NEWSWEEK CHAMPIONS CUP

March 13, 1995

Andre Agassi

ANDRE AGASSI: Well, it was kind of like what I said, you know, a little bit earlier in the ceremonies - if he is playing 100% and I am playing 96%, it really looks like you are only playing 60%. I mean, it is the same way. It is like if I am not really on top of the ball, there is problems, you know, you will see it exploited in his serve; all of a sudden I am just not quite picking it up. When it works the other way, you see his game result in some errors, like in Australia, when I played him, he was a little bit, you know, maybe 96, 97%; I was really on my game. All of a sudden, you get lots of errors - just a rough day at the office - there is not really too many other ways to size that one up.

Q. The fact that it was a night game, so to speak, could that make a difference to you?

ANDRE AGASSI: Well, you know, I felt like it was difficult. Talking to Pete afterwards, we both were struggling with the lighting, I mean, the shade is moving halfway across the court. I got up a break; played a good game to break him and then I made a couple of loose errors that I don't normally make off the backhand; just a rally shot that I missed; got down Love-30; got down -- cracked it down for a winner; missed the line; then he had two forehand winners on the run; breaking a string; he had a couple of net cords. It was like I just couldn't quite convert and it is like he got an opportunity and then did -- I mean, I lost my serve in the first - in the third set after being up 40-Love. In those games is when the string broke and he got to 40-15 and 40-30 and so it was -- it was just one of -- kind of strange how it worked out today.

Q. Can you point to one difference between this and the Australian final?

ANDRE AGASSI: You know, I mean, Australia, I think the balls were a little bit heavier. Here, the ball was really taking off; that is why I think you saw more errors, you know, even throughout the week, really, but especially today, two guys like me and Pete who hit the ball so hard, the ball is -- just takes off, so it was a little bit more difficult to control than Australia; a little heavier ball and, you know, that is definitely going to help me out against a style like Pete. That would be a difference between here and Australia. But as far as the play goes, no, I just think that I was really on my game in Australia and I wasn't 100% tonight and I felt like, you know, in Australia he might have been not 100% and today, you know, he was -- he served huge and from start to finish and, you know, I had him Love-30 and he held with serves; then I had him 15-30 couple of times where he ended the game with three first serves. That is rough.

Q. Andre, how do you feel about the way he moves on the court? It seems like he covers the court a lot better than people think.

ANDRE AGASSI: Well, you know, I wouldn't know what the perception is from the public or the media, but from a player's perspective, Pete covers the court as well as anybody in the game. He is not a defensive runner like Chang, for example, but he definitely is a guy that if you get him stretched out, he still could come up with the big shot.

Q. Pete, how do you feel at the moment? Are you frustrated with the fact that Pete really didn't let you play or get into the match and is it also a case of major disappointment in not being able to, you know, repeat -- win as you did in Australia?

ANDRE AGASSI: You know, yeah, sure, it is disappointing and sure, I am let down and, sure, I will be thinking about this for a while, you know, but I mean, there is two sides to that coin. There is the side of the disappointment, but there is also the reality side which is "it is going to happen." You are going to have days like this where things kind of rolled his way and he is playing a percentage or two better; that makes the huge difference. So it's not going to get the best of me. Every time I step on the court I am out there to win and I don't question that and I don't doubt that and I am motivated for the entire rest of the year, so it is not really about anything more than just kind of what happened today. It would have been a nice victory for me, you know, to even get me that much closer, but the bottom line is, I want to be No. 1 at the end of the year. I don't want to just slide into No. 1. I want to play the best tennis over the course of this year. Pete and I are 1 and 1 this year in big matches. You know, we are going to stay at it. I have been winning these matches up into the finals. I didn't lose a set until the finals against Chang in San Jose. I didn't lose a set until the finals against Pete in Australia. I didn't lose a set in Philadelphia until I lost the match. I didn't lose a set here until I got to Pete. So, I mean, I am beating a lot of these guys. I am feeling great about my game, and this is one guy that is pissing me off right now.

Q. Andre, there was a feeling that maybe Pete was vulnerable on his second serve, obviously, today wasn't able to capitalize on it. Is that a normal --

ANDRE AGASSI: What happens with a big server is that if you don't -- if you don't put pressure on their second serves, then you are going to find that they are going to start serving even bigger first serves, and with Pete today, it was --- I had the opportunity. I mean, I got up the break. And I absolutely didn't convert. I didn't consolidate that break and I had kind of made a couple of unforced errors. I hit a good shot to hold that game that I missed the line with, and it is a different match. If you consolidate that break and all of a sudden he kind of gets a little discouraged or starts questioning a few things and he starts missing a few more first serves, but instead, you know, he served the best game of the match probably right after he broke me back because he kind of felt a second life there, and then he just got on top. I mean, Pete is a lot like Lendl, if you get on top -- if he gets on top of you, he just keeps playing better and better; especially in the service department. Most top players are that way, I mean, Becker is that way. Courier is that way. I am that way. I mean, if I get on top and I get the momentum and the confidence, my game just keeps elevating and I just felt like today that is what happened. He snick back into the first set when he got it - his game elevated along with his confidence.

Q. Would you have expected to see him at the net more often than he was tonight?

ANDRE AGASSI: Well, I didn't, you know, I didn't quite feel like I was dictating play like I normally do from the ground. I even started coming in a little bit more because I was a bit frustrated with the fact that I wasn't as sharp as I usually am - or I wasn't converting, you know, it wasn't that I felt like I wasn't playing well. I felt like I played well, but then when you get to that hump and you are just about to get over it, you slide all the way down. It is a bit discouraging, so I kind of was trying to come in. I was trying to, you know, just kind of get myself into the match; get myself into kind of an ugly frame of mind that maybe I can work myself back into it. But it wasn't to be.

Q. Are you going to go back to Brad; do you watch the tape of this match; what is your method? What are you going to do after a match like that?

ANDRE AGASSI: That is what I pay him for. I let him figure it out.

Q. Andre, was it thinking about your father that made you less than 100% tonight?

ANDRE AGASSI: Well, I mean, hey, listen anybody who, you know, has a dad who is going into surgery for, you know, heart surgery, that is difficult. I mean, that was on my mind when I heard the news in Philadelphia too. It is a difficult thing to deal with, but I am a professional who, you know, goes out on the court and does my best to leave everything behind and if that was the case, I certainly wouldn't admit it.

End of FastScripts!