Martina Hingis 2002 Betty Barclay Cup Semifinal Interview ( Sports - Women's Tennis )

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2002 Betty Barclay Cup at Hamburg, Germany, on Saturday, May 4, 2002
Venus Williams defeated Martina Hingis, 7-5, 6-3

An Interview With MARTINA HINGIS:

Q: How did you experience the match today, did it go like you expected it, the way she played?

MARTINA HINGIS: She attacked very well from the start, played very aggressively, so I was back straight away. I always managed to come back, but it is difficult to get your own serve in against her, that was more difficult than to break her.

Q: I was watching you during your serve, when she hit you with the return you always smiled as if you expected it from the start.

MARTINA HINGIS: No, it was because I always served on her forehand, and it wasn’t interesting any more after the third time. I kept doing the same stupid things, you can’t even cry about it or get annoyed anymore.

Q: How satisfied were you with your own game? I thought you played pretty well today.

MARTINA HINGIS: Yes, of course I played better than yesterday, but she didn’t give me any rhythm at the beginning. I had many chances but I made too many unforces errors. She plays with a lot of variety. You have to try to do something yourself, but not too risk too much. That was a bit difficult.

Q: With what sort of tactic did you go into the match?

MARTINA HINGIS: There is no great tactic against her, you just have to try to play into the open court. I can do that, but she was also running very well today on the left and right. I tried to change my game a bit, but she reacted to that very well. Today you couldn’t notice her ankle for sure.

Q: What did you take out of the game?

MARTINA HINGIS: I played better with every game and I need the matches. Now I will play doubles. The tournament is over for me, but I try to learn from it and play better in Berlin.

Q: What did you learn for example?

MARTINA HINGIS: You have to play with a lot of patience and you shouldn’t want too much. Not too much risk and not too defensively.

Q: What would you say is your level at the moment, 80 or 90% or even 100%?

MARTINA HINGIS: You are never really 100%. The older you get the more difficult is it. I had four weeks break, but it is a different story on clay, you have to get into it. I’m quite happy that I got better with every match, but I’m sure I could do more.

Q: You played here now 19 times, and it’s been fairly equal. What was different today?

MARTINA HINGIS: The first point is always to believe in it when you go on court and then you have the chances to win. At first it was difficult because she attacked right away and she played quite well compared to the other matches I have seen. But the top players always bring out the best in each other and you can always wait for a great fight. The key points made the difference today, I had plenty of chances. When I broke her I didn’t win my own service back to go up, I think that was the trigger point today.

Q: Would you say that your serve was your weakness today?

MARTINA HINGIS: It wasn’t even the serve, it was more the second shot. Once I got the first serve in it took too much concentration out of me and then with the second shot I tried to do something special. Sometimes she killed it right away. I just let her control the point sometimes and that is what I have to work on now in the next few days.

Q: What did you think of her movements today, she had an injured ankle?

MARTINA HINGIS: Well, I don’t always feel 100% with my ankle either. Especially when it’s cold like this it takes a while to get into it so a warm up is really important. I played much better today, too, compared to the other matches. But she knew she had to cure it up today so she did.

Q: What is your strength in future matches against her?

MARTINA HINGIS: Well, take advantage of the chances I have. I haven’t played her for a long time, not since Miami last year, and it’s difficult to play someone where you don’t know how she is going to play. The next time I will play her I will be able to have a better strategy maybe. Today I went into the match without really knowing what to do.

Q: Were you surprised how good she plays on clay?

MARTINA HINGIS: No, she won this tournament before, so I’m not surprised how she played. It’s definitely not her favourite surface, but she is still feeling good.

Q: How do you look at this week?

MARTINA HINGIS: I’ve been feeling better from day to day.

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