NASDAQ-100 OPEN

March 28, 2003

Jennifer Capriati

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Yeah, well, I knew she wasn't gonna just give it to me easily, just hand it over. She started trying to come in more and -- but I don't think I had to pick up my level. I think my level was pretty high through the whole match, from the beginning. It's just I was challenged more in the second and I was able to counteract that.

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Yeah. This week, yeah.

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: I really don't know. I'm just going to go out there and try to play perfect tennis really.

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: I mean, everything, just because it is like my hometown. More so, just because I've come so close. So it's like if you keep trying, you know, you just finally get rewarded. Either way, I'm just happy to be in the finals anyways.

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Just been a few points here and there, maybe not letting up on those few points and, you know, I mean, her serve is really good. So she's gotten herself out of a lot of jams that way, with her serve. So I think that's just been the big difference. I mean, she'll just be like -- ready to break or whatever, she'll just come out with a few aces, a few unreturnable serves. Hopefully, I can hold up on my own serve, just so that puts less pressure on me.

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Yeah. Well, hopefully, we'll see how it plays out in the finals when the stakes are high and it's the last match. Yeah, there's a lot of pressure on the match, so, you know, we'll see how it holds up.

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Well, I figure one of these times it's got to go my way. So, you know, I've been in so many of those matches with her that it's just, now, it's just I'm not going in there expecting it to happen, like to be so close and then, you know, I'll just get some unlucky breaks or just bad breaks. But, I mean, I just think I've gotten past that point already anyways.

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Yeah, of course. Yeah.

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: No, not a final. But I remember I've played the semis last year. It went into the birthday at night, so it was midnight. But, yeah... Never on the final, I don't think.

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Well, I mean (smiling)... To try to win. If I didn't, that would be a pretty sick joke, right?

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: I don't think so. I mean, I'm glad I got it over with pretty quickly. That's another reason why I wanted to come out and jump on top of her early and play well from the start, just so I wouldn't get into a long match like the other day, I think, because that would hurt me for tomorrow. So I feel like I have plenty of time to recover for tomorrow.

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Luckily, I'm staying right -- close by. So I wasn't here at all. I mean, by the time I was going to come over, it started raining already, so I just stayed in my hotel. They cancelled it pretty quickly, so that was good.

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: You know, Kim's had a long run and I'm sure she was tired. You know, one match, I mean, it doesn't mean anything like that. It's still early in the year. Serena hasn't played that many tournaments, so I could see she'd be fresher. Kim has an off day, and her day was, yeah, it was not her day yesterday, so...

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Well, I think that's a style of my game anyways. So that's what I'm going to try to do, is just follow through. I mean, I'm not like a defense player like Kim. You know, I can't rely on that as much. So I'm just going to try to be aggressive and go for it more.

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Well, I'm just not going to spend too much time outside and not get drained by the heat. But, you know, just maybe go do a little shopping, whatever. Have a nice dinner, go to a movie or something like that.

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: My whole family is going to be here, so just go out and have a nice dinner afterwards and, yeah, there's not much to do (smiling).

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: I'm just feeling that way. I just see no point in just stressing myself out for no reason. So...

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: You could say that, but I know a lot of, like, 50-year-olds who don't do that so... You know. It's just a cycle and just where you are at the time.

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Well, actually, it started in Dubai really. I started feeling my game out there and my movement. I was just hitting the ball solid and I was pretty on. And in Indian Wells, too, I felt like I was hitting the ball well. I think today really was the best match.

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: I mean, a long time so... (Smiling). This year probably.

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: It's a combination of some things, making some changes on the outside and then also on the inside. So, yeah, it's just try to reflect on some things and, yeah, I mean, I'm getting older, so it's like, "How do I want to live my life? Do I want to be stressed out and take for granted everything that I'm doing," or, you know, "Do I just want to enjoy the time that I have now while I'm doing it? It's my sport." So I'll try to just make the best of it.

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: They're fine, yeah.

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Just try to protect myself from the sun a lot.

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: I know.

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Yeah, it's over a long time that they've been growing. It started to affect my vision a little bit because it was just making the film on my eye not clear, so, like, when I would blink, and at night, things would be a little more blurry and they'd just get real irritated.

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Well, I was pretty worried that it might affect my life. Like, hope I can see after this operation... So, no, because, I mean, he's a great doctor and he's done it. Now it's a pretty good procedure where they know what they're doing. So they've perfected it.

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: No. I mean, everyone recovers different, so that's the part he couldn't really tell me. And especially me, I need to, you know, in my sport, I need to recover as fast as possible. So most people, it really doesn't matter. But, you know, I only had like a few weeks anyways. That definitely wasn't enough time.