WIMBLEDON

June 28, 2000

Jeff Tarango

MODERATOR: Good afternoon, Ladies and Gentlemen. Mr. Tarango.

JEFF TARANGO: Well, I just -- you know, we fought so hard and so long. He called the trainer before my serve twice at the end. I got a lot tighter. My muscles were a lot more stiff. I just thought it was a little bush league. I figured he should be calling the trainer before his own serve if he was so seriously hurt. I know he runs like a deer, so he couldn't have been that hurt. I don't think it's right for a guy to get a massage in the middle of the match.

JEFF TARANGO: Did you see him miss any steps?

JEFF TARANGO: Of course he was faking the injury. He was fine.

JEFF TARANGO: Maybe the girls can; not the guys. Cramping is no excuse to get a trainer.

JEFF TARANGO: Gamesmanship or not, I just thought it was bush league. I didn't think it was cool. He played a good match, but he's got to earn my respect in different ways.

JEFF TARANGO: Yeah, that's fine. That's the way they have the rule now. I guarantee it's changed by the end of this year.

JEFF TARANGO: They'll just change that you can't call a trainer before your opponent's serve.

JEFF TARANGO: Well, hey, listen, the rules are interpreted in a thousand different ways every day. The overrule rule today was interpreted in six different ways. It's my option whether I want to shake a guy's hand or not. You know, nobody makes that decision but me. That's the way it goes.

JEFF TARANGO: I think that's the third time.

JEFF TARANGO: In Shanghai against Leander Paes, and against Filippini at the French Open.

JEFF TARANGO: Well, Leander Paes hit me with an overhead in singles in the small of the back from three feet away. Filippini was a very long story, but the fact that he was calling me names in between every point was the reason I didn't shake his hand.

JEFF TARANGO: Not at all. I had the mentality out there that no matter what happened, I was going to fight my ass off and try to win the match. I knew the obstacles were going to be against me as soon as I didn't get a day off and had to play back-to-back against two top-notch players. I was actually cruising until I started feeling a little tired in the second set. You know, I just dug as deep as I could and fought as hard as I could. I felt like I played a really good match, that I'm playing better than I ever played, that my age is not a factor at all, that I'm in better shape than most of the guys on the tour. I think I still have a lot of good tennis in front of me.

JEFF TARANGO: It's like you said, I mean, the rule is the way the rule is. There's nothing I can do about it. That would distract me if I were to call a guy on it. It's better for me to think, "How can I use it to my advantage, try to turn it around to win the match?"

JEFF TARANGO: There might come a time where I feel Paul Goldstein is a really good guy. I don't know him that well. We were seven years apart in school. He hasn't been around that long on the tour. I don't really know the guy at all. Sure, there might be a time where I think Paul Goldstein is a good guy and I want to shake his hand, but not right now.

JEFF TARANGO: Well at Lipton, I hit Humphries with a reaction volley. It ricocheted off of his body and went out. The referee asked him if it hit him. I asked him. My partner asked him. He said, "No, it didn't." Took the point instead of being breakpoint for us. Then after the match, he told his partner that it did hit him, and he and his partner gave each other high-fives and bragged about it to the Bryan brothers. If you think that's respectable, that's how I'm looking at that team at that point.

JEFF TARANGO: Gambill.

JEFF TARANGO: As I was walking to the net, that's what I thought about. I wasn't thinking about anything except trying to win the match.

JEFF TARANGO: I don't know.

JEFF TARANGO: I did. I thought Gerry did a great job. He had a lot of obstacles out there. There were a lot of unbelievably tight calls. He missed a couple that were in front of him, but they were balls that were going really, really fast. You know, that kind of thing, he impressed me actually with how he did. I've had him in times previous where he hasn't done a great job or maybe had an off day. I thought he was really good today. You know, some of those balls are going too fast and at angles that you can't say where it's bouncing or where it's coming off the court unless you're playing. I would say in the final four or five games, at least there were five calls that went against me, and probably there were ten calls that could have gone either way. That's just the way it goes.

JEFF TARANGO: Did you see how far the ball was in?

JEFF TARANGO: Well, I mean, he was playing the point. He still was running after the next shot. He didn't even know they had called it out yet. The ball was literally this far inside the line (indicating about a foot).

JEFF TARANGO: No.

JEFF TARANGO: What do you mean "this will add to it"? I mean, I can't control what the masses think. If you can't interpret the incident for what it is and see it from my perspective then, you know, you guys can write whatever you want. If you see it from my perspective, I don't think I did anything wrong.

JEFF TARANGO: They were both on the Stanford team.

JEFF TARANGO: I haven't seen any support.

JEFF TARANGO: It just bothers me that the head of national coaches is warming up my opponent. That bothers me.

JEFF TARANGO: Scott McCain went to Berkeley. That's who coaches those two guys.

JEFF TARANGO: So do I. I think I talk to Dick Gould more than anybody.

JEFF TARANGO: Yeah. It's the greatest school in the world, there's no question about it. Dick Gould is probably the greatest tennis individual there is. I've been wondering why he doesn't take more of a role in junior development. But, you know, I don't really understand the question.

JEFF TARANGO: I think Stanford is the greatest place in the world. They told me I could come back and finish up in a buggy cart if I need to get around.

JEFF TARANGO: It's percentages, I think.

JEFF TARANGO: Who?

JEFF TARANGO: Yeah, well, he never came up to me and asked any questions. He never even really came up and introduced himself to me or vice versa.

JEFF TARANGO: To say what? "Welcome to the locker room. Don't bend over for the soap."

JEFF TARANGO: Nothing, nothing at all.

JEFF TARANGO: I think he retired right after.

JEFF TARANGO: No comment.