PACIFIC LIFE OPEN

March 8, 2003

Amelie Mauresmo

AMELIE MAURESMO: Yeah, I mean to me was very tough because it was one of those days where you don't feel very good, very comfortable, nothing is going the right way. I felt like I was not moving too well, not hitting the ball very well. So I just had to, you know, do the best I could do today and give a hundred percent and fight. That's what I did. It went my way. But it was a tough one, yeah.

AMELIE MAURESMO: The first break, when I break her at 1-All, then I make that game, that long game, to lead 3-1. It was important, you know, to take the advantage at that time of the third set. You know, I fought. I sometimes went to the net. You know, I tried different things. At the end, you know, it worked for me.

AMELIE MAURESMO: Yeah, I wasn't moving. I wasn't moving well. I was a little bit down with my leg today. You know, it just happens. Today wasn't very good. So if you don't feel good and comfortable in the legs, it's tough to find a good rhythm with the arm and good momentum.

AMELIE MAURESMO: No, no, just general feeling. You know, it's like sometimes you don't have too much energy and stuff. I guess that's what happened today because I really wasn't moving well, I wasn't quick enough, I wasn't adjusting myself like the way I should. You know, then you don't find the rhythm and you cannot hit the ball as well as you would like to. But I'm happy. You know, it was a tough one. It's good to win those matches even when you don't feel good, even when you don't feel your best tennis. You know you can still win and you have to stay in there.

AMELIE MAURESMO: Mentally?

AMELIE MAURESMO: Yeah, I think, you know, it was proof today because I hang in there, I really try different things, and I didn't get too much, you know, nervous and excited because I wasn't feeling too well. I thought, "Okay, that's the way it is today." That's how you have to think if you don't want to get impatient or lose the control. You know, it's okay. It's coming. For this year it's only my third tournament, so it's okay.

AMELIE MAURESMO: Well, I think she played a little bit better also in that second set. She was giving me few points in the first set, which she didn't in the second. When I was coming in, she started to pass me really well. That 5-All game, two lobs, one passing shot down the line. It was tough. No, she saw probably that I wasn't feeling too well, and you have to take the chances, yeah. That's what she did.

AMELIE MAURESMO: Yeah, I think it's just one day, and hopefully it's going to get better and better as the tournament goes on. I'm going to make sure I relax tonight, have a big recuperation, massage and stuff, you know, practice again a little bit tomorrow, make sure I'm in a better shape for the next round.

AMELIE MAURESMO: Yeah. It's hard because I've just come out of this one. But, yeah, lefty. She's a very talented player. She has a different kind of game that you usually see on the tour, on the women's tour. She can do many different things. You know, hopefully I'll feel better than I did today. We'll see how it goes.