NEWSWEEK CHAMPIONS CUP

March 16, 1996

Paul Haarhuis

Q. Was that 127 mile-an-hour serve good?

PAUL HAARHUIS: I was wondering about that myself -- serious. I thought it might have been long. It was very close, that is for sure. On clay, you can check it, but I wasn't even sure if it was good. Obviously, I don't think the referee wouldn't have overruled if it wasn't a footfault. He wouldn't have said, okay, the serve is out because it was too close, I think.

Q. The referee can't overrule a footfault?

PAUL HAARHUIS: No, he can't do that. But -- and not also overrule a serve that is that close to the line. And if the linesmen says it is good, then he cannot overrule if it is too close.

Q. When this happens now, you are struggling out there a little bit. Are you thinking this is the kind of thing where Goran goes off and this could help me; did that go through your mind?

PAUL HAARHUIS: Oh, yeah, definitely went through my mind. I mean, he didn't really go -- I thought he was pretty -- he was pretty calm. I mean, it is a tense moment and hitting a big serve like that, 6-5 to get you the set and then it is a footfault and it is back to the second serve and he had only one earlier footfault call like, I think, one against him before, so it is a little bit disappointing for him. So, I mean, I would have been a little bit upset too.

Q. Do you think you are playing the best tennis you have been playing in a long time?

PAUL HAARHUIS: Definitely, in a long time, yeah. Probably since last year, February.

(JOE LYNCH ENTERS INTERVIEW ROOM.)

PAUL HAARHUIS: Hey, Joe, welcome --

JOE LYNCH: How did you do today?

PAUL HAARHUIS: I went down.

JOE LYNCH: Sorry about that.

PAUL HAARHUIS: I was waiting around the corner the whole time.

JOE LYNCH: You are quick.

Q. Why are you playing so well?

PAUL HAARHUIS: Just like I said yesterday, it is a little bit of luck and getting some rhythm and then having some confidence going when you win some matches. In the beginning it is like you are a little tentative the first outdoor match again after four weeks of indoor and, you know, then you struggle through that. I didn't play well the first round, but I won it 7-5 in the third and then it is like, hey, I at least got a chance in the second round; then I start playing much better. From winning a match like that against Enqvist, you get a lot of confidence, plus it is good surface for me. So.....

Q. Do you feel more excited when you are playing these kind of players?

PAUL HAARHUIS: Not necessarily excited, but more, maybe, tense, more concentrated, that you just -- this is the opportunity because you know you have beaten them before and you know you can do it again if you just play well, but you have to play well. If you don't play well, you don't -- you are not going to win against these guys.

Q. You have won a tournament, Paul, Jakarta, I think, but not a Super 9. Now, is this your best result this moment in singles? Certainly not doubles, but in singles?

PAUL HAARHUIS: I was in the finals in Philadelphia. I don't know if that was Super 9 at the time. It was Championship Series, but which was a big tournament, and I lost to -- actually lost to Chang.

Q. Are you feeling like this is your best moment?

PAUL HAARHUIS: This is definitely -- pointswise, well, it is definitely my best tournament, yeah. I think, especially with the bonus that I have had from winning -- beating three top-10 players which I have never done in one week, you know, so it has been -- yeah, quite a week for me so far.

Q. If you win, is it clearly your best?

PAUL HAARHUIS: Oh, yeah, definitely, without a question, but it is going to be best of five, and it is going to be a tough match tomorrow.

Q. You had to play a great deal of doubles yesterday; right?

PAUL HAARHUIS: Yeah, I played nine sets yesterday.

Q. One would think you would be exhausted?

PAUL HAARHUIS: I was last night.

Q. How did you feel this morning?

PAUL HAARHUIS: A little bit stiff, but I had a good warm-up and stretched a little bit more, and it is obviously very good that it is warm weather, you know, which I think helped me that, you know, your muscles are little bit more relaxed, so that helped me. And I am glad it was two sets today, so I can get a little bit of rest before tomorrow, which, you know, best of five is going to be tough tomorrow.

