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US OPENSeptember 2, 1999Wayne ArthursFLUSHING MEADOWS, NEW YORK Q. How disappointed are you, Wayne? WAYNE ARTHURS: A little. I came out very flat today, and probably showed a -- he broke me a quite a few times in the first couple of sets. I was serving too many second serves. He was just passing me at will pretty much. Q. You seem to make some strides in the third set. Did you feel that you, at that point, might have a chance to turn the -- WAYNE ARTHURS: Yeah, I felt -- I fought pretty hard, even though things weren't going the right way. I was fighting pretty hard. After winning the third set, I thought I still had a pretty good chance at winning. Q. Interesting group of your countrymen back and forth, a little cheering section. WAYNE ARTHURS: Yeah, Lleyton's name too much, I think, for my liking. Q. Does that sort of thing help you feel at home and relieve the pressure of playing here in New York? WAYNE ARTHURS: Yeah, it was good. Quite a few guys out during my practice matches as well. That was good to have those people on your side. Q. Playing a fellow Aussie, any difference going into that match than, say -- WAYNE ARTHURS: Not really, no. Once you're out on the court, it's another opponent, pretty much. But it would have been nice to sort of go through the draw and us both going through the draw as well. Q. How do you rate Lleyton as a return? WAYNE ARTHURS: He's one of the best, for sure. He reads the ball unbelievably. He reads the ball just the way it moves around the court and everything's way above his age. Q. How many guys would you put ahead of him in terms of that? WAYNE ARTHURS: A handful, at the most. Q. He actually sort of beat you easier than Agassi beat you at Wimbledon, really. WAYNE ARTHURS: Yes. I was serving way worse today than I was during Wimbledon. Q. Any extra pressure having Roche -- WAYNE ARTHURS: Were they out there? I didn't see them. But I'm sure they were out there. But, no, I didn't feel any extra pressure. Q. You serve picked up in the tie in the fourth set, he was just bringing them back? WAYNE ARTHURS: He was, little bastard. Q. He said he was going to play his ass off. WAYNE ARTHURS: Yes, I didn't start serving well until about the tiebreaker. And after that, I served a little better, but not what I'm used to over the last few months. Q. What do you put that down to, Wayne? I was watching you in a warmup. You were doing your warmup serves and then bang on the line, bang on the line, bang on the line. Like a robot. Bang on the line. And then come to -- WAYNE ARTHURS: My batteries fell out. (Laughing. ) Q. First game of the match, you couldn't get one in at all. Is there like a real tightening up at that point? WAYNE ARTHURS: It may have been, something to do with that. I felt myself not at ease with my serve today. I felt a little bit tight in the shoulder and maybe that was a little bit nerves as well. Q. Going from the warmup to the actual match, suddenly things just changed. WAYNE ARTHURS: I mean, maybe it's the pressure of the match, but I didn't feel myself any looser in the warmup than in the match. Maybe it looked that way. Q. Do you see yourself at a chance with Davis Cup now? With the injuries and also the way you played at Wimbledon? WAYNE ARTHURS: Yes and no, depends what Mark's doing, how his injury is going. I mean, I'm sure they'll go for experience before me, probably, anyway, with Stolt. Q. Have they discussed anything with you? WAYNE ARTHURS: No, nothing at all. Q. Lleyton gave you a mention. WAYNE ARTHURS: Yeah. Q. Was a discussion about what would happen in the Davis Cup -- he said maybe you'd be one of the guys. WAYNE ARTHURS: Hopefully, Pat's ready. I mean, I don't know what the situation is, really, but it will be unbelievable if I actually got picked. Great honor. Q. Is it noticeable to you now that people are taking -- paying more attention to your game? There's more people coming out and watching you, hearing about your serve, watching how you follow it up. Do you notice that? WAYNE ARTHURS: For sure. Maybe in the locker room as well. The coaches go out and assess my matches for about three other players. Whereas before, they would just take me as a little bit of a joker. (Laughing) . Q. What countries are you eligible to play Davis Cup for? WAYNE ARTHURS: Australia, England and Ireland, probably. Q. Your dad played for Ireland? WAYNE ARTHURS: Yeah. Q. Any pressure? WAYNE ARTHURS: There was just after Wimbledon, but no. Q. From? WAYNE ARTHURS: Just people in the know in Ireland. Q. And what framed your decision not to play? WAYNE ARTHURS: I'm Australian. (Laughing) they're going to win it for sure. It's looking that way, isn't it? Q. Looking pretty good. WAYNE ARTHURS: Yeah. Best two teams throughout the year, have they been, pretty much? Q. Yes. WAYNE ARTHURS: Thank you. End of FastScripts…. |
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