Ashley Harkleroad vs. Justine Henin-Hardenne

6-2, 6-1 Henin-Hardenne

     Q.  I guess, first of all, can you bring us up to speed on the ankle and what happened to it last night and how it affected you?

         ASHLEY HARKLEROAD:  Last night I was actually trying to poach, and I looked like a total idiot and fell right on my face.  I got stuck on the line.  It didn't hurt that bad today.  In my hip was a little tight from it.  You know, it kind of ‑‑ I don't know how, but I could hardly feel it at all.  The tape was just for precautionary, you know, just in case I might go over it again, because I tend to do that sometimes.

     Q.  Didn't affect your mobility or anything like that?

         ASHLEY HARKLEROAD:  No, not really.  Maybe five percent, but hardly anything.

     Q.  She was pretty powerful today, though.  She was on her game today.

         ASHLEY HARKLEROAD:  Yeah.  I really felt like she was playing really well today, and you know, I've practiced with her, you know, five or ten times, I don't know.  And today just felt like she was just dominating all the points.  She was playing really well.  She was moving me around really well, and I just ‑‑ I don't think I played bad tennis.  I just think ‑‑ I mean I've played better throughout the tournament, but I definitely just felt like I wasn't in control, and she definitely played well.

     Q.  Is it surprising when someone that small hits it that hard?  Is it almost like I can't believe it's coming like this?

         ASHLEY HARKLEROAD:  Not only does she hit it hard, but she hits a lot of spin and she can roll me off the court well, and she's extremely fast, and she's an unbelievable athlete.  You know, just by looking at her, you know it's not ‑‑ you can tell that she's going to be able to do a lot of things because she's a great athlete.

     Q.  How hard is that volley of hers to defend when she decides to unleash that?

         ASHLEY HARKLEROAD:  What?

     Q.  How hard is it to defend that volley game of hers when she comes to the net?

         ASHLEY HARKLEROAD:  When she comes to the net?

     Q.  Yeah.  Exactly.

         ASHLEY HARKLEROAD:  Of course, it's hard, but I mean, you know, I mean, she just ‑‑ she dominated the points today, and I just ‑‑ I was trying hard to stay in the points and trying to be able to dominate, but I just didn't feel like I could.

     Q.  Ashley, can you talk about this week and how it's been for you?

         ASHLEY HARKLEROAD:  I mean it's been just an excellent week for me.  I mean I can take a lot of things from this week and take them ‑‑ I'm just going to go to Europe like on the first of May or something, and I can take a lot from this week, a lot of experience and a lot of confidence for my summer and over in Europe, and I'm pretty excited about how everything went and how I played this week.  And I can just take a lot of positive things from it.

     Q.  What's next for you in terms of your next tournament after this one?

         ASHLEY HARKLEROAD:  We're deciding that right now.

     Q.  Do you have any idea how this is going to change just the way you're perceived among your fellow competitors?

         ASHLEY HARKLEROAD:  I mean I've kind of just broke in now, so I think people will start noticing me a little bit more, which is nice, and you know, a little bit more, I don't know how you say, like respect or ‑‑ which is always nice.  I mean you feel good about yourself, and you know, everybody on the Tour is very nice anyway, so I mean I just think that I'm new and now they know me, so I don't know. 

     Q.  When you're on the plane over to Europe and you're thinking back about this week just kind of reflecting on it, what will be the one moment that you'll sit back and say, "yeah"?

         ASHLEY HARKLEROAD:  Probably last night's doubles.  I mean we played a really great match last night in doubles, and it was just really a great experience for me to play against Navratilova, one of the best players of all times, but I mean there's just so many experiences this week that have just been really great, and I got a lot of confidence from this week, so I don't really know exactly one particular time that I'll just be, "whoa".

     Q.  Navratilova, did you get a chance to talk with her at all, The Legend?

         ASHLEY HARKLEROAD:  I've talked to her a few times, and you know, she's extremely sweet, and she seems like she's always trying to help the young ones.  And I didn't get a chance to talk to her yesterday, though.  I was just trying to play against her.

     Q.  Did she give you any advice during the week?

         ASHLEY HARKLEROAD:  No, not really.  Just, "great job.  Keep it up."

     Q.  When you were young, maybe 12, 13, who was your favorite player on the Tour?

         ASHLEY HARKLEROAD:  Well, probably Hingis.  I mean she was young, but she was playing, and I didn't really like to watch tennis that much when I was 13, and every time Hingis was playing, I always tried to watch, and also Agassi.  Those two.

     Q.  What will it take to beat Serena Williams?

         ASHLEY HARKLEROAD:  Probably for me to grow about five more inches and put on about 100 more pounds to hit the ball a little bit more harder.  No, I don't know.  You know, I mean she's playing really well right now, and she's unstoppable.  You know, I mean maybe not today, who knows, but you know, I just ‑‑ she's had an unbelievable year and just great success. 

     Q.  Ashley, I just walked in.  Excuse me if anybody's talked to you a little bit about the match.  In the third game you were facing your first break point, and your first serve was only 74 miles an hour.  Did you feel tight?

         ASHLEY HARKLEROAD:  No.  I thought she was going to hit it flat, more hard, and she kind of just threw in a little curve ball there, which was very smart, so you know, I mean it's just smart tennis.

     Q.  No.  I meant you were serving against her.

         ASHLEY HARKLEROAD:  Oh, I was serving against her?

     Q.  You were serving against her, and she had a break point against you. 

         ASHLEY HARKLEROAD:  I don't know.  Maybe my second serve.  Was it a second serve? 

     Q.  First serve.

         ASHLEY HARKLEROAD:  First serve.  Maybe I was trying to mix it up a little.  That's probably what I was trying to do.  I think I was trying to kick it wide, but didn't really get there.

     Q.  How do you look at your serve?  Is that a part of the game you want to improve?

         ASHLEY HARKLEROAD:  I mean I would like to get a little bit more pop on the ball, but throughout this tournament I haven't really lost my serve, maybe once in one match before this, so I've been pretty happy with it.  It's probably not as hard as a lot of the other girls maybe, but I place it pretty well, so you know, as I grow hopefully a little more, it'll get a little stronger.

     Q.  Do you think you need to have that to be successful? 

         ASHLEY HARKLEROAD:  I don't know.  This week it helped me out a lot.  I mean I lost my serve maybe once this week, so seemed like it helped me a lot.

     Q.  Were you running out of gas today?

         ASHLEY HARKLEROAD:  Me?

     Q.  Yeah. 

         ASHLEY HARKLEROAD:  You know, I had a very long doubles match yesterday, and I didn't get out of here until about 10:30 at night.  I probably got about five and a half hours sleep, but you know, I mean she played really well.  There was really nothing I could do.  She was moving me all over the place.