Q. Were you thinking that it would go to a third set when you lost?

PAUL HAARHUIS: When it was 5-2 up then I was thinking, you know, I need to close it out, but then I played some sloppy shots and when you are down 6-5 and he is serving you just pray for the first serve miss.

Q. For a footfault?

PAUL HAARHUIS: Well, I didn't even think of that one. (AUDIENCE LAUGHTER) PAUL HAARHUIS: That was too much to ask for. But yeah, definitely I was thinking, gee, you know, 5-2, I was disappointed with the way things went after 5-2. I was thinking, gee, you know you are going to be playing a third set probably. It just goes in like a fraction of a second through your mind. But then when it got to 6-All, I was thinking, yeah, this is going to be -- this is my week, anyway; I am playing well, and, you know, I am going to win this match.

Q. Paul, what is the one single thing from your doubles play that helps you the most in singles and what is the one thing in singles that helps you the most in doubles?

PAUL HAARHUIS: I think there is two ingredients in doubles that helped me. In the singles, that is the returning and my serve and volley. If I -- like today, I changed up my serve and volley. Every now and then I would come in after my first serve, and attack the return of Goran and, you know, that is, you know, I do that with a lot more confidence than I would have done a couple of years ago without, you know, without the doubles play. And for doubles, it just, I think, my -- just my backcourt game helps me out in doubles a lot; that if I get a second shot, opponents know that they are going to get a tough shot. It is not like I can just play serve and volley. I cannot hit from the baseline.

Q. Paul, what would you pinpoint for the reason that things have clicked this week? Girlfriend is here, or Jacco turned up for the match?

PAUL HAARHUIS: I have no idea because it was definitely not -- I wasn't riding high on confidence because February is usually my best month, but I had, you know, for February, I had a really bad month. Since I have so many points to defend, I dropped in ranking and then you start -- plus get a year older, you are 30, I am thinking hey, maybe, all these young guys are playing too fast or I am getting too slow, so it wasn't like I was coming in here with a lot of confidence. So I don't know why it clicked. And my girlfriend has been traveling with me now are for the past three, four months so that wasn't new, so it is not -- Jacco has been there also, so....

Q. Was the 30th birthday traumatic?

PAUL HAARHUIS: No, actually, well, it was strange, a little bit. I was in Memphis playing the tournament and they presented me with a cake, but with all the young ball girls and boys who gave me the cake and they looked at me like I was some old guy, you know - (AUDIENCE LAUGHTER) - 30, you know, so, but other than that, no, I mean, I still feel physically feel good, and, you know, that I think that is the most important thing. And most people don't tell me anyway that they don't -- if I tell them him 30 they say, no, no, really, what is your age.

Q. Paul, you didn't start playing full-time until you were 23, 24 years old?

PAUL HAARHUIS: That is right. I went to university first.

Q. Was that just a case of wanting to go to college first or was your game not ready?

PAUL HAARHUIS: The latter thing. I was not nearly -- I wasn't just a good player. I was just a very average club player. I mean, I guess I had the talent, but I never practiced. I was always playing soccer. I was doing other things. I was -- so, playing tennis maybe twice a week, and then I came to the states and all of a sudden I have to practice every day and which was new for me, and then I started playing better because I practiced every day and then I enjoyed the improvements so I practiced harder and more improvement came, and so actually it is lucky that I am here today because I actually was going to study in Holland and then I would just be studying, but a friend of mine said, hey, let us go to the states for one year and see how it is.

Q. This wasn't really one of your goals when you were --

PAUL HAARHUIS: No. Even when I was 20, I didn't think that two years down the road -- five years down the road I was going to be a professional tennis player. I started out tennis for Armstrong State.

JOE LYNCH: Powerhouse Armstrong State College. Two years at Florida State were graduated.

Q. You said yesterday that tennis for you IS singles and doubles?

PAUL HAARHUIS: Yes.

