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SANEX CHAMPIONSHIPS

October 30, 2001

Jennifer Capriati

MUNICH, GERMANY

MODERATOR: Questions for Jennifer.
Q. She played very well in the first half of that match. You did well to turn it around, didn't you?

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Thanks. Yeah, I think she played very well in the beginning. She came out strong. You know, it took me a while I think to adjust to the court, get used to the different bounce, different speed of the court. But I really, after the first set, I think turned it up. Even in the third set, I was able to keep concentrated and focused out there. Didn't give too many free points away.

Q. Given all that's at stake for you this week, were you a little bit more tense than usual?

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: No, not really, no. I think in the beginning, she was playing really well. Me, it was just taking me a while to sort of get into it.

Q. When you first went to No. 1, you said you'd like a little bit of time to get used to it, to sink in. Has it done that yet? What would it mean to you to keep it now till the end of the year?

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: I mean, it would mean everything. It has sunk in. You know, I had a week off, so I really was able to enjoy it, not worry about anyone taking it away from me. Now, I mean, really it would be great. But, you know, I reached that point. If I can't keep it, then hopefully it's just because someone, you know, did better than me or played better, you know, deserves it more.

Q. What was the key to turning it round? Did you start to serve more consistently, get the forehand in more often? What was the reason that you turned it around?

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Yeah, I was starting to get more free points off of my serve. I was starting to put more pressure on her, you know, trying to move her around, hit the ball harder a little bit. She made more errors, too. But I think I was just pretty consistent also.

Q. She made one or two key errors on the breakpoints she had, too. She didn't make you play the shot.

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Right. Yeah, I mean, I think it pretty much evened out because I think I blew some easy shots, too. You know, she did on the important points, so...

Q. Lindsay surprised us yesterday by the strength of her criticism of Venus not being here, in particular the lateness of it, the manner in which it was done. She used one or two very strong words. Were you surprised by Lindsay saying that? Do you have anything to add to it?

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: I didn't hear anything about it until now. Your telling me is the first I heard of it. I don't know what she said.

Q. She said basically that Venus had been teasing us all by leading us to believe she was going to be here, then withdrawing at the last moment, even alleged that she had been lying to us.

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: I don't know. I mean, Lindsay sometimes is outspoken. She can be outspoken. You know, there might be some truth to that; there might not be. You know, it's just all speculation. Really, my way of looking at it is just there's no point in thinking about it. I'm not going to, you know, be concerned about it. I'll just think about myself, concentrate on my own game, do what I have to do.

Q. Were you surprised when Venus pulled out or were you expecting it?

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: I mean, I don't think anything's really a surprise at this point with them. You know, I didn't even spend the time thinking about it, "Is she going to pull out or is she going to play?"

Q. Although the year isn't over yet, what are you already thinking about in terms of next year?

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Well, really I haven't started thinking about next year yet. You know, I just have two months after this. One month, I'll really probably just take time off and not do anything. You know, I'm not going to think about next year until I start training again.

Q. But it will be in Australia, obviously?

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Yeah.

Q. How close were you to deciding not to come? How long did it take you to make up your mind?

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Where? To come where?

Q. To travel really to Europe.

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Well, if it was closer to the time of when everything happened, maybe I would have thought twice about it. I mean, there was never really any question of whether I should come over or not. You know, I figured it's probably the best time to fly now anyways.

Q. How long will you take time off? Will you be playing tennis? What will you be doing in your time off?

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Just relaxing and probably being at home, some downtime. I don't know how long it's going to be where I actually don't play. Maybe a couple weeks at least, you know, a few weeks. I'll have to see. Probably, of course, I'll still do fitness. It's not like I'm not going to do nothing for three weeks.

Q. It seems like you're kind of tired from that match today.

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Yeah.

Q. Was it a tough match out there? First set, you looked kind of struggling to find your form, finally picked it up as the match went on. What does this hold for the rest of the tournament?

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: I think it was a good match to have for me, you know, for it to be closer, to be out there a little bit longer, to get used to the conditions on the court. You know, nothing is easy, especially when you're playing in The Championships here. I mean, every match is supposed to be like that.

Q. Who are you looking forward to, Mauresmo or Testud? Who would you rather?

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Either way, it doesn't matter to me. I just go out there and play the ball.

End of FastScripts....

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