US OPEN

September 4, 2006

Justine Henin

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Justine.

Q. You've had a relatively easy time of it so far, just dropping one set. In the next round, you have Lindsay or Amélie.
JUSTINE HENIN HARDENNE: Amélie, oh, I didn't know that. Lindsay or Schnyder, Patty Schnyder.

Q. I'm sorry. It was a late night last night.
JUSTINE HENIN HARDENNE: Yeah.

Q. Do you feel warmed up enough now?
JUSTINE HENIN HARDENNE: Well, we'll see, you know. I just happy with first four matches. I had a little bit of trouble against Sugiyama, but she played well. I showed very good things on the court.
Today I've been pretty aggressive. Very focused. Had a couple of good matches in New Haven, so I have enough matches to play at this level. But tomorrow is gonna be another day, and I don't know what's gonna happen. I cannot complain about the way things happen in the last few days.

Q. What's your level today? You looked pretty dominating out there, controlling Shahar. She's a dangerous opponent.
JUSTINE HENIN HARDENNE: Yeah, I walked on the court thinking that it could be a dangerous match because she's a young player and she has a lot of motivation. She's fighting a lot. So I knew it could be a tough match. That's probably why I won it pretty easily, because I was ready for it.
So, no, I had a lot of determination, been very focused. Went to the net a lot. Did a couple of serve and volleys. Played an aggressive game. So very happy about what happened on the court.

Q. So you felt as good as you looked?
JUSTINE HENIN HARDENNE: Yeah (smiling).

Q. Can you talk about coming to net more and playing more serve and volleying.
JUSTINE HENIN HARDENNE: That's the kind of game I played a lot in the last few tournaments. We worked a lot on it with my coach. It's gonna be the kind of game I will have to play in the next few years if I want to stay on the tour, yeah, couple of more years, because I'm not as tall, I'm not as strong as the other players. I save some energy to play like this. I have a good success when I play like that. So it's important.

Q. Is it difficult sometimes mentally because your strokes are so beautiful, they're so successful, you really have the weapons to sit on the baseline with anybody, and yet you know long term, as the years accumulate, the shorter the points, the better?
JUSTINE HENIN HARDENNE: I never beat the powerful players on my baseline. I think I have to take my opportunities on the court and move forward and take my chances. When I did beat Kuznetsova this year at the French Open, it was one break in the second set, because three return and volleys. It's high, it did make the difference. So I need to keep working like this.

Q. A lot of people say that a Grand Slam begins in the quarterfinals. Do you subscribe to that theory, that at this point you have to make some mental adjustments for these final matches?
JUSTINE HENIN HARDENNE: You know, I played four matches already. I think it's too easy to say that it starts in the quarterfinal. It probably becomes at another level, but you have to work hard to win your first four matches. Even if it looks easy, you need to be very focused, and that's not easy every day.
A Grand Slam is pretty long. It becomes harder when you arrive in the quarterfinal because everyone is playing very good tennis, and everyone has a chance to go to the end. I will just try to go step by step, no matter who's in front of me tomorrow. I will just try to play my game and try to win this one, for sure.

Q. Do you make any mental adjustments, though, going into the latter rounds of the tournament?
JUSTINE HENIN HARDENNE: No, I think my goal remains the same thing. First round or quarter, I mean, I want to win it. The first round is probably harder for me because it's more pressure, you don't know really what to expect. But it's the same approach, you go on the court and just try to do what you have to do.

Q. Are you expecting to be the night match tomorrow?
JUSTINE HENIN HARDENNE: Oh, I don't know. We'll see. Probably.

Q. They didn't come to you at all?
JUSTINE HENIN HARDENNE: No.

Q. Do you take any pride in you could be the first woman since Serena to be in four Grand Slam finals in a row Serena and Venus.
JUSTINE HENIN HARDENNE: Too early to talk about that.

Q. Does it mean anything to you?
JUSTINE HENIN HARDENNE: Right now it doesn't mean anything because it's too early to talk about that.

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