US OPEN

September 4, 1998

Monica Seles

Q. Describe the state of your game. How did you feel out there today, and are you as far along as you'd like to be at this point in the tournament?

MONICA SELES: I am just really happy. The fourth round looking forward to my next match, obviously going to play later today. I played some solid tennis out there today. I really liked the old stadium now that they have changed it. So it was a good solid match.

MONICA SELES: Well, this week I am just worrying about my tennis game personally. A lot of people come up to me and they are very nice in different things, but my main goal is just for tennis really these two weeks I am here.

MONICA SELES: I do, of course.

MONICA SELES: Yeah.

MONICA SELES: It was just very tough. I really don't want to be remembered as the last person to beat Chrissy in the fourth round, but then she lost to Zina in the next match. But at that point I just -- I grew up watching her and it was just really weird to be part of history in that sense. But I still shouldn't have lost that match because of that. But at 14, or how old I was that time, that is the way I thought.

MONICA SELES: Oh, she pretty -- it was a tight match. It was 6-2, 6-2, she killed me, every point was long, but score line looked like it was very easy.

MONICA SELES: I just was on the court, I wanted to win the major match, that is a dangerous position to be in; especially my style of game.

MONICA SELES: They have definitely a lot of long rallies, but not -- I think Chrissy tried to change the pace. In the last match when I played here she was hitting everything very deep, so it was hard to attack, best of my recollection. But she was just too consistent, I think, for that day. I was inexperienced and just missing way too many balls and that decided the match.

MONICA SELES: No, not the last ten years, no. (Laughs)

MONICA SELES: I think I have been serving pretty good. I have been running down a lot of balls, staying in points; probably my return and my ground strokes have not been consistent - I have been lucky -- not lucky, I don't know what word I'd use, to turn up my game a couple of notches when it was important to win, but I still need to do a few more things, I think, for my next round match.

MONICA SELES: Pretty much I have just done the same thing like before, always just go out there and hit. When I step on the court I really try not to bring with me what happened the day before in practice or in a match because if you remember playing well, you can get too confident, and if you are not, then you can just have zero self-confidence. I just believe just to go out there and take it as it comes, every ball and nothing that I am playing better now or worse because that gets me into trouble. It's gotten me into trouble a few times.

MONICA SELES: No, not this time because I had way too many after I came back from Federation Cup, just played the matches at the California tournaments. I think that was my kind of off weeks during San Francisco and San Diego.

MONICA SELES: I have. My mom and my friend we will probably go to Celine Dion tonight. I always do the same things. I haven't changed, but obviously I am not -- I never done we really that much before, but if it fits into my schedule I do it, but that is not my priority.

MONICA SELES: Obviously, I read about it. I really don't follow baseball that much. But I definitely -- I think it is unbelievable, both Sosa, I think what the two of them are trying to do. But it is not one of the sports that I watch, like follow day-to-day.

MONICA SELES: I think so. Obviously you want to be patient for the first few matches and just play some great tennis. I hit a lot of balls. I think that is good. Spend quite a lot of time on both courts. But it is just -- it is almost like a new tournament really from certain rounds on, so many things can happen. So I will just keep practicing and stay focused and worry about my next match. I am out of doubles. I only have to worry about my singles now.

MONICA SELES: In some way I think so, definitely. I mean, you just got to be focused from first point on and raise your level of game. But all of us, I think.

MONICA SELES: No, Steffi as far as we have really gone is: Hi. That was it.

MONICA SELES: Oh Martina is too nice.

MONICA SELES: I don't know. I think you have to ask Martina that. But I just like Martina. I think she is just a great No. 1 player. She talks to players. She is friendly. You can just go up to her and talk to her and have a normal conversation. I just admire her so much for that. She was like that when she came on the Tour and now since she has been No. 1 for a year or year and a half, and she hasn't changed. That says, I think, a lot about her and her mom's upbringing of her.

MONICA SELES: I think at some periods I was and some periods I wasn't. I think I had four, five friends when I first became No. 1 and the rest of them, the furthest I got was "Hi." For my case, I can speak for sure, it came from out of shyness. I was just terrified to look anyone in the eye because I haven't been around that many kids, but like end of '92 it changed a lot, I think. But I always had the same friends that I could talk to. But they were not as many - I think probably Martina is more friendly to a lot more people than I was at that time.