Q. Do you think it is possible FOR a top player to play 9 sets as you did yesterday?

PAUL HAARHUIS: Obviously, I won today.

Q. I mean, week-in and week-out.

PAUL HAARHUIS: It is tough. But you have to choose. I mean, then you don't play 30 tournaments or you don't play 25 tournaments. You play 20 tournaments. Top players do play 20 tournaments anyway. So you can just limit it. You can limit your tournaments a little more - if you are going to play singles and doubles. I mean, because I think it is part of the game of tennis is singles and doubles. I think everybody should be promoting it.

Q. Were you angry when they forced you to play the two doubles matches tomorrow?

PAUL HAARHUIS: No, I knew that. I had a choice actually Thursday night to play my doubles, but I would have had a late night match and I knew I had to play Sampras the next day, so they said you can have an option of not playing and just get better preparation for your singles tomorrow and then if you win, you have to play two doubles if you win the first double.

Q. You say everyone should be promoting --

PAUL HAARHUIS: By playing. By playing. By playing the singles and doubles they promote it. Pete Sampras doesn't promote doubles. Andre Agassi doesn't promote doubles.

Q. Chang doesn't, etc., etc.

PAUL HAARHUIS: Yeah.

Q. You are one of the few who has been in the top 20 in singles and doubles in the past five, six years. Are there any specifics that could change it so could there be bonus points if you do well in doubles that would affect your singles ranking?

PAUL HAARHUIS: Yeah, we thought about things like that, but it is kind of tough to make people play. Now, you are going to play doubles. They go on the court and if they don't want to play still you have to put your heart into it and not just your body and just say, okay, what the heck, I am just going to go out there. They make me play. I am just going to play. You know, so it is tough. It is always a dilemma. I talked to Pete about it and which is true what he says, he says, listen, if I play doubles, I am always playing the night match because they want me to play on Center Court, so then I am playing late at night and next day I have to play singles, so, for him, that is not a good preparation. But on the other hand, he is just not used to it. If he would get used to it, it would be no problem for him because he is physically fit. He is a great athlete, so he should be able to handle it, and I mean, it always keeps you fit. You don't have to do much extra.

Q. Do you think it might be a good idea to have an exclusively doubles tournament?

PAUL HAARHUIS: No, because like I said, then tennis is singles and doubles. It is not doubles here or singles there. I mean, people want to see me in singles and they want to see me playing doubles.

Q. Which is not going to happen as you said; it is never going to happen?

PAUL HAARHUIS: It is tough. As I said, the ATP Tour really needs to push a little bit harder and promote it a little bit better and just do --

Q. Where is Armstrong State and why did you go there?

PAUL HAARHUIS: In Savannah, Georgia, actually because I was so bad when I was a junior and I just went on the spur of the moment. I just wrote to some of the schools that I liked, from a book, University of Hawaii, University of San Diego, Cal, something University of California, as well as, you know, they looked great to me. I mean, I was just planning to go for a year. I got some replies back saying, you know, we received your letter and you can come; all our scholarships are gone for next year, but you can be a walk-on and this is the price. Well, that was a little bit too expensive, so -- and a friend of mine was going to school in Armstrong State, college in Savannah, Georgia and I knew then he was playing No. 1 there and I was about the same, you know, level as he was, so then I said, hey, why don't we try to go if I talked to him. I said, hey, can we go there. He talked to the coach. The coach was obviously interested because we were same level and he was the No. 1 player; then we went there.

Q. You went there too?

PAUL HAARHUIS: No other option. (AUDIENCE LAUGHTER). That was basically it. University of Hawaii didn't want me.

Q. They do now, I bet.

PAUL HAARHUIS: I was so bad then, I mean, so it doesn't -- it was --

Q. So what did you think, Paul, being so bad that some school would actually want you to come and play for them, did, that scare you?

