US OPEN

August 29, 2005

Sania Mirza

SANIA MIRZA: It definitely was. I mean, it wasn't one of the prettiest matches I played. But, you know, I guess what matters is when you come through, and I did today. I guess you always have one match in every tournament where you're not playing the best tennis, of what you're capable of. But I'm glad I came through that. You know, I'm just looking forward, probably get some practice tomorrow.

SANIA MIRZA: Well, I guess that's when, you know, you just have to keep being positive. It really doesn't matter how bad you're playing or how bad the other one's playing or how good you're playing. It's just a question of how many balls you can get in at that time and how you mentally -- you know, I could see that she was not, you know, really positive. We were both not having a great day out there. But, you know, I mean, it was a long match. It was tough.

SANIA MIRZA: A little bit. I mean, it was hurting me a little. But that's only because I guess I played a long match in Forest Hills on Saturday, and I didn't get much rest, except yesterday. And I had to play today again. No excuses, I guess. You know, I didn't play too well. I didn't play too well. I guess what matters is as long as you come out as the winner, which is what I did.

SANIA MIRZA: Well, I don't know about the percentage. But I know that I didn't play one of the best matches.

SANIA MIRZA: Yeah, I've had an injury. I mean, I skipped Toronto because of that injury. I've had that. Didn't play for about almost a week and a half in between. I was just resting it. It's better now - not perfect, but it's getting there.

SANIA MIRZA: No. You can't really -- I mean, like I said, you have to keep thinking positive, whether you're winning, whether I was 6-2, 5-2 down, or whether it was 5-All in the second. It really didn't matter at that point in time. It was just a question of, like he said, survival. I just had to be positive about it. I mean, it's US Open. I have to give whatever I have. Even though I know that I'm not playing the best tennis of my life, it's a Grand Slam, and this is what you are here for. I just wanted to give my hundred percent. If I'm not getting my forehand, then I want to do something more with the backhand. If I'm not getting the backhand, I want to do something. But I somehow want to come through it, and that's what I did.

SANIA MIRZA: Like I keep saying, you just have to be confident. You can't really -- I mean, you know, as an athlete, I can tell you that we should never give up. People have come back from match points down, 5-1 down. It really doesn't matter. Even though she broke back and she was up, we were still on serve. And after that, you know, I held. I held a pretty good game I think at 4-3. So it's just how you think at that time, and I was thinking very positively. It doesn't matter. I was 3-1 up even in the second set. I had a break. But that's just the way it is. I hope I'm going to get better as the tournament goes on.

SANIA MIRZA: Well, let's hope so at least. I mean, you know, we all have injuries. Every player out there has an injury. I'm no different. It's just a question of who's the fitter of the lot. I mean, let's hope I can. You know, I just want to take it round by round. I think I'm playing Camerin, I think she beat Safina, so I'm playing Camerin, and I'm just looking forward to that.

SANIA MIRZA: No. I played really well. Like I said, you play a week of matches every day. There's always one match in every tournament or every two tournaments, you have one bad match. But it's a question of coming through that one bad match. So I'm hoping that this was the bad day that I had. I hope that, you know, I'm just going to get better every match now.

SANIA MIRZA: I think it's the most prestigious award a sports person in India can get. It was very unfortunate that I couldn't be there to get the award. It's still a great honor for me to get something like that. You know, I just hope I can get -- can make my country more proud by just playing in more tournaments like these.

SANIA MIRZA: Yeah, I spoke to her this morning.

SANIA MIRZA: Well, I was not really -- I was trying to concentrate more on my match today. I'll probably speak to her a little bit later.

SANIA MIRZA: Right now I was cramping. Right now I'm tired. But, you know, hopefully I'll be fine by the day after. I should be. You know, just try and get a couple of hours of practice tomorrow, just get the feel of the ball back. We'll see.