ROGERS CUP

August 16, 2005

Amelie Mauresmo

AMÉLIE MAURESMO: Yes.

AMÉLIE MAURESMO: I think -- well, it's Reebok and now adidas, as well. No, I think it's been -- I've been with Nike for about nine or ten years, and I think that probably our road, the road together, was coming to the end. You know, Reebok was very interested in working with me, so I had a look at what they were doing, how they want to get involved in the tennis, especially come back pretty strongly on the European market. It seems to me that it was, you know, a pretty interesting challenge. You know, hopefully I'll try to help them go back very strong in Europe. And I think they're doing a great job. I mean, I'm getting to know the company as the months are growing. But I'm already impressed by the way they reacted to my opinions on their outfit, you know, and it's going to improve not this year because it's too early, but 2006 and so on.

AMÉLIE MAURESMO: It's few different points. Technical and fabrics. In terms of fabrics, you know, they're on the right track, but maybe I can help them in the feeling I have on the court and also in terms of fashion, the cut of the products. Can you say that? Yeah, you know, I'm giving some feedback, as much as I can, on the shoes as well, to help them and make sure I like what I wear and they're happy to work with me.

AMÉLIE MAURESMO: Well, some up and downs, you know. As you say, it's been more than four weeks, you know, out of competition for me. So I guess I -- you know, I need a little time to really get my rhythm back. I have, of course, as you've seen, a few adjustments to make in my game. A few things worked pretty well today - I'm thinking about the serve especially. Other things, you know, I'm still looking for, you know, the right timing on the court. But that's the way it is. You know, competition, you cannot replace competition even though you practice for three or four weeks. It's still very different. You know, I'm happy to go through and have, as I was saying on the court, the opportunity tomorrow or the day after when I will play to improve on these few things I have to adjust.

AMÉLIE MAURESMO: I needed it. I mean, if we want, we can play 11 months a year. But I'm not capable of doing that. You know, we had -- I almost didn't stop during the first six months of the season. You know, at some point I had to, you know, rest a little bit and then get ready for the second part of the season, for the last three or four months, because I'm not a machine. I need to rest sometimes (smiling).

AMÉLIE MAURESMO: It's the body, it's the mind. It's a little bit of everything, you know. You need to get out of the tour sometimes a little bit. You travel, airports, hotels, tennis clubs. Sometimes you have to really take the time to relax a little bit. It's a bit of everything.

AMÉLIE MAURESMO: Well, I had two weeks completely off, going to the beach, do whatever I wanted, and then I practiced for three weeks.

AMÉLIE MAURESMO: Not so easy, especially the second set. I think the first set I was, you know, very effective on the game. And then the second set, started to also -- physically I had a some trouble to keep the rhythm and making way too many errors to really finish it off the way I wanted to.

AMÉLIE MAURESMO: Yeah, I think, you know, it's been working well for me at Wimbledon on grass, which is very specific. So now I'm trying to adjust this type of game. It's not a hundred percent serve and volley because I don't think it would be that effective on hard court. But I still want to, you know, come forward and come in to try to make the points easier.

AMÉLIE MAURESMO: I think especially in that second set, I think in a way I let her do this because I step back a little bit in the second set, really starting to play some short balls. So then, you know, she has different choices to make. You know, she can dropshot, she can hit it hard and come in. I think I really let her back into the match today.

AMÉLIE MAURESMO: I think for today it's really something to put on the lack of competition for me because, I'm not sure, with three or four matches under my belt, I don't think it would have happened this way.

AMÉLIE MAURESMO: It's okay, it's good. I feel good on the court. You know, I think I still need to be a little faster. But it's going to come. If I'm capable of playing, you know, a few more matches here, then it will come very quickly. I'm sure about that.