U.S. OPEN

September 2, 1996

Steffi Graf

STEFFI GRAF: Well, I guess maybe a little easier than probably everybody expected.

STEFFI GRAF: Why? Probably, I mean, she was trying a little bit maybe for too much. I think especially in the first set, she made a lot of mistakes. We didn't have a lot of long rallies to make the other one work for the points.

STEFFI GRAF: The thing is, I've seen her play once on television. It was rather difficult to judge. The only time I saw her was playing against Paulus. It was difficult to tell how she would respond to somebody playing a little bit faster than Paulus. Usually I go into a match thinking it's going to be a more difficult match. When you're 15, you try to go for a lot of shots. You have nothing to lose. I figured it would be tougher.

STEFFI GRAF: Well, I think -- you could see already in the other match I watched her, she has so many different shots. I mean, she's coming in she's gutsy, she will try. She's really eager out there. She's got a good physique, which is going to definitely work for her, good service motion, good backhand. Just needs to be a bit more patient. Obviously experience is missing, but she definitely has the shots.

STEFFI GRAF: Difficult. The way Venus played against me, she impressed me. You can't compare, because one match can be very different. You know, Venus, from what I've heard, she plays a great match, some bad losses, too. The time she played against me, she definitely caught my eye, no question about it. She's got an incredible serve, she can hit with a lot of strengths. She's just -- her body is built so different. I mean, if you see Anna, she's still really slim, she probably needs a few more years to get a strong physical body. But with Venus, she's got it already so you can't really compare these two players.

STEFFI GRAF: To Hingis? Three different players we're talking about (laughter). They all have the same age, but you barely can compare it. She has got so much more experience than both of them together. From that point on, you cannot compare them at all. But Venus, you see, she definitely needs to play a lot more tournaments because she always plays one or two rounds, then doesn't play for a couple months. I think that's where the problem starts. With Anna, this has been her first Grand Slam tournament. You know that they won't be showing the kind of stability and experience on the court. So Martina is already so much further ahead in that department, it's difficult to compare them.

STEFFI GRAF: It's good. It's always important to have these new faces come out, especially since in the last few years there hasn't maybe been that much excitement around. It is good to know that the future is going to show up.

STEFFI GRAF: I definitely was. I know she's an extremely good all-around player, not making a lot of mistakes, but I still expected more from Arantxa.

STEFFI GRAF: It's true when you see all of these three players that you look at right now. They got a lot of shots, you know. But you also strengths where you're at. Even if you look at the past, these players always had similar strengths. I think the youngest player, we need to find out what their strengths are.

STEFFI GRAF: Sorry?

STEFFI GRAF: It would be up to her, what does she feel like.

STEFFI GRAF: I won't do that because everybody has a different life and is used to something different. You have to pick and make your own choice; I can't make the choice for anybody or make any suggestions for anybody.

STEFFI GRAF: Don't you like it (laughter)? I know you just got married, but. I know exactly where you're trying to lead to, don't worry.

STEFFI GRAF: I better don't say anything now. Well, I think she's been introduced to being in the public eye really early on. That may not always be the easiest thing to get accustomed to. From my experience with her, she seemed a very sweet girl. Even if she has maybe that kind of attitude, I don't think that really is what is within her, at least that's what I've felt. You know, I think -- I know what you're trying to say. Maybe that is a little bit much, but I think it's good because she can show it. I think it's all right. I mean, she definitely needs to pay attention to being a normal girl. There's no question about it. Everybody has or should at that age. From my instinct, I would say she would.

STEFFI GRAF: Not really.

STEFFI GRAF: 13 or something, 14 years.

STEFFI GRAF: 6-4, 6-Love. 4-All and 3-Love. That was it.

STEFFI GRAF: A little bit different, very different. Maybe what you saw her today was inexperience. That match was experience. We just played the Federation Cup, it was a tough three-set match. She's somebody who knows what to do and has a lot of variety in what she's doing. She can come in, play from the back. She definitely won't give me any easy mistakes. Definitely need to be much more patient than I've been in the last three matches.

STEFFI GRAF: Getting there slowly, but it's getting there.

STEFFI GRAF: I think my forehand was always pretty much my strength. I always relied a lot on it. I always took a lot of risks. I wasn't afraid to. I think that showed pretty early on.

STEFFI GRAF: A little bit too much, yeah. I think I was a lot more patient when I was younger.

STEFFI GRAF: For a while, we played similar. I mean, yeah, she's rushing a lot through the points. I've been at that stage very, very similar, I think. I know I served and took the next ball already and was ready to serve right then. So there are definitely some similarities in that department.

STEFFI GRAF: Well, if I -- I don't know. It's just sometimes -- it's difficult to say. Maybe also not practicing as much as maybe I did during that time, just makes it different, because you feel you should go more for your shots. When I look at some older tapes, I felt I was a bit more patient then than I am now.

STEFFI GRAF: It is certainly -- when you're out on the court, you don't worry about these things, not at all. When you're off the court, you do think about these things, too. I'm not thinking as a mother yet, so. Sure I worry about some of the young players playing, maybe hopefully they will go that direction, but that's all I can do.

STEFFI GRAF: It's a very talented, intelligent game she's playing out there. She knows exactly what to do. Maybe she doesn't have that all-court game that some of us have, but she's using the court really well. She makes you play a lot of shots that maybe you shouldn't try for. But because she plays them really close to the lines, shorter ones, longer ones, she knows really well what to do on the court. She won't try for too crazy shots when she needs to. 15 years old, she knows very well what to do. I mean, that's definitely something that is rare to see at that age. I think the last few months she's definitely improved her serve as well as getting more aggressive in the matches.

STEFFI GRAF: Well, I mean, it's difficult from two matches to really say something. I think what was good to see, I've seen it a few times now with some players, she was really upset the way she played after the match. She really was not very happy. That's good to see. The eagerness is definitely there, so she'll make her way just based on that, I reckon, probably she'll have to be a bit more patient. She's trying a lot of shots out there. Maybe just keep it a little simpler.