TENNIS MASTERS SERIES - ROMA

May 16, 2002

Jelena Dokic

JELENA DOKIC: I don't know. I have no idea. I mean, she played a good first set -- I mean, I played a good first set. And I just let up a little bit, and she just seemed to get better and better as the match went on. And, you know, in the end she just didn't miss. It was, you know, whatever I hit and whatever I did, you know, she just couldn't miss and was getting better and better. And, you know, I'm not at my best physically, and my game's not at my best. And, you know, when you make a few errors, and when you're not playing as well, she just came back and won.

JELENA DOKIC: No, my game is just not there. I've been injured for most of the year, so that doesn't help either. And I don't think -- I'm not as physically fit as I want to be. And it's been hard to work on my fitness when I've been injured. Also, I mean, my game isn't at its best. And, you know, there's a lot of things I could have done better.

JELENA DOKIC: You know, I'm just going tournament by tournament. Because every tournament I've been injured, so it just comes and goes. You know, I was fine after yesterday so I just thought, "We'll see how I feel after today." It's not something that, you know, happens when I feel it, it happens in the match; it always happens later on. And I've been really unfortunate with that. Just limited, you know, my -- I just haven't been able to give my best and be able to go out there and play 100% because, you know, I don't know what's going to happen next. Mentally, that way, my confidence is not there.

JELENA DOKIC: Well, again, it depends how my injuries go. I think if I -- if I have a good week next week in Strasbourg and play well, I think I can get, you know -- I can be close maybe at the French Open. But it's still a matter of time. And, you know, I'm just really disappointed with not being able to give it my best because of my injuries. And it's just really frustrating. And, you know, I just have no confidence right now. You know, I have nothing to lose. I don't have very much to defend after this. So it's a bit of a letdown here, but, you know, you got to look at it on a bright side and just go on from here.

JELENA DOKIC: My legs.

JELENA DOKIC: Yes.

JELENA DOKIC: It's been abductor, adductor, hamstring - everything.

JELENA DOKIC: I think it's tough both ways right now because the surfaces are really tough. You know, hardcourt was really tough, I think, this season also. I mean, that's where I got most of my injuries - indoors and hardcourt. And clay doesn't help either, long matches don't help. I think either way it's not an ideal surface. Maybe clay is a little bit better. Even though the matches might be longer, I think clay's maybe a little bit better to play on.

JELENA DOKIC: You know, I don't know. I'm still trying to figure that out. You know, I think I, you know, I had a long break after last year. So I think that probably didn't help. And I didn't play for a long time. And I just need to get back, you know, to be able to train properly and play properly. I think I just need a couple of weeks of, you know, being able to be fit, and I think I'll be back. It's not much. It's a little bit, but it makes a big difference.

JELENA DOKIC: Yeah, definitely. I think -- I beat her two weeks ago. And I just think, you know, if I played like last year, I definitely would have won. I mean, you know, you can never say -- I mean, I don't know. But I have a feeling I would have. I was in much better shape last year.