US OPEN

August 25, 2003

Alicia Molik

ALICIA MOLIK: It wasn't as planned. I didn't start off very well. I was 4-1 down. It was clear what I needed to do. It was just a bit scratchy at the start. Yeah, she's a qualifier, she's had a lot of matches. She started really solidly. Only the one break. I mean, I knew what I had to do. I went out there and I secured it a little bit better after that.

ALICIA MOLIK: I didn't want to fall into her game. Kept going for my game, serving the kicker. It was hard to resist the big, flat bomb. She was having so much trouble with my kicker on my serves. Sometimes you really need to resist the temptation to go with what you feel like serving and serve the serves that you really -- that are effective and that are working for you. I started doing that a little bit better.

ALICIA MOLIK: Yeah, I mean, it wasn't the best tennis, but a win's a win in the first round. I only had a day to prepare. I was in New Haven last week. It was pretty hot. Here it's pretty hot, breezy. A number of different factors out there. I was happy to get that. 4-1 down, pull it back, win the first set 7-6. Yeah, not too many complaints.

ALICIA MOLIK: Yeah, I'd say more than likely she's expected to win. I played her earlier in the year in Sarasota on green clay, which is probably a more favorable surface for her. I beat her there pretty convincingly. I'm looking forward to it. If I do have to play her, I don't think it will be a problem. I'll look forward to it. You know, I know the tennis I played last time to beat her. So it's a matter of getting out there and repeating the same tennis.

ALICIA MOLIK: I just looked at that. If Conchita wins, I have to play Conchita, I think. You know, it's Monday. That will probably be Wednesday. I'm not worrying about too many days ahead. But, yeah, Grand Slams, there's always openings. One at a time, I guess as they say.

ALICIA MOLIK: Yeah, I think it's been a good year so far. I think I've beaten all but two players ranked below me. That was a base minimum I was looking for this year, to keep my play and my tennis consistently up there. I'm happy with the way things are going. I had a great lead-up coming into this tournament. I lost to some really good players. Sometimes you win them, sometimes you don't. I haven't lost to any shabby players. They've always been Top 20, Top 30 players. Been some tough matches. I think I've learned from them.

ALICIA MOLIK: No, no, not at all.