PILOT PEN TENNIS

August 26, 2004

Jennifer Capriati

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: I mean, you're going to have those calls. It just seemed like they were pretty excessive going against me. You know, it was just kind of the whole -- like the feeling of the match a little bit, things were not really going for me. Combine that with let cords, it's just like the Gods weren't on my side tonight. You know, what can you do?

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: No. I truly have to say never, that she's played against me or I've seen her play against anyone else. I think she definitely played the match of her life tonight. You know, I give all credit to her really. There wasn't much I could do. I mean, I was trying almost everything, just trying to be more aggressive. She moved well, she counter-punched well, and then she attacked me a lot - and she just didn't make any mistakes. I think maybe her percentage must have been like 80% first serves, so...

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: No. I think I played a good match myself. It was really close. You know, maybe just a couple points here and there, things I maybe could have played more aggressive in a few points. But, you know, I think overall it was a good match and I should not be disappointed, you know, down on myself. I think it's a good match to have before The Open.

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Yeah, definitely, you can feel it. But, I mean, when you're out there and you're fighting so hard, you're not really kind of noticing what's going on in the crowd because you're just so focused on what you're trying to do out there, what the opponent is doing. You know, I was just trying to really figure out a way to win out there, you know, to break her serve and just do something, you know, to take it to a third set at least. So, you know, by that time you're just like -- I mean, you hear the crowd, but you don't also, you know.

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Yeah. I mean, it's a fine line because you don't want to like, you know, if you go for it too much, you could play out of yourself and then make the errors, but then you don't know if you should just make her play, kind of wait for her to make an error or just wait for the right time. I mean, really every breakpoint that I had, she played like an unbelievable point. I don't think on any of them that it was like an easy ball. You know, she just came back with either a great serve, a great second shot off that or, you know, just a great point.

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Yeah, I think so. I mean, it's kind of the end of the year, and maybe the top players maybe are a little bit tired at this point. The US Open is coming up next week. I'm not saying that this tournament is not important, but, you know, it's like you don't want to expend too much energy, especially when it's been such a long season. But I also, you know, have to give credit to other players to really take advantage of that. So, you know, the potential is there.

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: The only thing I noticed was that she really, you know, instead of trying to hit like big serves, she was just trying to place them good. She came to net a lot more than usual. You know, obviously she was playing on my backhand side a lot, just trying to open the court that way and then come to net. So, you know, I think she tried to play that way before, but she just never, you know, played as well, and just would always make errors. The difference was that she, you know, played it perfectly tonight.

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: I'll probably leave to get used to the conditions over there and everything over there.

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: I mean, I think like that commercial for the US Open, "The Usual Suspects." I think the 'usual suspects' are still there (laughter). You know, I wouldn't say it was like wide open, but I think even if everyone was still playing well, at the top of their game, I think it's just really -- you don't know. I don't think you can make a prediction on who's going to win or who's even going to be, you know, quarters, semis, in the later rounds. You just don't know.

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: I mean, I would have to go probably with the -- you know, Dechy plays Lisa now. I think they're both obviously playing well. As far as for the finals, I'd have to go with the more experienced players that have been, obviously, I think in the finals, are higher ranked, Dementieva. I would go with them. But I think at this point you don't know what's going to happen.