AUSTRALIAN OPEN
Date: 2007-01-21

AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 21, 2007

Amelie Mauresmo
MELBOURNE, VICTORIA
The Moderator Questions in English first.

Question Amélie how disappointed are you now?
AMÉLIE MAURESMO: What?

Question How disappointed are you now after some hours?
AMÉLIE MAURESMO: Well, the disappointment is here. I'm just, you know, trying to analyze a little bit, you know, the way I played not only today but also throughout the tournament. I didn't really feel that I was really getting too into the tournament just the way I wish I would.
But, yeah, disappointed. What else can you say.

Question Did her aggressiveness surprise you at all?
AMÉLIE MAURESMO: Well, you I knew that because we talked with my coach a little bit before, even though I never seen her play. He saw her play a couple times. So I knew that she has this type of game. You know, being aggressive, taking the opportunities, and she actually made a very good match with not too many unforced errors.

Question In Sydney you spoke about some parts of your game that you weren't really happy with, and I think one was shot selection.
AMÉLIE MAURESMO: Yeah.

Question Was that present today and also the previous matches?
AMÉLIE MAURESMO: Yeah. Well, not only the shot selection, but also the deepness of my shots. And really I was not effective enough on every shot I was playing to that hope I would have some opportunities to get in, to hope that I would have some opportunities to really take control of the point and of the match. Even though I was up at the beginning, I really didn't think I was playing that great.

Question Once you lost your game, you didn't seem able to get it back.
AMÉLIE MAURESMO: You mean --

Question Once you lost momentum and you weren't playing confidently, it didn't return at any stage during the rest of the match?
AMÉLIE MAURESMO: No. There was not a moment after when I could feel that it was coming back or I could feel that, you know, my shots were coming back. It was so frustrating.

Question Was there a time in the game when -- you're 4-1 up. Did you -- was there a danger that you were closing there or --
AMÉLIE MAURESMO: No, never.

Question Okay.
AMÉLIE MAURESMO: Because as I said, I didn't feel in that moment that I was playing great, you know. I was being careful.

Question What does this do your confidence? Does it knock it at all? Are you used to it after so many years an tour?
AMÉLIE MAURESMO: Yeah. I'm not completely down or whatever. I'm just disappointed. As I said, it's always disappointing to go out of any tournament, even more in a Grand Slam. But I am going to go back on the court, go back to work, and that's obviously what I need.

Question Is it like kind an a Czech complex? Like you lost to another Czech girl at Roland Garros.
AMÉLIE MAURESMO: We'll see.

Question Is it more difficult to defend a Grand Slam title than to try to win it the first time?
AMÉLIE MAURESMO: No, I don't think so.