US OPEN

September 6, 1999

Monica Seles

WTA: Questions for Monica.

MONICA SELES: I played well in the key points today. Obviously, I let Jennifer back a little bit in both sets. Thank goodness I woke up in time and started playing better tennis. It was tough conditions out there, windy, with the rain in the beginning. It was just a really good match.

MONICA SELES: Definitely, from my point of view. I got stabbed when I was No. 1 in the world, winning all the tournaments. No other player in history had to deal with that. From that point on, for sure. For whatever reason, that's what I got dealt with. I don't like to go back there. But right now, I'm just happy where I am and playing good tennis. What's passed is past.

MONICA SELES: Yes. I remember it was a very hard-hitting match. I think I lost to Jennifer 7-5 or 7-6 in the third set. We started something that I had before with Steffi, starting again with Jennifer; one match she would win, next match I would win. I think we were both hitting the ball so hard that people were amazed at the level.

MONICA SELES: Yeah, yeah, definitely today we also hit the ball hard. But you have five other players that hit it hard now, too, who are stronger physically than we are.

MONICA SELES: In '91?

MONICA SELES: Well, definitely. I just remember I lost to Jennifer in San Diego a couple weeks before. I really wanted to do well. I never believed I could win The Open for that reason. The year before I lost in the third round. I didn't really like playing there. It was just real important for me to win that match. It was going back and forth, very seesaw match, I remember. To win a tiebreaker, it's always fantastic to be the winner, but it's heartbreaking because you would hate to advance to the finals of a Grand Slam like that, on three or four points. Obviously, it gave me the chance to win my first Open, which Jennifer could have won. It was a pretty important match.

MONICA SELES: I knew her serve has been going off. I have definitely seen that in the last couple of tournaments. Both of our serves were so off today. I mean, it was really, I think, who would be better at returning the second serve and who would take advantage of that. She served some wild double-faults. I had my share of wild double-faults. I think it's also hard, it's so windy. It's really swirling out there. Your toss is moving around.

MONICA SELES: Definitely. I was really surprised at that, especially because I was into the wind. That side was very difficult to play upon. I was pretty mad at myself. I was up 40-15 the service game before. I served two double-faults here and there. I just said, "You know, you can't play like this." I just played very aggressively from that side, I think. She missed two shots. That was it.

MONICA SELES: Probably for me the hardest one was not to look back what could have been, just to be happy that I'm back playing again and not worry about the past from my point, probably playing tennis again because I didn't play at all for two and a half years, just to get used to everything. At first, it's always new and exciting. But once the novelty wears off, you have to deal with the reality of every day of it.

MONICA SELES: Oh, yeah. Obviously, everybody would have done that at that point. I was 19 when everything happened. For sure. But not too long. Obviously, after I came back, my dad became ill, I had other things to focus on.

MONICA SELES: No, no. I just said that I'm going to look at it a point at a time, just fight, play the best tennis that I can that day. Win or lose, I'll give it my best shot.

MONICA SELES: It's hard to say. If she's playing like she has been, she's very close. You have to keep up the consistency. On the Tour, you have to play 18 tournaments a year. I think it's fantastic to see Jennifer, that she's really working hard, putting in the effort, mentally. What's really most important from my point of view, she really seems happy. That's just great to see that. I think you have to give a lot of credit to Harold, because he did a fantastic job. Yeah, I mean, she's 23. She has some fantastic years ahead of her if she keeps this up.

MONICA SELES: I don't know at this point. I just really want to concentrate on my next match. I don't know in my life what's happening right now (laughter).

MONICA SELES: A lot of hard and fast balls. Obviously, Serena hits really hard both sides. I lost to her twice. Just going to have to really practice well today. Obviously, I play doubles first. Just go out there and really fight and run and play aggressively.

MONICA SELES: Well, it's hard to say. Physically, she covers more ground than I do at this point, today or tomorrow. From that point of view, she does have that advantage. On the groundstrokes, that's hard for me to say.

MONICA SELES: I finally resolved that this year. I just realized that it is going to be windy for the rest of my career year. The stadium is going to play fast, all these things. I just said, "I'm just going to do the best can I with it. It's windy for my opponent, everybody else, stop moaning about it." You are always going to have favorite places and not. Hopefully it's going to grow on me.

MONICA SELES: It's very well-deserved. They played better than I did this year. They won the Grand Slams. Anytime you win a Grand Slam and you're No. 1, No. 2, win seven or eight tournaments before the US Open, it's totally deserved. I had some decent results, but nothing spectacular.

MONICA SELES: It does not matter to me at all, A or B. I'm in my own world. I just do what I can that's in my hands.

MONICA SELES: Well, definitely. I mean, for sure, after we played that great match, if someone would have come up to me and said what's going to happen, I'd say, "Oh, yeah, right." If someone would say in April I'm going to be stabbed at a tennis tournament, not have a chance to win a lot of Grand Slams, I would say, "No way." That's what happened. Jennifer had a layoff for different reasons. Things happen in your life. It's just great to see that she's back, she's enjoying it, I'm playing, too, that we're just going on with our lives, that we're not stuck and still worried about what could have been and that stuff. We're just here and trying to change the future.

MONICA SELES: Well, I feel I'm playing better off the groundstrokes. I definitely feel Jimmy has helped me tremendously there. I'm playing a lot better matches and points, how I'm constructing them. I still think, you know, physically, I'm not at the level of a couple of players. It would be nice if I could kind of complete that. But I'm going to need some consistency. Hopefully, after The Open, I'll be able to get that.

MONICA SELES: It's hard. I mean, I believe that. I would not be playing, I think, if I wouldn't. It's hard because physically you have to come back for three very difficult matches. I mean, that's one thing I really want to change, that I be able to do that. I really feel game-wise I'm there. We'll just have to see. The day off helps. I have a doubles match. I feel fine right now. I really just want to take it a point or a time. Win or lose, give it my best shot.

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