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U.S. OPENAugust 31, 2008Elena DementievaNEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK E. DEMENTIEVA/N. Li 6-4, 6-1 THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. It was a great performance tonight. Do you feel right now that you're really on top of your game? Are you really happy with the way things went tonight? ELENA DEMENTIEVA: Well, I think I played well, especially in the second set, and, you know, it's good that I feel much better now than in the beginning of the tournament. It took me a week before I started to feel the ball and play a little better than in the beginning of the tournament. Hopefully, I'll continue to improve, because, you know, every -- next match, you know, you really have to play your best, you know. Since quarterfinal. Really give everything you have, you know, to be able to go through. Q. There's been a lot of conversation in this room with players that participated in Beijing about sort of an Olympic hangover, if you will, dealing with not only with having the great travel and the time zone changes and so forth, but also, as you said the other day, I think it was Monday, you had mentioned that in a way your heart was still in Beijing. ELENA DEMENTIEVA: Right. Q. Is that over with now? Are you fully locked into this tournament right now? I mean, I'm not saying that you can put the gold medal behind you, but is the focus there right now, do you feel? ELENA DEMENTIEVA: Well, for sure. I mean, after playing four matches here, you know, I feel pretty focused on this event. It's not that I forgot about my Olympic Games, but it's just yet -- that's another challenge, and I have to be here, my mind, you know, physically, mentally, I have to be ready to play the first round, because, I mean, nobody could exclude me because I won in Beijing. I realize that. Q. With Ana making an early exit, there are several opportunities for women to take the top spot in the world rankings. You're certainly one of those rankings. Do you ever think about that? How strong an objective is that for you? ELENA DEMENTIEVA: Well, I mean, this is a dream for me to become No. 1, but I'm not thinking about that. You know, I just want to be focused on this tournament, and I know if I'm going to improve my game, you know, I can make it. But, you know, to think about it, I just don't want to put all this pressure on myself. Q. Do you really feel like you have to improve? I mean, just watching the match tonight, you missed very, very few balls from the ground. If you played at that level the next three matches, that just might be good enough. ELENA DEMENTIEVA: Well, I just feel, you know, I really play very well in Beijing, and maybe here because of the, you know, not enough time to recover, you know. I don't feel that I'm playing at my best, but, you know, it's good to realize that I have to slowly improved my game with every match, and hopefully once again I can play better next ground. Q. What shots don't you feel confident in right now? Seems like you're confident in almost every shot. ELENA DEMENTIEVA: You want to help pay (laughter.)? Q. No, except for maybe your serve to the ad court, every shot was going pretty well. ELENA DEMENTIEVA: Yeah, today I feel pretty comfortable playing against her, and, well, maybe because she give me a good, you know, chance to attack her, and, you know, be always ahead of her. So I just feel like the whole game was pretty solid, maybe not my service. I struggled just a little bit, especially in my first set, but it feels much better in the second. Q. Li told us that you really set the pace. Do you agree that you controlled this match from start to finish? ELENA DEMENTIEVA: Well, you know, I had a very easy start, you know, 4-Love, and then I feel like maybe I lost a little bit of my concentration, I started to play not aggressive enough, and she started to play more solid, attacking me and just pushing me harder. So we just had this, a little bit of fight in the first set, but, you know, when I got it, you know, I feel like I was doing the right thing, and didn't have much fight in the end. Q. Is there anything you did different the second half of the match? ELENA DEMENTIEVA: Well, I think it just, you know, I every single set you win, you feel more comfortable, and for sure it's more, you know, easier to play when you have one set up and you just continue to do the right things. That's all you need to do. For her, you know, you have to really change something, don't take a lot of risk. You really need to create something. For me, I just continue to play my game. Q. You'll see Patty in the next round. ELENA DEMENTIEVA: Right. Q. Your thoughts on that matchup. ELENA DEMENTIEVA: Well, we played lots of times against each other through our career. I think she's a very unique player, you know, lefty, first of all, and great feeling. It's never easy to play against her. But I've got a big experience playing against Patty, so hopefully it's going to help me my next match. Q. I think it was 2004 you played Capriati in the semis here; is that right? ELENA DEMENTIEVA: Yes. Q. And then do you sort of feel like that was a really good chance to win, but you were just too tired from playing the semifinal? ELENA DEMENTIEVA: When I lost to Svetlana? Well, I don't think it was really a good chance for me because she was playing unbelievable that year. I was not that tired, you know. I had some tough matches against Jennifer, and then before, against, Amélie, but I mean, the way Svetlana was playing that year, I mean, she was better than anyone. End of FastScripts |
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