she likes to hit the ball hard, has a pretty good serve. That's all I knew really. But going out, you know, I really like that kind of match-up for myself. A lot of times girls make a lot of errors, try and overhit. People that hit hard, I normally feel fairly confident against.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Is she?

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I didn't know that.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Very good athlete.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Well, I think in today's game, it's always a real benefit if you can hit the ball hard and serve well. So many girls today really don't take advantage of serving and trying to hold serve. She was very aggressive and she served well. I think that the more she plays, you hopefully get more consistent as you get older. You don't make as many errors the more times you're out on Stadium Court or playing top players. She's obviously a very good athlete. You know, just more experience will probably help her.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: It was okay. It wasn't terrific. I'm sure that's one of the things she'll probably be working on.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Well, I don't take anything he says too seriously, so I wouldn't be surprised if we saw her again playing tennis.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Well, I think it's tough to compete week-in and week-out. I don't know why they consistently haven't been performing. It seems like Venus was always the more consistent performer, and then Serena kind of broke through and won the US Open, then has really been struggling since then. You know, I don't know why. I couldn't tell you actually. They just don't -- Serena has been having a very up-and-down year, losing to a number of players that she probably would have felt confident beating last year. She's probably just going through a period where she's lost a lot of confidence and needs to get out there and play and win a lot of matches.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Maybe. I don't know.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I think you're exactly right. I think the big thing in tennis is you don't have to be the best athlete in the world to be able to win and play at this game. You can tell by past champions, playyers that are doing well now. If you look at their game, they could probably benefit with a lot of help, you know, strategies maybe, hitting certain shots.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: It's tough. You always like to know a little bit about your opponent before you play them. Also in your own game, if something is not going well, you need to work on it and work on it until it gets better. It really helps to have somebody - I think somebody that played the game and knows what it's like out there playing, instead of people that have never experienced it and think they know it all.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: The last few times I've played her, we've had very difficult matches. I think I lost, and then won a close three-setter. She plays well against me. I know she won't be intimidated going out there. She's had a couple of great wins, pulled through a really close match early in the tournament. Sometimes that really helps you get going later in the tournament. You get more confidence. You know, she has a very good serve when she's serving well. I've really got to concentrate on returning and breaking her serve, you know, moving her around the court, just concentrating on my own game and do what I do well, and see what she comes up with.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I think the biggest thing he helped me with is, you know, strategy plays a lot into it, but also just the emotions on the court. We spent a lot of time dealing with, you know, what happens when it gets close or what happens when you're about to win; what happens when you're up and you start to lose, how you can cope with all the situations that happen. It happens to everyone in your career, all those types of situations. He was very instrumental in talking about it with me and giving me ideas to do if stuff like that happens. In times like that, also, strategy on the court. You know, go for your most consistent shot; hit up the middle; make first serves, simple things like that that I took a lot of -- well, I believe in them a lot and I took it on the court and try to do what he says in those situations.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: You know, I don't know much about that situation. I saw a little piece on it during SportsCenter, I read what Serena said. You know, it's a tough situation for the tour to take. I'm sure that they probably won't take any action on it. I don't know. I mean, Serena had a good point, that she didn't want to play and put down her race. You have to respect that. I don't really know that much about it, though.

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