French Open Interview #3
June 7, 2001
Q. It's your 18th birthday tomorrow. I guess you couldn't wish yourself a better present?
KIM CLIJSTERS: I couldn't wish myself a better birthday than this one. I'm very happy at the moment. I'm still in the tournament. I'm still going to focus. I'm still going to do the same thing. It's not because it's my birthday tomorrow that I'm going to go out and party. I'm going to do all the same things that I've been doing throughout the two weeks. I'll be there Saturday.
Q. In many matches, in many sports, there's a psychological moment at which the event turns. Did you sense a particular game or time when you felt that you now had the edge and victory was possible?
KIM CLIJSTERS: Yes, I did. When I was 4-2 down in the second set, and I won that game to go 4-3. I was 4-3 down still, but I felt she was making more easy mistakes.
I mean, it's a bit logical. She had a very tough doubles match yesterday. Of course, she was a little bit tired. But she had a great tournament. She was playing with a lot of confidence in the beginning.
Yeah, I mean, I kept trying. I wasn't playing my best tennis, but still I wasn't playing bad. I think it was a good match and she just overpowered me in the beginning.
Yeah, I think then I felt the moment when I won that game at 4-2 that I was getting close. It's not that I could feel that I won the match already. But I feel I had a chance to come back, and I could feel I was getting closer.
Q. How surprised are you to have gotten this far, through the finals of this tournament?
KIM CLIJSTERS: Well, I don't think anyone expected me to play this well, yeah, to play a final of a Grand Slam, especially on clay. I think a lot of people thought clay wasn't my best surface.
I mean, I understand that because I didn't play good tournaments before the French. Like I lost first round in Rome and in Berlin.
But it's not that I wasn't playing good. I felt that I'm playing better clay court tennis than I was doing last year. And I kept working. It paid me off.
Q. How important is it for you to be the first Belgian?
KIM CLIJSTERS: That's not the main goal. I mean, of course it's very nice to make history in Belgium, to be the first finalist of a Grand Slam.
But, no, it's really nice. I'm not playing to become the first Belgian. It's, of course, very nice to have that stature.
Q. Did you get many messages from Belgian people before your semifinal?
KIM CLIJSTERS: Well, not really. I like to be really relaxed before my matches, so I didn't really. Like I spoke to my family and my close friends. Like my parents told me a few things, that my grandma sent me a message. So my close family.
But I like to be like relaxed before my match. I don't really like everyone to wish me good luck.
Q. Justine put a lot of pressure on you. How difficult was it to keep on believing you could win?
KIM CLIJSTERS: Well, I mean, Justine just played too good for me. Like I said, it's not that I was playing bad in the beginning. She just hit winners from her forehand and backhand. She was serving well, returning well, hardly made any mistakes up to 4-2 in the second.
Of course, it's hard for me. But that's tennis. In tennis you always have a chance, even if you're like match points down. You always have a chance to come back and still win that match.
Tennis can be a weird sport sometimes.
Q. In your developing years, obviously you had ambition, but at what age did you begin to feel that you could be a frontline player?
KIM CLIJSTERS: Well, I never really -- I played tennis because I enjoyed it. I never was thinking of becoming like a top player. Of course, I was working for it, but I was never really thinking of becoming like a No. 1 player in the world or Top 5. I never really had a goal.
But, of course, I mean, like when you start doing so many things for your tennis, you have to leave things that other 17- or 15-year-old girls, what they can do, I have to leave those things. Those are things, yeah, when I started to like believe in myself and feel that I could keep going on.
Yeah, when I qualified for Wimbledon that year, I felt that I was closer, like I just got into the Top 50 then. I was feeling, yeah, closer.
Q. How exciting is it to be where you are now?
KIM CLIJSTERS: It's great. But, I mean, I feel like I still have to keep my feet on the ground. It's not that I'm out of the tournament yet, so I have to focus. Once I'm out of the tournament, I'll have a party, I think (smiling).
Q. Justine said this match was a remake of Indian Wells. Did you think about this match?
KIM CLIJSTERS: It was the exact same match, I think. I was a break down in the second set, as well. It's the same thing. She got a little bit tired. She played well there.
But in Indian Wells, I felt that I was very nervous in the beginning. Here I felt that I was playing well in the beginning. In Indian Wells, I just made a lot of easy mistakes, lots of unforced errors. But here, I felt that I was, like, feeling good, like I was hitting the ball clean.
It wasn't easy for me. There was wind.
Q. During the match, did you think about this match of Indian Wells?
KIM CLIJSTERS: I mean, I'm not really thinking of all those things. I'm only focusing on the point that's going on. I don't really think. Of course, afterwards it's in your mind that it happened again.
Q. Can you say a few words about what, according to you, Justine is feeling right now?
KIM CLIJSTERS: I've got no idea. Of course, she'll be very disappointed after this match. I mean, she had a great tournament, as well. She's still in doubles. I assume she'll do everything to win the doubles now. I think she's got a great chance to win the doubles.
She played a very good match yesterday. She beat Tauziat-Po. They're a good doubles team. I give all the credit to her if she can come out tomorrow and give herself a hundred percent.
Q. Would you like to say something to Justine to help her recover from this?
KIM CLIJSTERS: Yeah, well, of course it must be very tough for me, I mean, I think if I would be in that position. I mean, it's hard. But tennis is still a sport, and I think she has been through enough things to realize that it's not the most important thing in your life.
Of course, she'll be very disappointed, but I'm sure like in a few days she'll be over it. I hope so.
Q. You kissed after the match. Did you say something to her?
KIM CLIJSTERS: I just told her that she had a great tournament and I wished her good luck for the doubles. She wished me good luck for my final.
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