THE LIPTON CHAMPIONSHIPS

March 15, 1994

Mary Joe Fernandez

Q. How are you?

MARY JOE FERNANDEZ: Good question. I am feeling a little bit better. Still not 100%, but hopefully on my way back to it.

Q. Are you entertaining thoughts of retiring by any chance?

MARY JOE FERNANDEZ: No. Don't know where that one came from.

Q. Just a rumor. You just -- the years have just -- your sickness, has it caught up to you mentally, just kind of like sick of it, no pun intended?

MARY JOE FERNANDEZ: No. It gets frustrating at times. But, you know, it is part of life and could be a lot worse. I am taking it one day at a time. This is nothing serious. I am not having what I had last year. I was having a little trouble with the medication I was on, regulating it, and, you know, getting, I guess, the right amount of whatever I needed in my system. Just a matter of time before everything gets organized.

Q. What exactly is the illness?

MARY JOE FERNANDEZ: Well, I had surgery last year. I had endometriosis. I have to be on medication, so it wouldn't come back, and the medication is strong, you know, I go through periods where I am fine, but whenever I kind of change the dosage or something happens, I go through times where I just feel real sick, I am real nauseous and fatigued. This was one of those times.

Q. Why do you change the dosage?

MARY JOE FERNANDEZ: I don't. The doctor does.

Q. Is that a matter of, like, maybe, these symptoms aren't just strong so you can back off or something like that happens, or do you know why he is changing the dosage at all?

MARY JOE FERNANDEZ: I am not.

Q. I don't know how this works.

MARY JOE FERNANDEZ: I am not real sharp on it either. I don't know. I guess there is an ideal dosage you should be on, and they couldn't find it right in the beginning because I was getting real sick. They put me on one dosage, which you can't be on for a long time. Now I am on a different one. I am just having trouble adjusting to it.

Q. Have you lost weight in the last few weeks, you are looking pretty thin?

MARY JOE FERNANDEZ: I don't think so, no.

Q. Are these shots, pills, liquid?

MARY JOE FERNANDEZ: Just pills, just medication pills.

Q. Now, last week, actually, two weeks ago now, I guess, you didn't play Delray. I think you said you really didn't want to; had nothing to do with this; not wanting to play two events back-to-back.

MARY JOE FERNANDEZ: Right.

Q. Were you at all fatigued going into the doubles there?

MARY JOE FERNANDEZ: I was. I wasn't feeling great, but that, you know, like you said, that had nothing to do with me not playing, because I didn't feel like that until I got back. It just continued, and I guess the Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday before this event, I was just real nauseous and real fatigued. I had no energy, so, you know --

Q. How hard is it for you to be going through this; not being able to play?

MARY JOE FERNANDEZ: It is very hard. It is like I have to start over again all the time, and that gets frustrating. But I have learned to put things in perspective and, you know, hopefully I am going to be stronger when I come out of this, just accept it.

Q. Is there any way of saying that whether this is a setback in terms of what you wanted to do this year? What you wanted to do after --

MARY JOE FERNANDEZ: No, I don't see that as a setback. I am disappointed because I love playing here. My family and friends are down here. That is always special to play here. But it is just one week and there is many more tournaments that I can play and make up, so it is not like I am out now for five months. This is just hopefully right now very short.

Q. Two questions. When were you planning to play after Lipton, before all of this and now what are your plans after this?

MARY JOE FERNANDEZ: My first event singles event is supposed to be Amelia Island after this.

Q. That is as scheduled?

MARY JOE FERNANDEZ: That is scheduled still.

Q. Herbie asked you if you had lost weight. When you start playing, do you lose rhythm completely when you have to go through a phase like this and kind of not play?

MARY JOE FERNANDEZ: Well, whether --

Q. How hard is it to come back?

MARY JOE FERNANDEZ: It is hard. Like I say -- it is a little hard because you have to get your timing back and speed back and all that back, but you know, like I said, I am not -- I only haven't played for a week now, so it is not like it has been a long time.

Q. This illness that you say can come back if not regulated properly, in what form does it come back in, I mean, is this a malignancy, is this an ulcer-type condition?

MARY JOE FERNANDEZ: No, I am not-- I guess you have to read up on what endometriosis. It is something that will come back. I don't think it is inevitable that it does come back, as long as it is regulated and stays minimal, I won't go through any pain. The symptoms I had before I had the operation were just a lot of pain, and I haven't had any of that.

Q. That was in September, right?

MARY JOE FERNANDEZ: Yes.

Q. Was it life threatening at all?

MARY JOE FERNANDEZ: No.

End of FastScripts....