PILOT PEN INTERNATIONAL

August 25, 1998

Chanda Rubin

Q. Could you contrast the first set with the following two?

CHANDA RUBIN: I think I started off a little bit tight on some shots. Felt pretty good early on, got the early break and didn't -- had an opportunity on my serve and didn't hold it. It was just kind of the story of the first set where I had a few opportunities that I didn't take advantage of. She got rolling and she hits the ball real deep and can keep you on the baseline. I felt I wasn't aggressive enough early on, so I started doing that better in the second and third.

CHANDA RUBIN: At the end of the match. I mean, you never know. I felt good starting the second set and getting the break after winning my serve in the first game and then played kind of a crazy game at 2-0 and really tried to just stay tough and stay mentally tough in the match and keep fighting regardless of what happened. I feel like I really started moving the ball well towards the end of the second set and into the third, I really started feeling better about how I was hitting.

CHANDA RUBIN: Well, I mean, I know how she plays. I have played her a few times. I think she is obviously playing very well, coming off one of the biggest wins or the biggest win of her career at Wimbledon. She had a string of match wins. I just feel like I have to go out and play a solid match and stay in there and just keep fighting, try to be aggressive, because I know she is going to be trying to come in, go from there and we will see.

CHANDA RUBIN: I think there is certainly a number of young players who are very good and I think the biggest thing is not so much the tennis, but that they are young and personality - I think you really see a lot of that in the younger players now. I think it is good for the game and it adds a little bit more excitement for the fans, and they can come out and see some different names, some different faces and really get behind certain players that they like. So I think it is all good. Everybody right now is tough and you have to come out ready to play and they are playing some great, great tennis, but so are some of the older players as well, I guess you can call them. But I think it is -- women's tennis is definitely looking good right now.

CHANDA RUBIN: I mean, I think I am kind of feeling it out still. I feel good about how I am striking the ball; how I am moving. I think the biggest thing is getting the matches in and going into the Open that is what I am going to try to do, being match-tough and playing the big points better, so that is what I want to work on improving, as well as working on other things, like coming in a little bit more and try to be a little bit more aggressive. But overall, I feel pretty good about how I am hitting the ball.

CHANDA RUBIN: It just comes from playing matches and being in the match situation and, of course, against top players, Top-10 players, especially, you have to play those points very well. You don't get a whole lot of opportunities every match. You have to capitalize when you do get it, so I think that has been a weak point for me over the last few weeks, but I have improved over the European swing and I feel like even the hard court swinging, I have improved as well, the tournaments are just a little bit tougher, but that is what everybody has to work with.

CHANDA RUBIN: That was about two years ago. I have moved on.

CHANDA RUBIN: Not really. I try not to. I guess one superstition I have is I try not to be superstitious. Anytime I feel like I have done the same thing too many times where I am getting to think that is the way I need to do it, I change up just to mess it up, not to be superstitious. I don't know, it is crazy. Can't get away from it.

CHANDA RUBIN: I know them just from tournaments and early on I met them before, you know, they started playing on the Tour and did a couple of events with them. So it is not a real close relationship, but definitely we see each other, you know, we are together. We talk and hang out just a little bit, but overall, they kind of have their own support group and their own support system and I have my own as well. But certainly, the more they play, the more we kind of learn about each other.

CHANDA RUBIN: Yes, I am playing with Irina Spirlea.

CHANDA RUBIN: Well, it is just -- it depends on who you want to play with and you approach a particular player that you feel might be a good match and you either try to start off playing a few tournaments to see how you click or you go for it and commit for any number of tournaments. So everybody does it a little bit differently, but I think there is a lot of established doubles players who consistently kind of swap here and there and each year you might see a little different team, but there are some really good teams that stick together and have played consistently over the years. It is just a matter of finding someone who you really feel good with.

CHANDA RUBIN: Just kind of the same. I mean, knowing her in particular from playing her and also practicing with her, and she is a very nice person and whenever we are in each other vicinity we might talk or laugh a little bit about something in particular. Overall, I think she is definitely a personality on the Tour, I think a personality not many people know of, but she has her own style, and is a tenacious competitor and real feisty on the court, but also just kind of cool and calm and she strolls around like no care in the world. I think there is some players that necessarily don't get as much attention, but, you know, are really good players and personalities in their own right, so to speak.

CHANDA RUBIN: No, actually, I think it was a good day. No, there wasn't anything, I don't think.