NASDAQ-100 OPEN

March 24, 2005

Kim Clijsters

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

KIM CLIJSTERS: Today it was. You know, it's nice, I think, to have these kind of matches and these circumstances. I think, you know, it was not easy out there. The conditions were a lot different than what it was last week, and just you have to get used to that a little bit. So I could see the guys before, just the match before, battling. I could see on TV that there was a little bit of wind and they were hitting a few frame shots. But I'm happy. It's good to have a short match like this to get used to it again.

KIM CLIJSTERS: It wasn't easy (smiling).

KIM CLIJSTERS: Oh, no. Not at all.

KIM CLIJSTERS: Yeah, I just, you know, I tried to stay very positive, even while I was injured. I tried to stay positive and made sure that I was, you know, still -- even when I was in a cast, made sure that I was still, like, keeping my body fit, so I didn't have to lose too much time once the doctors told me I could start hitting backhands again. That's what I tried to do. But then I played a few good matches in Antwerp, really felt like I was hitting the ball well. Luckily, in Indian Wells, I kept it up. I was hitting the ball well and sort of gradually, yeah, towards each match it got better. In the final I think everything sort of -- the puzzle was complete, I think.

KIM CLIJSTERS: No, no, not at all. I still feel like there's, you know, a lot of work to do. Of course you always -- it doesn't matter if you've been out for a year, if you haven't. There's always work to do, there's always things you can improve. But, you know, even like when I lost to Venus in Antwerp, that's what I said, I want to play the matches. It doesn't matter if I play them well or if I win them or lose them, I just want to play some matches so I can get back into that rhythm.

KIM CLIJSTERS: I don't know, you tell me (smiling).

KIM CLIJSTERS: I play -- I'm scheduled to play Warsaw, and then Berlin and Rome probably. And then I have a week off and then the French. But we'll see how it goes. It all depends. I haven't had the time, haven't been in a situation like this where I had to prepare for the clay court season with my wrist. So, you know, I think I'll need some time. I'm going home after this tournament so I can gradually build up my schedule, so that I don't have to start hitting those heavy rallies and those heavy spin shots straight away with my backhand. That's where I need to sort of progressively build my schedule up a little bit, take my time and don't do anything too fast.

KIM CLIJSTERS: No, no. I was hitting, you know, slices most of the time while I couldn't play. But, no, I think backhand, one-handed backhand was definitely not an option. And I have changed, I had to adjust my backhand a little bit. I don't know, it's probably not very visible out on the court. It's just a matter of a few millimeters. I don't think I take the big swing as much as I used to. But, yeah, it's -- I started hitting my first backhands on the fourth of January. That's when I sort of had to gradually just bring the racquet back straight away, then instead of making that loop. But it's getting better. I feel like I'm more and more -- like my movement may be back from before, so...

KIM CLIJSTERS: Pretty good. You know, a few pains and aches, I guess. But I feel good. Even after the final, I was feeling pretty good. So it's just, you know, everything together. It's a pretty tough schedule to fly here. We didn't have the best connection out there, so we had a pretty tough trip and pretty busy here Monday and Tuesday. But overall, yeah, no, it's nice to be back here again playing. Last year I was here wearing a brace for the first time. So it's good to be back playing here.

KIM CLIJSTERS: I think the situation that I'm in now, I think it's good to have both. I've probably never -- I know I've never had a situation where I was home for four months, five months in a row. It's good to have both again, I think. It's good to have that -- while I was injured, I made a lot of friends, did a lot of things that I didn't get the chance to do while I was playing or while I was in Australia. I've met a lot of new people, which is fun. I definitely feel like home there, and it's good to have made a lot of friends. So like I said, it's good to have both of those lives back again.

KIM CLIJSTERS: I don't know. That's what they asked me in Indian Wells after every match, give us points.

KIM CLIJSTERS: That's okay (smiling). Here it's different. You have to adjust a little bit, get used to a few things. Just the view is different. I was so used to playing those matches on center court there with a different view, different colors. You just have to get used to all those things a little bit again. Today, the score was easy, but it was, you know -- I still think there's work to do.

KIM CLIJSTERS: I definitely think life still goes on on the tour if I'm not here, so I don't know if -- yeah. But it's good. It was really nice to see all the players back here. Even in Indian Wells there were a lot of girls I hadn't seen for almost a year. It was good to see a lot of the girls back. I definitely missed a lot of them as well because, you know, you become friends when you travel all the time together.