U.S. OPEN

August 28, 1996

Neville Godwin

NEVILLE GODWIN: No, it wasn't enjoyable, in case you were wondering.

NEVILLE GODWIN: The crowd was unbelievable, absolutely unbelievable. I've never played -- I've never played as well a first set. They were on my side. After a while, I decided, "I could have some fun anyway." It was great.

NEVILLE GODWIN: I don't know so much as nerves. I just could never find my rhythm against Michael. A couple of times I thought I was starting to hit the ball well and the ball just comes back. It's pretty tough to play against a wall, you know, you get bored. (Laughter).

NEVILLE GODWIN: I was. I was struggling with my timing and rhythm. Playing against a guy like Michael, you have to be really top form, feel like you're hitting the ball well, feel on top of your game. If you don't, everything is going to come back and you're going to try to rush things and it becomes a pretty difficult mountain to climb.

NEVILLE GODWIN: I mean, I played on No. 1 court at Wimbledon. That was to me -- that was more of an overwhelming experience for me. Playing against Michael Chang, never come across anything like that in my life. Totally different experience. You think you've put one away, it comes back. You put the next one away, it comes back. It's an ongoing saga. It's not nice, not fun (Laughter).

NEVILLE GODWIN: Well, depends. If he had to play me seven times, I think he'd have a great chance of winning this tournament. I think Michael has a good chance to win. He's out there every single day, just an unbelievable competitor. Every ball comes back. He's always out there fighting, you know, trying to get every single shot. Like I said, I mean, you really have to feel like you're on top of your game. If you're not, then it becomes pretty difficult to play against him. I think he has a good shot, yeah. As good a shot as anyone. Agassi is playing really well, Sampras is playing I think pretty well. I mean, there's a lot of good players.