U.S. OPEN

September 8, 1996

Gigi Fernandez

Natalia Zvereva

NATASHA ZVEREVA: To me, they just came out for some reason. They are such a fast team to start with.

NATASHA ZVEREVA:. They are very, very fast to begin and I think that through me off. I mean, I was ready, but the level of tennis was so high and I was almost playing my best too and I was, you know, getting my butt kicked, so that was just too good. I think they played almost a perfect first set and it is very hard to keep doing that for two sets against a good team. I was trying to tell myself to hang in there. When you are down two breaks, you can't give the first set up. You want to, at least get a game, so, you can serve in the second set and one set is not a match so try and stay positive and keep playing points.

NATASHA ZVEREVA: On a personal level? There is no problems as far as I know. I mean, there is nothing negative, no negative emotion, no negative vibes.

GIGI FERNANDEZ: That was a long time ago.

NATASHA ZVEREVA: From me or from them?

GIGI FERNANDEZ: Everybody is friendly to each other now in the lockerrooms. We are all talking before the matches and we are all talking about that we all want to be home today. We all wanted to play yesterday, but everybody is nice. It is different now.

NATASHA ZVEREVA: Everybody realized that we have to work together to make the Tour better even just personally wise.

GIGI FERNANDEZ: No. (AUDIENCE LAUGHTER). Yeah, I mean, it is always good for us to play them because they bring out the best in us, it is the one team that you can really get up for. Every other team we play, we have the pressure and we are supposed to win. Against them, I feel it is pretty even. So, we have our best matches with them. If they split up, whoever they go play with, they are going to be good because there are so many doubles players that would love to play with either one of them. So....

GIGI FERNANDEZ: There is no way. I am 32 years old. Are you kidding? No.

NATASHA ZVEREVA: Come on. You have to play until you are 38.

GIGI FERNANDEZ: I think it is unreachable unless we start winning 3 Grand Slams a year. What did they win; 19 and we are 12? So, it is 7 more Grand Slams. I don't know.

GIGI FERNANDEZ: We are just happy to win one again because we didn't win one this year. This is only our fifth tournament this year. We have had so many injury problems. We measured our year in terms of the Grand Slams. It is great that we got this one, but the other years were better, so...

GIGI FERNANDEZ: Yeah, Natasha was injured after Australia. We played Australia, Japan. She didn't play anything until the French. Then I got injured, Eastbourne and then we had, because of the Olympics, we had different schedules in the summer.

GIGI FERNANDEZ: Four and a half.

GIGI FERNANDEZ: Long time ago.

NATASHA ZVEREVA: I think the first intention was because we both were dumped by our previous partners (audience laughter). So, it was like there is no one out there to play with. There was no one out there, really. Everyone had like paired up, had commitment, so...

NATASHA ZVEREVA: Larisa Neiland.

GIGI FERNANDEZ: Mine was Jana. They dumped us and got together and then we got together.

GIGI FERNANDEZ: We haven't discussed that right now. We are taking the rest of the year off. I am playing until the championships, so...

NATASHA ZVEREVA: Yeah, thanks a lot.

GIGI FERNANDEZ: No, I have had a long summer and long year, and I am taking two months off then hopefully that will refresh me for next year.

GIGI FERNANDEZ: That is not up to me. I am available for Fed Cup. Hopefully, I will be there, but it is Billie's decision, so they haven't announced the team yet.

GIGI FERNANDEZ: I want to.

NATASHA ZVEREVA: I have a decision to make, so...

NATASHA ZVEREVA: No. There is another, you know, few more months, so.....

GIGI FERNANDEZ: Figure that one out. No, it is like for us, it is all about having fun not winning, and we have not had a lot of fun playing together this year. When we stop having fun, we said we will stop playing together.

GIGI FERNANDEZ: I don't know why. You can't tell yourself to have fun. Either you have it or you don't. We have been trying to have fun, but you can't try to have fun. You either have it or you don't. It is not happening, but winning helps, you know, maybe. Who knows?

GIGI FERNANDEZ: Matchpoints was like a 10.

GIGI FERNANDEZ: You know, we are under so much pressure all the time. Every time we go on the court, we are playing teams that, you know, have nothing to lose and come out swinging and we are supposed to win every single time we go on the court and that wears you. Today was fun. It is not as much fun playing Wimbledon final, because there is not the crowd and there is not the atmosphere, but winning a Grand Slam is fun.

NATASHA ZVEREVA: No, I think I have definitely a couple of more years. I mean, willingly, maybe I will have to force myself after that -- (kiddingly) just a couple of more years. I am taking it by heart, purely by heart.

End of FastScripts….