US OPEN

September 6, 2006

Lindsay Davenport

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Is this the last we'll see you at the US Open?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I don't know. I have no idea, you know. Twelve months is obviously a long time away, but at this point I have no idea.

Q. How do you feel right now?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I feel good. I mean, I'm happy with the way I've been able to play the last few weeks, considering I hadn't played in four, four and a half months. You know, I thought I played pretty well today. I had some chances. Lost a couple really close games. She played well. That's the way it goes.

Q. What were your thoughts walking off the court? Was it just, I lost and I want to get out of here?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: No, I was fine. I mean, the most important thing that I wanted to do was play well, which I thought I did. You know, like I said, a couple points.
But I feel really, really satisfied with what's happened the last few weeks.

Q. No nostalgia?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: No, no.

Q. Not in the moment, anything?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: No, I lost. It's just I mean, I wasn't like in a rush to get off, but, you know, it was my time to walk off the court.

Q. When you had her at 3 1 and she had called the trainer in between sets, were you thinking, Wow, this is a good chance, I could get to the semifinals of the US Open?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: No. I was still pretty far away. At the same time, I mean, I wasn't sure what it was for. But, you know, her serves were still coming, like, in she was serving like 117 in the second, 115. You know, so it was didn't affect her really with the serving. I was having some trouble returning. I mean, I only broke once. I thought she did a really good job of serving balls and she served her second serves extremely hard.
So obviously I had some chances, and both times that I got broken, deuce a number of times. Advantage point for me.
But, you know, she plays really well against me, and she played well today when those games were close.

Q. Is there just some day that you think you'll know, or have you decided, have you thought you're gonna go through this whole season and then just sit down and make a list of plus and minuses? How do you know what your future is gonna be?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I don't know if anybody knows when they go through this process for the first time. It's the only time I'll ever most likely retire from something. When I know, I'll let you guys know. But I don't know how it works.

Q. Considering how you felt in New Haven, if someone told you then you would get to the quarterfinals of this tournament, and you would lose, but you would lose to Henin Hardenne, would you have said that's a pretty good showing considering where I stand right now?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Yeah. I think I did really well. I'm not, you know, trying to pat myself on the back, but, you know, I should have lost in the third round, was down two matchpoints. You know, wasn't feeling good when the tournament started. Got better. You know, if you had told me that two weeks ago, if you had told me that two months ago, I would have been happy with that.
You know, obviously, you want to go far in the tournament, but some days when you feel like you played pretty well and would have beaten most players and another girl played better than you, there's not a whole lot you can do.

Q. Are you looking forward to playing some other tournaments by the end of the season?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I'm on my way to Bali tomorrow or the next day, then Beijing. Then I'm not sure what's gonna happen after that. I'm not positive if I'm gonna go to Europe or not. Just kind of see how I feel, I guess, as the year goes.

Q. Does your future, long term future, is it more a physical or mental thing?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: It's both, I think. You know, physically, you know, I was really happy and lucky we didn't play yesterday. You know, I was definitely a little bit more banged up yesterday than I was today. That gave me a much better opportunity today to play.
There's no question your body does not recover as well as you get older. I used to laugh at people when I'd hear that, When I was younger and playing. It's definitely true.
Mentally, it's not so much like the tennis. I think it's just the everyday commitment that has to go into playing and being good in this sport. And most days, still I feel like, Okay, I want to commit my day to being that good tennis player. Other days, it feels like a drag. While I still have more good days than bad days, I'm gonna keep playing.

Q. You give the impression of someone who's going to go when you do go with very few, if any, regrets. Is that true? Are you just putting on a good facade?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: That I have? Don't have?

Q. That you have few or no regrets about your career.
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Well, you can't really live your life, like, regretting stuff that's happened in the years past. Sure, everyone has stuff like, Oh, I wish this had happened or I did this. But for the most part, you know, I've had an amazingly successful career. I've enjoyed most years playing not all.
But I'm happy with the last few years of my career, no matter what it is. I feel like I've made the most of everything, of the talent I was given.

Q. Andre said he's looking forward to there's a lot of, not just sacrifice, but whenever you feel like you're supposed to be in one place, you want to be in another place. You always have a lot of conflict when you're a professional athlete, obligations. Your life is full of obligations. The idea of not having those obligations is very exciting. Do you think about that?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Uhm, not quite yet. I think that everyone goes through periods where you're somewhere where you really don't want to be. But, uhm, I haven't had that thought yet, that, Oh, I can't wait until I don't have to do anything for anybody else.
I'm sure that I'll feel whenever that day comes, you know, a lot of pressure off my back. I'm sure I'll be sad. But, you know, it's a natural progression in life.

Q. Do you ever feel obviously, with Andre's, you know, uhm, appearance here, letting the fans know this was his last, you yourself have played 16 straight US Opens here and given the fans so much. Do you ever feel, maybe watching Andre this year, too, that I'd like to give them my last one and have them know it's my last one?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Oh, jeez. I don't know that. I mean, so it's impossible for me to give that to somebody when I don't know that. You know, if I knew exactly what was gonna happen and I had a crystal ball, sure, I'd like everyone to know and everyone be fine with it and be happy.
But, you know, I'm just out here still playing, still trying to figure things out, still enjoying it, still being successful. You know, I'm just kind of still, you know, follow this road and see where it goes.

