A. Mauresmo Interview - Day 12 - 法網 Tennis

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A. Mauresmo Interview - Day 12
Saturday, 8 July, 2006

Q. Where is the trophy?

AMELIE MAURESMO: Where is (smiling)?

THE MODERATOR: Lost it.

Q. Does this feel any more special than Australia?

AMELIE MAURESMO: I don't know. It's really I still can't believe it, like,
you know, it's still really not there. I did not really expect coming here,
you know, I wasn't feeling great. But then, you know, all of a sudden,
everything came together playing again on grass, and especially here at
Wimbledon. Then, you know, I find myself winning finally that semifinal
that I struggled in the last few years, and then the opportunity to go
for the trophy. It feels great. I mean, it's just as I was saying
yesterday and couple days ago, it's the most prestigious tournament in
the world, and it really is a special moment for me. Also having to wait
so long in between my first and second Grand Slam final, and then having
two Grand Slam in the same year is kind of great and really the work has
been paying.

There were some tough moments, but I always thought I could make it, you
know and the people around me, also. That's important, and today helped
me a lot because she was playing great in the first set, and I was not
feeling so good. My serve and volley was not working missing quite a few
volleys. Then I was really able to pump myself up right from the beginning
of the second set, and then was totally different match that started.

Q. Amelie, your devastating serving down the stretch of this match, the
last couple of games, particularly in the deuce court, is that of the
special things that you're going to remember about this tournament?

AMELIE MAURESMO: Probably I think especially in that last game. Two aces
on key moments, that's always very nice and very comfortable to feel and
to think that you can rely on this big weapon, which, you know, couple days
ago did not work so well in the middle of the match. But then today, you
know, was able really to come up with probably my best service games in
the last set. So that made, of course, life a little bit easier on the
last game.

Q. Were you nervous in that last game?

AMELIE MAURESMO: I was a little bit nervous on the matchpoint I would say,
which is probably understandable. But then, you know, I was really focusing
on the game, on what I had to do, on my serve, on my volley, if I was
serving and volley. That was about it.

Q. What's the most gratifying aspect of your performance today?

AMELIE MAURESMO: Probably the way I turned things around. You know, you're
6-2 down against Justine in the final of a Grand Slam. You not in such great
position at the time (smiling). You feel like, Okay, what do I need to do?
What am I going to do? How am I going to change things around? How am I
gonna just make it go my way? Again, I really felt I pumped myself up. I
let it out a little bit. I yelled a little bit. I was much more aggressive
right from the beginning of that second set.

Q. You won serving and volleying. The men are not even doing that.

AMELIE MAURESMO: Not anymore, yeah.

Q. Does that make it special? Do you want to see more men serving and
volleying and playing a grass court game?

AMELIE MAURESMO: I don't care (laughing).

Q. Does that make it special for you that you played a true grass court game?

AMELIE MAURESMO: No, I mean, we've seen Justine also coming in a lot,
especially in that third set, after her serve. No, I mean, I'm just very
proud about the way I kept coming in even though in the first set it was
not working very well on my serve and volley game. Yeah, just I'm very
happy to maybe have mixed it up a little bit more then. And the rest, I
don't care (smiling).

Q. During the change of ends, you have a head thing where you bury your
head in your towel before you go out. Can you tell us what that's about.

AMELIE MAURESMO: It's inspiration.

Q. How do you get inspiration from burying your face in a towel?

AMELIE MAURESMO: I don't know.

Q. Seriously.

AMELIE MAURESMO: You know, I just try to maybe get a little bit extra
focus and extra concentration. I don't know why I did that. I mean, it
just came that way. It worked out very well because I did it at the end
of the first set, I think. So, you know, after that, I just thought it
was working well, so I kept doing it.

Q. Do you feel your victory will be an inspiration for the French World
Cup victory tomorrow?

AMELIE MAURESMO: I hope. I hope (smiling).

Q. What does it say on your T shirt there?

AMELIE MAURESMO: It says 'Big Confidence' from Reebok. They already made
the champion's T shirt.

