STATE FARM EVERT CUP

March 11, 1997

Lindsay Davenport

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Really? I feel like I am playing very well going in from my two previous matches. I think from about mid-February or beginning of February feeling confident; to win something. Oklahoma gave me a lot of confidence. So far, I have been playing really well. But I have a really tough match tomorrow, and you never know, looks like Venus is playing very, very well.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I think so. I think, you know, I played -- I think I won maybe 52 singles matches and lost like 15, which is way more than I have played before and towards the end of the year, I wasn't playing that well. But, you kind of have to finish the year out and I probably wasn't really ready to go to Australia. I think it was a little too soon. But, you know, I got through it and I feel really good. I am really enjoying playing right now. And, I want to play and I am happy to get out on the court. It is kind of upsetting; I had two days off. It is like, oh, my God.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I don't think that is it. I think I played well at the Olympics. I played very well in L.A., I had a disappointing match at U.S. Open, and played very well at Fed Cup. I played well in Europe at the end of the year. It was kind of, like, the American's circuit, I was pretty dead. I probably needed to take November and December off before Australia. You know, tennis is a tough sport and that is what makes it so tough. You got to learn to play when you are maybe not wanting to play or not feeling great, and I am feeling good again now. But, you know, you never know how you play from day-to-day.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: No, not anymore.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I think it was -- I wasn't really, I don't think, ready to be a top player when I became one. I was pretty young and not that experienced when I was 17; I was in the top 10. So, it was -- all kind have happened really fast. But I have worked really, really hard the last year, last year and a half. I feel like I am in really good shape; that, you know, I am used to everything. Like I said, I am hitting the ball well; more experienced. That doesn't burden me anymore more. I don't worry about it. But, you know, it is kind of nice to go out there and to be one of the best American players.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: No, she only played like six tournaments. No, I have never played her.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I play her this afternoon in doubles. I will see today. That should be kind of interesting. But I just saw the last game. I saw her. It is interesting. I saw her play in the first round qualifier match. I was like, she is not playing that well or she is not that good. And, she has really, really worked her way though this tournament. And, I think that says a lot sometimes for players not getting wildcards straight in the main draw. I think she might tell you playing qualifier helped because the difference -- Venus Williams playing the first round qualifier and the one she had played against Sugiyama and the one I saw today was unbelievable. I think she is really good. She earned her way into the tournament, qualified, and has really done it on her own. I think that is unbelievable.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: No. I didn't mean that. She wasn't playing well. I think she will tell you that. She was down matchpoints. I think she won like 7-5 in the third. She didn't look gawky or stuff, she just -- she was missing and it was like she was not that good. Then I saw her play three matches later and totally different player. The way she worked in this tournament was phenomenal.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I think she, from what I have seen the last couple of days, she looks very solid. She is a big girl. I am a big girl. We probably don't look as graceful as Amanda Coetzer, but she doesn't look so bad out there.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I think they play above their level. They get kind of thrown in with wildcards sometimes they are so nervous; whereas, you have to play some qualifying matches, you win some; you are going to get confidence. I mean, sometimes some of the girls that I think took wildcards here in the main draw were way above their level. I hadn't heard of some of them. And, probably didn't think that they maybe should have gotten them.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I don't think there should be a rule. But, I think the people should be smart and say, well, God, you know, it is exciting to go into the main draw, but I am probably not that good yet. Or it is a difficult call. It is probably very exciting. I mean, I know it is when you get a wildcard into a big tournament. But, they have got to go down and play quallies.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: You guys are going to think I am making this up. Here. I swear. I swear I am not lying.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Yeah, and I have a lot of friends that come from my tennis club here and it is beautiful here. I mean, everyday you can go swimming and I like these courts. It bounces high. It is pretty slow and the crowds are great here. You have people watching, and I am -- I have my own car, just stupid things like that could make a difference.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: No. It is one thing when you don't have to get on a plane, but you are still going to a really nice place.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Oh, gosh, I don't rely like playing in Europe all that much. I must say that.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Pretty much the surface. I don't really love clay and that probably adds to it sometimes when we go for the red clay it is kind of cold and rains a lot. So, I mean, if it was summer and beautiful, I probably -- and on hard curt, it would probably be a different story.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Yeah. (laughter).

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Couple of things. I think the new system is very good, but I think that there should be a limit to how many tournaments can count. I think there should be a cap at maybe 20 or 21. I think we have player in the top 10 who has 25 tournaments and has a player right behind her who only has 20 and only 10 points surrounding them. I think that kind of discrepancy, I think, you know, some people can play 30 tournaments and other girls can't. I think, at a certain point, it should be a "best of," you know, if you are going to get all the way up to 25, maybe only 20 count. But, I think Martina Hingis, she deserves to be No. 1. There is something to be said about winning the Grand Slams. There is also something to be said about supporting some other events and playing a little bit more. You know, if Graf comes back and plays a lot, she will probably become No. 1 again. But, Hingis has played 18 tournaments and has done well in almost all of them. And, I think that I think she deserves it.