TMS - THE ERICSSON OPEN

March 25, 2000

Jennifer Capriati

WTA: Questions for Jennifer.

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Well, after about a 20-minute break, you know, it was kind of difficult to just not lose my concentration there a little bit. I guess that's just what happened. She came back and raised her game up, her level. That kind of like threw me off. I just kind of lost my groove there. I was able to get it back, get that set, then I just kind of picked up my game and got on a roll there.

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: She called the trainer just in the middle of the game, the first point of my serve. I'm sitting there waiting for the trainer to come out about five minutes. The trainer gets there, and it's another evaluation. It was all that kind of stuff.

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: It was her groin, I guess.

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: I feel good. I feel like I'm playing really well. Physically, you know, I wasn't that good in Indian Wells. I didn't feel I was like in shape as in the beginning; maybe lost a little bit there. Gotten sick a few times. Now I'm back working with my trainer again, so I feel a little bit better physically. I think that has a lot to do with my game. I feel confident and eager to play here.

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Uh-huh.

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Uh-huh.

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: I think I've come a long way since a year ago. I mean, I was almost going to have to qualify for this tournament a year ago. I think I've made a lot of steps to just get to where I am now, made a lot of improvements. I feel very good.

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Yeah. I mean, of course it's a team. He's helped me with different areas of my game. It's a team effort.

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Yeah, but of course I just want to talk about tennis, no personal stuff.

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: No.

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Because it makes the news, I guess, or makes the story. That's what people want to read, it seems like. It's more interesting to write about the romances than, you know, who's hitting their forehand great or something. I don't know.

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Maybe a little bit because there's just so many like different kinds of different personalities now than when I was playing. I mean, there wasn't like so much hype with some of the different players. Some of the other players have quite a bit of charisma, attraction there. It's maybe because of that a little bit, you know. Asking for it more. I don't know.

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: I think personally it's too much. It would be nice to have it just stick to the sport, the actual sport and what's going on, the game, not personal. It's great when it's all good stories, but it's not so great when it's negative, you know, just negative stories. If it was always good then, yeah, why not? Then it can turn into bad, kind of hurt the person they're talking about, so. It's not maybe all factual, too, so.

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Yeah. I mean, I think there's a lot written that may be not a hundred percent true. How would they know, you know, what's true or what's not? The people really get the wrong idea and think one thing when it's really something else.

JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Yeah, I do feel confident. I'm happy to get this match out of the way, get through it. Then also I play Chanda probably tomorrow. I think with each match, hopefully I'll just get better and better as far as, you know, just my strokes and my movement. If I come against Serena, hopefully I'll be prepared and ready, you know, feel grooved in the tournament.

End of FastScripts….