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THE LIPTON CHAMPIONSHIPS


March 25, 1999


Steffi Graf


KEY BISCAYNE, FLORIDA

P> JIM FUHSE: Questions in English.

Q. When did you find out that Lindsay wasn't going to be able to play?

STEFFI GRAF: Actually, it was maybe ten seconds before they announced it on television. I was at the apartment watching the men's match to see when I would go over. I got a call from Jim and he told me.

Q. Disappointment or happy? How are you feeling?

STEFFI GRAF: That's a good question, how do you react to it? I mean, I want to play. That's what I'm here for. You feel uncomfortable if you just go like that into the semifinal. Actually, I kind of felt pretty good this morning in practice. I don't know, I was looking forward to playing her. On the other hand, it's a day off, and tomorrow's match is not going to be an easy one. There's a lot of ways to look at it.

Q. What do you do for the rest of the day?

STEFFI GRAF: I'm going to go and practice.

Q. Have you heard anything about her possibly being hurt?

STEFFI GRAF: I mean, I didn't know anything about it. You see each other in the training room kind of getting treatments. But, I mean, I didn't pay attention. I haven't heard anything about it. The way she was playing, her results didn't really seem like something really happened or something was going on. I mean, I just talked to her in the locker room, but I didn't know before.

Q. You talked to her in the locker room today?

STEFFI GRAF: Just now.

Q. What did she say?

STEFFI GRAF: Because I didn't know what happened, I kind of asked her what happened. She told me, you know, how she got the injury. It's very unlucky. It's the left hand. That's a good thing for her it's only the left hand; it's nothing serious. It's probably going to take just a few days. But it makes it not easy if you have to withdraw out of a quarterfinal. That's a stage where you don't want to have to withdraw.

Q. What did she say how it happened? Apparently she's not coming in to talk to us.

STEFFI GRAF: She said it happened a few days ago on a backhand shot, that she hit the ball a little late during practice, so she caught it late on the backhand. She felt pain there. It hasn't really gone away.

Q. Is there any kind of diagnosis that she told you about?

STEFFI GRAF: No. I don't have the medical chart. Didn't show it to me.

Q. Can you talk a little about the semifinals against these two different opponents.

STEFFI GRAF: Well, they're two very different players, obviously. Jana just played in Indian Wells. I mean, you know very well how she's going to play.

Q. Played her once or twice before, right?

STEFFI GRAF: Yeah (laughter). We've met somewhere around. Venus is definitely taking more risks, is playing more powerful, especially on her first serve. She'll go more for her shots, puts a lot more pressure on. Jana is somebody that uses the court very well, uses maybe not as much force, but knows how to maybe play a little smarter, uses her strokes very differently. I mean, it's going to be interesting. Venus is probably on the hard courts the favorite. We'll see how that's going to go.

Q. How is this going to change your approach to practice today?

STEFFI GRAF: Well, Heinz just told me that I'm going to have a tougher opponent than the one I was supposed to have. I told him, I'm ready for him.

Q. Do you feel good going into the rest of the event?

STEFFI GRAF: Yeah. I feel good. Yeah, I feel fine, absolutely. No question.

End of FastScripts....

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