U.S. OPEN

August 29, 1996

Jeff Tarango

JEFF TARANGO: Well, at 5-1, I think in the second set, he was up. I wasn't serving well at all the whole second set. At the beginning of that game, I said, "Listen, if I don't start serving better, I have no chance of winning the match. I might as well take my time, don't worry if you double-fault a couple times this game, lose this game, but just get the rhythm back on the serve." It was a long game, got down Love-40, a few deuces. As soon as I held that game, I knew I had a really good chance because my serve just came back. The rest of the match I got a lot of free points on my serve. I think I needed to get free points on my serve in order to win the match.

JEFF TARANGO: I take that as a compliment. I've worked on that for 20 years now. I started playing tennis when I was seven. It's something that's very distracting. I mean, when you get a bad call, when something happens, doesn't go your way out on the court, it's very easy to get distracted. I just told myself that I wasn't going to let anything bother me, just stay focused. I knew it was going to be a tough match and one point here or there could change anything. I didn't want to let anything disturb me. Really the motivation of winning the match I think kept me focused.

JEFF TARANGO: No. You have to say what's on your mind, but you can't get fined $73,000. I think there's a definite in-between there. I think I've found it. I have a good balance. I am a fired-up player; I'm an emotional player. I'm going to say what's on my mind. I'm not a person that curses or goes nuts. I think I played very well tonight, very focused.

JEFF TARANGO: That's the thing. The crowd pays money to come out and watch the match. They definitely got their money's worth tonight. It was an exciting match. I can't worry about my reputation preceding me. I just go about my life day-to-day. I try my hardest on the court every day. I'm a player. That's the way it is. I just come out every day and play my hardest. If something happens and I give a good beef about it, you know, I think the chair officials understand that everybody makes mistakes. I make mistakes, they make mistakes, and we go on from there. I think tonight was very good for me, very good, mentally focused match.

JEFF TARANGO: I love the crowd if they boo me every day. It fires me up, makes me play my best tennis. I played some of my best tennis in college when fraternities were throwing beer on me. I'm used to everything, seen it all. To me it's exciting. If tennis was like that every day, I think everybody would be having a lot more fun.

JEFF TARANGO: I think a little Latin blood came out of me in the end. I support their enthusiasm. At the same time, they're cheering blatantly against me. I was going to stay focused the entire match. As soon as I won, I can give them a little razzle-dazzle.

JEFF TARANGO: How old is he? I don't think he knows me very well. I can't comment on that at all.

JEFF TARANGO: If McEnroe had my forehand, he would have been a hell of a better player, I tell you.

JEFF TARANGO: I knew he hit as lot of great shots, no question. He hits some fabulous shots off of some of my best shots; he hits even better shots. One or two great shots doesn't win a match. I wanted to make him play every point, try to make him hit great shots the whole match. If he did, then he was too good. You know, I have some different shots up my sleeve, too. I just want -- I never played him before, it was a challenge for me. I had a lot of fun winning.

JEFF TARANGO: I don't know. I have a problem because I never look at the draw. I don't even know who I play. I'm sure it's the winner of two people. I'll go out and just play them hopefully the same way I played today, just fighting for every point.

JEFF TARANGO: We've played a couple times. He's whacked me a couple times, greased me out a couple times. We'll see what happens. Obviously he's ranked pretty high, so I'll say all the pressure's on him going out there. Should be a lot of fun.

JEFF TARANGO: I'm sure they're doubles partners, practiced together a lot. Olivier is right-handed, I'm left-handed. It's a totally different aspect of how to play. Sure, I mean, every little bit helps. I'm sure they're good friends also, so I don't want to compromise that.

JEFF TARANGO: I've never talked to him, never had a problem with him. As far as I'm concerned, he's a good guy until I have a problem with him or don't have a problem with him. I think that's the way it is. I hear a lot of talk and stuff, but I think anytime someone comes up and they're winning a lot, they're going to be a little bit, I don't know how you say, cocky or confident in themselves. I think that's fine. It's tough for him because he has to go out and prove it every day now. I came out today, went for it, played better than he did, deserved to win.

JEFF TARANGO: No. I never really seen him play before. I watch a few games on TV here and there. I didn't know what to expect. Maybe that helped me. I just focused on my game and how I play my best tennis. Tonight I did play very well.

JEFF TARANGO: Did I break 110?

JEFF TARANGO: I thought we were evenly matched going out there. A couple points here or there could change the match. A lot of people place so much emphasis on ranking. He shot up the ladder, and not too many people have had a chance to watch him play. I played really well tonight, I played with confidence, and he played with confidence. You know, I won a few really big points and I think it helped me a lot.

JEFF TARANGO: I'm not sure what my record is, but I think it's fairly good, yeah.