Q. Were you very nervous playing your first Grand Slam final?

ELENA DEMENTIEVA: Yeah, I think I was too nervous today. I couldn't play my game at all. I was waiting for this moment all my life, just couldn't handle this pressure. I was maybe too exciting today on the court. My concentration wasn't there. I couldn't even, you know, clearly see the ball. Just didn't apply my game at all.

Q. Is this something you will learn from if you have the opportunity again to play another Grand Slam final?

ELENA DEMENTIEVA: I mean, it was a great tournament and a great experience. I wouldn't like to have this experience again, especially in the final, to play like that.

But I will never forget this result. I hope it's not my last one. I'll play better next time.

Q. Was there a moment in the match where you thought you could come back?

ELENA DEMENTIEVA: You know, I was ‑‑ to be honest, I was rushing all the time. I couldn't stop myself and say, "Just stop, I have to change something." I was just losing point after point. Couldn't change anything, you know. Just wasn't me on the court today.

Q. Were you nervous when you woke up this morning?

ELENA DEMENTIEVA: I was thinking about this day, you know, all the time, about this moment, that I will come on the court and play this final.

I was nervous all the time, but I think this is normal. This is my first final, you know, in my life.

Q. Early in the second set after you hit a double‑fault, you screamed something in Russian. What is the translation of what you said?

ELENA DEMENTIEVA: I said, "I hate my serve," which is true.

Q. If you had a better service to go with the groundstrokes you have, how good could you be?

ELENA DEMENTIEVA: I mean, if I can play the final in Grand Slam without serve, you know, I don't know how to serve (crying).

THE MODERATOR: Do you want to come back?

ELENA DEMENTIEVA: No, I'm okay.

Q. Do you think it may have had something to do with the fact that Anastasia is your good friend? May that have made it more difficult today?

ELENA DEMENTIEVA: No, I think it's more difficult to play against someone you never played before, you know, because you don't know what to expect. With Anastasia, we know each other very well. So, you know, I knew how to play against her. You know, there is nothing new that she show me on the court today.

Q. Even if it's a little too early to think about that, what are you going to do now? Are you looking forward to play as soon as you can on grass?

ELENA DEMENTIEVA: I don't think I'm going to play something before Wimbledon, because I need the rest and I need the time to, you know, feel the grass. So I think I will come back home for a few days and go to London to practice there with my coach and play Wimbledon.

Q. What will be the most difficult for you, to regroup mentally or physically?

ELENA DEMENTIEVA: I don't think it's going to be, you know, any difficult than this. The only difficult part is that there is no ‑‑ you know, enough time between these two Grand Slams. We have only 2 weeks, which is not enough, you know, when you have to change from clay courts to the grass season, you know.

But, you know, like I said, I'm not going to play anything. So I'm going to practice. I hope I'm going to be ready for Wimbledon.

Q. What was the difference in your state of mind between the final you played in Miami after a very good tournament and this one?

ELENA DEMENTIEVA: It was kind of same feeling, you know. I was too nervous. I have the feeling like, you know, I could do it. You know, I felt when I play against Serena, and today on the court, I felt like I play better, I can win this one. You know, this is not good to think about, you know, this kind of thing before the match because you need to be ready for the fight. You need to, you know, be ready that your opponent going to play very well on the court.

It's better to be, you know, maybe a little bit afraid, you know, sometimes.

Q. The first couple of games, you were very aggressive, but it didn't work out very well because you missed a couple of volleys. Did that discourage you a little bit?

ELENA DEMENTIEVA: Yeah, I mean, I was trying to be aggressive on the court, was trying to go to the net. But just everything didn't work today, you know. I did so many mistakes.

Q. When you look back at the first five months of this year, having reached the final of a major hard court tournament in Key Biscayne, the final of the French Open, clearly some very positive things about this season for you. What are you going to take away from the French Open that will encourage you that you're going to have a great 2004?

ELENA DEMENTIEVA: It's been ‑‑ I mean, it's been a great experience for me to play till the final here. You know, I was I think ‑‑ I was playing very well, and there are some good matches, you know. And now I know what it takes, you know, to be in the final in a Grand Slam, how hard it is. You know, I understand right now that I need to be more ‑‑ you know, more stronger mentally if I want to win this kind of thing. So I'm going to work on this.

I think that physically I was okay, but it was something with my breathing, you know. I was holding my breathing all the time, and then I start to rushing. I lost my rhythm, especially on the serve. That's kind of thing which is, you know, it comes when you are too nervous on the court.

So I need to prepare better for this.

Q. Is it perhaps because Anastasia likes to play quickly, she holds two balls, even when the first ball faults, she grabs it and plays it? Does that make you play at her pace?

ELENA DEMENTIEVA: Yeah, but I know she likes to play like this. She's rushing all the time. She's serving all the time. You are not there, but she is serving already. Yeah, she's using these kind of things.

But I played her before, and I know that she likes to do this. There is nothing I can do because the person who's serving, he has his own rhythm. I can't do, you know, these things all the time, if she want to serve so fast all the time (holding up her hand).

Q. Were you as nervous today as when you were playing a long time ago against Myskina for a pizza?

ELENA DEMENTIEVA: No, I don't think so (smiling).

Q. When Anastasia was in yesterday, she revealed you two used to cheat each other playing practice matches. I think she was kidding a little bit. Is it true?

ELENA DEMENTIEVA: No, I don't think so, no. She was joking.

Q. If you have to play the final in Wimbledon with Myskina, what do you have to change?

ELENA DEMENTIEVA: I prefer to play someone else in the final (laughter). I think Capriati could win, but she was too exciting after she won, you know, against Serena. So maybe it was better for me to play against Jennifer today.

Q. Do you think you were more nervous because it was Anastasia in front of you? If it had been another opponent, you think you would have been less nervous than today?

ELENA DEMENTIEVA: I don't know. I mean, I have no idea. But when you play against someone you never won before, it gives you lot of motivation, because I never beat Jennifer before.