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UNITED STATES TENNIS ASSOCIATION UNITED STATES TENNIS ASSOCIATION
1996 U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP
Flushing Meadows, New York
September 2, 1996
S. GRAF/A. Kournikova
6-2, 6-1
An interview with:
ANNA KOURNIKOVA
Q. So how did it feel against the champion?
ANNA KOURNIKOVA: It was really great. I mean, I felt really comfortable out
there. I think I played really good.
Q. Did you play as well as you would have liked to?
ANNA KOURNIKOVA: Well, yeah. I played all right. You know, I could play a
little bit more inside the court. I played good.
Q. How about Steffi, did she play as well as you expected her to?
ANNA KOURNIKOVA: Yeah. I mean, she played really good. She was always there,
you know. She was really concentrated. She did what she's always doing.
Q. What did you learn from this match?
ANNA KOURNIKOVA: Well, I learned that I could be out there and I can play
those players. It was really good for me, good experience.
Q. Did she play better than you expected or was it just the way you expected
it?
ANNA KOURNIKOVA: No, it was just the way I expected it to be.
Q. You said you were looking forward to playing Steffi Graf. Has your opinion
changed after the match?
ANNA KOURNIKOVA: No. I would love to play her again and again. I would play
her.
Q. You didn't seem at all intimidated by playing her. Is that correct? Did
you really feel okay?
ANNA KOURNIKOVA: Comfortable, really comfortable out there.
Q. Are you encouraged or discouraged after this match?
ANNA KOURNIKOVA: No, I'm really happy.
Q. How long have you thought about being on a court like this in a major
championship against the champ?
ANNA KOURNIKOVA: Well, I don't know if I have thought about it, you know.
Just it happened, so I'm glad it happened, that I played one of the best
players.
Q. What do you think of Martina Hingis beating Arantxa Sanchez?
ANNA KOURNIKOVA: I think she played really well today. It was a really good
match. I watched it all on TV because I was playing after them. It was a really
good match.
Q. What does it tell you when you see yourself in this round and to see
Martina Hingis all at this young age? What does that tell you about your age
group, your peers?
ANNA KOURNIKOVA: Well, there's not that many young players coming in now, so
we're probably the ones that are coming in right now to the tournaments.
Q. Did it in a way encourage you when you saw that young girl, Martina, did
beat Arantxa, to do the same to Steffi?
ANNA KOURNIKOVA: No. I was really happy for her. I think that she did really
well.
Q. But it didn't give you some kind of extra confidence?
ANNA KOURNIKOVA: Well, you know, we're playing different. So, I mean, that's
-- I guess Arantxa was a little bit irritated today or something.
Q. What did Steffi tell you at the end?
ANNA KOURNIKOVA: What do you mean "at the end"?
Q. When you shook hands?
ANNA KOURNIKOVA: She said, "Good tournament."
Q. Can you clarify again how many tournaments you're allowed to play?
ANNA KOURNIKOVA: Ten tournaments.
Q. Next year?
ANNA KOURNIKOVA: From my birthday till my birthday. After my next birthday, I
can play 12 tournaments.
Q. Are you friends with Martina?
ANNA KOURNIKOVA: Yeah, normal kind of relationship.
Q. Have you ever played against Venus Williams?
ANNA KOURNIKOVA: No.
Q. Where are you in your schooling situation?
ANNA KOURNIKOVA: I'm taking correspondence from Russian school.
Q. From where?
ANNA KOURNIKOVA: Russian school.
Q. You are?
ANNA KOURNIKOVA: Yes.
Q. Moscow school?
ANNA KOURNIKOVA: Yes.
Q. What's it called?
ANNA KOURNIKOVA: It's by numbers, number something, like 29.
Q. So you no longer go to school classes; you take correspondence?
ANNA KOURNIKOVA: Yes.
Q. When did that start?
ANNA KOURNIKOVA: Last year.
Q. When will that finish?
ANNA KOURNIKOVA: Two more years.
Q. Do you know yet where you'll be playing next?
ANNA KOURNIKOVA: No, haven't decided.
