US OPEN

August 31, 1997

Joannette Kruger

Q. Any reaction?

JOANNETTE KRUGER: I'm disappointed. I think maybe I just -- I don't know, I have to get used to playing on centre court, that's all.

JOANNETTE KRUGER: Uh-huh.

JOANNETTE KRUGER: I don't think it was a problem with the power. I think I was in slow motion today. My feet were really slow. Maybe it's also because I had a really tough match and I only finished quarter past nine on Friday evening, I don't know. I also think it was nerves because that's the first sign of my nerves goes to my feet. I mean, I'm 23, but I'm not used to playing on the big courts. I think for me, my game has developed now so far that I'm going to be playing there more and I'm going to have to get used to it, to be able to play better. Because I really felt that I had a great chance today, and I'm really disappointed about my performance because I don't think she beat me; I think I beat myself. I made way too many errors. I think that was the whole point of my game, is that I'm really a baseliner. If I lose that, then I don't have any chance.

JOANNETTE KRUGER: No.

JOANNETTE KRUGER: She's a good player. I think she handled the situation much better than I did. I think that's what creates a champion. I think she has the mental ability to be there, definitely. She surely thinks she will be great one day, and it's a good attitude to have if you want to be there. I think she has talent, yeah, a lot.

JOANNETTE KRUGER: Like I said, she has a lot of talent. I think she has a great overall game. She has a great serve, great return, good volleys. What I was really surprised with was her movement; it was unbelievable. Every time I had a shot, she was there waiting for it. I think she could meet me really well. She really anticipated well where I was going to hit, that's also very good thing that she has, talent.

JOANNETTE KRUGER: Keep more balls in the court. I think if I'm playing my normal game, I would stand a really good chance. I honestly believe if I could have just played like I've been playing my last three matches, I think it would have been -- I'm not saying I would have won, but I'm saying it would have been a lot tougher and a lot more pressure on her to see how she handles also being under pressure. Because there was no pressure on her today. Whenever there was, I gave it to her. She handled that much better than I did. And I think that was very good, because she's so young.

JOANNETTE KRUGER: I think, you know, to be honest with you, we create it in our own heads, "We're playing Venus." Venus is the next player. I think you put it on yourself to say, "Hey, what am I going to do here today to win? I've got to do something great." I think that's not the attitude to have. She's a human girl just like I am, and I'm just going to have to keep the ball in the court. She has great, unbelievable, powerful shots, yeah. But can she do that consistently? I don't know. Because I did not give her the chance to keep consistently hitting great big shots. She had to hit one or two in a game to win a game; she did not have to hit four or five. I think that would be the key, to be more aware of just playing the ball and not the opponent.

JOANNETTE KRUGER: Brenda serves harder.

JOANNETTE KRUGER: Yes, it's crazy. I don't know what to think of it.

JOANNETTE KRUGER: No. I think actually she's quite unique in ways.

JOANNETTE KRUGER: A lot of balls where? Like in centre court, a lot of her shots were -- a good percentage of her shots were in the middle of the court?

JOANNETTE KRUGER: Yeah, I think she knew I was going to make the error. I was so inconsistent she thought, "All I need to do it keep the ball in the court, I will win." When she needed a big shot, she did pull it out. I can give her definitely that credit. She played really well when it mattered in the second set.

JOANNETTE KRUGER: I was really tired, too. After any long point we had, one or two or three, I was tired. I could feel my legs. I think I had a tougher road to here than she did, so that also maybe made a difference.

JOANNETTE KRUGER: I think she has enormous confidence in herself. I think it's great when somebody that age can have that confidence. I think it's wonderful. I never had it. When I was 17 years old, I was really looking up to all these huge players and saying, "Wow." Here she is 17 and thinking she's this wonderful, great player. I don't know where you get it, but she has it, so that's good for her.

JOANNETTE KRUGER: She hasn't really, I mean up to this moment, really gone far in any Grand Slams or big tournaments. That is a fact. But I think the whole way that she was brought up through the press, this is the new player, that is what made her feel also maybe more confident of the. "Hey, I am great because everybody thinks I'm great." I think that is more why she's feeling that way than her results. I think also she was maybe taught from a young age that she's going to be great, and never really put into the Juniors or anything to really see how well she's going to be. She has performed, I think, tremendous for the amount of playing that she's had. I think for a girl that age playing as much matches as she has, I think it's great.

JOANNETTE KRUGER: I was really shocked when I heard that. I only heard it this morning when I walked in the locker room. I just realized, you know, life is so fragile. I really thought, I'm so keyed up in my tennis. What is it really, if you look in the majority of life? Where are we going next? I could die in a car accident when I walk out of here. That just made me more realize, I have a faith in God, made my religion so much more important than anything else. That is, for me, what it really turned me into. Instead of focusing so much on my tennis, I try to see the whole picture in a big focus for me.

JOANNETTE KRUGER: You know what, she made me mad, and I played better. She actually smiled at me when we walked around the changeover. I thought, "Oh, my goodness, I've got to do something just to feel a little more like I'm worth a smile here." I started saying, "I've got to do something now or it will be too late." So I think that triggered me a little bit. I was a little bit more feisty, whereas at the beginning, I was so intimidated by this big stadium, to say the honest truth. I think that was the main thing, the stadium.

JOANNETTE KRUGER: At 3-Love.

JOANNETTE KRUGER: Well, I've played on center in Paris, so it was the center here.

JOANNETTE KRUGER: I don't know how many times I have to play here to feel like it's my home ground. Top players feel it's their backyard when they play out here. We only get out there once or twice a year. They get out there every match they play. They're really used to it. I think I'm going to perform a lot better now, I'm going to be there more.

JOANNETTE KRUGER: Yes. I always play better when I'm mad. I think I should get somebody to bully me outside my locker room before I walk out (laughter).

JOANNETTE KRUGER: I don't know what it meant. I can't tell you what she thought at this moment.

JOANNETTE KRUGER: It came over as being, you know, "Do you have anything more than that to show me?" That's what it came over to me like. "Do you have anything else that I can challenge you with?"

JOANNETTE KRUGER: She is really confident. As I said, it's a great talent to have. It's not bad, because that is what creates champions. Look at Martina Hingis, she's the same, she's a really confident player. I think that's the key to being No. 1 in the world, is that little area where you never, ever, ever stop believinng in yourself. She has that You know, I don't know. I think it's great to have that ability. It's something that you're born with, I think.

JOANNETTE KRUGER: No.

JOANNETTE KRUGER: Well, we all -- back in the 16th century. Should we go into history? Two Kruger brothers that came from Germany. That's where everybody related from. I mean, there's so many. It's a very common name, so. I'm related far away (laughter).

JOANNETTE KRUGER: Not while Hingis is around, no. I think she is just amazing. She has everything. Maybe, I don't know, she's more consistent than Venus. But I don't think that Venus has played as much as Hingis. It's tough to say. She has the ability to be good, to be No. 1; she has the mental capacity to be there. We'll see as far as her stroke-wise matching up to Martina.