Q. So it looked about 3‑All, you guys are trading blows, both playing pretty well. About the seventh game of the first set, she just stepped it up, started playing real aggressive. Seemed like you couldn't match her intensity?

KIM CLIJSTERS: Yeah, I felt like she started to take a lot more risks on her return games and she, uhm, you know, started to really put me under pressure from the first serve already. She tried to go for her shots. I think from then on, she raised her level a bit, and from then on she was too good.

Q. From your own part, it looked like at times you were trying to raise it but couldn't quite get the consistency.

KIM CLIJSTERS: Yeah, I felt like a lot of the times, the rallies, I was dominating the points, but, you know, I just couldn't finish them off. I knew that was going to happen because I know she's a player who defends incredibly well out there on clay. On a hard court, you can hit a shot and most, like 99% it's a winner. Here on clay, they keep coming back. Twice, three times they come back. I don't think I was consistent enough to keep going for those lines.

Yeah, I think that's where, you know, I messed up a few times, on those important points.

Q. What was going through your mind the last couple games? Was it just a largely helpless feeling?

KIM CLIJSTERS: I mean, you try to, you know, go for your shots and you try to, you know, like stay focused out there but you also see that, you know, it's hard because, you know, whenever she's doing is working really well and I'm trying to get through that. But it's very hard for somebody who is, like I said before, she defends so well. I still felt like I was hitting good shots out there, but she was retrieving everything pretty well.

She was defending like all the balls pretty deep, and even with her slice, it kept coming really low. That was hard for me to get under those and try to go for winners from there.

Q. Coming off court, when the interviewer was about to talk to you, you looked kind of mad. Were you mad at yourself for the performance? How frustrated are you?

KIM CLIJSTERS: I mean, it's disappointing. But, you know, I'm definitely not complaining about the tournament I've had. If people would have asked me or told me I was going to play a semifinal here this week, I would have been really happy. But obviously when you lose a match, it doesn't matter who to, I mean, it's always a little bit disappointing. And especially straight after the match when they put a camera on your face, it's not always easy.

But then, you know, 15 minutes afterwards, I had a shower and it's all done.

Q. Do you feel like she really is just too good for you on clay when she plays that well?

KIM CLIJSTERS: I think she's by far the best clay court player. I mean, she's really consistent and she also ‑‑ I mean, I think what the difference is between her and, I think any other player, is that she just moves so well. It's not that she hits the ball harder than any of us, it's just that she moves so well. Like I said, you can hit two, three winners and you think now you have a winner, but against her they just keep coming back.

That's, I mean, what she's really good at on clay.

Q. It sounds like if she plays to her level against Sveta, you don't give Sveta too much of a chance there?

KIM CLIJSTERS: I mean, Sveta has had some good results in the past against her. I don't know if it was last year where she had a good match against her here and she was up, or two years ago. But Svetlana is also the type of player who, similar to my game, is somebody who plays aggressive tennis. It's all a matter of how consistent she's gonna be. I think that's gonna be very important. Even when the ball keeps coming back, you have to make those shots if you want to beat Justine.

Q. Can you say something about the reason for your errors at the end of the match. Was it only because of her pressure or were there other reasons for that?

KIM CLIJSTERS: No, I mean, you feel, you know, when you play somebody who is playing as good as her, you have to try to change something. I'm not the type of player who's all of a sudden going to play serve and volley. I'm going to try to raise my level and try to go for my shots a little bit more. But, I mean, like I said, you try to sometimes even ‑‑ the longer the points get, I think the more of an advantage she has. Sometimes it's better to try to, when you get a chance, step into the court and go for the shots a little bit more.

I don't think I've been playing with the confidence here this week to be able to do that. I think that's where the errors came from.

Q. How are you holding up physically?

KIM CLIJSTERS: I feel pretty good. I'm happy I came through the season without having any, like, serious, serious injuries.

Q. Are you going to make any concessions, sort of your physical well‑being and playing a shortened schedule this summer or will you go five weeks in a row like you did last summer?

KIM CLIJSTERS: No, no, I'm just playing Stanford and San Diego. I'm not playing LA this year. I play Montreal, I think it is this year, Montreal and US Open, then the week off before the US Open. I mean, I'm not capable of playing three tournaments in a row anymore, so. I mean, I wish I was. I love playing all those tournaments, but I just have to think about myself a little bit.