Aravane Rezai

D. SAFINA/A. Rezai

6-1, 6-0

An interview with:

ARAVANEREZAI

THE MODERATOR: Questions in French, please.

Q. How did you feel on the central court against the No. 1? You felt how
powerless and she was strikinglong and deep and accurately?

ARAVANE REZAI: I didn't feel helpless, but she played reallywell. I did not
feel helpless. I didn't think it's impossible to defeat her,but she is the
world's No. 1. Shedeserves it. She deserves to be in thatranking.

There were solutions,except that I wasn't capable of finding solutions to put
her in a difficultposition. Today I did not playwell. I'm very disappointed I
did notfight like I did in the previous match.

She was strong mentally strong. She managed to put me off balance
immediatelyever since we started rallying, and that made the difference.

Q. Isthis the kind of match where you walk out of the court thinking, okay, I
stillhave to work on this, this, and this?

ARAVANE REZAI: Of course. You can compare yourself with such a great player,
and you think, maybeI should work on my forehand, backhand. I should work
more on my fitness.

But I haven't had timeenough yet to analyze the match the way I played,
because everything went sofast. Less than an hour, if I rememberwell.

So I haven't been able to play my owngame. I haven't been able to take
anyrisks. I wasn't able to doanything. So it's very difficult afterwardsto
analyze and think, okay, I should have played more on my forehand,backhand.
She really took control of thegame, of the match. She really tookcontrol of
the ball.

Q. Maybeshe was simply playing too well.

ARAVANE REZAI: Of course she was playing very well. But if I had been
fighting harder, if I hadbeen more combative, then maybe I might have had a
better score, a closerscore. This is my ninth match in arow. I'm a little
tired. I have to take some time off and rest.

I'm not really used toplaying back-to-back matches like this, and today I
learned against the world'sNo. 1 that there are still things that I need to
learn and work on, that thereare things that I still miss to be amongst the
top players.

Q. What was your tactic? What wasyour plan? She doesn't have manyweaknesses,
does she?

ARAVANE REZAI: I should have played more on the forehand,less on the
backhand, varied my game.

It did upset hersometimes, but I made so many mistakes that I never really
gave her a chance tomake mistakes. I was trying to takerisks, but I missed
very often. I mademany unforced errors.

I wasn't fighting enough, and that made thedifference.

Q. Shelost five games in four matches. There'snothing you can do against such
a player?

ARAVANE REZAI: Of course there is always something you cando. She's not
impossible to defeat, butshe is improving. She's winningmatches. She is
confident. She plays well.

Therefore, we need tofind solutions. We need to understandbetter the way she
plays. It's the firsttime that I play her. It's not easy toplay such a player
while she's improving. She's the world's No. 1. She'svery confident, so it's
not easy.

Q. Do you see her being defeated before the end of the tournament?

ARAVANE REZAI: No, I don't think so. She plays well. She plays really well.
She could do a lot here. She's the No. 1.

I mean, it doesn't meananything, really, but she deserves her ranking. She
plays really well.

Q. You don't look too depressed. Isit because you had such an outstanding
performance this week, and you feelconfident for the future?

ARAVANE REZAI: Well, I look to the future now. I try to think about my next
match. This week was a very positive experience forme, and I still have to go
on along the same line. I have to keep a high morale so that I'mcapable of
playing several matches in a row. That's my objective.

Of course I'mdisappointed that I lost, and, you know, the score wasn't really
close, so it'salways difficult to acknowledge it. Ihope that for the next
matches it will improve. I will continue fighting. I willtry to stay in the
same frame of mind.

Q. With a different draw, if you hadn't come up against Safina, do youthink
you could have advanced further in the tournament?

ARAVANE REZAI: Well, maybe. Each player is different. I can'tsay really. I
can't either say yes orno, because I don't know.

Q. After playing Safina, are you surprised about the scores she had in
theprevious matches when she won and the way she plays? Do you think she
could win the tournament?

ARAVANE REZAI: Yes, it is possible. She plays very well, so she could win
thetournament. Again, she feelsparticularly confident. She playedreally well
in the previous matches, and the other players are going to befrightened of
coming up against her.

She fights. She's very consistent, even against playerslike me who try to
strike hard. Itwasn't necessarily so easy to play against me for her, because
the public andthe crowd was on my side. She was veryprofessional, and that
made the difference.

Q. Beautiful performance here. Weekbefore you won in Strasbourg, and in
Madrid you had donewell. You did the qualifiers. All in all, what would be
the balance afterthis clay court season which got you back in the saddle?

ARAVANE REZAI: Yes, it did me a world of good. It got everything back in
place in my mind,and it showed that I can do maybe things for the rest of the
season. I will play on lawn next week in Birmingham. I think I have to be
confident now, and thebalance - well, I don't know.

I did win a streak ofmatches, and that's what really was missing for me, the
confidence. Now I'm going to try and do the same for thelawn season.

Q. You had a difficult time for a couple of years after 2006. Did you make
any mistakes, or are theymistakes you don't want to make again?

ARAVANE REZAI: Yes, of course I don't want to make the samemistakes again. I
have to continueworking hard like I did in the beginning of this year,
because what clicked inme here is a result of what I have done in Australia.
I've done a huge work, and obviously you reapthe results a couple of months
later.

So it takes some timefor results to be reaped, but I'm going to continue what
I started in Australia. I hope this will work for the nexttournaments.

Q. Where do you think you have improved most in the past few weeks?

ARAVANE REZAI: Physically and mentally, as well. This is what counts.
Mentally, I have learned to be moreconsistent, stronger during matches when I
have a lot of pressure against somevery young players like my previous match.
I've learned a lot. I've learnedto feel happier on the court, to be more
mature, calmer, to have more fun. This is what I've learned.

Q. A question on Virginie Razzano. She says she likes you a lot. What do you
think about her and the fact that she's the last Frenchplayer in the
tournament? Do you haveanything in common?

ARAVANE REZAI: Yes, I do like Virginie, as well. We've known each for a long
time. She's a really nice girl. She's very natural. She's got a big heart.
She really likes other players.

I'm quite pleased thatshe is possibly the last player in the tournament for
France. It's going to do her good. I'm really happy for her.

Q. What about the future? In the FedCup, are you going to do something with
Jean Gachassin, the new French TennisFederation president? And there is a
newcaptain. Have you had a chance todiscuss this?

ARAVANE REZAI: No, I haven't had time. I was focusing on the tournament. Why
not?