DAVIS CUP - SPAIN vs AUSTRALIA

December 8, 2000

John Newcombe

MODERATOR: We'll let you know that Pat is not coming to press. He's cramping quite severely. We have John here now. We'll get some quotes from Pat and pass them out to you.

CAPTAIN NEWCOMBE: Yes. He just started to feel it after the second set in his calf muscles and in his hand, in his right hand, which is unusual because he has had cramps before, but not in those two areas. We're a bit puzzled about what was happening.

CAPTAIN NEWCOMBE: The cramp moved into his thigh.

CAPTAIN NEWCOMBE: That's what we're going to see. He'll be okay to play, I guess. It's a question of what happens during the match. He's worked hard. We're a bit puzzled. I don't know. These things are strange. Perhaps it was the tension of Lleyton's match. You know, the body was tensing too much while he was watching that mainly on television in the dressing room. It's a strange one.

CAPTAIN NEWCOMBE: I think that's right up there with the best of them. You know, as we all know, he hasn't been that great for the last four months. He went through his own personal pain barrier out there and came out the other side. That's pretty exceptional when you can do it under those conditions.

CAPTAIN NEWCOMBE: Who, Lleyton?

CAPTAIN NEWCOMBE: I mean, he didn't do anything out there to incite the crowd. I thought it was a little unsportsmanlike. I guess that's what they wanted to do to try to upset him. He certainly didn't do anything to warrant the treatment he was getting. I would add to that, though, I mean, Lleyton only has a short history, but that history is showing it's the wrong thing to do, to provoke him.

CAPTAIN NEWCOMBE: No. Only really the last changeover we talked about it. What we were getting worried about was the cramp in his arm here (indicating forearm) especially with all the problems he's had. If he's trying to serve like that, the arm is cramping up, he could re-hurt his shoulder. It was going to be sort of a miracle to come back from that position. He was only going to do himself damage - possibly do himself damage. It was better to leave it and try to get ready for the fifth match on Sunday, if it's needed.

CAPTAIN NEWCOMBE: I don't -- I think I'll leave that one. It speaks for itself.

CAPTAIN NEWCOMBE: No. They were making a lot of noise. It didn't worry our guys. That's what you expect. That's fun. I thought it was good. The only thing with the partisan crowd rule is for deliberately trying to put somebody off. The constant noise isn't a problem at all.

CAPTAIN NEWCOMBE: Yeah. Once you go through that, you know, he went through a pain barrier halfway through the third set. Once you come out the other side of that, you're in sort of the dark side. Sometimes you can go on for a long, long time. It's very cold and windy, not very nice, but you can go for a long time.

CAPTAIN NEWCOMBE: Yes. We're happy with one win. The doubles is going to be, you know, a very pivotal situation, obviously. I think that will be a great match. I think it will be, you know, a lot of fun out there. A bit torturous to watch, but it will be a lot of fun for everyone.

CAPTAIN NEWCOMBE: Probably the fifth match.

CAPTAIN NEWCOMBE: Yeah, a little bit, yeah. I mean, the first one was a match that you wondered how Lleyton was going to be able to win it. Under those conditions and with everything that -- taking everything that was going on, it was very, very important to just stay really calm and keep the situation down as low as you possibly could. That was, you know, the most important thing I think in those situations. It was really maybe not the normal type of match you might be involved in with Lleyton where there would be a lot more fist pumping. You tried to sort of cut that out as much as possible and keep it as low-key as you could.

CAPTAIN NEWCOMBE: We're only in day one. This is a three-day affair. The unfinished business is still unfinished. Don't worry about Pat, he'll be there Sunday afternoon.

CAPTAIN NEWCOMBE: It's a medium clay court. It's not fast; it's not slow. We're happy with it.