PILOT PEN TENNIS

August 27, 1999

Ruxandra Dragomir

Q. Do you think playing earlier took something out of you for this match a this afternoon?

RUXANDRA DRAGOMIR: Yeah, well, it was tiring and I have to say that at the end I got very tired, but of course this is not the reason I lost. I think Lindsay played very good the second set and especially the third. Yeah, of course, I was tired.

RUXANDRA DRAGOMIR: Probably not. Because she is a player that she always overpower her opponent and it is pretty difficult for me because I am a small girl to come back with good shots against her. Well, I am pretty happy with the way I played the first set.

RUXANDRA DRAGOMIR: This was a huge chance. I think if I would have taken this opportunity I would have a very big chance to win today because I was very confident and I was playing very well. But unfortunately I couldn't break her and from that point it seemed everything against me, or, you know, she came out with very good serves and with big returns and I think she played well.

RUXANDRA DRAGOMIR: It is not very nice to find out that you are whatever, 3-Love in the third set after you were leading or you almost had the match in your favor. But as I said, I think she played very well. I don't know if I did something wrong. Probably my serve didn't work that well or maybe I got a little slower because I was tired. But I think she played well.

RUXANDRA DRAGOMIR: Well, for sure the third set this morning helped me to get the confidence; especially that I won. But probably I was a little bit excited. And I had no time to be a little happy because you need some time to be happy and to enjoy your victory. After an hour I had to go out and play probably right now the toughest opponent there is. It was a little bit tough. Probably more mentally than physically.

RUXANDRA DRAGOMIR: For me especially she is very tough because, as I said earlier, she overpower me because she has so much power and she takes the ball so early that it doesn't really give me time to expose my shots, to play the way I want. I think right now she is playing great tennis and she is doing very well.

RUXANDRA DRAGOMIR: Yeah, well, I have to get her out of the rhythm and this is probably my best weapon against her. I really needed to use this one today. Well, sometimes it worked and -- but then of course she knew I am going to play a lot of dropshots; that is why she was on the baseline all the time taking the ball very early.

RUXANDRA DRAGOMIR: Not against her. Against her it is like I have no chance to come to the net because the ball is going so fast and so hard that it doesn't give me the time to get to the net. Normally, yeah, I go to the net once in a while. I serve and volley sometimes or -- yeah, I go to the net, but today it is like I had no chance. Maybe just to pick up the balls from the net probably, I don't know. But we have ball kids so I didn't need to do that. (Laughter).

RUXANDRA DRAGOMIR: No, I know they always do that. Especially when there is a good match going on they try to help the other one who is down. In that point it didn't really matter that I am Rumanian and Lindsay is American, but I am sure that if it would have gotten any tighter they would have been behind her.

RUXANDRA DRAGOMIR: Yeah, that is right. This is what I was afraid of (Laughter) .... But, well, first I need to win my first round because I always -- I never did well at the US Open. I don't know why. I always had very tough draws. I played -- one year I played Monica and the other year I played Martinez when she was playing very well at that time. So I didn't have a chance to play well there because I always had good -- very good opponents. Well, if I win the first round I am happy, then I will see what I can do.