Q. Is it tough to concentrate on the lessons when you are around playing
tournaments?
ANNA KOURNIKOVA: No. It's fine. Whenever I'm waiting for my practice or
anything like that, you know, I'm just doing.
Q. It's often tiring in the players' lounge, lots of people around. You still
sit there?
ANNA KOURNIKOVA: Yeah, trying to.
Q. Why do you want to study when you're doing so well in tennis?
ANNA KOURNIKOVA: I have to study.
Q. Who decrees that, yourself or your mother?
ANNA KOURNIKOVA: Just the way it goes. I have to go to school.
Q. Is that the Russian law that you have to do that?
ANNA KOURNIKOVA: Well, yeah. I believe it's everywhere like that.
Q. How do you say your first name?
ANNA KOURNIKOVA: Anna.
Q. What did you think about this morning when you were getting ready for the
match? What were your goals? What did you say to yourself in preparation for
getting ready to play Steffi the first time?
ANNA KOURNIKOVA: Well, I was going out there thinking that I have to do my
best, just really try to play my best tennis.
Q. Did you expect to win?
ANNA KOURNIKOVA: Well, it's hard to say what I expected, but just went out
there and I was really relaxed going out there.
Q. Does it surprise you that Steffi said she recognized you having respect
because you tried too much for winners?
ANNA KOURNIKOVA: Excuse me? She said what?
Q. You tried to hit a lot of winners, and that made her recognize that you
have got a lot of respect. That was her explanation.
ANNA KOURNIKOVA: Respect for her?
Q. Yes.
ANNA KOURNIKOVA: That's why I went for winners?
Q. Yes.
ANNA KOURNIKOVA: Well, yeah, I went for winners because I felt like I could
make this shot. I do have respect for her, so.
Q. Did Nick Bollettieri tell you anything before the match?
ANNA KOURNIKOVA: We just talked about how I should play, what I should do out
there.
Q. Could you talk for a moment about what it's been like being at Nick's
academy for all these years, just what your life is like there?
ANNA KOURNIKOVA: Well, our life is really great out there for tennis, for
going to school. You go to school in the morning and then you play tennis. You
have a lot of fun because you're always with other kids. You communicate with
other kids really good, you know. Especially there is kids from different
countries. You can learn a lot of languages there. It's really great to be
there.
Q. You're going to the academy in the morning?
ANNA KOURNIKOVA: No, no. I am practicing in the morning.
Q. You had done that?
ANNA KOURNIKOVA: I have done that for four years.
Q. I know you and Nick connected when you were very young, nine or something.
How did that happen?
ANNA KOURNIKOVA: I don't know. It all started on a tennis court, I played. We
have a really good relationship.
Q. When did you start playing tennis, what age?
ANNA KOURNIKOVA: About five or six years old.
Q. The rule that's passed says that you can't play a certain number of
tournaments until age 16, is that right?
ANNA KOURNIKOVA: Yeah.
Q. Which is basically saying, in a sense, that you and your coaches can't
decide what's best for your own future; they needed to bring in a rule. Do you
feel like you're too young to decide what your own future should be?
ANNA KOURNIKOVA: Well, I don't think that me or my coaches, they cannot
decide what I should do. I think that this rule, it's maybe not for everybody
because everybody has different mentality, different physical. I think it
doesn't really affect me or anybody a lot. I think we could play a little bit
more tournaments to get experience and, you know, playing a lot of tournament
and matches, just learn how to win.
Q. When Steffi was about your age, she was pulled out of school, missed
school to some degree. In her 20s she talked about that was a part of her life
she wishes she had. Do you feel like you're missing anything now?
ANNA KOURNIKOVA: No, I don't think I'm missing anything. I'm taking school
and I'm just, you know, traveling around the world, I'm seeing everything that
anybody would want to see, you know. I'm meeting a lot of different people,
doing what I love to do: play tennis.
Q. So it's pretty fun?
ANNA KOURNIKOVA: Yes.
End of FastScripts….
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