Zuluaga still feeling great after semifinal loss

MELBOURNE (Reuters) -- After just a handful of games of Thursday's Australian Open semi-final, even Fabiola Zuluaga must have known it would be world number one Justine Henin Hardenne and not the Colombian who would be playing in the final.

But the 25-year-old from Bogota was determined to enjoy the occasion all the same.

"Well, I feel great," she grinned after the 6-2 6-2 thrashing. "The first three games I was like really nervous. But then I was just having fun."

"I really enjoyed playing against Justine in that big stadium. I really had fun out there. Feels good. I didn't win, but I had fun," she said.

Zuluaga can afford to be happy. For two weeks' work she picked up a cheque for A$300,000 ($232,266) - more than her entire earnings on the WTA Tour last season.

"I'll party, for sure," she smiled. "Yeah, with my boyfriend and few friends, for sure we're going out to celebrate this."

As much fun as the match had been, it also proved to the Colombian that she has a lot of potential for the future.

"I see that I can go farther with my game," she said. "I can play much better tennis. Experience is a good thing to have when you play matches. Sometimes you're not playing good, but with experience you can do many things."

"BE AGGRESSIVE"

"(I learned that) you have to go out on the court, try to do your game, not to think about the other person," Zuluaga said.

"Just go out there and be aggressive. That's supposed to be my game -- and I think that's the most important thing."

"Also mentally you've got to be there. You've got to keep playing and playing. Many things can happen."

But for now, the Colombian can not wait to get home.

"They've been really good weeks but now that I'm finished, I'm tired of being too much time in the same place," she said. "I'm leaving tomorrow."

"As soon as I finished my shower, I went out asking when was the flight to go home. I want to go there," Zuluaga said.

"I guess there's going to be a press conference when I get there, and I don't know what else. We're getting there on Friday night. Maybe I have Saturday and Sunday to rest. We'll see what happens on Monday," she said.

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