GREAT AMERICAN INSURANCE ATP CHAMPIONSHIP

August 7, 1996

Bernd Karbacher

BERND KARBACHER: Yeah, I was down a break and when I -- when I lost the second set the heat was really bothering me and when I got the break in the second set and third set, I really didn't think that I had a chance to win this match and then I started to change a little bit on my return and tried to hit -- just to push the ball back -- back to his forehand and then he started missing a little bit. He made a few doublefaults. Then I broke him back and then it was an open match.

BERND KARBACHER: Yes, of course, I really like to play here. Okay, it is very hot, but for me, the heat is not too bad. I can stand the heat pretty good. And the conditions suit me very well, like the balls, the court is not so fast. And I played -- the last two years I played very good in the hard court seasons, so I was looking forward to it. You have a lot of things to do and if you have a good feeling when you go to a tournament, then mostly you always play well.

BERND KARBACHER: Yeah, I mean, problem is maybe last year after the Indianapolis tournament I had some unlucky draws. I played first round at the U.S. Open I played very well, but lost to Jim Courier in the fourth set, so that was kind of unlucky. And then you have a little bit of a break and then almost the indoor season starts in Europe and I am not -- I don't like the indoor season so much and for me, it is very hard to win the matches. I have not so much confidence when I go indoors, so maybe that is the point and then there is another break beginning of the year -- at the end of the year. Then you go to Australia, so that is maybe -- it is just -- I am not an indoor player. I would love to play more tournaments outside.

BERND KARBACHER: It was good. I played -- I didn't play so bad. I think I played okay in the clay court season. I had some injuries after and during Wimbledon and then afterwards I couldn't play so much tennis and I got back in shape and practiced hard and now I am fit. So I think I am going to play well here in the next tournaments.

BERND KARBACHER: Yes, of course. Like I said before, when you go to a tournament and you really like to go there; you enjoy it and you know the circumstances are good, the courts and the balls that suits you very well, then if you have a good feeling to go to a tournament and go on the court and you really like to play there, then you have to play well. That is normal. I mean, you can lose matches, but you have a big advantage when you go to a court that is perfect for me.

BERND KARBACHER: Yeah, I am trying to, but for me it is very difficult. I have no solution yet. I did not find it the last four, five years. I think it is just -- it has -- for sure, it has something to do with the surface and the balls and the conditions. Like I said, for me it is very hard to play on grass. I don't like to play on grass and I don't like so much to play on indoors, so usually I play well in the clay court tournament and on hard court and that is how I pick most tournaments, so I think I just have to try to -- for the next year to play as many tournaments on hard court at the beginning of the year as possible and maybe I don't play indoors at all.

BERND KARBACHER: Definitely. You have to play a few indoor tournaments, but for example, that is not a big reason to play three or four tournaments on grass because other tournaments at the same time, okay, Wimbledon is one big tournament, but you can play there or just two and then you have two weeks off and that helps you also because you need to have a break in the summer sometime and you have a lot of choices which tournament you pick. I think it doesn't matter if you -- where you make the points, it doesn't really matter, for the top guys it is more important because they have to play all the Super 9 events almost to make the big points. But for the other players, it doesn't really matter if you make 100 points there or indoors, it doesn't matter. You have a choice to pick -- you have to play, let us say, four, five indoor events, but that is enough.