US OPEN

August 27, 2002

Alicia Molik

ALICIA MOLIK: No, it was -- went according to plan, that's for sure. I wrote down my game plan before the match. I hit the ball well, I served well. From the start I went out and really didn't hesitate at all.

ALICIA MOLIK: Yeah.

ALICIA MOLIK: Yeah. It's something, you know, I always do.

ALICIA MOLIK: A long time.

ALICIA MOLIK: High percentage of first serves. Just, you know, tactics and things that I'm going to remind myself of out there on the court.

ALICIA MOLIK: I haven't done that yet, no.

ALICIA MOLIK: It worked today, yeah. But, I mean, anything can help - something that's going to stick in your mind maybe when your mind is wandering out there, something to bring your focus back. I think it helps me out anyway.

ALICIA MOLIK: I'll probably write down that Venus isn't going to lose to anyone, you got to go out there and beat her. She doesn't have too many weak points, that's for sure. You know, she's a great player. Like I said, she's not going to let anyone -- or she's not going to lose the match. If anyone's going to beat her, they've got to get out there and physically beat her. That's the story with her.

ALICIA MOLIK: No. But I think that -- I mean, if she's unbeatable, she would have a pretty clean record. I'm pretty sure she's got one or two losses on the board. I'm not sure which ones, you could probably tell me that.

ALICIA MOLIK: She's not going to lose to anyone. She's a great player.

ALICIA MOLIK: I think I did play her I think going back about three years ago, three and a half years ago. I think I played her at the French Open. I don't remember what year.

ALICIA MOLIK: I lost. I think -- I don't even remember the score, but I remember the court. We played on Suzanne Lenglen there.

ALICIA MOLIK: She was a very powerful player. She returned well, she served well. That was the first time I'd ever really played against her. Definitely took me by surprise. She's a powerful player. She really didn't miss too much. I think my groundies have got a little bit bigger over the last couple years, and I'm going to go out there and go for it.

ALICIA MOLIK: Well, now I do, yeah. I spoke to my dad. Like he said, it's an opportunity, absolutely, if I can go out there and perform well. Tennis is a game where there's one winner, there's one loser. But until you walk off the court really, and you've left everything on the court, I mean, anything can happen - absolutely anything.

ALICIA MOLIK: I don't know a lot of the young, really young girls, junior girls. It's a completely different tour. But, I mean, last year -- I think we finished the year with I think three or four in the Top 50, 60. That's not such a bad record. As far as the Juniors go, I don't know if any have such a high ranking. I wouldn't know the 12- and 13-year-olds, that's for sure.

ALICIA MOLIK: Yeah. You know, I've been trying to play like that -- I have been playing like that all year. But, you know, it's -- other reasons have sort of made it difficult to win, you know? I've been putting myself in good situations. I've let my mind wander a few times, haven't got out of a few matches that I should have gotten out of. I guess today was an example where really I concentrated for the whole match. I guess that's why I got the result that I did really. But, you know, it's difficult to put everything together constantly and consistently when you're out on the court.

ALICIA MOLIK: Well, every day is a different day. I mean, I guess every tennis player lets certain things wander into their mind, might be something you watch on TV the night before, might be your next match, next opponent, what court you're playing on, whether you're hungry, thirsty, tired, or you feel energetic. All these things come into your mind. I guess it's a matter of channelling it. It is difficult for me, but I've been working on that and it is getting a lot better. So I'm happy about it.

ALICIA MOLIK: Yeah, well, we'll see I guess. We'll see in two days' time.

ALICIA MOLIK: Yeah, today my coach and I really spoke about that already, yeah.

ALICIA MOLIK: He said I moved well today, I definitely defended well. He's very impressed with the way I moved and with the way I defended. He was happy with the way I stuck to my game plan and didn't let my mind wander, yeah. That was another thing. And that was it really.

ALICIA MOLIK: Maybe the next point, what you plan to do. I mean, it's simple stuff. It's not complicated. But like I said, you just got to -- you got to make it work out there.

ALICIA MOLIK: I think anyone that's going to beat Venus needs to serve well. I think I need to return well. I need to hit, you know, bloody well off the ground. I think they also need to mix their game up, I need to make her think. That's it. If you can do all that, you know, maybe you're giving yourself a good shot.

ALICIA MOLIK: Yeah.

ALICIA MOLIK: No. What happened?

ALICIA MOLIK: I didn't know that. I didn't know that. Wow. That's unlucky. He's had a rough run, hasn't he?

ALICIA MOLIK: What do you mean "here"?

ALICIA MOLIK: We said hi, yeah.

ALICIA MOLIK: I mean, Jelena doesn't live in Australia. Don't really see her often. We wouldn't anyhow, we don't keep in contact or anything. I have another set of really close friends.

ALICIA MOLIK: No, I think maybe -- I'm pretty sure that that is the case. But, you know, it's -- you know, everyone's got their own choices and mind to make up. I guess she's made her mind up.

ALICIA MOLIK: It's strange from a tennis perspective, yeah. All the top players play all the Slams. But then again, I mean, there's always reasons behind that thinking, and I don't know those reasons. Obviously there's a lot going on there. But I don't know Jelena or her family well enough to even begin to imagine why they've chosen to go on that path anyway.

ALICIA MOLIK: Oh, no, I spoke to him a few days ago.

ALICIA MOLIK: No, no. My parents don't travel with me.

ALICIA MOLIK: Speed of...?

ALICIA MOLIK: I give myself a shot, definitely. I mean, there's a lot of girls out there that play a very similar style, and I think the top players get used to that style. I mean, you had a lot of hard, flat hitters on the tour. I guess I'll try and mix it up. I try and play a different way so girls don't get used to the same type of ball coming at them and the same type of rhythm.

ALICIA MOLIK: Haven't thought about it. Haven't thought about next year yet. But beginning of this year my goal was to get inside the Top 30. It's going to be a tough road to get to there where I am at the moment. I think I'm ranked 60 or 70. Haven't even thought about next year. Too much going on in the rest of this year.

ALICIA MOLIK: Yeah. After the US Open, I am going to go to Shanghai, Tokyo, Bali then Tokyo. There's four tournaments there in a row. So, yeah, I'm playing those four. I actually go back to Asia again later in the year to Indonesia, I think.