US OPEN

September 5, 2001

Pete Sampras

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

PETE SAMPRAS: Yes.

PETE SAMPRAS: Well, probably about as good as it gets. You know, playing the very best on a night match at the US Open, the atmosphere was phenomenal. And it was so close. It really was. I had my chances early on in the tiebreaker in the first set. He came up with some good stuff. You know, I was kind of kicking myself a little bit after that first set. But, you know, kind of got it going a little bit. You know, played a couple good tiebreakers. I mean, we were really holding on the serves. Pretty convincingly. I was serving well. He was serving well. It always comes down to a couple points against Andre. He is an unbelievable player and the best player I've played over the years. When he's down, he was coming up with some unbelievable shots. I mean, I thought I was coming in on some really good stuff and he was flicking winners left and right. That's the great player that he is.

PETE SAMPRAS: Well, I was kicking myself a little bit. I had the Love-40 game, let that slip. 6-3 in the breaker, had a couple second serves. I didn't do anything really with them. He had a great return at 6-5. It can happen so quickly out there. Especially in a tiebreaker. One minute I feel like I had him. Next minute I lost the first set. Not much you can do. There's still a long way to go. I had to regain my composure quickly. I couldn't dwell on it for too long. Continue to hold serve all the way through. And played a good breaker. He didn't miss much. I mean, he was really hitting the ball well. Keeping me on my heels a lot of times. Second set breaker was a huge part of the match. If I go down two sets to love, without losing my serve, mentally it would have been tough to come back.

PETE SAMPRAS: I think so. I think we both played at a very high level. You get one of the best serve and volleyers in the game against one of the best returners going toe to toe, he didn't lose serve. I mean, he can't feel too bad about the way he played. You know, I just got the breaks today. Won the bigger point. Like he said on the court. And I showed a little bit of nerves there at 6-4 in the breaker. I was like standing at that line, I'm like, "I don't know where this is going." Went right in the net (laughter).

PETE SAMPRAS: Yeah, I mean any time you can hold serve that often against someone that returns as well as Andre does and passes as well as he does, you know, to hold on serve that many times, I really felt like was going to be very tough to do. But I was -- hit my second serve extremely well, really kind of just going for it. Made a lot of them. But volleyed quite well and served really well when I had to. You have to do that against someone that returns as well as Andre does.

PETE SAMPRAS: Well, it was awesome. It really was. The appreciation, the crowd gave us, both of us, it was kind of a very chilling moment to have the crowd kind of stand on their feet and just applaud what we're doing out here. It was fun to be a part of it. Like I thought going into the match, "This could be a classic." And I think tonight it was.

PETE SAMPRAS: Well, I got some work to do. You know, I'm gonna enjoy this for tomorrow. I never have been crazy about two days off, but I'm thanking my lucky stars I have two days now just to physically give my body a rest, emotionally it will be nice to kind of shut it down tomorrow. Not even come here. Gear up for the weekend. Last time I played Marat, I was pretty humbled out there. Should be another good test.

PETE SAMPRAS: It wasn't that surprising. We both had been playing well coming into this match. Seemed like we were both peaking at the right time. When we clash, we're both playing well, I think it's some of the best tennis in the game. And it was all -- it all kind of lived up to the hype, I felt, tonight. It was good tennis on both of our parts, and, you know, he -- it's not very often that we hold on serve that often and come down to three tiebreakers, four tiebreakers. It was -- I wouldn't have predicted that.

PETE SAMPRAS: I played matches where I haven't lost serve (laughter). But I -- no, I've never had a match like that.

PETE SAMPRAS: Sure. I mean, I'm here to win it and gotten through a pretty tough draw. To play Pat and Andre back-to-back, this is about as tough as it's going to get. I think tomorrow's a time just to kind of relax, shut it down and enjoy it for a day. Come Friday, get back to work. I was a bit fortunate tonight, to be honest with you. I mean, you need a few breaks in the game. There's not much that separates Andre and I, a couple points here and there. Tonight I got them.

PETE SAMPRAS: He wished me luck for the tournament. He hoped I went on and win it. So he was very gracious.

PETE SAMPRAS: I'm not going to complain about it. It has been a disappointing year, and that's where I'm seeded. You know, it's not Wimbledon. They go off the ATP ranking, which is fine. You know, I can't worry about stuff like that. I worry about my opponent and if it's a tough draw, it's a tough draw. It's a tough draw for all of us. It doesn't concern me that much. I mean, if anything, moments like this, you know, playing Pat on Monday, Andre tonight, was a big reason why I'm still playing.

PETE SAMPRAS: No. I feel like it's getting to the end of the year (smiling). You know, it's not restarted. Feel like I'm --.

PETE SAMPRAS: Yeah, good timing I think. It would be nice to do well here and to have won a couple epic matches against two great players. But I'm not content in any means. I feel like I've got a couple good matches left in me. But I think it's a time to enjoy this a little bit.

PETE SAMPRAS: Yeah. This is definitely right up there. I knew there was going to be a lot of hype with Andre and I playing Wednesday night. It's always a very high-energy when you play here in New York. I knew it was going to be a dog fight. I really did. I knew it was going to be a tough match. Very memorable match for me. I'm sure I'll appreciate this a lot more when it's all said and done. But just the ovation that the crowd gave us there at the end and when we got into that fourth breaker was, I just kind of, you know, stood there and kind of looked around, kind of enjoyed it for a minute. But it was back to work and trying to win the match. But it was one of our epic matches.

