AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 22, 2001

Martina Hingis

MODERATOR: Questions for Martina.

MARTINA HINGIS: Definitely. I mean, I looked up at the draw at the beginning, I was, "Okay, I hopefully get a few rounds down quite easily before I have to play." Everyone was expecting maybe Williams, then back-to-back the other one. You know, in the bottom half you still have Lindsay and Kournikova and other players. But definitely that's the way I looked on the draw, the way I wanted to play.

MARTINA HINGIS: Well, I mean, doesn't really matter. I think if I'm playing well, I have the chance to beat anybody out there. You know, beating them all in one event, it's quite difficult. I showed that I can do it last week. But again, the same thing, it's going to be difficult. Nothing's impossible. I just take it one at a time.

MARTINA HINGIS: There is Serena, too (laughter). Serena has to play Daja Bedanova. I know her quite well since she was really little. They came to my home. Her dad is also a former player. It's in her genes that she obviously had to play tennis. I'm expecting actually a good match out of that. She has some chances. After we'll see. Have to play Serena in that case. That's not an easy one. Just look for that. But Mauresmo and Venus, that's going to be a tough one, too, I think. Interesting match. We'll see. Can't tell more than you, I mean.

MARTINA HINGIS: I think just overall it's gotten better. I worked on my physical shape, and also the groundstrokes. The technique has always been the biggest part of my game. I think I improved in some of those things. You got to want to win. That's all that matters. You have to go out there and be hungry and try to do the best every time.

MARTINA HINGIS: That I give away what?

MARTINA HINGIS: You can see in the men's game, there are also a few like Lleyton and Agassi is not the tallest player out there. Rios was No. 1. You also have Grosjean. They don't quite make it to the top. If you see players like them, you still see you have a chance. I think a lot of girls, they're not that tall. They see me. They can make it, you know. You have Amanda Coetzer, you have Arantxa Sanchez. They're a little bit older. But, still, if you play a good game of tennis, you still have a chance out there. But it's getting tougher.

MARTINA HINGIS: Well, because I kept lobbing her and she kept hitting overheads. I was like, "Okay, one more and I kill myself." A lot of times she was like slowing down the things. It was all me, whatever I did to the ball, it was me missing or me making the points, most of it. I knew I had to be patient, and just every now and then I was getting a little bit frustrated about that. I think overall I played a very good game, came through quite easily.