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FAMILY CIRCLE CUP 2000

Hilton Head Island, SC, USA
Thursday, April 20, 2000

J. Dokic / A. Frazier 6-2, 6-2

An interview with: JELENA DOKIC


QUESTION: Jelena, how does it feel to be in the quarterfinals your first time 
here? 

DOKIC: It's good because not just the quarterfinals. I played really well the 
whole week, three tough matches, and Amy today as well, so not just to get to 
the quarterfinals but play well, and now I have a chance to get through. I'm in 
the quarterfinals.

QUESTION: What sort of expectations did you have coming in here?

DOKIC: You always hope to do well, to do in any stage of a tournament, but I was 
struggling a bit after Wimbledon, so I was hoping a round or two would get me 
back on track, last week as well. And I knew it was going to be a tough match 
today. She's a top 20. So my aim was probably if I did get to the third round, 
to beat Amy, and again, I have a chance whoever gets through. But it's good to 
be in the quarterfinals.

QUESTION: You'll more than likely play the top seed in the next round. How do 
you approach that?

DOKIC: Well, I played her at Wimbledon which was probably a surface that suits 
her more than me, but it will be interesting, I think, because I haven't played 
her since then, but I know if she gets through, it's the top seed. Again, I've 
got nothing to lose and I feel like I can really win that match if I play well.

QUESTION: How do you like this surface?

DOKIC: Well, for my game clay is not the best surface for me to play on. I like 
the faster surfaces, but I've worked on my game to try and adjust to everything, 
and I think probably getting to the quarterfinals here on clay is great for me. 
It's one of the first tournaments on clay for the year, and I've tried to adjust 
my game so I can play on anything, especially clay because it's so much tougher.

QUESTION: Why is clay more difficult for you than the other surfaces?

DOKIC: Well, I mean my game just suits more grass and hard court. I'm baseline 
and just attacking, and that doesn't suit clay. You know, clay probably suits 
somebody like Conchita or the Spanish players who hang in the back of the court 
and hit a million balls. But you just adjust to that and try and play like a 
clay court player.

QUESTION: You have to be a little bit more patient? 

DOKIC: Uh-huh. More patient. Yeah, definitely, because you're not going to win a 
point so easily as you will on grass. There's not a lot of free points here, not 
even on the serve, and holding a service game here is so tough because you just 
kind of get into your service games because clay is so much slower again, so you 
gotta be a lot more patient.

QUESTION: Can you talk a little bit about your win over Hingis at Wimbledon what 
that experience was like for you?

DOKIC: Well, I mean coming from qualifying to beat a top seed at the time, I 
played well that match and then also to get through to the quarterfinals and 
beat Mary it was a great experience, but then you gotta get past that and worry 
about the next tournament, and Wimbledon is coming again this year, so it was a 
great experience for me, but it's great to get another quarterfinal here. 

QUESTION: Have you played Pierce since Wimbledon?

DOKIC: No.

QUESTION: When Alexandra Stevenson got to the semifinals of Wimbledon, she sort 
of struggled with her game, sort of some uneven results. How do you feel about 
how you've played since then to get to the quarterfinals of Wimbledon?

DOKIC: I think game wise I probably struggled at the end of the year last year, 
but I was probably -- I mean I started working with Tony Roche then after the U. 
S. Open, and he worked on my game a lot and sort of got me back on track, I 
think, at the beginning of the year, even though I didn't have such great 
results. I think my game was definitely much better than it was last year, and I 
think it just takes time to get it going. I think it was for me just a matter of 
time to start doing it in matches and start winning matches, but you know, after 
Wimbledon you expect to get to maybe the quarterfinals every week, not just 
Wimbledon, which is just tough to do. The tour is so tough at the moment, and 
I've also played some really tough matches, top ten players, and I had chances 
in some of them, some tough three-setters, which sometimes you win and it's 
great, but sometimes you lose those matches, and you know, you struggle, but you 
gotta get past that and you just gotta move forward, and that's what I try to do 
in coming to these tournaments, you know, just thinking about each match as it 
comes. I mean you think about winning, but just think about improving your game 
because if you play well, I think for me I think the results will come because I 
think I have the game to play the quarterfinals, the semis and beat those 
players.

QUESTION: What sort of goals do you have for this year as far as where you see 
yourself at the end of the year? Ranking or is it Grand Slams?

DOKIC: Ranking, I mean I'm trying for top 20 at the moment. It will be tough 
because I'm limited with the tournaments, but we'll see. Top 20 first. And you 
never know what can happen. You can get another quarterfinal at a Grand Slam, 
but I think tournament wise it's just to get a lot of matches, win a lot of 
matches like here, and then if I play Mary now, I'll try and get a win or two 
there over the top players and get my confidence back and then try to be in the 
ending stages of the tournaments.

QUESTION: She was talking yesterday about the first time she came here, like she 
was younger than you. She was 14 and she played a top 20 player in the first 
round and about sort of how awe struck she was by the whole surroundings. Do you 
have any feeling like that in this tournament when you come?

DOKIC: Well, yeah. I mean you can draw a top 20 or top 10 player first round, 
and it's always tough to play those matches in the first round. And it's always 
better if you can get a not so top ranked player in the first round, maybe get a 
bit of rhythm and win a match or two, but again, the tour is so tough at the 
moment that even a top 50 player, anything is possible, and there's a lot of 
upsets here this week, I think. So definitely, I mean actually I feel really 
good at this tournament, probably the best that I've felt since Wimbledon. It's 
a great atmosphere here and the crowd's been great all week.

QUESTION: You haven't lost a set yet. Looks like you haven't struggled very much 
in the first three matches. What do you attribute that to?

DOKIC: Yeah. I just feel like I've sort of cruised through my matches. I was 
really concentrating from the beginning to the end, which is very important for 
me at the moment, and if I do that, you know, I was on top of my game the whole 
week, and I think that's where the results came in. Like I said, if I play well, 
I can win matches. So but you know, which will I think help me, and again, 
whoever gets through to play the quarters, it will be a tough match, and I feel 
confident at the moment which I think will help me, whoever gets through. 


END OF INTERVIEW

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