XXVI OLYMPIC GAMES

July 23, 1996

Arantxa Sanchez Vicario

ARANTXA SANCHEZ VICARIO: I think in the beginning I played pretty good. I was, you know, pushing her to make errors. But like you say, I mean, you have to be careful because sometimes, I mean, you know, that if you let her come with two shots, then she can come into the match. And I relaxed when it was 6-1, 3-1, because I was winning really easy and it was a little bit dangerous because, like I say, I let her make those shots, and she made a couple of winners, and she start playing better; serving better too. I think it is always hard, the first match, because you never know - you don't know what to expect to see; how she is going to play. But on my side, I think, at the beginning, I played well. I should have continued the same way, but I relaxed. I missed a lot of easy shots right away. I was, like, I have so many breakpoints. I lost a little bit of my concentration because of that reason because it was so easy, but I think after -- at the game of 4-All, that I have like, you know, three breakpoints, I just hit five, you know, unforced errors, and I lost that game. And that helped me to say, "well, hold on, concentrate." And after that, you know, put it away. But it was kind of hard because always the first match, it is tough. But I was winning pretty easy, and she was going for probably more for the shots too.

ARANTXA SANCHEZ VICARIO: Yes, definitely, I agree. I think top draw is stronger, and I think it is better to have tough matches since the beginning because, you know, let it go through. And if you pass that step, then you are more ready for the next one. So from my point, I do prefer more toughest match in the beginning in case of having easy ones, because it gives you more rhythm. You can be more tough and concentrate better for the next one.

ARANTXA SANCHEZ VICARIO: I got here on Wednesday and I mean, I was in the Open ceremony and I have a lot of fun and I did watch other sports. I watch water polo and swimming and I am also watch hockey, so I did have a chance to see a couple of my friends that I know them from another Olympics. It is nice just probably before I competed, you have more time. Probably, I would like to see more, if I have more time, you know, in combination my schedule, it would be nice.

ARANTXA SANCHEZ VICARIO: I did practice a couple of times, but not much because everybody has to practice there, but I think every court is different. Center Court, it is, I don't know, bigger and it is like more, I don't know, support. The other outside courts are more open, so it is different, but you know you are going to play, depends on the schedule, but Center Court, I think is nice when I practice, I mean, I like it. I just need to see when I play how the match how it looks. Definitely it will look beater if there were a lot of people watching, that would be great.