AUSTRALIAN OPEN
Date: 2005-01-23

AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 23, 2005

Amelie Mauresmo
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA
The Moderator Questions, please.

Question You've been in the quarters a couple times here before, got to the finals. Obviously, you had the injury last year. Is this an important sort of hump for you to get to?
AMELIE MAURESMO: Yeah, it's good. I'm satisfied also by the way I played to get there. You know, looking forward for the next one. I'm going to watch a little bit of this afternoon's match. Yeah, it's good. I'm satisfied about it but don't want to stop there.

Question You've had some tough matches with Serena. She's a possible next opponent.
AMELIE MAURESMO: Yeah, she beat me in most of them. I don't have a very good record with her. But if she goes through today's match, which might be, you know, a tough one for her, we'll see. But, again, you know, as I said on the court, we play tennis -- I mean, I play tennis for these kind of big matches. So I'm looking forward for this one.

Question You played her close on grass, indoor. Do you think this is an environment that suits your game better against her?
AMELIE MAURESMO: Yeah, maybe. Even if grass, you know, was -- I felt I had a little edge there with the way I played at Wimbledon. But, yeah, we'll see. The surface is good for my game. The environment is pretty good for me here. So we'll see how it goes.

Question You were slicing a lot today. Was that because of the wind?
AMELIE MAURESMO: Little bit sometimes. Little bit sometimes. It's tough. Also my adjustments on the backhand side, I was a little tight with the legs, so I just didn't want to take any risk or whatever. So sometimes my adjustment wasn't as good as I would have love it to be. But also tactically, it's also good to slice sometimes.

Question What was the injury time-out you had after five games?
AMELIE MAURESMO: Nothing bad, but the adductor got a little bit tight. I just didn't want to take any risk. So I just preferred to put this prevention tape to make sure, you know, nothing bad happens.

Question On the left thigh?
AMELIE MAURESMO: Uh-hmm.

Question Are you confident it will be okay?
AMELIE MAURESMO: Yeah, yeah. We're gonna -- I mean, I'm gonna take care of that later today and tomorrow, and that's going to be fine.

Question Last year when you had the problem before the Zuluaga match, did you feel that after your fourth-round match?
AMELIE MAURESMO: Oh, during the match, it was completely different story then. Now it's just tight and I just want to make sure that this doesn't happen again. So nothing really to compare with.

Question Why is it so difficult to shake off that injury?
AMELIE MAURESMO: To...?

Question To get over that injury.
AMELIE MAURESMO: I don't know (smiling). I don't know, because I'm working on it every day. I'm trying to do my best with my physio to make sure everything is right. But, you know, that's just the way it is. But as long as it doesn't, you know, bother me more than this, it's okay. But, you know, I don't know.

Question Did you feel challenged out there today?
AMELIE MAURESMO: Well, she makes you play. She puts the ball back in many times, and she's moving pretty well actually. I didn't know her before today's match. So, you know, I was -- my coach told me I had to expect, you know, some long rallies and stuff. So, you know, I was ready for this. Yeah, I mean, but then when she needs to make a point and accelerate a little bit, then she has some trouble. I'm pretty satisfied about the way I play. I went forward, I went to the net, I came in, and that's what I wanted to do. She gave me these opportunities today, so I'm happy I took them.

Question So is that your approach against players like that who are tough from the back court?
AMELIE MAURESMO: Yeah. I mean, it's okay for me to play from the back of the court, but I can also come in. So I use this weapon to shorten a little bit the rallies and it worked pretty well today.

Question Do you think you're going to have to go up a level to beat Serena?
AMELIE MAURESMO: Probably, you know. But it's coming by itself. I would say when you get into a tournament, you just play better and better. You know, I feel today's match was pretty consistent. I know that it's going to keep going higher and higher. So I'm not worried about that.

Question Do you think you're playing as well at this point in the tournament as you were at this point in the tournament last year?
AMELIE MAURESMO: Yeah, I think so. I mean, there's nothing really -- I don't want to compare because every tournament is different, and also the player you play against are different. But, yeah, I feel good. I feel my game is really solid. I know I have to improve a little bit on the serve because the consistency is not here yet. But that's probably the only point that I have to work on.

Question Do you get a sense that this may be your moment, this tournament?
AMELIE MAURESMO: We'll see. I got that feeling last year and didn't happen so, you know... I just take care as it come and we'll see. I got that last year, so (smiling)...

….