September 3, 2006
THE MODERATOR: Questions for Lindsay. Q. Would you have the slightest feeling that you were playing second American fiddle at this tournament?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I love it. It's great. Q. It's better that way?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I mean, for good reason. I'm never going to complain about Andre. That's too good. Q. You could complain about yourself.
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: What do you mean? Q. You're deserving of some attention.
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Oh, yeah. I mean, I was given the option of when and what court I wanted to play on yesterday. I made my choice. Was happy to get out there first and get it well, be done earlier in the day than hang around all day. Q. When was the last time you played on that court?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I don't know. I mean, it's a great court. Not recently. I requested. I was happy with that. Q. How did you manage to turn things around?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Yeah, you know, it was so tough today. It was just one of those days where I didn't feel like I was hitting the ball all that cleanly. Normally that's what I do well. You know, even down 6 3, 3 1, I tried so hard to come back and win the second set, which I was able to do.
I got some momentum in the third, then some errors crept back into my game. Then at the end, I was like trying so hard to play better and better, probably trying too hard. She played great. Like I said, I made a bunch of errors.
You know, being down the match points, coming back and finding a way to win, playing a pretty good tiebreak, was exciting. Q. Everything feeling okay?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Yeah. I wish I could say something (smiling). I felt fine. I was so surprised. I was really excited this morning, ready to go. Then the balls were just flying on me a little bit. Just to get through it, hopefully I'll feel a lot better tomorrow. Q. Is that anxiety? Were you too excited, unable to calm yourself down?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I mean, that's normally not my problem (laughter). I mean, I felt really ready to go. I was loose. My body felt good. I was excited to get out there and play after waiting a couple days.
Just, you know, for me, I miss hit a lot of balls which I normally don't do. I was unsure of my whole perception. You know, I started to get a little bit better and a little bit more consistent, a little bit more confident. Q. The arm is fine now?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Yeah, it felt really good. Q. No pain?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Uhm, you know, it's stiff every morning. There's no question. As I get more warmed up, it gets looser and looser. It's not like I have to go like this any more (lifting with the other arm). Q. When you were facing the match points, were there thoughts that this could be your last time?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Yeah, I thought that. I thought that a little bit at 4 5 and a little bit at 5 6. Yeah, it could be my last match here, I don't know. I thought that. I didn't think that necessarily on the match points. You know, there's obviously that possibility.
You know, once I got to 6 All, I was happy and I thought, I don't want to go out losing in a third set tiebreaker two years in a row, because I did that last year. I was trying to reverse that once I got to the tiebreak. Q. What would it mean to you if you were to win the US Open title?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Well, that's really far away. Right now I'm still like, you know, just being in the Round of 16, really exciting for me. Just essentially being here was a huge positive step. I was happy to be out here playing. I'll dream about that in a few more days. Q. Did you ever get a mid match standing O like that?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: No. I mean, normally I'm a little bit more oblivious to it. They were so great out there. They really were so supportive. My sister was so excited that she got to cheer loud finally in a match. It was fun. Q. Your body language was uncommonly positive today. Is that a conscious thing?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Like I said, I was just trying so hard to get myself to play better. You know, ever since this last time I've come back, I've been really excited to be on the court, have been fine with it, been really positive.
You know, I was just trying to get myself going. Okay, come on, you can play better, you can play better. Finally at 4 5, I thought, Oh, my gosh, this is killing me (laughter).
I tried to stay positive. You know, it worked well. The crowd, like I said, was great. Q. Can you talk about Justine in your quarter of the draw, someone else who played very little tennis this summer. If all goes well and you meet, is that going to be survival of the fittest?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: You know, I'd be happy to talk about that if I win the next match. Q. Andre has gone through all the struggle this year, cortisone shots. Is that something you can relate to? Do you have any concern that might affect him long term?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I mean, I don't I can't relate in terms of severe his back injury is. I had a back injury, but I wasn't doing the steps he's doing to be able to play. The one year here I had to numb my foot before every match. Mentally it gets tiresome. It also wasn't my final US Open.
I have no idea the medical ramifications of what he's doing. It would be silly for me to speculate. He's inspiring, just everything he's going through to be out here for everybody. Q. He keeps saying he doesn't want to limp off the court here. He may not get that wish. Is there a value to having your last matches here be relatively whole as opposed to maybe pushing it?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: It's tough to say. Everyone is in a different position when that time comes. He's done everything he possibly can to make sure he was back here for all the fans, I think. I think that's a great effort on his part.
I hope he's able to go out on a high note. So far he's given everyone what they wanted the first two matches he played. Q. Can you talk about Andre and his legacy?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I think in the last 20 years, he's been the most important person we've had in our sport. I think Billie Jean made huge inroads for obviously women, but Andre made our sport cool, popular with the younger crowd, exciting. He's beloved. Not many players become what he has become. You know that he is going to be equally famous and equally successful in his post career. Q. Can you describe the thought process in the two match points? The first one, classic I'm going to go down swinging?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Yeah, I guess so. I mean, I was trying to be aggressive, came in and put a volley away. That got my blood flowing a little bit. Then she misses a return. Okay, maybe she's a little nervous now. Then I hit an ace. I just kind of started to get a little bit of momentum there.
Yeah, I mean, the first point, obviously it goes by so fast you don't really know what's happening, but the instinct was obviously to be aggressive. Q. How is your level here compared to New Haven?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: You know, it was really good the first two matches. Today was just a little bit of a miss step. I thought I played a little better there, no question. But based overall on the last two weeks, I've played great. I felt like I lost a little bit of control today on my shots, but I feel like that's hopefully something I can get back. Q. You actually broke out a couple fist pumps today. Very unusual for you. Does that mean you were saying back in LA you wanted to really try to have fun at this tournament. Are you actually having fun?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Yeah. I mean, I'm really happy to be. Because I don't laugh or smile, you know, do whatever some other players do on the court, I've had a really great time being here. It was great. The crowd was really behind me. I was trying to get myself going and feeling positive and energetic. It was kind of working. Q. Is part of it watching Andre and other players who have left here knowing that when you actually get the crowd involved as an American player, it can really play to your advantage?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Not really. I don't really know how to do that. I don't know how to manipulate people (laughter). I was just doing it for myself. I should take some lessons, though. Q. Which sister is here?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: My oldest sister. Kennedy's mom. Q. Any other family members?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: My mom and her dad. Q. If you were to take lessons on how to get the crowd involved, who would you go to?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Oh, gosh. I think Jimmy would probably be a good one, huh? The fans are behind Agassi no matter what he does out there. It's so great. They've really supported me the last few years. It was fun today. Q. When you came off court, did you watch this at all? When you came off court?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I've only been off court for 20 minutes. Q. Were you watching when you came back in?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: When I came back in I laid down on the floor for like 10 minutes, then I took a shower, got my niece, came straight here (smiling). Laying there with my friend Corina, that was about it. She came and got me. Q. Your next match?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Patty Schnyder. Obviously, left handed. She'll present some challenges. Really move the ball around. For me, I want to go out there, make the points short, be aggressive, play coming in, putting balls away, obviously making a few errors, but not letting her kind of dictate the pace of the match with like loopy balls, angles.
Just want to take some time away from her and be aggressive.
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