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WIMBLEDONJune 27, 2002Elena LikhovtsevaWIMBLEDOM, ENGLAND, E. LIKHOVTSEVA/K. Clijsters 7-6, 6-2 THE MODERATOR: Questions in English, please. Q. What was your secret in the game against Kim Clijsters? ELENA LIKHOVTSEVA: I don't think there were any secrets. It's just that I tried to be concentrated and I think she didn't have a good day today tennis-wise. I just -- I played the first set, I won it. Then I just found it was better with my rhythm and I guess she was still struggling till the end of the match. Q. You did play a lot of points with your forehand by the line. That was kind of an asset in your game. ELENA LIKHOVTSEVA: Yeah. Well, my coach, he told me that I have to be -- I have to be aggressive with Kim because otherwise she will put so much pressure in me. So I just tried to take any chances, you know, and just go down the line and make her run. Q. Did you still believe in it, in the tiebreak, when you were down? ELENA LIKHOVTSEVA: I didn't really think about it. I was just thinking about one point at a time and just, you know, that I have to play it. Q. But you didn't feel that you were losing the set at that moment? ELENA LIKHOVTSEVA: Oh, no, I didn't think about that, no, no. Q. You were close to pulling off a big upset against Lindsay a couple years ago here. ELENA LIKHOVTSEVA: Yeah. Q. Did that experience help you at all? ELENA LIKHOVTSEVA: Well, against Lindsay it's always tough. And I think, you know, she's -- I just knew I had my chance today, so I took it. Q. Were you aware of the terrible reputation of Court 2? ELENA LIKHOVTSEVA: No. Q. No, weren't you? ELENA LIKHOVTSEVA: No. Q. It hasn't happened much to the women. It's considered the graveyard. ELENA LIKHOVTSEVA: Oh, is it? Q. The graveyard of champions. Sampras lost there yesterday. ELENA LIKHOVTSEVA: That's why they put her there. Q. Yeah, probably they needed a female obituary because there have been very few upsets of women on Court 2. ELENA LIKHOVTSEVA: So now they have another one. Q. It's your best victory recently? ELENA LIKHOVTSEVA: Yes. Q. How do you feel about it? Is it the best experience? ELENA LIKHOVTSEVA: I feel maybe more confident, because I've been struggling since the beginning of the year. Especially in the beginning, first few months, I didn't win many matches. I've been struggling. Then it just started to work. I knew it was coming because I had a few close matches through when I played in Europe and when I played at Roland Garros. If it wouldn't come here, then it would be somewhere else. Q. Because you lost in Rome against Kim Clijsters pretty badly. ELENA LIKHOVTSEVA: Yeah, well, she played really good there. And I didn't -- I couldn't do much about that. But I played good matches before that and, you know, just that she played good. Today she didn't. Or maybe I played better. Q. Yeah, apparently you learned something about her during that match. ELENA LIKHOVTSEVA: Yes, I guess so. Q. What exactly? ELENA LIKHOVTSEVA: I don't know. It's like I knew that she's not going to go down the line with her forehand many times. She likes it more cross-court. And she has this hook, you know. And she always, most of the time, goes cross court. It was easy for me. I was just concentrating on trying to return her serve and try and make the deep returns. She was struggling with her forehand a lot. Q. So you had a very keen tactical plan? ELENA LIKHOVTSEVA: I did I guess, yep. Q. You play the British girl Baltacha next. She just won. Have you come across her at all? ELENA LIKHOVTSEVA: I played her last round of qualifying in Eastbourne and I won 7-5, 7-6 against her. She's a good player. She's young. I know she serves good, and she can play good. But she's still -- she has a lot of unforced errors. And I guess she a bit struggles under the pressure. Q. I presume it's going to be on one of the show courts with the British crowd. Will that have any effect on you? ELENA LIKHOVTSEVA: Yeah, the bigger the better. Q. Have you been on the show courts before? ELENA LIKHOVTSEVA: Yes, I played. Centre Court is nice, Centre Court is very nice. I like it better than Court 1. Q. Her father played football for Russia. Is he still known as a big name? ELENA LIKHOVTSEVA: I guess she's from Ukraine, and I don't really follow football. But my husband knows his name, so... He's pretty popular, I think. End of FastScripts…. |
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