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Q. Your probable next opponent would be
Venus Williams. Have you played her before and do you think you have a chance
against her?
BARBARA SCHETT: Yes, I've played her two
times against had year once at the US Open quarterfinals and at the Grand Slam
Cup, and I lost against her two times.
Q. Straight sets?
BARBARA SCHETT: Yes, 6-4, 6-3 both times.
I think she's playing really well, especially because her serve is really fast
and her ground strokes.
Q. Is the surface fast?
BARBARA SCHETT: It's quite fast, I think.
Today it wasn't too fast because Aranxta is not playing very powerful, but for
the first match, it was nice to play against somebody like her.
Q. You've improved your game a lot. Where
have you improved that you might do better against Venus, assuming she wins her
next match?
BARBARA SCHETT: Well, I think the most
important thing will be my serve. I have to be very concentrate on my service
games, and I have to return really well, and I just have to -- to put pressure
on her. I shouldn't get too short with my strokes because otherwise, she's
hitting winner all the time.
Q. Is your return serve pretty strong?
BARBARA SCHETT: It depends how she's
serving. She's serving really well. Especially indoors, it's going to be more
harder to return her serve well, I think. This is going to be the biggest
problem, I think. But I have nothing to lose, and I just go out there and play.
And she has to bin first.
Q. Andre Agassi has improved because he
takes very good care of his service?
BARBARA SCHETT: Oh, yeah, service is, for
sure the most important thing in a match. I think I improved my serve as well,
but it could be better. It still could be better.
Q. Are you playing at the top of your
game right now?
BARBARA SCHETT: I think this year I've
been playing my best tennis. Today or right now, I wouldn't say I'm playing my
best tennis. I think I can still play a lot better. But it's great if you win
matches and you're not playing your best tennis, I think.
Q. Is this a very different tournament
without Steffi, without Monica?
BARBARA SCHETT: I'm glad they are not
playing. It's more chances for me. (Laughs). No, it's great to play here. It's
the Top 16 players playing, and it's great that I'm seeded, and it's a big
experience for me because it's the first year for me to be here.
Q. Have you watched it in the past?
BARBARA SCHETT: I have to be honest, I
have never watched it in the past. I was always more concentrating at the Grand
Slam tournaments. But it's just great to be here, great to play here in Madison
Square Garden, and yeah, I enjoy it.
Q. How did you find her (Arantxa) today
as compared to the beginning of the year, not playing as often anymore?
BARBARA SCHETT: No, I think her last
tournament she played was in Filderstadt, and I think she never played really
well indoors. That was good for me to play against her indoors. I think she can
still play well claycourt, but I didn't -- I couldn't tell if she was playing
better at the beginning of the year or not. I always like to play against her
because she's not playing very fast and she has troubles with her forehand and
always like to play against her.
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