PAUL HAARHUIS: No, when I got the letter back I knew I was -- that I wasn't mad or something that this guy was like passing up a big chance or whatever. I was very realistic, but the only thing was I could have, with Armstrong was mouth to mouth, this guy would say, hey, listen, he is as good as I am and I am playing No. 1 here. If he had been playing 7 at some college; he could have said, okay, I am playing 7; he is as good as I am, you want him? Obviously, the coach would have said, no.

Q. Once you got Armstrong -- let's see if I got this straight. Were you like the big man on campus or were you just an alien; how did they treat you there?

PAUL HAARHUIS: They didn't treat me like an alien (AUDIENCE LAUGHTER) But tennis -- no, I mean, we had really good baseball. Because first year we were NAIA and our baseball team was like top five always, so we had a really good baseball. Basketball was not so bad, but baseball and basketball were the really good big programs and tennis was just.... And I also played soccer for Armstrong State, because I actually liked that at that time better.

Q. Florida State, the Seminals, what does Armstrong say it --

PAUL HAARHUIS: Another guy in the first year with me Armstrong State went to Florida State and who -- he played three for us at Armstrong and I was playing one, and he went to Florida State and was playing 3, so he told the guy and I was -- I wanted to switch. He said, listen, this guy was playing one when I was playing 3, so he wants to come. And the guy said sure, but again, we didn't play at Armstrong; we didn't play any big schools, so I couldn't prove myself. I lost one match in two years. We were playing small schools all the time. I couldn't go to Nationals because the first year we went no NAIA to Division II; in transition, you can't get a ranking or go to Nationals and in the second year we were in Division II, they decided, hey, let us go to Division I. So we were in transition, again. So, you know-- so I couldn't get a ranking two years in a row and so nobody knew about me so to again go mouth to mouth information from other people, so I went to Florida State.

Q. You mentioned you wrote a letter to the University of San Diego?

PAUL HAARHUIS: I am not too sure.

Q. I am from San Diego.

PAUL HAARHUIS: It -- I am almost positive that I did because I looked at the map and - (audience laughter) - it looked like a good place to be.

Q. When you got to Florida State what was your highest ranking in college?

PAUL HAARHUIS: I actually was my highest ranking was about 17, I think, 16, maybe, but I was undefeated and I was ranked 17, so I don't know. I didn't make the Nationals that year. I didn't get voted in. You need to get votes.

Q. You can't just play your way in to the bracket?

PAUL HAARHUIS: You need votes from all the coaches from that certain region.

Q. You never even got a shot at an NCAA title?

PAUL HAARHUIS: No, my first year I was just in eligibility, first two years; then my junior year, I -- just they didn't pick me. My senior year, I finally did and I was so frustrated by the time I got there that I lost first rounds. Actually I played very good, but this guy really cheated big time, and he played well there because after that he beat Wheaton and he beat Snyder (ph) and like a year later,, well, a year later I was top hundred and two years later those other guys were both top hundred.

JOE LYNCH: You footfaulted a lot in that match.

PAUL HAARHUIS: But it was all right. I saw him once again after that and he was still playing Satellites and I was very happy about that. (AUDIENCE LAUGHTER).

Q. Since we are going into the past, '91, your famous encounter with Connors.

PAUL HAARHUIS: Last question.

Q. Infamous overhead sequence, what, 16, 18,000 people watching?

PAUL HAARHUIS: I thought it was 19,900 and.....

Q. All right.

PAUL HAARHUIS: Against me.

Q. Anyway, was that a matter -- did you replay that point in your mind? Was that a matter of your being tentative or Jimmy just --

PAUL HAARHUIS: Both. I mean, because it was the ball, he just played them up really high and the first one I should have let it bounce because I remember seeing it back on TV, but because it was high and it was at night, it is dark, pitched black; the ball comes back in the lights all of a sudden, so didn't really get a good swings at it and a clean hit. So that is why he got a second hit for a lob and then that one was deeper and then it was tougher to finish it off. So -- but, other than that I never thought about it again. Thanks, guys.

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