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U.S. OPEN

August 30, 1994

Mats Wilander

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK

Q. How is the court playing out there, slow, fast?

MATS WILANDER: It's playing pretty slow, I think. I mean, serves are fast, but court is pretty slow, balls bounce pretty high and I think the wind was difficult to get used to today. It was a bit gusty, swirling around a little bit.

Q. Did it affect your game at all?

MATS WILANDER: Yeah. I'm sure it affected his too.

Q. Is this a case of you playing poorly or Forget playing well?

MATS WILANDER: I think I was playing great the first nine games and I thought I was hitting the ball very well and I don't know, 5-4, I played a shitty game. He played a couple good points. I missed easy forehand at Love-15 and should have passed him once. And I was serving with the wind in my back. I knew that's the game I have to win. To stay in the set at 5-6 into the wind is not easy. So just played a bad game right there I think it affected me a little in the second set, but I think he got very confident breaking me twice in a row in the first set and then he played much better.

Q. What expectations did you come here with?

MATS WILANDER: I expected to have a good chance to beat him today, I think.

Q. What do you feel or think when you finished a match like that against somebody who when you were in your prime you probably would have taken; what do you think and feel when you finish a match like that?

MATS WILANDER: Oh, it's like thinking back wishing you were 20 when you're 40. I think it's something that's not even worth thinking about. I know what I can -- at what standard I can play today and I know today I have a chance to beat him, but I also know it's going to be a tough match and who cares if I beat him or not. I'm confident to beat him because I've beaten him before, but I'm playing today, not yesterday, and I don't really care what happens.

Q. What's the difference in your own game; what is the game that you have? What do you have that's different from what you were?

MATS WILANDER: Well, I think that I'm not as confident as I was before, obviously. For example, 5-4 today serving for the first set, I think I played a safe first serve in the first point where I should have gone for it maybe. Second one I had a bad forehand, so it is not that big a difference, but that's the big difference right there. And second of all, I think now the guy serves a little better, so you don't feel like you have a chance to break him every time. You have a chance every fourth service game and that puts more pressure on my over serve. And my serve is not that good, but I can put a lot of pressure on.

Q. What kind of things do you work on now? Is it more mental or physical as far as the parts of the game you practice with?

MATS WILANDER: I just try hit the balls. It's too late to change anything. It's too late to change anything. Practice whatever hours a day and try to feel good -- try to feel the ball.

Q. Do you feel with the new rackets that your legs -- which were once such a big factor in how you broke people down -- have been in a sense taken away from you?

MATS WILANDER: Yeah, yeah.

Q. You and Forget are both making comebacks of sorts. Can you compare your comeback to his?

MATS WILANDER: No, I don't think so. He's making a comeback for physical reasons. I'm making a comeback because -- psychological reasons. It is a completely different thing. Thinking you always wanted to play, I'm sure last year he wanted to play. He was playing very well beginning of '90's end of '80s, so I can't see why he wanted to stop. So, no, you can't compare it.

Q. Do you have any timetable for yourself as far as when you would say enough is enough? Are you going to give it a year or two? Do you have any immediate plans?

MATS WILANDER: No, not really. I wanted to play this whole year and I want to play all next year, so that's a long time for me right now to decide that I really want to play another year.

Q. Coming back, as you say, for psychological reasons, psychologically, what is the first -- what does a first round loss do to you now?

MATS WILANDER: It doesn't really do anything. I've had first round losses even when I was in my prime. It didn't happen as often as it does today, but I had first round losses at Wimbledon and in the big tournaments and even here I had a first round loss when I seeded very high. So I don't know, it doesn't do anything. It doesn't do much good, but I think it's just -- I think when you play big tournaments like the U.S. Open, you realize whether you win or lose, you know, I love to play the match and I would love to play another year, and that's all that I'm going to remember from this match. I'm not going to let losses bother me any more, I've played too many matches to let that bother me.

Q. Has playing golf helped you with your focus? That's a tough sport to concentrate on and commit, all the time; has that helped you in your preparation for tennis at all?

MATS WILANDER: Well, I think yeah, indirectly. I think it helps you because it gives you time to get away from the hotel room or the club or wherever you are at the moment. Otherwise, no, I don't think it helps. It helps me to forget about tennis, basically. It doesn't train my mind to be focused for four hours or anything like that.

Q. Did you ask for a wildcard at any of the other Grand Slams?

MATS WILANDER: Did I ask for a wildcard?

Q. Yes, to play any other Grand Slams.

MATS WILANDER: Are you talking about next year?

Q. This year.

MATS WILANDER: This year is finished. This is the last one.

Q. Did you ask for any of the other?

MATS WILANDER: I had a wildcard in Australia, and I had a wildcard in the French, and I had a wildcard here.

End of FastScripts...

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