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U.S. OPEN


August 30, 1994


Todd Martin


NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK

Q. How do you have the courage to summon up hitting that backhand?

TODD MARTIN: Went back and hit it as hard as I can.

Q. Don't think about it?

TODD MARTIN: That wasn't the shot that won the point. I made a very awkward stretch for the ball off a good backhand he hit down the line and was fortunate enough to hit it to about two inches over the net and short and gave him an awkward shot. He really could just scoop the ball deep and try and make me pass him, and I'd gone off the line with a lot of backhands. I had to go cross court and I think I hit it pretty clean. So I was pretty pleased with that one.

Q. You seemed to be bothered by the groin.

TODD MARTIN: Quite a bit of it. It came and went. As far as how much it bothered me, I'm not necessarily sure if it's still the groin. I think it just moved over to the side of the leg.

Q. It never got bad enough to call a trainer?

TODD MARTIN: Well, personally, I've got these rubber shorts on that are actually -- I don't -- never mind. They're very, very insulated, and to be perfectly honest, I don't think there was much a trainer could do. He asked if I wanted one and that's when I told him then I really think the best thing for me was to keep going and try to keep it warm, so I didn't really pull them.

Q. When did he ask if you wanted a trainer?

TODD MARTIN: Before I broke him in the short set.

Q. Were there certain moves that caused you more trouble than other ones?

TODD MARTIN: I really don't know. I mean, it was -- sometimes I made full-out stretches and I think just running is probably the toughest -- running forward was very tough, that's why I stopped serving and volleying.

Q. And sometimes it looked like when you reached down on a backhand; was that not true?

TODD MARTIN: If I missed it, yeah, it hurt.

Q. Todd, were there any moments today when it was difficult not to think-- it happened to Becker last night and Ivanisevic today-- the upset might get you?

TODD MARTIN: Well, you walk out on the court, I don't think there are any favorites. I think you go out on the court and you have to win the match and you do what it takes to win the match. And I certainly didn't think it was -- I didn't think oh, gees, here I am, another upset in the U.S. Open. I don't care if Becker and Ivanisevic lost. Actually, I was pretty happy for Richey last night and you just got to fight and it doesn't matter who you are or what your credentials are. He was a better tennis player than I was in the first two sets and I had to prove otherwise in the last three.

Q. Was there any point during the match that you thought you might not be able to make it because of the injury?

TODD MARTIN: Well, I was a little nervous because, you know, I have to -- it's tough because you gear up for the U.S. Open for quite a long time, and especially since I had most of the summer off, I had a lot of time to think about it. And I was very excited and I was feeling well, but you also have to think about your future because of the -- we have tournaments in the next few weeks, there are other goals I have and I don't want to sacrifice those necessarily just for this. And so, I -- then I made the decision just to be selective on my effort.

Q. And were you feeling fit coming out of Hamlet? What did --

TODD MARTIN: Yeah, I felt fine.

Q. Is it something that cropped up again during the match today or --

TODD MARTIN: Actually, I felt it in the last couple of days a little bit, but not to the point where it bothered me. I noticed it was a little stiff, and when I was stretching it, maybe I wasn't able to stretch it as much because -- as I felt it.

Q. Did you ever sort of sneak a look at the draw and sort of see that your half, your quarter was pretty wide open now with what happened to Becker and Goran?

TODD MARTIN: I realize that. That's got nothing to do with playing my match.

Q. It didn't put any more pressure, nerves, nothing?

TODD MARTIN: I want to say this without being rude, but the fact that people are seeded is just to be placed. It is not who's the best player in this tournament. That's why guys upset other players, and that's why Guillaume was beating me, that's why Richey beat Boris last night, that's because those guys are playing better than the seeded players. The seeded players don't get any bonus points. They have to play the full match just like everybody else.

Q. -- 4-Love in the fourth set tiebreaker and up 4-Love in the fifth set tiebreaker.

TODD MARTIN: I knew that. At 4-Love in the fifth set tiebreaker.

Q. Were you concerned at all?

TODD MARTIN: I was concerned when I hit the forehand on the line and I didn't hit it very well at 4-1 which is when I sort of lost the momentum in the first, and I was pretty intent on just really staying focused and making some first serves and making them beat me. Also, I tried my best to stay relaxed in the situation.

Q. Did you do something different tactically after the second set?

TODD MARTIN: Well, the two things I did was, one, I stayed back on my serve because I wasn't able to move to the net quick enough because he was returning my serve well. And also, I decided to take some of his second serves and be more aggressive with that just for the sake of making points a little shorter and putting a little pressure on him instead of having him come up on me, coming up with the passing shot.

