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Het Laatste Nieuws Interview June 23, 2001 Question: After the final of Roland Garros you went shopping in Paris. Did you buy a souvenir that will remind you of this important step in your career? Kim: No, nothing special. Just a nailfile, that is all there was to find on a Sunday morning. Q: Halfway the tournament, you said that nobody recognized you when you were walking through the streets in Paris. Was that different after your final? Kim: Not really. The Champs-Elysées was rather desolate, there were only a few buses of tourists. I hardly had to give any signatures at all. Q: What did you do after you came home? Kim: Relaxing in the sauna. I let all the hectic days slide of me. When I am at home, I enjoy all normal things. When you eat so much of the year in restaurants, it is great to enjoy the simple food out of my mother’s kitchen. It felt so nice to eat just with the four of us, my father, mother, my sister and I. Q: Did you watch the final on the video in the meantime? No, I never see a match wherein I play, not even the final of Roland Garros. It is hard to escape it, though. Last week, I wanted to watch Lleyton’s match in Queen’s (on BBC). Due to a rain-delay, they showed Capriati-Clijsters. I immediately watched something else. Q: Which feeling dominates now? Sorrow or satisfaction? Satisfaction. I managed to gain a far better result than anyone had expected, including myself.  Then you cannot be disappointed afterwards, however close the final match may have been.  To be honest, I did not think about it actually. In my mind, I thought of Wimbledon! Q: What if you would lose in the first round at Wimbledon? That could be possible, of course. Hingis had won Wimbledon already when she lost in the first round to the then unknown Dokic. If this can happen to a number one, why couldn’t it happen to me? Q: Two years ago you said at Wimbledon: "I hope I once make the changing-room of the real tennisstars." The English class-society is mirrored in the changing-rooms. The better a player, the more luxurious the changing-room. I am very glad I can now enter this sanctuary. I heard it looks very luxurious with special shower-heads and all. This does not matter to me, it is just the atmosphere that I like there so much. Wimbledon has such a terrific tradition. When you change clothes there, you know that all the other stars like Steffi Graf and Martina Navratilova have also prepared theirselves there.And the nice thing is: even after your career, you may still go there! Q: Whoever claims that another tournament means more to him/her than Wimbledon, is either a fool or a liar. That is nicely said. Q: It is a phrase from John Feinstein, an American. It is right though. I always loved Wimbledon. Even when I was still very young, and even more since I made the fourth round against Steffi Graf there, two years ago. It was only my first appearance then. Well yes, Roland Garros will now have a special place in my heart as well, but Wimbledon, that is the ultimate tournament! Q: Who is the top-favourite? No one. Everything is open. Venus Williams has the most chances I think. She hits harder than Davenport and moves better too. And Jelena Dokic. Jelena is always very good at Wimbledon. Q: They are all three in your side of the draw. Dokic or Davenport you can meet in the quarterfinals, Williams in the semis. If I offered a contract with the guarantee you would play the quarters, but not more, would you sign it? What would you want me to answer? Tennis is a game, and in games, you should dare to go for chances. I wouldn’t sign it, no. But who says I will survive the first three rounds?  In the fourth, you won’t hear me complain if Amanda Coetzer made it: I beat her here two years ago already. Q: You like grass, just as your friend Lleyton Hewitt. Australians and grass, that is the eternal love-affair. Lleyton is good on any surface. It is not that he grew up on grass. At his home, there is a court in rebound ace. This is the sort of hard court whereon the Australian Open is played. Q: Does Lleyton give you any grass-advice? No. We are not each other’s coach. Q: Which one of the two of you has the best chance of winning the tournament? (Slight doubt): A slight advantage for Lleyton. He beat Sampras and Henman at Queen’s. That is not unimportant! Q: This is a rather stupid and hypothetical question but still, you may answer it. If you could decide on who wins the tournament between you two, who would you wish it to? (Long hesitation): To Lleyton, I don’t like to see him unhappy (sigh). Oh, as long as we stay healthy and have fun in tennis. I love to win, you can be sure of that, but I still lie not awake of my worldranking. Q: Thank you.