MONICA SELES: I really always was good friends with Arantxa, Mary Joe, Helena, so, just pretty much -- I mean, now obviously I talk to a lot more players, but I still have the friendship, I will go out with them to diner at tournaments and different things.

MONICA SELES: Mine was different. Only player that ever criticized me was Gigi Fernandez and a lot of players came to me in the locker room and I went up to her -- she is the only player that ever said anything about me. Everybody else never said anything. It is hard for me to say because I don't want to get into that stuff, but what is happening now, it is a different generation, totally different personalities. I don't think Steffi and I were as cocky or in terms of -- felt we deserve this and that before we got to be No. 1 and won all those Grand Slams. That is why and they haven't done that yet. Once they do it, I am sure they will. No question. So that is why I just don't think it is fair when everybody compares Martina and the group - Williams, Anna and Mirjana because she is quite a few titles ahead of them.

MONICA SELES: Then you can say those things, because you can back them up, but they haven't backed it up yet. That is just my feeling. Then in some ways it is great what they are doing because they are bringing excitement to it and they feel that way. So it is their right to express themselves that way too.

MONICA SELES: Well, I still will not go up to people that I don't know. I still -- I think probably having a life a little bit outside of tennis, once the stabbing happened, I think in 1993 I had -- really was really sick for like two months before I played Hamburg because I didn't play for like 2 1/2 months before Hamburg. I think just as a person I changed and a little bit more open because I, as a child growing up, my father's biggest worry was that always am too focused on one thing. That I need to be slowed down. So....

MONICA SELES: I am curious to see that. I like them. I get along with them all, each one is unique, different personalities. But we will just have to see, but they are -- I mean, they are 17 and 18, so, gosh it is so different when you -- those years I remember when I came on the Tour, first time I didn't have a person really close to my age - Martina and Chris and they -- wait, Monica, 'til when you get there, you think differently and you definitely think differently. They are so lucky to have each other to relate to each other a little bit and not feel totally alone in the locker room. When I came, first years I just felt totally alone in the locker room because I couldn't relate to anybody. And everybody knew already -- everybody is: Here comes this new kid, who is a total outsider and so that is when Jennifer came along. I think is why I think we got along so well because we could just relate to each other and it was such a nice feeling. I think all the youngsters have that advantage right now.

MONICA SELES: Nobody, really. No. That is why it was so intimidating to be in there. I am sure everybody -- first time you meet the No. 1 or the players -- for me, I -- really just seeing Chrissy and Martina and suddenly next two if they say, hi, you think: Wow, that is huge. I say, hi, and they just walk by. And I think -- I talked to both Chrissy and Martina. They thought they were shy to come up to me and talk to me more, but I felt the same way too. So that automatically assumed both of your are really stuck up, but really it's not the case. It was intimidating. For me, it was, that is my personality.

MONICA SELES: (Laughs)

MONICA SELES: I reach out if they ask me, but I will not go up to them and offer any advice or anything. If they ask me, I definitely will talk to them. Obviously to the players that I know even more so, but they will do the same thing to me. Otherwise if I don't know them, I feel very uncomfortable going up to anybody.

MONICA SELES: I think it is just hard with Steffi -- if you ask anybody on the Tour, not too many of them have any friendships with -- like with Martina, you can say, like with Mary Joe, I think it is Steffi's personality. I don't mean it is good or bad. I want to make that clear. I think with Steffi that we both practiced early so we would just see each other early in the morning say: Hi; then we wouldn't see each other until the finals because we played during the days. That was really it. So it is just different. It is a different personality Steffi has. I think, you know, Martina had a different one. Chrissy too. Martina, I did, I think we have a lot of similarities, No. 1s, but totally different personalities too.

MONICA SELES: No, I don't think. It all depends how much you take care of your body.

MONICA SELES: I talked like this when I was 16 because everybody said I grew up way too fast. But I had to, so, I don't know. It doesn't matter to me really. I don't care.