US OPEN

August 27, 2003

Kim Clijsters

KIM CLIJSTERS: Oh, you're not the first one to ask that.

KIM CLIJSTERS: It's been asked already.

KIM CLIJSTERS: Yeah, I was, definitely. I think compared to my first match, I felt like, you know, against Laura today I had to play better than my first match. I definitely did that. I definitely stepped my game up a little bit. You know, I was very happy with that, the way I played today.

KIM CLIJSTERS: Well, not when we're out on the court. Obviously not. I think it's great to see whenever we play a lot of big matches how people announce where we're from, where we live. I think that's great, to see how sort of after -- tennis-wise, after Dominique Van Roost and Sabine Appelmans stopped playing, straightaway we had two other girls in the Top 10. We kept the Belgian tennis going. I think, yeah, it's great what we can do for the name of our country.

KIM CLIJSTERS: Definitely. I don't know if Svetlana trained in Russia. I think she's been training in Spain for a long time. But, no, I definitely think -- also following my sister in the Juniors circuit, there's so many Russians playing so well. I don't know how many there are in the women's draw. I think there are about 13 or 14 Russians in the main draw. I think that's incredible. That's definitely, you know, part of hard work. But also, like you said, they maybe don't have the richest Federation and they probably have to work really hard from a young age. I think that's what pays off. I think any sport is about that, working as hard as you can.

KIM CLIJSTERS: I don't know. It's hard to say. The type of game they play, as well, they all have similar styles of games. It's very hard to get through those. They hardly miss a ball. They always hit with the same amount of speed, almost every shot. That's why I think it's amazing to see how all of those girls have made it a long way, yeah.

KIM CLIJSTERS: Of course, any Grand Slam you always get motivated. By you saying I was disappointed, I was disappointed losing those matches, but I still made it to the semifinals and to the finals. I always try to take the positive out of my losses. You know, of course, when I lose a match, I'm disappointed. But, you know, I'm not going to, you know, sit down and cry, reflect on what happened. I want to go forward and get better and work on what I didn't do well in that match. That's what I've been doing. That's what you always have to do. You have to always try to get better and try to stay motivated.

KIM CLIJSTERS: Russians?

KIM CLIJSTERS: It's hard. You know, I was one of those a few years ago. You know, for a young girl, I think it depends on your character, as well. Some of the young girls can get intimidated by who's standing in front of you, which court you're playing on. A lot of the girls now, like Sharapova, Harkleroad, they're so driven. I think women's tennis at the moment has a great moment ahead of them, especially with Maria and stuff, yeah.

KIM CLIJSTERS: Maybe to my opponents, if it's in their head they're playing the No. 1, maybe that's a little bit, like, intimidating. On the other hand, that could even be also more motivating as well. I think it depends, like I said before, on the character of your opponent, of the girl that you're playing. But, yeah, I don't know. For me personally it doesn't change anything. It's not like I try to be more intimidating than normal.

KIM CLIJSTERS: It's disappointing. You always like to play at home. I don't know if it's that good of a choice from the ITF to have it in Russia. You always have to look ahead a little bit. What worries me, last time we played in Moscow, I think we played in front of 100, 200 people. We played the Russian team, as well. I sort of hope that Russia can get through to the final so they have a bigger crowd. It will be very disappointing to see if the home country doesn't get to the final. In Russia, I don't know if that would be a great crowd if they wouldn't make it through to the final. I think in Belgium, tennis at the moment is so big. I think even if Belgium wouldn't make it through to the final, I think we would still get a great crowd. I think the Belgian crowd is a lot more interested.

KIM CLIJSTERS: It's too hard to think about. I don't want to worry about it at the moment. It's definitely made it a lot tougher. It's tough, especially with the week off in between. It makes it really tough I think for a lot of players. I definitely think the ITF -- I'm sure they'll definitely open their eyes. I don't think a lot of the top players will be playing.

KIM CLIJSTERS: Your saying that is the first I've heard about it. I haven't really had time to really think about it. So, yeah, I don't know. I don't see a reason why they would make it longer or anything.

KIM CLIJSTERS: I mean, I'm not the type of person, I don't want to see things that have been the same way for such a long time changed. You know, I think you just have to go with the history of the tournament, I think. I don't know. Something I'll have to think about.

KIM CLIJSTERS: I did, yeah.

KIM CLIJSTERS: Yeah, it was. I laughed a little bit. It was definitely a nice feeling. It was a very happy feeling, too, to see that, my name on the top of the draw. Yeah, definitely.