AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 21, 2004

Nicole Pratt

THE MODERATOR: Nicole, can you tell us about today's match, please.

NICOLE PRATT: Tell us about it?

NICOLE PRATT: I'm very happy to get the win today. I probably didn't have my A game there today. But my biggest strength is my mental toughness. That really showed through today. So, no, I'm really happy.

NICOLE PRATT: No, not at all. I mean, she just came out firing. She was hitting winners off both wings. Probably being two-handed, I wasn't quite picking up where she was hitting the ball. But, you know, all credit to her. She played great. So I just knew I had to hang in there. I felt like if she could continue playing like that, then that's just too good on the day. You know, I hung in there. I was able to get a little bit more on my shots, which put her under pressure. So, no, I'm not concerned about the slow start.

NICOLE PRATT: I was up 3-Love in the second set, I didn't feel like I was still really in control of the points. I knew that she was still sort of moving me around. She probably made a few unforced errors. But definitely the game at 4-3, when I went 5-3 up, I thought, "This is obviously, you know, a huge opportunity to close out the second set," which I did really well. I just sensed she was starting to get a little fatigued. I thought, "Well, that's my advantage," because I believe I was fitter than her. I got through obviously in the third set.

NICOLE PRATT: It was 5-2. My hat had come off earlier in the match. What had happened was the ball had just fallen out of my shorts. Because that was the second time that there had been a hindrance, yeah, I lost the point. Whereas I sort of said, "It's the ball, and obviously I didn't mean to." But it's classified as the same as your hat coming off. So I lost the point.

NICOLE PRATT: Yes. Loss of point for anything else after that. So I am now aware of that rule (smiling).

NICOLE PRATT: Yeah, definitely. When you lose the first set 6-1, pretty easily, you get a little dejected. But obviously you try to hang in there. Certainly when you hear the crowd, you know, pushing you, wanting you to do better, the eagerness there gets the emotions going. My strength is to stay mentally tough. The crowd helps me to do that.

NICOLE PRATT: No, not at all. I mean, I pretty much -- you know, I asked, "What's the ruling?" And she told me the ruling. So I pretty much just got on with it. I just think I got a little sloppy at the 5-2 game, the last two points to lose the game there. But, you know, I mean, it was a tough match. There was a lot of running. I was starting to get a little bit fatigued, you know, made a few unforced errors there.

NICOLE PRATT: Yeah, as Melbourne goes, it actually wasn't too bad. I practiced yesterday afternoon, and it was just awful. You know, today was fine. Pretty normal sort of Melbourne wind, I guess.

NICOLE PRATT: No, not at all. I think I would have hung in there, you know, a year ago, two years ago. But, you know, they're quality players out there now. If you allow them to continue playing their game, you'll certainly lose the match. Although I'd lost the first set 6-1, I knew, "Stick with the game plan, stick with what I'm doing, eventually she'll start to make a few errors, she won't hit as many winners as she's hitting." I stepped it up a little bit as well. So that's probably the new Nicole Pratt, I guess.

NICOLE PRATT: I don't think I like stop playing like that. I think that, you know, I've had some specific goals that I've wanted to achieve, since I've been working with Noel Blundell 12 months ago. We set some things in motion. One of the things was to prepare to play the Grand Slams. You know, I think I did a really good job here at the Australian Open last year. You know, probably clay is my worst surface, and I didn't start off well on the clay. I didn't probably have as many results as I would have liked there, and that sort of contributed into the grass courts. As soon as I got back on the hard courts in the US, I had some of my best results for the year. Then third round US Open. You know, so I'm just looking to build on from that aspect there. You know, I think I've done that at the beginning of this year already. I played a match against Krasnoroutskaya, a Russian girl, 25 in the world. Beat her at the Gold Coast. Ran into Zvonareva in Sydney. It's all a continuing process of getting better.

NICOLE PRATT: Definitely. Definitely. Noel and I have already spoken about it. We're going to do pretty comprehensive clay court pre-season before walking out and playing the first clay court match. You know, towards the end of the clay, at the French Open I played a really good match there against Daniilidou. We're just looking to go from there, you know, starting this next year. And there's no reason why clay can't actually be one of my best surfaces. It's just a matter of knuckling down and working on a game plan and sticking to it. And that's what I'm prepared to do this year.