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US OPEN

September 9, 2004

Elena Dementieva

NEW YORK CITY

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. How are you feeling today? How is your leg feeling?

ELENA DEMENTIEVA: My leg is getting better, you know, especially with this day off we had yesterday because of the weather. I feel okay. I really think that these two days has helped me to recover. I feel good.

Q. Is it a muscle pull or strain?

ELENA DEMENTIEVA: It's a muscle strain, yeah.

Q. So have you been practicing or just really staying off of it the last couple of days?

ELENA DEMENTIEVA: I didn't play yesterday and I was playing my doubles today.

Q. Did you have any thought of not playing doubles, of skipping it so you could play singles, or did it not get to that point?

ELENA DEMENTIEVA: You know, I really didn't want to play, you know, yesterday because of the weather, we were waiting but we didn't go on the court which was good for me. Today I was feeling much better.

Q. Can you talk about playing Jennifer and what you expect from that match.

ELENA DEMENTIEVA: It's gonna be tough match for me. I mean, she's in great shape. She just beat Serena. I think I play couple times against her and I lost all of it. So, you know, it's really depends of, you know, how well I'm gonna play against her because, you know, she has a very solid game. I'll try to play my best.

Q. You have an 0-3 record against her. What do you need to do to break that?

ELENA DEMENTIEVA: You know, I'll try to play -- I'll try to play my game. I mean, there is nothing I can change in a couple hours before the match. I need to be focus, I need to be aggressive against her. That's it.

Q. What do you think you learned from your French Open experience this year that might help you now that you're into the weekend here?

ELENA DEMENTIEVA: You know, I'm just trying to practicing -- to practice less in the end of the second week and be more focused on my matches, especially my singles matches. You know, I'm just trying to be, you know, to be focused on, you know, each single match and not think about the whole tournament and all this pressure going around me. Just play match by match.

Q. In a way, you're out of the spotlight because there's so much attention on Jennifer and Serena's match. Did you see the match, the calls that everybody's talking about? Do you think being out of the attention will help you?

ELENA DEMENTIEVA: Yeah, but I think, I mean, it should -- there must be nothing else to talk about, I mean, that everybody are talking about this mistakes that chair umpire did. I mean, if you could see in every match, chair umpire does such mistakes, but we are not talking about this. I mean, it's not a big deal. I don't think that one mistake in the beginning of the third set can change the whole match, I really don't think so. We all, you know, do mistakes, especially players every single point. Why a chair umpire cannot do, so...

Q. If you played to the level you played your best this summer or in the last year, should you be able to beat Jennifer?

ELENA DEMENTIEVA: Yeah, I really think if I'm gonna play my best I have a chance to beat her. I mean, I was playing pretty good in LA and San Diego, these two tournaments. I really look forward to play the same game tomorrow.

Q. Watching her play Serena, she likes the long points where she can tire her opponents out. Do you think physically you're up to those types of points or do you have to play very fast and aggressive?

ELENA DEMENTIEVA: I think she really likes this long rallies. She won all these rallies against Serena. She likes to move, you know. She likes to have, you know, a ball in the game. I'll try to do it faster as possible. I'll try to win the point as fast as I can.

Q. How much confidence did the Mauresmo win give you going into Jennifer and hopefully beyond?

ELENA DEMENTIEVA: Of course it gives me a lot of confidence. It was a very tough match. I think I was playing good. But Jennifer is a different player, and, you know, I have to prepare myself to play against her.

Q. You also have to worry about - not worry about - but she's never won here before. She is going to be a big fan favorite tomorrow because she's American. Do you think about those things or do you have to block them out?

ELENA DEMENTIEVA: You know, during the match, I don't really think about anything except the point. I just beat Mauresmo in Paris, so I know how it feels to play against a favorite.

Q. When you and Myskina were in the final, did you have a sense of the impact of what you were doing for women's tennis in Russia, and now we've seen it come through all the Grand Slams. Can you kind of judge back from the French Open to now what the impact of two women in the final actually was?

ELENA DEMENTIEVA: I mean, I think that was the greatest moment for Russian tennis, that we both were in the final. And when we came back home, it was just, you know, a crazy time for us. We were like super hero or something. I was so surprised, you know. I didn't expect such reaction from the crowd and from the people in Russia. But I think that it really helps some other players, some other Russian players to believe in themselves, you know, and to go as far as they did.

Q. Obviously, there is a chance for that to happen again this time. What do you see the possibility of two Russians again in the final?

ELENA DEMENTIEVA: (Smiling). I mean, if I'm gonna be in the final, I don't want to meet a Russian again (laughter).