PETE SAMPRAS: No. I look at it, what I've done in the game. There's not really anything I have to prove to anybody in this room. It feels good to do well here. It feels good to win two big matches. It's -- the press is on me about whatever, it's fine. It has been a disappointing year. To be honest about it, it's well deserved, in a way. But what I don't appreciate is the retirement talk. I think it's gotten a little bit carried away. I don't know how it all started, why it all started. I haven't said anything about it. But it doesn't really phase me too much. I'm still around.

PETE SAMPRAS: Well, I was, like I said before, I had some chances. I give him credit because he came up with some good stuff. You know, you just have to hang in there. You know, it's still only one set. Still got a long way to go. You know, but I must admit, for about five, ten minutes I was a little bit unsettled. It was like one minute I thought I had the first set, then I let it slip away a little bit. I just had to mentally kind of regain my composure and fight back and got into another breaker. Finally I got it going.

PETE SAMPRAS: You just charge through. You're just playing. You know, you get into your own way of how you're going to play the breaker. But when the crowd stood up and that was one moment where I was like, "This is pretty special what we're doing out here," but after that was over, it was back to work. But you can't -- you're just so focused on what you're trying to do, the point, what he's doing, you don't have a lot of time to really appreciate what you're doing out there. But for a moment, I think we both kind of stood there. It was a nice ovation.

PETE SAMPRAS: Like I said, it's absolutely huge, I have two days off. I've never been crazy about it. But for me at this stage in the tournament, it's huge.

PETE SAMPRAS: It's everything. It's everything. It's just kind of shutting it down for a day and just let the body rest, let the mind kind of enjoy this for a little bit then have another day to kind of gain -- or kind of, you know, get ready for the weekend because it's going to be a pretty tough match against Safin.

PETE SAMPRAS: I'm one of them. I'm one of the four guys that can do it.

PETE SAMPRAS: I don't know how many aces he hit, but it seemed like when he was down, he was serving huge. I mean, he possesses that, you know, hits a lot of the kick serves. When he flattens it out, it's a big serve. He was serving 120, just kind of starts off the point on his terms. And -- but he served great.

PETE SAMPRAS: Yeah. I think that's probably some of the best he's served. You know, he was popping it pretty good.

PETE SAMPRAS: Well, you don't think about at least I didn't think about my previous matches with Andre. All I was trying to do is, you know, after the disappointment of the first set, just kind of hang in there and maybe I can claw my way back into the match. And, you know, fortunately I kind of got it going in the breaker. It was a huge part of the match, if I would have lost that set, it would have been a tough uphill struggle to come back. But, you know, it's a matter of a couple points. It really is. When you're having two guys doing their part so well, holding serve, it's gonna come down to who gets, you know, some breaks and tonight I got them.

PETE SAMPRAS: Sure. You know, when you do the hard work, on and off the court, you're going to get some breaks, you're going to get through some tough matches. And these are the reasons why -- tonight certainly helped. You know, I felt like physically I was doing pretty good out there. And, you know, when you work hard off the court, you're going to get a few breaks here and there.

PETE SAMPRAS: No. What's going to change?

PETE SAMPRAS: Well, I mean, I'm one of them. You know. Andre and Pat and Hewitt. I mean, they're all great players. I'm definitely one of the guys that's in contention mere.

PETE SAMPRAS: Well, I just hope he comes down to earth (laughter). I was pretty humbled out there the last time I played him, on that court. Defending champion, I'm sure he'll feel a little bit more pressure this year than last year. He's a great player, possesses a big game. He's playing well, so should be a good one.

PETE SAMPRAS: It's hard to pick one word. I mean, it was intense. Very dramatic. It was, you know, too heavyweights going toe to toe. We almost went the distance. Could have gone five. Who knows what would have happened at that point. But, you know, I'm playing one of the best players of all time. And you have to step it up and you need a few breaks here and there. And tonight it finally went my way.

PETE SAMPRAS: Well, it's -- I wasn't sitting there watching it, so it's hard for me to say (laughter). Being part of it, it certainly felt like the level was very high. I think when you have that contrast, a serve and volleyer playing against a great returner, it's the best tennis, I think, in the game. Unfortunately, there aren't a ton of serve and volleyers now that we can look to the future that will be able to have that. But Andre and I still have it. We have that difference in our games and personalties that when we match up, it's a good clash.

PETE SAMPRAS: Well, we're going to continue to play and going to go toe to toe once again. It's always going to be intense. Whenever I step out there with Andre, it's a unique occasion. It's hard to say how many times we'll play each other over the years. I think we can both look at each other and our careers and respect what he's done, respect what I've done and, you know, he's a very gracious person. You know, when I lost a tough match, he was nice enough to say what he said. That's the type of relationship I've had with Andre.

PETE SAMPRAS: No, it was not strange. They were just applauding the good tennis. You know, some of them wanted to see a fifth. Some of them wanted to go home (laughter). I wanted to go home (laughter). But it was, you know, there were moments of, you know, if I was a fan in a sport, you see a rivalry, as a kid I always enjoyed Lakers and Celtics. I think tennis fans can enjoy Andre and Pete. That's got the same similarities of a rivalry that can go down in history.