2001 U.S. Open – 4th Round Interview

New York, New York
September 02, 2001
Bedanova defeats M. Seles 7-5,4-6,6-3

Q. She may be the best returner in tennis. You had trouble breaking her today. Was that a reflection on how well she served or were you not able to pick on it?
MONICA SELES: Definitely she served really well, especially when she was down breakpoint. But I just made too many errors to stay competitive. I mean, I was having a tough time holding my serve. She was just holding hers really easily most of the match.

Q. How disappointing is it? You played so well this summer.
MONICA SELES: Yeah, definitely. It was one of those matches that, gosh, didn’t feel comfortable out there from the first ball hit. She was playing really steady. She didn’t give me any free points. She was serving really well. I was just having a hard time finding my range with my groundstrokes. I think I probably had a lot of unforced errors in there.

Q. Were you surprised by how quick she was from corner to corner? Seemed like you’d try to push her around, she was able to get to everything.
MONICA SELES: No, I mean, I practice with Daja at home a few times. I knew her game. I knew coming into the match what to expect. But I knew if I could stay aggressive and keep my errors down that I could be more successful against her. Today was vice versa. I think she was the one being aggressive and kept her errors down.

Q. Can you explain what you mean by you didn’t feel comfortable out there? Did you have a bad practice? Was there something that happened before the match?
MONICA SELES: Nothing, no. I mean, it was just one of those days, “Gosh, I wish it didn’t come today.” Just really felt — had a difficult time finding my range. I was hoping to find it in the match. Never kind of found it on my serve or on my groundstrokes.

Q. Seemed like after points where you were hitting it long or wide, you’d look down. Were you battling yourself mentally out there, too, today?
MONICA SELES: A little bit. It’s just frustrating when you have a day like today in a Grand Slam where you feel like you’re making a lot of mistakes against a player that you really cannot afford to because she’s so steady, she’s a very good runner, you have to work very hard to win a single point. The match is really tight.
I was just trying to not make those mistakes. I ended up making them anyway.

Q. Does this happen sometimes, then you’re able to work your way out of it?
MONICA SELES: Today definitely it didn’t happen. I mean, both on my serve and on my groundstrokes and returns, just kind of everything was not going the way that I want it at least to go.
You have to give so much credit to Daja because she served so well at key times to hold off the breakpoints. That made the match a different type.

Q. How big a setback do you think this is in the overall picture?
MONICA SELES: I don’t know the overall picture. Right now it’s disappointing to lose, you know, after playing so well coming into here, just really having the day that I had today at a Grand Slam is really — it’s a tough one.

Q. You say that you practice with her at home. Does it happen often with everybody or are you particularly friends with her?
MONICA SELES: No, it was just last year before The Championships I practiced with her a few times. She’s a terrific girl. Her father. I knew her game, the same way she knew my game coming into the match.

Q. How long did that practice last?
MONICA SELES: I have no idea.

Q. Did she call you?
MONICA SELES: No. I think my coached asked her, at that time, Bobby.

Q. Was she any different then than she was today?
MONICA SELES: No, she was very tough then, too. Obviously, she’s improved. She’s improving a lot, as you can tell, this past year or so by her results and stuff like that. She was very difficult at that stage, too.