French Open Interview #4
June 9, 2001
MODERATOR: Questions for Kim.
Q. Is there any moment where you lose this match?
KIM CLIJSTERS: No. I mean, I was really surprised how high the level was after two hours and like even 15 minutes of play. We still had unbelievable rallies. I don't think there was really a point where the match turned around or something, no. I mean, we kept fighting. We both kept fighting till the end. So, no.
Q. Was the first set too easy for you?
KIM CLIJSTERS: No, it's never too easy. I mean, I was playing well, and she was making a little bit more mistakes. But, I mean, I had to work for every point, so it was not easy at all. I mean, she was serving well. Yeah, but, I mean, I played well.
Q. Did you realize that the rhythm of the ball was really amazing? There were unforced errors, but you established a new record in Roland Garros with that 12-10. This is the future of women's tennis, such a hard ball?
KIM CLIJSTERS: If you see all the new, upcoming players, are all players that hit the ball very hard. Jelena Dokic, Justine Henin, Elena Dementieva, they hit the ball hard, like to go for the points. I think this is probably one of like the future of tennis, I think, yeah.
Q. You were very much the underdog going into the match. You couldn't have fought harder. Was it at the end heartbreaking to lose it in that way or was it still a lot of satisfaction of how you played the match?
KIM CLIJSTERS: Of course, it's heartbreaking. But, I mean, I gave everything I had, so I can't blame myself that I lost. I mean, you are standing with two players on the court, and the other one is trying as hard as you are. One of them has to lose, and eventually it had to be me today.
Yeah, of course, I'm disappointed after this loss. But I think in a few days I'll enjoy everything that I've had here.
Q. What were you thinking at the end, at 7-7, 8-8?
KIM CLIJSTERS: Nothing. I was still enjoying every point that I was out there. It was great to hear all the Belgians going for me. It was nice. Then the peope started to do the wave, it was great.
Q. How much has this increased your own expectations of what you can go on to achieve?
KIM CLIJSTERS: Well, I mean, I think I've showed that I can play tennis, good tennis, throughout two weeks. Maybe a few years ago, I could only do it like a few matches. But now I think like I showed that I can play, yeah, high level throughout a Grand Slam.
Q. You didn't seem to be tired at the end. Did fatigue played any role in the match at all?
KIM CLIJSTERS: I think, I mean, I wasn't feeling tired. Like, I wasn't feeling tired in my head, but of course I think my body must have felt a little bit of tightness or a little bit of tired in my legs or something. But it's not that I was feeling tired in my head or something, no.
Q. What were you most pleased about in your performance today?
KIM CLIJSTERS: Well, pleased? I mean, I'm pleased with the way I played, and that I gave myself 200%. I kept fighting for every point. I was happy to see that we still had very good rallies at 10-10 in the third set.
Q. Years from now, what do you think the one thing you'll remember about this year's Roland Garros will be?
KIM CLIJSTERS: Well, that I was in the final, of course. This is probably one of my biggest results I've made. So, of course, I'll never forget this. This is probably one of my best results. I've had a good year. I played well at Indian Wells. This is just another step in my career.
Q. Do you think nerves played any part in it at the end? You both were making brilliant shots, then missing what seemed to us, of course, easy shots?
KIM CLIJSTERS: Yeah, it could be nerves. But I wasn't feeling nervous or something. I might have felt a little bit more tired. Those are little things. If you don't feel like a hundred percent, not fit, not a hundred percent mentally anymore, it's hard to produce a level that we played in the first and in the second set, the beginning of the third. But, I mean, I think you see that in every match. No one can play good for four hours or something.
So, I mean, yeah, I think the most important thing is that I kept fighting, and I did everything I could today.
Q. Do you think it was if you hadn't saved those four breakpoints in the second game of the match, that she might possibly have run away with it? Were you a little shaky then?
KIM CLIJSTERS: Not really. Those are things that you don't think of while you're playing. I mean, yeah, of course everything could have happened then already. But it was, yeah, like I kept fighting for every point, like I said. That's what probably paid off at the end.
Q. As a young player coming up on tour, did you or your family ever talk about Jennifer Capriati as a cautionary tale?
KIM CLIJSTERS: It's quite funny because I remember her playing here 11 years ago. I was playing with diadora then at that time. She also was wearing the same clothes as her. It's quite funny. Yeah, it was very nice for me to be able to play against her, to have such a good match.
Q. You just turned 18. You obviously went through the tour as a teenager. A lot of the rules are different now than they were then. Did you ever think about that or talk about that?
KIM CLIJSTERS: No, not really. I think the WTA Tour has been helping us very much like to help the young players that are coming up and doing well in the tournaments. I think they did a good job.
Q. And the feeling in the locker room about the way Jennifer has come back, there seems to be a lot of goodwill?
KIM CLIJSTERS: Yes, yes. I mean, I think she's good friends with a lot of players. She's a very nice person, yeah.
Q. There were times when Jennifer was overhitting. Was there anything you were particularly doing to try to encourage or exploit this, any variation in what you did?
KIM CLIJSTERS: Like, I wasn't really thinking of doing something different throughout the match. But I sort of felt that I had to stay aggressive to stay in the match. If I hit a ball too short, like the point was over. Those top players, they will finish the point off then.
Yeah, I mean, it was very important for me to keep playing my own game and to stay aggressive throughout the whole match.
Q. Before the match, what was your strategy to try to beat Jennifer?
KIM CLIJSTERS: Like I said, I had to be very aggressive, I had to move her around, I had to serve well, because she's got a good return. She's a very aggressive player. I think I probably had to stay aggressive with her.