Q. Why?

ELENA DEMENTIEVA: I like this, you know, American-Russian fight. It's more interesting.

Q. In this tournament you could win $1 million. Davenport could win one million and a half because of that US Open Series, the television-related series. Do you think, knowing that she can win all that much money, might make her choke?

ELENA DEMENTIEVA: You know, that's the last thing I'm thinking about it, about money.

Q. In the past we've obviously talked to you about your serve. Yet in the last couple of days, including Amelie, she says your serve is actually deceptive and can be quite a weapon for you. How do you feel about those comments -- as did Tracy Austin, actually.

ELENA DEMENTIEVA: You know, I know what kind of serve I have. I know that I'm working in it. I know that I'm improving myself. I'm serving very good on my practice. I need to bring it to the court, to the match. That's what I'm working for. I'm not telling you that I have a great serve and it didn't affect my game. I'm trying to do better, but it takes some time.

Q. In all seriousness, why don't you want to meet another Russian?

ELENA DEMENTIEVA: Oh, I mean, it's not like I don't want to play Svetlana, but we just played before, you know. We just played in LA. But it's, I mean, it's all in a dream, we have to win the semifinals before.

Q. Is it too much pressure, so much buildup back at home?

ELENA DEMENTIEVA: No, just we can play in Moscow, you know, against Svetlana. Here it's more interesting to play against American players.

Q. You might have addressed this before, but when was the first time you actually played her?

ELENA DEMENTIEVA: Who?

Q. Svetlana.

ELENA DEMENTIEVA: I think the first time we actually played it was in Berlin this year, and we play just a couple weeks ago in LA. That's it.

Q. You weren't really in Russia, so you had not known too much about her?

ELENA DEMENTIEVA: About Svetlana?

Q. Yes.

ELENA DEMENTIEVA: Yeah, I mean, she's practicing in Spain all the time. I know her very well because we supposed to play Fed Cup together and, you know, she's a nice girl.

Q. Do you think that Jennifer could get as nervous against you as Mauresmo did?

ELENA DEMENTIEVA: No, I don't think so. I think that she's think it's a great chance for her to win this tournament. She was playing very good last year against me and against Justine. She was so close and she couldn't, you know, finish it. I think this time she took a lesson and she gonna be less nervous this time.

Q. Do you give Svetlana a big chance against Lindsay?

ELENA DEMENTIEVA: Yeah, I think she has a good chance. She is a good player, she has a great serve. I think they never played before, I'm not sure. I mean, Lindsay, she has such a great summer, you know. I mean, she's playing unbelievable tennis, I think the best tennis that she ever played. But, I mean, it's not gonna be, you know, all the time like this.

Q. Does Svetlana have the kind of game that makes her particularly effective the first time she plays somebody?

ELENA DEMENTIEVA: She has a very powerful game, you know. When I first time play against her, I was really -- I mean, I couldn't even hit the ball because she was putting a lot of pressure on me and she has a great serve. It was really kind of tough. I really needed one set to get into the game. So let's see if Lindsay will be ready.

Q. Do you feel the more times you get to the final rounds in a Grand Slam you get less nervous? Do you think you're less nervous now than in the French Open?

ELENA DEMENTIEVA: I think that I'm more nervous by playing first round here than right now. I mean, I did pretty good this tournament. I have nothing to lose. I play again Jennifer. So, you know, I have a lot of confidence. I'll try to play my best, but, you know, I'm not nervous at all.

Q. How much different as a player and person are you now than the teenager who reached the semifinals here five years ago?

ELENA DEMENTIEVA: I was afraid to go in the center court in 2000 here. I was afraid of the crowd, I was afraid to play against Lindsay. I mean, everything was new for me. I was so much expectations, so much, you know, waiting feeling, you know, inside me. Right now it just more - I don't know - right now it feels different.

Q. Do you feel you belong here more than you did back then? Like you've earned it?

ELENA DEMENTIEVA: Yeah, yeah, I think so. Yeah.

Q. Did you actually hit after playing doubles today? Were you on the court practicing?

ELENA DEMENTIEVA: Yes, my serve (smiling).

Q. All kick serves?

ELENA DEMENTIEVA: (Laughing). I'm not practicing the serve I'm doing during the match.

Q. No, that's what I meant. Your serve during the match is more slice. In practice you're hitting flat?

ELENA DEMENTIEVA: Yeah, I'm trying to hit a flat serve during the practice.

Q. You're getting the momentum?

ELENA DEMENTIEVA: Yes, I do.

End of FastScriptsâ€¦.

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