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FED CUP INTERVIEWS- USA vs. BELGIUM

July 15, 2006

Carl Maes

OSTEND, BELGIUM

Q. You couldn't have asked for a better start to this Fed Cup semifinal.
CAPTAIN MAES: I couldn't have asked for a better result. I could have asked for a better start in both matches, though, because losing twice the first set, then having to make some changes that didn't really have their effect straightaway made us all shiver a little bit here in Belgium.
But I think the crowd played an unbelievable role. I think Kirsten mentally, to get to a stage where she wins this difficult match, which she so often has let escape in the past, this is a magnificent moment. On top of that, she actually went for the result at the end at 5-4 in the third. She wasn't waiting for the mistake from Jill.
A lot of respect for Kirsten.
Kim didn't start well in the match. She played a bad match today. She didn't serve well at all. She was struggling with her back from the very beginning. It was just a matter of hanging in there. She had some opportunities to go 3-Love ahead, given the fact and the discrepancy in ranking, that could have eased things up a bit. She lost that first set.
With the way she normally plays and overpowers her opponent, she couldn't win today. She actually slowed down the pace a little bit, which is very unnatural for her and actually caused her some difficulties to actually finish the point afterwards.
But the fact she's physically not a hundred percent fit, being able to adjust her tactics, which are not her preferred tactics, and then to come out on top, a lot of respect. She surprised me a lot of times in my career already as a coach, but this is another one.

Q. You know her game probably better than anybody else, having worked with her one-on-one in the past. You say you're still surprised at the way things went today.
CAPTAIN MAES: It's what you have with these top players. In many ways, I've always been very humble to be able to work with Kim. It's with any top player, very often they show you the way and they've got the answers.
You shouldn't say too much. You have to say the right things at the right moments. But the fact that they're able to cope with these things, with these situations, come out on top, I mean, an average player can't do that.

Q. What were you going through sitting on the bench? You couldn't get out there and hit any balls. You must have been churning inside.
CAPTAIN MAES: It's a good thing I couldn't get up and hit any balls because that's not going too well at the moment (laughter).
Yeah, I'm jumping up and down a little bit myself to get rid of the stress. I enjoy these moments. They're so intense, especially when you're playing at home or even abroad, when the crowd gets into it, and they did for these two I think terrific matches, even I think USA need to acknowledge that this is what top tennis is about. I loved every minute of it.

Q. Very special, this atmosphere is incredible. 5,000 fans just screaming and screaming.
CAPTAIN MAES: It's fantastic. You can't ask for anything more. They were a little bit down when the players were struggling as well. But then I got the bench involved. I was coaching the bench as well to tell them -- told them what to do. I think in the end the crowd did help us pull it through.

Q. Looking ahead to the reverse singles, Kim Clijsters and Jill Craybas first up.
CAPTAIN MAES: Kim is the favorite, like she was today. I don't think we can deny that. However, Kim has been struggling with her lower back for most of the week, one day without practice. Little things that she's used to deal with while she's playing.
However, after this tough match against Jamea Jackson, who I have to say is a top 20 player, she really tired Kim down. I think we're going to have some work with Kim today. But she should pull it through against Jill. She's got something -- she's got a nice sweet revenge for her as well having lost to her in Miami, of course.

End of FastScripts...

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