Q. After the match you said you thought that Jennifer, you'd see her in more Grand Slam titles this year. Why do you feel that way?
KIM CLIJSTERS: Because the way she's been playing throughout this year, for me, she's been one of the best players on the tour at the moment. The way she won the Australian Open, she beat I think Lindsay, Monica Seles, then Hingis at the end. She played very well there. Yeah, she had good results in Indian Wells, Key Biscayne. I think she'll win one Grand Slam, for sure.
Q. You think she can make a good run at a Grand Slam actually?
KIM CLIJSTERS: Well, you never know. In tennis, everything can happen. Those are things, if she doesn't get injured, those things you have to keep thinking of.
But, I mean, you never know. Especially on those type of surfaces, she can overpower her opponents.
Q. When people look at the bare statistics of the match, there are a lot of unforced errors recorded, I think 155. Do you think the women's game has changed so much to the extent, as you were saying, players are hitting the ball harder, and they're probably going for winners more frequently than in the past, and maybe that's reflecting the fact that the ball is going out occasionally, but it's going for winners rather than just making mistakes?
KIM CLIJSTERS: Yeah, that's the thing. I mean, a lot of the new young players try to hit like winners on every ball. We try to stay aggressive.
Yeah, so I think making more unforced errors than players used to do is probably one of the main things, yeah, probably one of the main reasons. I think we can show some unbelievable shots, as well, but maybe some easier mistakes.
Q. I imagine this must have been the longest set you've ever played. Is that the longest match you've ever played?
KIM CLIJSTERS: I can't remember. It probably is. I never really had -- like all my matches were quite quick, they went quite quick. Yeah, this is probably one of my longest matches, I think, yeah.
Q. Jennifer has obviously a lot of strengths to her game. If you had to single out one or two that are her greatest strengths, what would you say those one or two things might be?
KIM CLIJSTERS: Well, the main thing is, something in particular, she stays aggressive. That's probably one of the main things, and that's probably why she can overpower her opponents. She's playing with so much confidence at the moment, she doesn't feel any pressure. I think those two things are probably the two main reasons why she's playing so well at the moment.
Q. Did you feel any stress when you have to speak to the crowd?
KIM CLIJSTERS: No. I enjoyed it, actually. Yeah, I mean, it was nice. I felt that I have to give something back to all the Belgian people that had came today. No, I really enjoyed it, yeah.
Q. What are you doing between now and Wimbledon?
KIM CLIJSTERS: Well, I'll have a few days off, then I'll start practicing on grass. I'm playing in Rosmalen first. I'll go to Rosmalen a few days before Rosmalen starts. I'll go there to practice on the grass. I'm going to play Wimbledon.
Q. Did you think at one time after the first set that it was going well for you?
KIM CLIJSTERS: Of course, I mean, it doesn't mean if you win the first set that you win the match. But, no, I mean, I won the first set because I played very well tennis, and I didn't make a lot of mistakes.
I mean, against those top players, it's never over. It's never finished until you've played the last point.
Yeah, I mean, I was close. But, no, I never really thought that I won the match when I won the first set.
Q. Four times during the third set you were two points away from the match. Do you have any regrets on those times? Do you wish you had done something different?
KIM CLIJSTERS: No. I mean, there's not much different that I could do. She was serving for it. Those are things that I don't think of after the match. I mean, it happened on the court, and I mean, I'm not feeling sorry for those things I did there.
Q. Have you ever watched the score board during the third set?
KIM CLIJSTERS: No, not really. Of course, you hear the scores. You're not really focused on those things. Yeah, of course you focus on the score. I never had a look at the score board, no.
Q. She was upset by the microphone on court in the first set.
KIM CLIJSTERS: Yeah, I didn't know what she talking to the umpire for.
Q. My question is, she seemed to be distracted by a number of things, let things get to her. You were very focused. She's an Australian Open winner. Were you surprised that she let those things bother her?
KIM CLIJSTERS: I don't know. I didn't even know that was it. I remember at the Australian Open she said a few things to the camera men at the back of the court. I mean, she's probably one of the players who needs to have everything quiet, like small things happen, she probably gets distracted. I mean, it's different for each person.
Yeah, I didn't hear any of those things.
Q. Are you a player that enjoys playing on the grass courts when you actually get to this part of the year?
KIM CLIJSTERS: I like it. I mean, I've had good results there since I was playing Juniors. I really enjoy it there. I like Wimbledon. I like the atmosphere, yeah.
Q. In 1999 you nearly beat Serena Williams in the US Open. Do you think you're a more mature player now and you can repeat this performance in New York?
KIM CLIJSTERS: For sure I'm more mature now. But, I mean, last year I lost to Lindsay Davenport in three sets. Yeah, I mean, I've got more experience now. I think this match will give me even more experience than I had.
No, I think this match will be a very important match in my career, and I'll probably think back of this match while I'm playing some other matches.
Q. You said you were not nervous at the end of the match. What about the beginning?
KIM CLIJSTERS: No, not even in the beginning. I mean, of course, I always have some butterflies in my stomach before every match. Maybe a little more today.
No, I mean, once I start warming up, once I start just hitting the ball, it goes away, you focus on your tennis.
Q. When you walked into the centre court, what was your feeling?
KIM CLIJSTERS: It was the same feeling as I had when I had to play against Justine. It was really nice. It was nice to see so many Belgian flags, so many black/yellow/red flags, umbrellas, caps. It was nice, yeah.
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