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KB FED CUP, FINAL

September 17, 1999

Elena Dementieva

STANFORD, CALIFORNIA

USTA: Questions for the Russian team, please.

Q. Coach, how do you get your players motivated and mentally prepared when they know they are playing American players who are ranked so much higher than they are?

KONSTANTIN BOGORODITSKY: When they're playing with such highly-ranked players from the U.S. side, they have actually the advantage, because they do not have to win. So what they're planning to do is show how well they can play and to compete.

Q. Can you explain the problem with Tatiana?

KONSTANTIN BOGORODITSKY: There is something wrong with her stomach, and she just doesn't feel well.

Q. Did you choose Dementieva because Tatiana was sick or did you choose her before?

KONSTANTIN BOGORODITSKY: Tatiana's sickness has nothing to do with choosing Elena Dementieva over Tatiana, but it will fit better -- the style of her game will fit better if she competes with the U.S. team.

Q. Did both Elenas talk about who you're playing, whether you're confident in the victory, the conditions, how it is to be playing in the final?

ELENA LIKHOVTSEVA: Well, I played Venus before. While I never won against her, but I played quite good tennis against her. And when I saw how Venus is playing now, she's playing very good tennis. And I'll try my best, and, of course, I want to win. I want to win all my matches. I do feel comfortable; so I don't think it will be a problem with me in this match.

Q. For the coach, are you surprised that Serena Williams is not playing singles after winning the US Open?

KONSTANTIN BOGORODITSKY: I'm not surprised, but I kind of expected the way it turned out to be for Davenport and Venus to play.

Q. For Elena Dementieva, is this weekend going to be more relaxing than the US Open, and will it be fun being with the team and away from some of the pressure at the Open?

ELENA DEMENTIEVA: It is actually more difficult to play here than the US Open, and I never played with players of this high class; so I will do my best, and I will try to show my style, my best.

Q. Is it more difficult because of the players you're going to be facing or because of the --

ELENA DEMENTIEVA: Because of the team.

Q. Coach, do you think that Elena's inexperience will hurt her or whether her talent will suffice to bring her through the match?

KONSTANTIN BOGORODITSKY: She's a young player, and because of that, she knows how to play and she doesn't have the fear of competing with somebody who has more experience. So I have great hopes for her.

Q. Elena Likhovtseva, you've played all these players before, and you've been around the circuit for a long time. Do you give your team any real chance of winning the match, or do you just want to go out there and try to compete hard?

ELENA LIKHOVTSEVA: I think we will want to win. It's not like a hard goal of the team to win this match, because I think as Konstantin said, it puts much more pressure on you when you have to win. So we just are -- we're just here to enjoy it. We're here as a team. We're going to try hard.

Q. One more for the coach. Do you think that Fed Cup will ever reach the level of popularity of Davis Cup, do you see that gradually happening?

KONSTANTIN BOGORODITSKY: I think that the popularity of the Fed Cup is growing, and it will some day reach the popularity of the Davis Cup.

Q. Can you give a reason?

KONSTANTIN BOGORODITSKY: When the Davis Cup was in Moscow and Russia, I saw the crowd of people that came for that tournament, but the recent game of the girls, of the players, inspired the people to attend, to pay more attention to the Fed Cup.

Q. Let me ask Elena a quick one. Do you know about the format changes next year for Fed Cup?

ELENA LIKHOVTSEVA: Yes.

Q. Do you think it will help the popularity of it?

ELENA LIKHOVTSEVA: I'm not sure. It will be much harder for the players to attend, I think so, because it's four teams, and it's one week of playing in Fed Cup. So I don't know, I'm not sure.

End of FastScripts….

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