ace magazine made you famous because we put you at the top of the ace sex appeal list.  How do you feel about that?

Yes, you were the guys who started it all.  I don't think I deserve this much attention.  I was in the newspapers every day and I'm not used to that.  It's a new experience and I don't know if I like that.  In the street a few people ran after me, asking me if I'm Barbara, but so far it has been all right.  It's not like people are following me, so so-far, so good.  The support at Wimbledon was great, though.  It makes a lot of difference when you know that hundreds and thousands of people are behind you.  it just gives you more confidence.

Hopefully ace has helped you make lots of money in extra sponsorship.

That would be nice.  I will remember ace magazine.

Are you famous in Austria?

On the women's side of sport, I'm sure most people know me.  I do a lot of commercials (for underwear and the WTA) and people see my face on TV all the time.

Do you preen yourself in front of the locker-room mirror before matches, like Kournikova does?

No, I don't spend too much time in front of the mirror.  I brush my teeth in the morning.  I brush my teeth in the evening.  I put cream on my face and that's basically it.  In the locker room, I spend five minutes in front of the mirror to get my hair done and to put sunscreen on and that's it.  Of course, I want to look nice on the court, but When I am on the court I just want to win.

Do you think that if the girl's spent more time paying attention to their looks it would be a good way to promote women's tennis?

I think at the moment, women's tennis does a good job of promoting itself.  There are so many differences between all the female players with what we wear and what we look like on court, and that makes it interesting.

Do you think the media is obsessed with the female players' off-court image?

I personally would never spend more time on my off-court image because then I would be distracted on court.  I do whatever I have to do on court and whatever I have to do to stay fit and I do 15 or maybe 30 minutes talking to the media.  But it's my job and it's what I love - and I'm not a model.

You scream a lot when you play.  Does that help?

Yes it helps, because when I'm calm all the time and I think all the time.  I get tight.  I just have to scream once and let everything out.

Many newspapers are linking you romantically with your coach.  Is that annoying?

No.  Of course, when people travel around together people will be expecting something is going on.  I know there is nothing.  He knows there is nothing.  He has had a girlfriend for 10 years.  He is going to get married soon and I know his girlfriend very well so she knows there is nothing between us.  I cannot change the way people start talking about this.

Do you have a boyfriend?

No, I'm single.  I've been single the last nine months.

Do you ever go sightseeing when you're at tournaments?

No, because I don't want to walk around too long, I get tired and I'll find it hard to concentrate.

What hobbies do you have?

When I'm at home I catch up with friends I never see and I just kind of do normal things.  I love to go skiing in the winter and hiking in the summer-time and then I like to cook and invite people to my place.  I live in the mountains.

It seems that the WTA tour doesn't want its players to be sexy women.  It says that it wants them to be serious athletes, yet it knows sexy players help the sport.

Of course, I have never heard anyone admit that, but I think it's only an advantage.  I like to think I can do whatever I want on the tour, and there is nobody who can tell me that I have to do this or that.  That would be too much, I think.

If there was one rule in tennis that you could change, what would it be?

That I could play singles on the full doubles court and my opponents would have to play on a singles court.

What would you have done if you hadn't been a professional tennis player?

I probably would have studied pharmacy.  I always wanted to be a pharmacist.