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BNP PARIBAS OPENMarch 9, 2013Jamie HamptonINDIAN WELLS, CALIFORNIA J. HAMPTON/S. Hseih THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Pretty good place for you, Indian Wells. Good run last year, doing very solid this year. What do you like about this place? JAMIE HAMPTON: The atmosphere. I mean, the weather is great, obviously. Couple days it was a little cold. Yesterday, as well. It's really laid back. Everyone supports the Americans here. The Americans always get good courts. Just a great tournament all around. Q. She can be a tricky player. JAMIE HAMPTON: Yeah. Q. You must have known that going in. What was your kind of game plan? Looked like a pretty routine win for you. JAMIE HAMPTON: Like you said, she's pretty tricky, talented, has good hands, really good at doubles, as well. With any two‑hander, probably stretch them a little bit to their cross hand, try to play up the middle, jam them a bit and not give them the angles, because you could see when I did give her an angle it was good tennis. (Smiling.) Q. So how are you feeling now? Getting a couple wins at tournaments now is a more and more regular thing for you. What do you think has been the key coming to an event and being able to put matches together like this now? JAMIE HAMPTON: Just the confidence from my offseason, I think. I go into tournaments now looking to get deep instead of going out first round or winning a round here and there. Just, like I said, my offseason was really strong, so now I go into matches with a lot of belief. Q. How is the back feeling these days? JAMIE HAMPTON: Pretty good. You know, I haven't had a major problem since Australia. It has its good days and bad days. Since Australia it's been good. Q. Just about resting it or is that basically all you can do? JAMIE HAMPTON: I see my physio every day back in Florida, and then when I'm at tournaments, you know, I regularly visit the WTA physios. Q. Why do you think there has been the surge among young American women far more than young American men? JAMIE HAMPTON: I don't really know. The girls ‑‑all I can say about the girls is that we work together and work really hard, especially the girls at Boca. I'm not saying the other people don't work really hard. Yeah, I mean, we are just working hard, to be honest. There is no secret. Q. And what's the team? What's the lineup at Boca? JAMIE HAMPTON: Myself, Madison, Taylor Townsend, Grace Min, Shelby Rogers. A lot of pros coming in and out so we get to hit with a lot of players. The coaches really work together as a team. They have really stepped up and, you know, at tournaments they all sit down and watch matches together. So it's like we are a big team, to be honest. Q. Have you sensed a big step up both the coaching staff and the tournaments in terms of a renewed commitment? Was it more like the players stepped it up and the coaches have kind of always been the same? It seems like right now everybody is really talking about, yeah, preseason and the training blocks that you guys had and the positive impact that's had for the year. JAMIE HAMPTON: It was nothing that was overnight. I mean, the coaches have been in place for a while. Yeah, I really don't know what else to say. We have just been working really hard. There is really no secret. Q. Tough question, but excludeing yourself, of the young Americans, who do you think will ultimately emerge? It's a pretty good... JAMIE HAMPTON: It is a tough question. There is a big crop of us, and we all are all really different in how we play. So I think that, you know, gives a lot of variety to the group. Madison obviously has a very bright future; hits a big ball. Sloane is an incredible athlete; moves really well. Melanie, Taylor, I mean, there is ‑‑the whole group of us, we are all really good and we are all coming into our own in our own time. Q. There has been a bunch of American versus American matches. You played Bethanie, Melanie and Madison played each other at night, and you get Sloane next round. What are those matches for you like when you're all sort of moving together as a group, and how do you go into a match against another American? Is it all different? JAMIE HAMPTON: No, not really. I don't want to lose. Doesn't matter who I'm playing. I'm sure they don't want to lose, either. Even in practice we're really competitive, and I think it's a healthy competition, as well. It's not like we're mad at each other or anything. We just want to win. Q. What's your game plan against Sloane? What do you think you can... JAMIE HAMPTON: I think she still has to play tonight. She hasn't won yet. (Laughter.) Q.You beat Urszula in Australia, though. JAMIE HAMPTON: Yeah. I have played them both. They are pretty different. Urszula likes to hug the baseline and take the ball early. I will probably catch a little bit of it tonight and have another day to rest and talk to my coaches. Q. And you're a little bit under the radar screen. If someone came up to you and said, Hey, what's the coolest thing about Jamie Hamilton, what would you say? JAMIE HAMPTON: I'm pretty boring, actually. I wouldn't consider myself cool at all. Q. Oh, come on. JAMIE HAMPTON: No, really. Q. Why is that? JAMIE HAMPTON: My life pretty much revolves around tennis. I eat, sleep, and dink tennis. There is not too much time for anything else for me. I have to take care of my back and body. That's a full‑time job in itself. To add tennis on top of that... Q. In the small sliver of time that you're spending that you're not playing tennis, what are you doing? JAMIE HAMPTON: Sleeping. Q. TV, sleeping? Do you know who won the Oscar for best picture? JAMIE HAMPTON: Argon. Q. Close. Argo. JAMIE HAMPTON: Argo. I said Argon, didn't I? Dang it. Okay. Q. Obviously you put a lot of intensity into your tennis. Regarding stress on court, as you win more and more, is that going to change your mindset out there? JAMIE HAMPTON: I'm always looking to bring a good bit of intensity to the match or the court. I think as I get a little bit older and in these situations more frequently, I will probably settle down a bit, get more comfortable with the atmosphere and the environment. I haven't been a pro too long so I haven't had a ton of experience in a big‑match setting. Q. Is a lot of this still new to you? JAMIE HAMPTON: Yes, very much so. Q. As you enter into this whole world of tennis, what can you envision ‑‑what's your best visions? What would really delight you in terms of lifetime achievement? JAMIE HAMPTON: I haven't really determined that yet. I have asked myself quite a few times what would I have to do to be ‑ for myself ‑ to be considered successful, and I don't really have an answer to that. But of course, you know, I want to be the best player in the world, I want to win slams, and I think the only thing I can really worry about right now is giving myself the opportunity to do that, which would be continuing to work on my game and improving. Q. In that Azarenka match, how have you looked back on picking a set off a player who ended up winning the tournament? JAMIE HAMPTON: Everyone says, you know, you get a lot of confidence from that, but I just ‑‑I was really disappointed, you know, to be that close and to have something that you work so hard for just kind of fail you, like my body. But of course it is nice when I go back and look at the highlights and I look at the way I was playing. It tells me that I'm going the right direction. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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