AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 27, 2004

Amelie Mauresmo

AMELIE MAURESMO: Yep. Well, as you may have seen on the court this morning, I'm not going to be able to play that quarterfinal match. I pulled a muscle a couple days ago at the beginning of the match against Alicia, and I was able at that time to go to the end because I guess I was warm. But, you know, I wanted to try this morning. I didn't feel very good yesterday. I wanted to try this morning to have a little hit and see how it goes and see how I felt. But, unfortunately, I don't feel good enough to play a match. I have pain, so I have to withdraw from this tournament.

AMELIE MAURESMO: Well, it's a muscle strain in the left side of my back. It's not great. Hopefully, it's not too bad also. But I'm going to see the doctor after the press conference and we'll see how long it's going to take and what I have to do to make sure I'm going to feel better. Yeah, it's such a big disappointment for me. I felt I was playing some good tennis, and I had some opportunities in this tournament. So big disappointment, yeah.

AMELIE MAURESMO: Yeah. It's both, actually. It's the pain, because when I hit some shots, I can feel really strong pain. The other thing is it could get worse, yeah, if I play. So the best thing to do, I guess, is to rest.

AMELIE MAURESMO: I really was hoping that, you know, maybe I could handle the situation and handle the shots a little bit better. But I realized this morning when I practiced that it was not going to be possible.

AMELIE MAURESMO: (Tearing up). Yeah, was probably a good opportunity for me here in Australia since, you know, I always play well here. But that's just the way it is. There's nothing much to do about it.

AMELIE MAURESMO: I don't know. I'll see the doctor after, yeah.