Q. After you were being bothered by the groin, on match point, and then when you got it over with what was going through your mind?

TODD MARTIN: It was fun. I don't know. It's quite a good feeling to play in front of people who yell every point, and tell you you're terrible when you aren't, and tell you you're good when you aren't. And it was an awful lot of fun after the first two sets for me to be out there. It was just nice to be out there and finish the job that I started.

Q. Watching from the seats when you saved that first match point, the crowd goes nuts, you --

TODD MARTIN: I went nuts.

Q. It seemed from outside like momentum shifted right there. Is there such a thing as momentum; did you feel that way?

TODD MARTIN: No, because I played two terrible deuce points, missed two backhands, pretty routine backhands. I think when I did get through that game, there was a bit of momentum switch, but I certainly don't think I lost the momentum. I think I just gave more of it back. I was losing a little bit of the momentum because he was playing much better in the fifth set. You still got to feel pretty good about it when you are down two sets to Love and obviously you see his facial expressions or his body language and I knew that he was not very happy.

Q. Were you actually talking to yourself when he's got a match point; are you telling yourself anything specifically?

TODD MARTIN: Well, basically, I just -- I go over on my mind what I wanted to do with the serve and what I wanted to do with the first shot if I have any chance to do something, and then subconsciously I tell myself to just do the work and go back and do the fundamentals.

Q. Does it get any easier with experience to remain composed at those moments when you got --

TODD MARTIN: Can you say that again?

Q. Does it get any easier with experience, with years to remain composed during those moments?

TODD MARTIN: Well, it's been about 14 years now since I started playing competitive tennis. So, we've all gone through the same stages. You learn how to deal with certain stages, junior tennis and college tennis, and I'm learning more and more about the pro tour. And I think the experience of maybe losing a few of those matches last year against Krajicek when I think he saved three match points against me, realizing that if somebody can do it to me, I can do it to somebody else. And also, it's -- I think it's just natural to have too much pride to give up. That's the biggest key, just keep on using your energy and doing the right things.

Q. They say in other sports good teams find a way to win close games, matches; do you think that applies in tennis, good players find a way to win?

TODD MARTIN: Oh, yeah, certainly. I think you look at the best players and most of them are very good when the going gets tough, and you're becoming better and better, I think. And I think today was not necessarily a match of tennis skills, but maybe just a matter of, well, I competed.

Q. Do you find the new rules distract you with the crowd moving around?

TODD MARTIN: Do I find what?

Q. Do you find you can play or does it distract you? They don't bother you at all?

TODD MARTIN: I don't know if the new rules for the ATP tour are in effect.

Q. The crowds are moving around, yes.

TODD MARTIN: One person distracts you. Hundreds don't distract you. It's an awkward thing, but that's how it is.

Q. After losing the first two sets, did you feel at any state that the match was slipping out of your hands?

TODD MARTIN: It was.

Q. And what corrective measures you took in order to overcome the situation, briefly, I mean your own way?

TODD MARTIN: I think I decided to buckle down and compete instead of feeling sorry for myself at two sets down and I think that was the biggest key. And I had a lot of breaks that sort of made me feel a lot better and made him feel a little worse.

Q. You've had a number of these long more than five set matches in the Grand Slam tournaments, this year at Wimbledon and today; why do you think that is? Do you feel like you should be trying to get off to a faster start?

TODD MARTIN: No, that was the thing at Wimbledon, I was off to a fast start. I was -- except for one match, I was up -- I mean -- I was up except for against Damm and actually I let down. Today, I just didn't play well in the first two sets, and I competed less and less well, and you know, I think they're totally different circumstances. I hope I don't have to start slow to finish good -- it's better than starting fast and finishing bad --

Q. Have you hit many shots better than the backhand first point?

TODD MARTIN: I didn't necessarily hit that the way I was supposed to. You're not supposed to hit passing shots as hard as you can or as flat as you can, but I was sick of tennis right then, so I had to finish something. And I hit it very clean, but the ball was where I like it and, you know, I think even if Guillaume had guessed right and was there for the volley, it would have been a tough volley. And the reason I hit it the way I did was just because I didn't want to have to run for another ball. I didn't think I was -- that would give myself the best chance to win the point.

Q. What's the treatment for the injury to do?

TODD MARTIN: I'm going to go ice it as soon as we finish.

Q. Nothing too exotic?

TODD MARTIN: Well, ice is very typical treatment for any muscle injury.

End of FastScripts...

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