27th march 2007
Because once she gets up in the set or in the match she seems to
steamroll. I think I pushed a little bit too much on it. I was just
trying to go for it a little bit more because she was attacking most --
stepping into the court and also not just the serves but the shots that
I hit.
Q. Did
it feel a little bit like Melbourne? I didn't -- like for my return she was -- she served the corners really well, and also on the second serve didn't give me a lot of balls to work with. I didn't feel like I had a chance to really step in and hit my shots. She was controlling most of the points.
Q. How
do you break out of this situation?
Q. Do
you think it's a technical problem or when that ball gets up are you
just thinking -- not that confident?
Q.
Serena was saying yesterday one of the reasons when you play each other
it's intense is you're kind of similar in personality. That you're
perfectionists to a tee, that you both hate to lose so much. Do you see
that? Do you think that you both are similar in a way and that's why
your matches are the way they are emotionally?
Q.
There aren't a lot of players where you're not controlling most of the
points. Is she hitting with that much more power, or is she stepping in
and taking the ball that much earlier than a lot of players? What's your
explanation for that?
Q. WTA
has a rule now that you can call the coach in after the set. If I'm
correct I don't believe you called your father for any consultation. Do
you think at the end of the first set you could have used his coaching
advice?
Q.
Today it's probably not, but is it good for the game to have Serena
back?
Q.
Does it sort of raise the bar for everybody else do you think when she
plays? With that mindset obviously you've got to go out there and still do it, but that's -- I don't really -- when I see a draw I don't think of this person as this is a really great player and I'm going to try to do everything I can to sort of work my way in the match and sort of beat that player. I try to think of the things I need to do in order to win myself rather than think about the other players or how they're playing.
Q.
What do you need to do to regain your No. 1 status? And what do you
think about suspensions, because that's been a whole other conversation
Larry Scott has been talking about. And on the suspensions, yeah, this is definitely something that we've been discussing with players and with Larry. It's something that is very concerning at the moment, and there are a lot of buts and ifs, so we're definitely in the talks.
Q. Do
you think suspension is too harsh for a player that doesn't have a
legitimate reason to miss a tournament?
Q.
What would be your solution?
Q. Are
you surprised that she can come out so match tough when she plays so few
tournaments? I mean, she hasn't played competitively in six weeks.
Q. Her
serve, I mean, her overall first and second serve, is it considered the
best in the game?
Q.
Just a little off beat question. From the time you started tennis to
now, what was your best day in tennis?
Q. Just because it was the first one? MARIA : Just because it was a dream come true (smiling).
Q.
Your opinion about on-court coaching? |