Q. You mentioned Justine's back didn't seem to affect her serve. How does she look right now?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Well, I don't want to say. I don't know how it affected her. I mean, as a returner, she was still serving well and I was still finding it difficult to return. She was still serving at a high velocity.
I thought she played well. The better I hit the ball, the better she hits the ball. I don't know exactly how to junk balls and hit high balls. I think some of the stuff that people might do to her to mess her up, I don't have that game. But she hits the ball great. I think she competes well. She's a great athlete. You know, in my mind, she's probably the best player in the world.

Q. Andre obviously was playing against Baghdatis and he was cramping and Gasquet was cramping the other night. It's obviously difficult for that player, but it's also difficult for the opponent. What is it about playing against somebody who you know is injured, or having sort of problems, that makes it difficult for the opponent, for you as you're trying to figure out how to handle that situation?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Yeah, I mean, obviously you play someone that is severely injured, they're either gonna go for cramping is a different thing because they sometimes are okay and sometimes not, and they go for big shots. You know, it's tough for the person playing them to get balls in, do you still go for it, do you make errors. You never quite know what's gonna happen. It's a tough position for everybody on the court when that happens.

Q. You say that she's probably the best player of the world, speaking of Justine. How is it so different, her game is so different than Amélie's?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Well, everyone has their personal opinion. You know, I have beaten Amélie 10 or 11 times in a row. I've lost to Justine six. I'm just saying in my mind (laughter)...
I'm not making this full statement. I have a tremendous amount of respect for Amélie and what she's done. She fully deserves to be ranked No. 1 for how she's playing. I'm not saying that.
For me, it's tougher to play Justine. I think that Justine definitely hits the ball a little bit harder. She always plays extremely aggressive with me. On both sides, I feel like they're weapons. You know, she plays well against me.

Q. Over your career, have you collected memorabilia with other players?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Personally, no. I'm not really big on collecting stuff. I don't understand the philosophy of getting autographs. I don't want them. I will not let my kids ever get them. I don't have any autographs.

Q. The TV camera highlighted a couple times your mother and your husband and Corina. I'm wondering, would up mind telling us, were there other family members or friends that were important to you there today?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Uhm, I think really my coach and my agent, and that's it. My sister and niece and brother in law had to go home. Yeah, that was about it.

Q. When do you anticipate having a date in mind for whether you go to Australia or not?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I'll probably know in mid November, early December. I mean, at that point I'd have to be practicing and working out full time to go. That's kind of how I knew here, about six or seven weeks out. So I imagine before the departure date, which would be end of December, you know, if you back track four or six weeks, I'd know then.

Q. Pardon me if you've addressed this already. What are your emotions or feelings right now? Are you disappointed? Are you pleased with a pretty decent run?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I did address that in the beginning (smiling).
I feel good. I feel happy. I feel, you know, I've accomplished a lot the last three weeks. I played some really good tennis after not playing for a while. Some days, you play a player that plays better than you. I still feel like I would have beaten most players today.

Q. Do you ever walk out on the court, whether it is this tournament or years past, and think about '98?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Oh, God, no. I feel like I was a different person there. It feels like a different it feels like a different career back then.
I've seen the highlight twice, and it still it doesn't seem real. I mean, all these years later, I don't really equate it to, uhm, to my career yet.

Q. How different are you now?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I think that at that time I was, what, 22, 21, still, you know, you're a baby at that stage. Unfortunately, you're doing the most important thing in your career at such a young age. It's very hard to take in. I feel like, you know, I'm more of a woman now (smiling). I'm married. I feel, like, just older. I don't know.
It just seems like it's so funny for me to look back on those years. It seems like a really long time ago.

Q. You and Pete and Serena all have the quality of winning here at a relatively young age, very early in your careers. What's that about? Is that a fearlessness?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I don't know. I mean, women tennis players are normally, you know, so good at such a young age. You know, Pete was probably an anomaly by winning it probably get it wrong, 18 or 19 that normally doesn't happen so much in men's tennis.
You're younger. You're probably more excited to be out there. Probably maybe want it a little bit more, the younger you are. Probably more fun. Play better.

Q. If I remember correctly, the moment you won that title, you sort of put your hand over your you looked completely shocked, like you couldn't believe it. Yet you seemed to, even now you feel like it's a long time ago. Can you remember that feeling, or the last time you felt so overwhelmed by the moment? Is that the only time you felt that?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Uhm, you know, completely overwhelmed here and completely overwhelmed when I won Wimbledon. Not so much the Australian, for whatever reason. No one can control their emotions.
But, yeah, I don't know what it is. I mean, I don't, you know. I did not grow up with people, you know, pounding in my head, This is what you got to do, this is what you're gonna do. I just kind of found my way. While I was always successful, I was always, you know, told that, to get a tennis scholarship like I never thought I'd be 1 in the world. I never thought I'd be able to accomplish the stuff I was able to do. I think a lot of it was shock, even though I was one of the best in the world.
But, you know, I definitely didn't have that belief like, Oh, I'm gonna do this, when I started out.

Q. Who would you give the better chance to win the women's title now?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: You know, I would I mean, I'll take the easy way out, but probably I really couldn't tell you. I think that Amélie, Maria and Justine obviously are the favorites.
I'll go with Justine, but I think it's really close. I think all of them are playing really well.

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