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PILOT PEN TENNIS

August 24, 2006

Amelie Mauresmo

NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. You talked about having a mental and...
AMÉLIE MAURESMO: That's tennis block tonight, being a little bit short, you know, of matches and practice I guess. Some good things tonight, much better than yesterday, but also some, you know, poor things or at least not good enough to have the consistency.
I think tonight I had some great moments but also, you know, not being able to keep it up for the whole match, especially on my service games at the end of the match.
Yeah, you know, it's always disappointing to feel that, you know, you need a little bit more, that you need a little bit more matches and everything. Much more positive than yesterday. You know, that's the way it is. Now I'm really looking forward for next week.

Q. You seemed especially frustrated with your backhand. A little erratic.
AMÉLIE MAURESMO: Yeah, well, also on the forehand, some struggle a little bit. You know, that's the way it is. It's a few things always here and there, you know, a few points here and there. And also the fact that on the first set she served very well I thought, you know, was able in the second set to take some opportunities on her serve but wasn't able on my side to make the difference on the serves.
A bit frustrating on this part of the game, but that's the way.

Q. Does it usually take you a little bit of time to get back into it after a break? A week, two weeks?
AMÉLIE MAURESMO: Yeah, I think -- I hope it's going to be enough. It's really depending. It's not so much the competition, I think it's also not having been able to practice the way I wanted to makes it quite difficult. You know, I have the whole week here, a few days of last week, and we'll see.

Q. Is Lindsay back? Is that the old Lindsay we know?
AMÉLIE MAURESMO: She's serving very well. She's hitting the ball pretty well on both sides. A few errors maybe here and there, but overall I think with a couple more matches, yeah. Well, if she's back? It means that she's feeling well and that she's ready to play, otherwise I don't think she would have come back.

Q. How is the shoulder?
AMÉLIE MAURESMO: Shoulder's good. Adductors are a little bit not so good. We'll see how it goes in the next couple days.

Q. Overall, does she just provide a tough match-up for your game, the style she plays?
AMÉLIE MAURESMO: Probably. The fact also that she serves very well. Most of the time when we play each other, it's one break here and there. Tonight was a little bit more because of the second set. But typical first set for her tonight.
Yeah, I have to improve on that (smiling).

Q. You said the doctors were not good.
AMÉLIE MAURESMO: The adductor, groin.

Q. How bad is the adductor?
AMÉLIE MAURESMO: No, you saw I was really able to move very well tonight. I'm going to be very careful tomorrow, for a couple days, just to make sure, to be safe.

Q. There were like six consecutive games where you couldn't hold serve.
AMÉLIE MAURESMO: Yeah, in the end was a bit strange. Not a usual type of match we played in the past. You know, that's the way it is. It seems that, as I said, it's a little bit of not enough competition I guess for both of us.

Q. She hits the ball very heavy. Is that something that's difficult for you to cope with?
AMÉLIE MAURESMO: I mean, the more heavy the player hits, the more difficult it is. She's always had this type of game. It's not new. She seems to be moving very well right now so she can reach maybe some balls where maybe she was struggling a little bit before.
Yeah, I mean, she likes to play in one or two shots. That's how she's been playing, a little bit like the Williams sisters also, too, like to really make the difference very early in the points.

Q. Does it ever creep in your mind, any part of the match, How come I just can't beat her? Is there ever a mental block at any point?
AMÉLIE MAURESMO: No, no, I don't think about that on the court. You know, I just focus on the game, try to see what I could do better, try to see what she doesn't like or whatever. That's what I'm focusing on.

Q. When you were ready to come back, obviously you have the Open staring you in the face, you had to have been thinking about, How will I be feeling right before the Open? I'd like to ask you, how does that compare, what you expected, with the way you're actually feeling now?
AMÉLIE MAURESMO: After the break I had, I was not expecting to play my best tennis here this week. I was just really hoping that I was going to feel better and better, that I would have the opportunity to play a couple matches, maybe more. That's a couple, so...
Hopefully it's going to be good enough for the US Open. I was also hoping that physically I would feel okay, that the shoulder would be all right. I couldn't serve last week, so it seems to be much better now.
Yeah, it takes a little time, but I'm not worried. I think it's going to be good for New York.

Q. What percentage would you say you're at, shoulder-wise?
AMÉLIE MAURESMO: I think now it's more on the game part, you know, tennis part, because physically I'm feeling good. Probably for now maybe 80%, but it's coming very fast (laughter).

Q. Just a thought on the French women's game right now. Seems there are a handful of players in the top 50, a bunch in the top hundred, seems to be stronger than it's been in quite some time. Does that excite you?
AMÉLIE MAURESMO: Well, I don't really agree on that. I think it used to be four or five players in the top 20 a few years ago. I think with Mary and I being in the top 10, we kind of struggle to have young players, talking about 16 to maybe 20 years old player, to really -- except Tatiana Golovin, who is I'm sure going to be a great player. We're kind of struggling to have some players coming up.
It's a bit worrying. But the fact is, yeah, right now it seems to be very good. But I'm thinking about the future of the French game. We'll see. Hopefully I'm wrong and some new ones are going to come up.

Q. Do you think you got everything out of this week you wanted to heading into the Open, not counting the result tonight?
AMÉLIE MAURESMO: Yeah, I think so. I think really I knew I was not going to play my best tennis. I knew that this could only be better day after day, which it actually was. I think much better than yesterday, and hopefully not as good as tomorrow and the days after.

Q. With your shoulder, with Lindsay's back, Justine's wrist, Kim being out, the Williams sisters being hurt, is there a clear-cut favorite on the women's side for the Open?
AMÉLIE MAURESMO: For the Open, no, I don't think so. I think it's pretty open. That's what I said at the beginning of the week here when I've been asked that question. I think probably before Kim felt the wrist, I think she was probably the favorite. But now, yeah, it's quite open.

End of FastScripts...

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