PILOT PEN INTERNATIONAL

August 27, 1998

Lindsay Davenport

Q. A few loose ends out there. But comfortable enough victory?

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Yeah, you know, it is always tough to enter the quarterfinals without playing a match here. But, you know, it wasn't a perfect match, but it was good. She is a very tough player; takes the ball very early, so she doesn't give you a lot of time to set up and hit your shots. It was a little bit of an adjustment playing under the lights. But overall, I mean, I am pretty happy. It is great to continue to win and to win especially when you maybe didn't play your best.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I was watching her play tonight. It looked like she was playing phenomenal. She plays the type of game where she -- you know she wasn't making any errors tonight if she is playing with that way she is obviously very, very difficult to beat. I am going to try and force the issue a little bit more than maybe Amanda did, try and hit the ball a little bit harder. And maybe hopefully win some points on my serve. But it is tough. It looks like she is in great form here. But I am glad I got to play a match tonight and hopefully I keep getting better and it will be a great match tomorrow.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Right.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: It is tough to compare players when they are playing against different styles of players. I mean, she might look good against Amanda, but I think she has a lot more time to set up for her shots against Amanda than maybe she would against me or another harder hitter. But she definitely looks very confident. She is very focused. Sometimes when you lose a few matches you want it even more. So it is going to be a tough match. That is it.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Yeah, I mean, for the last five or six years I have played, this is the most exciting women's tennis has been. I don't think there has ever been so many girls that have a shot to win every tournament each other. There is no clear-cut favorite, I don't think, this year. It is great. I mean, you can't really choose winners anymore. A lot of people were talking about how the teenagers were going to win all of Grand Slams; then you have Novotna and Sanchez coming through as surprise winners. That is what makes it so interesting because you can't say, oh, this is a lock for whoever. All the matches have been very competitive and there has been some great kind of rivalries developing.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Obviously it would mean a lot. I think it is still a little bit a ways away. I have to keep playing well to be able to do that. She is not going to give it up without a fight. I am just really enjoying playing right now. I have played very consistent. I have really improved my game. And if No. 1 happens, so be it, but right now I am focusing on winning a Grand Slam and seeing what happens when that happens.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I feel good.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: No, I have -- other reasons. No cold. But I feel good. Physically I feel good, and it is great to be able to play matches. I wasn't happy last night with getting default and be back out here tomorrow night.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I think of all the shots Anke has, her serve is the most vulnerable. She hits her groundstrokes great, always takes the ball early, but I know sometimes she can gets a little shaky on that. So you know, I was able to break her a few times in the beginning and maybe that got her a little bit more weary on it, I am not sure, but I was trying to take advantage of that because she takes the ball so early; she is always standing inside the baseline and the balls come back so much faster when you play here, and obviously she is just coming back from an injury, but I don't see a long time before she is back in the Top-10 again. I see it coming quickly. I think she is a great player.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: No, but I think it is hard when somebody has played two matches already in the week. Sometimes a bye even hurts when you win one match; let alone two matches. I feel like I played pretty well. I didn't play, obviously, my best tennis. I don't think she did either. But I like to work my way into a tournament. I would like to have two matches going into play Steffi, but I have got one and I will see what I can do tomorrow.