US OPEN

September 4, 1999

Lindsay Davenport

WTA: Questions for Lindsay.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: That whole thing, I think that was a little bit blown out of proportion, but no.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I'd like to think so. Yeah, I thought I played really well out there. Like I said, I really love this court. I think after the last two years now, I think I know where the wind goes and how quick it is. I have been feeling very good there the last couple years. I played very well today. I think Amy made a few more errors than normal. Maybe she felt a little pressured because I was playing well. I'm not sure. But to get out of there again quickly and play well, it's a good sign.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: It's been great. I haven't necessarily noticed a difference in the way people treat me, but at the same time I've been so excited all summer to get back here and to play at the US Open where last year was the site of such a huge success. I just love playing here. Once I broke through and got to the semis here in '97, won it last year, I've really felt comfortable playing here. In the beginning of my career, I felt a lot more pressure, was a lot more nervous to do well here. Now I just really enjoy it. At the same time, you have to play well here. Every match is tough, regardless of the score. Next match is going to be tougher. At the same time, this first week has been great. I enjoyed it tremendously.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: No. I come to New York many times a year. I don't think this two weeks is necessarily the time to go do stuff. No, I mean, I'm concentrating on this tournament, trying to do well here.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I think it's great to have so many Americans doing well. There was a time a few years ago when there weren't that many. Now it seems like there's so many. Along with the French girls, we have the most seeds in the women's draw. We're still going very strong. Jennifer Capriati had a great win today. She played very well. I watched a lot of that before I played. She could have a very interesting match with Monica, if Monica wins tonight. That would be really exciting to see on Monday. The Williams, they've always made huge strides this year. Haven't necessarily watched them too much here. Looks like they're both playing very well. There's a lot of girls so far in this tournament that have been playing very well. It just matters who plays well at the end of next week.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Yeah, it's going to be great. I think we probably have the strongest team assembled, I'm going to venture, that's ever played with the ranks we are, 2, 3, 4 and 6 maybe. It's going to be exciting. A couple weeks to go. Hopefully we can win another title. I was part of a winning team in '96. It was a lot of fun. We're looking forward to doing that again this year.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Yeah, I think it is a little bit. It's important. I think I learned last year to keep your concentration through the early rounds. You want to win as easily as you can. Of course, if you go three sets, that's fine. But to play well, concentrate, to get out there as fast as you can, it's important to save yourself for the second week. I don't feel as much pressure on me to try and prove myself. I felt like I've already done that in my career now, especially over the last 12 months or so. Just to try to enjoy it. These are the most important, exciting two weeks that we have in tennis, all the Grand Slams, and especially an American playing here in New York. You've got to love playing here, go for your shots, play well, try and do the best you can.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Believe it or not, I was here playing the Juniors. I remember watching it from my hotel room in the City. It was great. I mean, I've seen replays of that. They have the Classic Sports Network. It was one of the best women's matches of all time. You know, I think everyone's hoping Monica wins tonight to see that again. Both of them have gone such different routes over the last eight years. A lot of sad stories involving both their lives. To see them back here and playing well, it would be a lot of fun.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: It's so hard to say. I mean, even the Olympics, all three of those titles, are very special to me. In some cases, US Open probably because it was the first one. To be able to win it in the States meant a lot. On the other hand, Wimbledon, I never thought I'd win there. I struggled so many years on grass. Neither one is necessarily more special than the other, but both cherished a lot.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: No, I never think that, no (laughter). Like I said last time, you know, I can't control who people want to focus their stories on or who they think is going to win. I just try to do the best I can in tennis. It's gone pretty well for the last year. Hopefully I just keep getting better this tournament.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Well, it's still a little far away. I play Julie Halard next round who beat me three weeks ago. I haven't even thought of the name Mary Pierce in my head yet. Mary, I get along very well with Mary, I think she's one of the nicest girls. She's a lot of fun to be around. As far as her game is concerned, I think she's been trying to come to the net a lot more, being more aggressive by hitting short balls, coming in, trying to put balls away, trying to hit her serve a little bit harder. I haven't watched her enough to really study her patterns this tournament yet.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: In Los Angeles. She played a great match, served really well. She's one of those players that when they're playing well, they just play so well. You have to really try and hang with them and break their rhythm up. I wasn't able to do that a few weeks ago. I'm going to have to play better and hopefully she won't play as well as she did.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Really?

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Uh-oh.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Yeah. Everybody idolizes John McEnroe. He's so funny. It's great. I think he's a great commentator to listen to because he tells it like it is. He has such an inside perspective on it. I don't know about him necessarily commentating on women's tennis. I don't think he's the biggest fan of our game. Who knows? I haven't listened to him on a women's match. Hopefully he's positive.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Really? That's good (laughter). Maybe he can pull some strings.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: You know, I didn't play it this year. I haven't thought about it for future years yet. It's so far away still.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Yeah, it's fun. It's a lot of tennis. Unfortunately the way our schedules are going, playing so many weeks out of the year, it's hard to play three weeks off and traveling everywhere. It was a lot of fun. I'll never say I'll never play again. I don't know in the future right now, though.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Sometimes. It depends. If it's convenient; if there's somebody they want me to meet, I help them. I've done it in the past. I did it a few months ago. All the players are willing to help out to get a sponsor. I think our game has been so strong the last few years, we're ready for a title sponsor.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: We've heard so many. We heard it last year. "It will be next week, next week." Then, "In Australia, for sure." It just keeps on going. All the players have been promised a lot with the sponsor. We haven't heard anything. I have no idea.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I don't know. I mean, as far as I'm concerned, we have a great product, we're worldwide. There are so many positive benefits to it. But I haven't really talked to companies to see why they're so negative on it maybe.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Yeah, it helps a lot, the summer schedule being in California. You know, I lost LA at two o'clock and I was home by three o'clock or whatever. Sometimes it just helps a lot to be able to go home. The surface helps a lot. I love hard courts, especially fast hard courts I think are good for my game. It's exciting to play here. Like I've always said, I grew up watching this one. I always wanted to be a part of this, enjoyed playing here a lot the last two or three years.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I haven't seen the draw too much. I know Mary Joe plays Venus. May be an interesting match. Mary Joe is tricky to play, especially the first few times you play her. I'm not too sure about the others.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I'm sorry, I thought you meant in this draw. Gosh, at the US Open?

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: That's the one that sticks out the most. I remember Chris Evert's last year, watching that a lot at home. This isn't a classical match, but I remember when she beat Monica 1 and 1, played one of the best matches in the Round of 16. In the '80s, when there were so many close matches, I was eight or nine, so I don't remember those as well. Sorry.