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WIMBLEDON


June 30, 2007


Amelie Mauresmo


LONDON, ENGLAND

THE MODERATOR: Amélie Mauresmo.

Q. How will you score your game today on a scale of 1 to 10?
AMÉLIE MAURESMO: For today?

Q. Yes.
AMÉLIE MAURESMO: Well, I'm 8 probably, something like that, 8, 9. I'm perfectionist.
No, I always like to think that I have few things here and there to improve. Little bit on the serve still, although it was much better than the first couple matches.
No, but overall I thought I played some good match, really going-forward kind of tennis. And that's what has been working well for me here. So I'll just keep going.

Q. Did the weather affect you at all?
AMÉLIE MAURESMO: No. I'm happy because I handled that part pretty well. You know, we didn't really know when we were going to go on - if we were going to go on today because it didn't really look that good. I'm just glad also that I was able to go on and finish quickly so that I have this third round behind me.

Q. Last year you had a bit of a struggle with Sam Stosur. I'm wondering if that match in the second week last year, was that good for you in the sense it made you sharper for the second week of the tournament?
AMÉLIE MAURESMO: I don't know, we're going to see about that. But I'm pretty satisfied about how I handled that first week, how I played, and how I just improved a few things here and there after the first and second match.
I'm definitely, yeah, looking forward to have probably some more fighting on the next match definitely.

Q. When you're not sure if you're going to play or not and the weather looks as bad as it looked today, how difficult is it to stay mentally focused?
AMÉLIE MAURESMO: When you are first on, you always kind of have this -- you're kind of a little bit relaxed, but you're in constant standby kind of. You're just, Okay, you talk with your friends. You do things.
But in one part of your mind you know you can go. You're not completely relaxed and not completely thinking, okay, we're never going to play today, whatever.
You still have to, you know, be prepared and be ready to go on. And I thought I did that pretty well today.

Q. Mary Joe Fernandez was talking about your game on grass, how it almost forces you to be aggressive, to come forward. Could you talk about that?
AMÉLIE MAURESMO: Well, it doesn't -- I think it comes pretty naturally for me. I don't feel like somebody's pushing me to go forward. It's a little bit the contrary: I really feel that I'm really leaning forward very naturally after the serve and sometimes on the return when I have the opportunities, kind of in the game when I have some options to go in.
Yeah, I mean, I like it. It took me a little time to adjust to the grass 'cause coming out of the juniors, then my first years as a senior I was not really sure what I was going to do. Do I need to stay back? Do I need to go in?
I was kind of in between. Then I got used to it and the experience probably helped me a lot.

Q. You've had some struggles with Nicole Vaidisova. You could be playing her next.
AMÉLIE MAURESMO: She's in a good position, let's say.

Q. Why is she a difficult match-up for you?
AMÉLIE MAURESMO: Well, first of all, she serves very well. I mean, I haven't seen her play for a while or played against her for a while. But definitely on grass, you know, she should be very dangerous on the serve.
But, you know, she's hitting hard on both sides and serving well. Sometimes it makes it difficult for you to just handle that and push back. Yeah, that's the way it is.

Q. Does she pass well?
AMÉLIE MAURESMO: I don't know actually. We'll see. I don't know.

Q. Was the court slippery underfoot?
AMÉLIE MAURESMO: No.

Q. It was fine?
AMÉLIE MAURESMO: Yeah. Well, you know, every time they make you go on the court here, definitely they make sure that it's dry and ready to play on.

Q. With all the top-seeded players playing so well at the moment, how confident are you that you can go on to actually win another championship here?
AMÉLIE MAURESMO: We'll see. I agree with you that it's still pretty open, this women's championship. But, you know, it's been open for quite a few years now - not only here but in all Grand Slam.
So I'm not really thinking about that right now, you know. I'm just really focusing on my game and what I have to do. I'm not thinking, Oh, am I going to be able to go to the end, whatever. In my mind, I'm confident about how I play and how I played today and about what I'm going to have to do in the next match.

Q. Five teenagers made it to the third round in the bottom half of the draw. At almost 28, do you sometimes feel old?
AMÉLIE MAURESMO: Well, thank you (laughter). I sometimes probably feel old in the locker rooms because they talk, yeah, probably very teenage things.

Q. Like what?
AMÉLIE MAURESMO: Teenage things.

Q. Stuff you don't understand?
AMÉLIE MAURESMO: Well, I do understand. But, yeah, that was starting to be a few years ago for me. But physically I feel, you know, pretty good right now.
But it's good. I mean, that's the way it is. You shouldn't be, I don't know, regretting when you were 20 or whatever. That's not my case at all. I'm just very happy how it is right now.

Q. Are you tempted to want to advise them as an older person?
AMÉLIE MAURESMO: No. I think they're very mature already still. On the tennis court particularly, I think they're all doing great. We've seen Ivanovic a few weeks ago at the French Open, yeah, maybe not handling the final so well, but still throughout the whole tournament did very well.
So I think they're already very, of course, competitive and mature.

Q. You mentioned today about being in standby mode before your match, having friends around you. Are you fairly relaxed before you play, or do you need time alone?
AMÉLIE MAURESMO: Well, I am. I think at least today I was. No, but in these kind of days you don't have to burn too much energy because you could go on the court being ready to play at 1:00 but go on the court at 7:00 at night.
If you spend the whole day thinking, stressed out, thinking, I'm going to go in five minutes, this could be a very long day and you could be exhausted in the end.
The experience probably helps a little bit in those kind of days, I think.

Q. So when you were younger, were you more like that?
AMÉLIE MAURESMO: Yeah. I probably know less how to handle these situations.

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