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WIMBLEDON

June 27, 2006

Jamea Jackson

WIMBLEDON, ENGLAND

THE MODERATOR: First question, please.

Q. What was the key in the second set, getting it turned around?
JAMEA JACKSON: I felt like I just got a lot more aggressive. She plays a game that's great on grass. She's got a great slice. It was staying really low. She was really changing up the paces with her forehand, she was looping some, really hitting some pretty hard.
I just had to get back into the match and play my own game. I think in the first I kind of let her control the match and what she was doing.

Q. Just sort of disappeared in the third set.
JAMEA JACKSON: Yeah, no, uhm, I thought that I kind of got, you know, the momentum and I never let it go. I think I fought for every point. We had some really tough games in there, especially with her serve, she's got a great serve that I was able to pull out. I think that's what made the difference. I think it was a lot closer than the score made it look.

Q. Zina Garrison said the mental part was the last part to come for you.
JAMEA JACKSON: Yes, for sure.

Q. Convince you that you could do this.
JAMEA JACKSON: Yes, for sure. And a lot of people have been telling me that, as well as Zina, as well as Laurie, my coach Rodrigo have been, you know, You can you do this. After Fed Cup, everybody really was like, Jamea, you're up there, you should be winning tournaments, you should be up there with the best players. I think after that point, it kind of started really getting into me that I was good and I deserved to be up there like all the other players.

Q. Played that way out a week ago in Birmingham.
JAMEA JACKSON: Yes, for sure. I played really well last week. I was very pleased with my results there as well. Hope to continue that, you know, here at Wimbledon.

Q. Were there any nerves coming into Wimbledon knowing you had such a great result at Birmingham?
JAMEA JACKSON: Yeah, you know, I don't think it had much to do with Birmingham. I think just any time you come in to play a Grand Slam, there's the nerves that come with that. I think they showed a little bit actually yesterday in my first set yesterday. I think the rain delay actually helped me kind of settle down and get the jitters out. So that was actually great for me.

Q. Do you really believe now you can play with the best players, after hearing it from Zina, Laurie, and your coach? Inside, do you feel you have the game, the mental fortitude?
JAMEA JACKSON: Yeah, hearing it from them really kind of started the ball rolling. Then beating Groenefeld, then last week beating Sharapova, Likhovtseva, and, I think, two other top 30 players, or right outside the top 30 players, really helped me to really start believing in myself and really start going out there with the fact that, you know -- thinking that my game was good enough to beat these players.

Q. Does that mean going for your shots on court?
JAMEA JACKSON: Yes. Yes, indeed. You know, going out there, me controlling. I mean, I'm shorter than a lot of players, but I'm quicker. I can use that to be aggressive in a different kind of way.

Q. Do you consider yourself to be a bit of a late-bloomer at 19? There's a number of elite players who will make it at 16, 17, 18. Do you feel your tennis needed a bit longer to come around?
JAMEA JACKSON: I think yes and no. I mean, there's a lot of players up there who started performing well when they were in their early 20s, for example, Myskina and Molik. They're doing well, and they're kind of in their early 20s. But at the same time, yes, because I was -- you know, I trained with Tatiana and with Maria down at Bollettieri's for a really long time. My coach has been telling me they've gotten out there and they were more professional than you to begin with, so they've had success earlier in their career. It is kind of where I need to kind of catch up with them.

Q. "More professional," were they more committed at Bollettieri's than you were?
JAMEA JACKSON: I mean that they -- their priorities were more straight when they were younger. I still went to school. They home-schooled. I hung out with my friends. They were focusing on getting their tennis game better. I think my priorities are more in line now with what they need to be to kind of accomplish the goals that I have.

Q. Going to school and hanging out with your friends isn't necessarily a bad thing.
JAMEA JACKSON: No, it's not. But when you're competing with people who are a hundred percent tennis all the time, you're kind of there sometimes, not there sometimes, it's a disadvantage for you.

Q. At what point did you say to yourself, going to school is great, hanging out with friends, but if you want to be a top 20 or top 10 player, you have to be all tennis all the time?
JAMEA JACKSON: I think it's been a progression. I think the great thing about it was my parents were never on me to do anything. I kind of made my own choices. As I've gotten out here and gotten to see more of what people do, gotten with my new coach, he's really showing me what it is to really work hard, what it is to really dedicate yourself to the sport, is when I'm starting to see what I needed to to get to, you know, where I want to go.

Q. You had a very good role model in your dad, the life as a pro athlete. How much did he play into your life this way on the tour giving you advice on how things should be done?
JAMEA JACKSON: He's always been great. From when I was a young kid, he's always been shaping, you know, my mindset and everything, as well as a lot of his buddies who played with him, who I've known while I was growing up and everything. When I got older, he kind of backed off a little bit and let me make my own decisions and stuff, which I think was great, because now I kind of know where I am and what I want for myself.
Whenever I need him, he's always there. Any questions I have about the travel or about being away from home for so long, he's always there.

Q. What led to the process of hiring Rodrigo?
JAMEA JACKSON: I was with my old coach. We split ways. My mentor is Betsy Nagelsen McCormack, who has known Rodrigo forever. He was her hitting partner in Orlando when she still played, then he coached her a little bit. I called her looking for my -- what my next step should be. She was like, This guy, I think he's great. I think you should try him out. That was how we met.

Q. Was it tough letting go of your father? Wasn't he actively involved in the process?
JAMEA JACKSON: Yeah, he was. But he was really cool about it. He was really not a tennis coach. He knows a lot about sport in general. We both kind of agreed for me to go to the next level, I kind of needed somebody who specified and really knew what they were talking about tennis-wise.

Q. Zina said the only thing you're missing now is a Grand Slam breakthrough. Can that happen here?
JAMEA JACKSON: I'm really thinking about it. I'm just trying to go out and play every match, play every point, and really fight. If the breakthrough comes here, it will come here.

Q. Has Zina told you you're on the team yet for Fed Cup?
JAMEA JACKSON: No. We haven't actually confirmed that yet, with Venus pulling out yesterday I think and everything. I don't know. You know, I'd love to play. I'd be excited to represent my country again. That would be great.

Q. There's been so many excellent US women players over the years. There's a lot of injuries now. Coming in here it's pretty much Venus and then it's you as the No. 2 player. Have you heard that chatter? What do you think about that?
JAMEA JACKSON: No, I've definitely heard it. But not really paying it too much heed. Just trying to stay focused and do kind of what I have to do. It was really cool actually today, Venus came up and she talked to me. She kind of talked me through things. I was honored, you know, for that. She's awesome. I've always been a huge fan - still am.
But, no, I'm trying to take it one day, one match, one point at a time.

Q. But it's a compliment in a way also?
JAMEA JACKSON: It definitely is. I need to keep working hard to get where I need to go. That's why I'm trying to keep my focus.

Q. Grass seems to favor tall players. How do you counteract the advantages in serve and volley reach that tall players have?
JAMEA JACKSON: Like I said, I think my speed, it's definitely working for me. I have a good slice serve, which the grass actually helps out. I actually think my height actually helps me stay with the lower bounces. It can actually help me a little more than it helps the taller players. I think the grass is really good for my game. I'm hoping to go out there and play (indiscernible) and do well here.

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