Friday, February 8, 2008

Mauresmo: "Looking Forward to a Fight"

Amélie Mauresmo regretted not being to play a whole match against Eleni Daniilidou before going up against Anna Chakvetadze, a player she knows is particularly dangerous (Photo: Panoramic).

Amélie, what does a player feel after such a strange match?
It's always disappointing when a match finishes like it did today. Especially since I wanted to get another match under my belt before the next round. I was looking forward to a fight. I'll get that tomorrow for sure when I play number 1 seed Chakvedatze. She had a very good season last year and probably had a lot of confidence coming into the tournament. I was hoping to be able to feel my game out tonight. But, it'll have to wait until tomorrow.

You have beaten her twice and one of those wins was here. Doesn't that give you a bit to go on for tomorrow's match?

Sure, I've got an idea about how she plays and what shots can bother her. I played her a year ago, first here and then the following week in Antwerp. But, she's improved a lot since then. She's among the very best right now.

She sometimes lacks mental toughness. Are you going to try to use that tomorrow to throw her off?

Yes. I'd like to make her start doubting herself like she sometimes does. I'll have to be very aggressive though to do that. I've got to get her off the baseline where she likes to dictate play at her own rhythm.

Translated by Timothy Aaron Priest

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