US OPEN

August 28, 2000

Martin Damm

MODERATOR: Questions for Martin.

MARTIN DAMM: I can't hear you really well.

MARTIN DAMM: Yeah, I think that he's healthy. He was serving big whole match. Maybe he was a little bit, you know, slower on returnings. But he's definitely going to get better, you know, as he gets some more matches under his belt.

MARTIN DAMM: Not really, because I didn't really put any pressure on his serve. He was serving really big. I just really won a few points on his serve in the first two sets. He didn't really feel any pressure on his serve, so he could play quite relaxed on his return games. He had some break points on my serve; didn't make it in the first set. He made it finally at 5-All in the second. I think that he really, you know, didn't feel much pressure, especially on his serve.

MARTIN DAMM: Well, the first time I play him was eight years ago already, so I don't really remember that much from that match. Obviously, he was already by then No. 2 or No. 3 in the world. Since then, obviously he won a lot of Grand Slams. It's always tough to play against him. Especially his serve, it's always big. If he's really healthy, concentrating well, it's really very difficult to play him. The result today was a little bit, you know, closer than I lost three really easy sets. Actually, I'm pretty pleased with my performance today. I served really good. I just didn't have much chance on his serve, so.

MARTIN DAMM: That he's No. 4? What do you mean?

MARTIN DAMM: Well, you know, he was a little injured. That's, you know, why his rank dropped a little bit. From 1 or 2 to 4 still is not bad, obviously. You know, he's really top player. Doesn't matter if he's No. 1 seed or No. 4. He's just a great competitor. You know, especially at the Slams, if he's on his best, it's really tough to put any challenge against him.

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