U.S. OPEN

August 28, 1996

Vincent Spadea

VINCE SPADEA: The match, I started off playing pretty confidently. I was hitting the ball pretty well. I got a -- got an early break there. He missed a few first serves. I jumped on the second serve, took advantage of the points. I was holding serve convincingly. Second set, I had sort of a lapse of concentration. I started missing more first serves and losing the leverage on the first ball of the point. You know, he's a tough player to play because if he's serving hot, it's a tough deal because you have to be holding serve just to keep going. The second set I wasn't up to par. I just stepped it up in the third, started serving smarter, took a bit off my first serve, got a lot more first serves in. I just competed every point. He broke down on some big points. I won the third pretty easily, and then the fourth was another battle where I kind of got down that break again, played a loose game. He was hitting some good shots. He's tough to play because he was taking it to you. You have to try to counter that with whatever ammunition you can grasp. I was fortunate to get back into the fourth set. I also hit -- I didn't make many errors in the third and fourth sets. I limited my errors. I raised my first serve percentage.

VINCE SPADEA: Yeah, possibly. You know, it's a difficult court to play on for me. It's my second time playing a singles match and my first time was not a positive experience. I had a lot to prove that way for myself to try to get in, you know, just not worry about the conditions. It's a little cool out there, there's a little wind. It's just a little bit different. The court is definitely unique. I think that was part of the reason I kind of went out in the second set, lost it a little bit, just because the first set I didn't expect to be doing -- win so convincingly.

VINCE SPADEA: I'm just taking it one step at a time. I'm hitting the ball well enough to go out there and compete against anyone. Just a matter of taking every match and breaking it down, focusing on how well I can go out there. Last year I played an incredible match, and that's hard to do against a Top 10 player at the stadium. I know I'm capable of doing that type of thing, so that's great to have in the back of your mind when push comes to shove in a big match. Winning these types of matches are important. These are dangerous players. I played solid matches to get through. Hopefully I can continue playing with consistency.

VINCE SPADEA: He's winning pretty easy. I played him twice before. I've lost both times in three sets. I just played him in Washington actually a few weeks ago. It's nice that I have that kind of experience to go with, and now I can get at least a game plan and go from there. Obviously he's a great competitor, a great player. He makes you work hard. I have my work cut out for me. I'm looking forward to that type of challenge.

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