AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 26, 2005

Alicia Molik

ALICIA MOLIK: Yeah, yeah, I did. But, you know, you can't change calls, so try and suck it up and deal with it. But, you know, definitely let Lindsay back in after that, the call obviously going her way.

ALICIA MOLIK: I mean, in each and every tennis match, some go for you, some go against you. That particular call, the serve, I felt like it was in. But, yeah, I mean there were a few others which I wasn't too happy about. But until you see the replay, it's really difficult to judge. But I feel like I know my game enough. But, again, probably went against Lindsay, as well. I guess a bit of give and take and you just deal with it.

ALICIA MOLIK: That particular one I was pretty frustrated about. But, you know, I was pretty slow to react to the next ball when I served the next point out. Lindsay got on to the return. I was a bit slow reacting. Maybe I was thinking about the call too much. But, yeah, I mean one point doesn't decide a tennis match. So, yeah, I mean, there was a lot of other things.

ALICIA MOLIK: I think to a certain degree. I think it may help. But at the same time, on the flip side, it may hold up play. It means you've got to go back, you've got to see the replay, you've got to have a few judges look at it. Tennis is a very flowing game, so I think to a certain extent it would take -- it would disrupt players' routines and I think affect the timing of the way matches run. But I think maybe there is a little bit of room for it, maybe in the case of today or like other matches, like you mentioned, Serena's. It's definitely something worth thinking about. But at the end of the day I think, regardless, there's errors both ways. There's human error and then I guess there's errors with HawkEye and the computers. Sometimes they're not quite right, I don't think.

ALICIA MOLIK: No, no. I didn't think it was too hot out there today. You know, it was no warmer than any of the other days that I've played on. So, you know, I had the perfect preparation. I drank plenty of electrolyte fluids and had a good rest this morning, you know, a lot of energy. I felt fine out there, obviously. I think both of us were feeling pretty good. We were still going pretty hard right throughout the match, the whole three sets.

ALICIA MOLIK: Yeah. I mean, the bottom line is I probably had a chance out there to win today and I know -- and I guess I can be comforted by the fact that I feel like I'm going to put myself in more positions like today to beat the top five players in the world. I am in the Top 10 now. I hope I can stay there. I think I will stay there. But, you know, it's opportunities like today that, you know, in the future in 2005 that I'll look to take advantage of. Today I see it as the one that got away. But just keep trying, keep persisting. It's a game of numbers. I can't be too disappointed. I've won something like 38 out of the last 42 or 43 matches over the course of the last couple months. At the same time, I still can be pretty positive after the loss.

ALICIA MOLIK: No, I never got ahead of myself. That's, you know, one thing that is clear when you play the top players is that you know until you win the last point of the match, the match is never over. Especially against a quality player like Lindsay Davenport, she's never, ever going to give you a free point. You know the match is never over. I played her a couple of times before. She's never going to wait for you to even make a mistake. She goes for her shots; she hits winners. When the pressure is on, Lindsay comes up with a lot of big shots like she did today. I never got ahead of myself today, which was a good thing. I kept putting myself in the position. I was hoping maybe I could have put a little bit more pressure on her in the third set. I did break there, but a break's only as good I guess if you can hold the next game. I did serve great in the third set, and at times it really let me down as well. My percentage dropped. Against a player like Lindsay and her caliber, what she can do on the court, you just can't afford to miss so many first serves. That's the bottom line.

ALICIA MOLIK: Yeah, I did. I enjoyed it. It's Australia Day. Everyone was behind me, or most of the crowd. I was giving 100%. I was enjoying it. Both of us came up with some flashy shots. You know, it was a really good battle out there. That's what was so exciting. I enjoy a battle. I'm disappointed that I didn't win, but at the end of the day I gave it my best. Lindsay did, too. She just got me again. I guess I'm just going to have to work that little bit harder so maybe the table can turn next time I play her.

ALICIA MOLIK: Well, I enter every tournament to try and be there, you know, on the last couple days. I've said that many times. Has my belief changed from the first round I played here till today? No, because I believed at the start of the tournament exactly what I believe now.

ALICIA MOLIK: I don't know. It's always a tough one, you know. Some of my best results have come on clay, on green clay and on red clay. Maybe that's not typically a surface that would be suited to me, but I really enjoy playing on clay. I don't know if I favor one over the other. I guess they're all surfaces that I enjoy, they're all challenging, and I guess they all help. Each and every surface that the Grand Slams are played on I guess help my game in a certain way. In Wimbledon, my serves shoot through. Roland Garros, I can kick the ball a little bit more. Here, the ball sits up a bit so I can give it a good hit. But I don't have a preference. Any one would be good, I think.

ALICIA MOLIK: My goals this year so far are to win this doubles match that I'm about to play in probably about 45 minutes. So I'm still in the tournament. I'll get down to Svetlana and have a good chat about the match. I'm looking forward to it and I want to get out there and still if I can still be here on the final day, here at the Australian Open.

ALICIA MOLIK: I felt like, obviously -- you know, I tried to put pressure on her serve. I tried to step around and hit a good few forehands on my returns. But I think she probably knew that I was going to try and do something, try and dictate or try and really be aggressive with the ball that I receive. So no doubt she felt that. But a credit to her, she served big when it really counted. She surprised me out wide a couple times and, you know, that's why she's No. 1, is that on those one or two important points, she definitely makes the play, I'll tell you. So when you're out there, that's very difficult, to know that she, you know, steps it up and that ball's going to continually get deeper and deeper. Like today I had to have a giggle because I knew Lindsay Davenport could hit the back of the line on the baseline three, four times in a row. I think I hit her baseline twice and it came back each and every time just as deep. So, you know, sometimes, you know, just got to keep at it. But I felt like I played a very high level today. Felt we were very evenly matched. She's No. 1 in the world, and I had a chance to win out there today. So I think that's a good indication.

ALICIA MOLIK: Yes (smiling). Yeah, yeah, I did. How did you know?

ALICIA MOLIK: Yeah, I thought it was a tiebreaker, obviously it wasn't. But, yeah, I was planning in my head. Obviously, I served an ace. So I like to try and start all tiebreakers off with an ace and get on front foot. But, you know, it just meant that he we got to enjoy Rod Laver a little bit longer, playing (smiling).