Q. Very, very tough conditions out there today. The wind, balls bouncing.

AMELIE MAURESMO: At the beginning especially, yeah.

Q. Was it a good day to be 5'9" rather than 5'5"?

AMELIE MAURESMO: I don't know. The wind was pretty hard, especially I
felt at the beginning. We're not used to that during the tournament,
because every day was almost a perfect day to play tennis, you know.
Was hot and just a little bit of wind. So I guess I was a little bit
surprised when I came out on court 'cause this morning for warm up it
was not the case. Yeah, so that was a little bit different. But I guess,
yeah, I mean, I don't know.

Q. Were there times when you were deeply hurt by the critics and criticism,
and how did you deal with it?

AMELIE MAURESMO: What?

Q. When you were criticized for your nerves and everything, were there
times that it hurt? How did you deal with that?

AMELIE MAURESMO: No, it didn't hurt because I was, I think, realistic
and I could see that sometimes the nerves got involved. So that's how I
am, that's how it is. That's, you know, why I've been maybe why it took
me longer than others and why I've been working maybe in different areas
of this aspect.

Q. It's taken you quite a while to achieve many of your wonderful
accomplishments. Is it sweeter?

AMELIE MAURESMO: It is very sweet, I think. Well, yeah, maybe if it came
the first time I was in a Grand Slam final seven years ago, maybe it would
have not had the same taste. Things come when they have to come. Well, since
few months now, it seems to be working pretty well for me. It seems that I
finally found how maybe to handle the nerves a bit better, how my game is.
I really know much more now how to play tennis than few years ago. I think
everything is really coming together. The physical part of my game, as well.

Q. Was the LA win really key?

AMELIE MAURESMO: Well, that's for sure. That's what I've always said and
that's what I keep saying. That was the first one for me.

Q. Gave you great confidence?

AMELIE MAURESMO: Yeah.

Q. What have you done about your nerves? You say you've done something to
work on your nerves.

AMELIE MAURESMO: No, I learned about the experiences. I learned, you know,
that's how it is, that's how it works. You know, try different things, but
like thinking, you know. Try to think, try to take things a little bit
differently, try to see tennis also differently, you know, not putting
on myself that much pressure. That's, yeah, what I'm trying to do.

Q. Once Boris Becker said about Stefan Edberg, who was always playing serve
and volley, that was an advantage for Edberg because he had not to think too
much. The strategy was there. He had to go for a volley all the time. Was it
for you, too? I think did it help in any way?

AMELIE MAURESMO: Well, it helped, I think, throughout the tournament. Today,
because it was not working so well at the beginning, I had to adjust. I had
to make it a little bit differently after.

So, yeah, in a way, it makes it easy 'cause you don't have to think. But if
it doesn't work, then you have to change and make sure that you try something
new, which might not work, but at least try.

Q. You were down 4 2 in the first set and the umpire virtually predicted a
final set. Did you notice? Did it encourage you?

AMELIE MAURESMO: I noticed it, yeah. We were very far from that at the time.

Q. We saw the emotion after the final point. Can you recall what your
thoughts were at that point?

AMELIE MAURESMO: No thoughts, just living the emotion, just going through
the adrenaline, just enjoy, enjoy the moment, and starting to, yeah, think,
Okay, that's it, this is over, this is it, I'm the one coming out of this
court as a winner. So that's, yeah, very special.

Q. How different was it holding up that plate today than in Australia?

AMELIE MAURESMO: It's a different trophy. It's round. It's smaller (smiling).

No, to be a little bit more specific, it feels great. It felt great in
Australia. It feels still great here. Of course, the way it ended is
different, so I had this final moment, especially this final point I
was talking about. But then the rest is great.

Q. You've got a collection of wine at home. Have you been saving special
bottles?

AMELIE MAURESMO: I haven't thought about it. I was not too optimistic. I
haven't thought about it. We'll see when I get back.

Q. Will you make an effort to watch football? For French sport, it's a major
weekend with you and the national football team.

AMELIE MAURESMO: I will definitely watch it, that's for sure, yeah.

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