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THE LIPTON CHAMPIONSHIPS


March 19, 1999


Monica Seles


KEY BISCAYNE, FLORIDA

BROOKE LAWER: First question for Monica.

Q. Who are you working with here?

MONICA SELES: I'm working with Zoltan, the same person I worked with for the last two and a half years.

Q. I knew there was some question. Arias was in the mix.

MONICA SELES: Jimmy still plays with me a lot, he is helping me tremendously at home. He can't travel, so.

Q. How did it feel out there today?

MONICA SELES: It felt fine. I mean, it was a very close match. It's always a tough one in the first round to play. I haven't played that great of tennis in the last couple of weeks. I'm just really happy to finish off the match in two sets.

Q. Are you looking for a coach or would you rather it be like it is now?

MONICA SELES: I got to No. 3 without any coach. I definitely would like to find a coach. I want to make sure I find one that is going to work for a little longer period of time. I just don't want to keep changing. I tried somebody; it didn't work out. I'm still looking for it, definitely.

Q. If you could create the ideal coach, what three qualities --?

MONICA SELES: That's not fair. Really the only long-term coach I had was my dad. It's a different relationship because he's my parent, my father. But obviously he has to help me add some new things to the game. But also he would have to help me with my strengths that my game is built upon, be able to play really good tennis, know most of the girls. The girls are changing so much. Every six months, you have new girls. There are a lot tougher matches right now.

Q. You worked a little with Harold Solomon, too?

MONICA SELES: Harold offered to help me, talked to me a few times before a couple of matches. I love Harold. I still talk to him. He's a great guy. He didn't work with me in terms of playing and that stuff.

Q. Do you think you're quite difficult to coach? Are you demanding?

MONICA SELES: No, no, no, no. Just the opposite. I think most people are really nervous when they start out. But once they get to see my routine, not really.

Q. Why would they be nervous?

MONICA SELES: I don't know. You've got to ask them that.

Q. With Gavin, it was just simply a matter that he wanted to work with Mark?

MONICA SELES: Not really. It was a mutual decision. There were a couple of issues. I think that's between Gavin and I. If Gavin wants to talk, that's fine. I still love Gavin. I still talk to Gavin. It just didn't work out on both sides I think.

Q. There's been so much buzz about Amelie. Can you talk a little bit about what impresses you with her game, where do you see her going?

MONICA SELES: Well, Amelie impressed me a lot last year at the US Open where she played a very tough match against Hingis. To me, it really wasn't that big of a surprise getting through to Australia. Obviously, she had one great win, which was Lindsay. I think that's what brought so much attention. I just think she's a great player. She's very strong physically and mentally. I really enjoy watching her play.

Q. You make a good point with the physical and mental power that we possess as humans. That was your strongest point, that puts you right over the (inaudible). Where are you at with your mental game?

MONICA SELES: It's getting better. I think to be really strong mentally on the court, you have to have a pretty simple off life. When you're a child, it's a lot easier than when you're an adult. Obviously the last couple of years have been really tough for me. Really, it's been so many new things. I'm still having a tough time with certain things. But mentally, I'm trying to get stronger and stronger. But there are some days that it gets tough for different reasons. I think anybody who loses a parent, and at the same time a coach, is thrown into that situation, staying at a high level of competing, it's very difficult. There's not a book that I can read that can help me through. Thank goodness I have my mom to help me through that. I'm still finding my way.

Q. Is there one thing that you practice mentally more than not that helps you?

MONICA SELES: For me right now, it's just really trying to stay focused out there on the court. Last week, ten days ago when I played Indian Wells, I had a hard time doing that. Today I actually felt I was in and out of the court. That's one area I have to improve upon. I was really improving that last year and the beginning of this year. I had a little bit of a tougher time with that the last few weeks. Hopefully I can get it right back on track.

Q. You mentioned how difficult it is getting your life back sorted out. Do you feel in a way that your father is still around? Do you do stuff with him in mind sometimes?

MONICA SELES: No, no, unfortunately not.

Q. Do you sort of sometimes use him as a yardstick, "He would approve of that or not approve of that"?

MONICA SELES: No. I didn't talk to my dad about that in terms of my tennis or in terms of my life, what decisions I could take. A lot of times I'm at a point where I have different decisions in my life that I have to make. It was always nice to be able to call my dad or have him there and ask him, which right now I won't have that. I've got to decide that myself, with my mom's help, just try to do the best that I can. I'm sure I'll make plenty of mistakes.

Q. What is it that you want out of tennis now?

MONICA SELES: That's a tough one for me to answer.

Q. There's so much power in wanting something.

MONICA SELES: That's for sure. I would love to win Grand Slams. That's one thing that I'd love to do. I'd like to be No. 1, but it's not to me the biggest thing if I be No. 1 one day. To me if I'm No. 3 two years ago, last year I'm No. 7, that's great, but it doesn't give me joy. Doesn't give me joy when I'm No. 1 seven years ago. But I think to win a Grand Slam, just because you're there for two weeks, and at the end of the week just to hold that trophy, I really don't think there's any other feeling like that in your tennis career. That would be my choice.

Q. Is it still a passion in your life, tennis?

MONICA SELES: I still love to play tennis. I mean, I don't think I would be out here -- I hope I wouldn't be out here if I didn't enjoy it.

Q. Are you able to set boundaries to enjoy it, do what you want, not be bothered by pressures, what people may or may not be expecting of you?

MONICA SELES: I really try to just put expectations on myself because I put high ones on myself. I put enough pressure on myself. I sometimes think I put too much pressure on myself. I think that's the worst pressure, when it's within. I'm trying to lessen that a little bit.

Q. Talk about this tournament and being in Miami. There's a lot of elements you have to play with here, the heat especially. What are your goals for this tournament?

MONICA SELES: Well, I like playing here. Obviously I'm used to the heat because I live here. I think it's a very windy tournament, but if you're playing on the stadium court it's a lot better than on the outside courts. It's a beautiful tournament. I'm lucky to be staying on the island. I have a few friends that drove down from home. For me, it's one of the easiest tournaments in terms of logistics.

End of FastScripts....

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