U.S. OPEN

August 31, 1994

Andrei Medvedev

ANDREI MEDVEDEV: No.

ANDREI MEDVEDEV: No, not necessarily. Actually, I just get more careful about playing the match because, you know, you realize that two of the top seeds went down and you don't want to be another one, so you kind of concentrate more.

ANDREI MEDVEDEV: No, it is the same. I mean, the same weather, same -- I mean, the same facilities; same city.

ANDREI MEDVEDEV: Well, it is not a surprise because I think we have seen already Boris making lots of excuses, so it doesn't surprise me. I mean, I don't find anything different from the last year because I kind of don't notice if the courts are slower or faster. I mean, I always say if you are good enough you win even on ice, so...

ANDREI MEDVEDEV: The food is great this year, honestly, without joking. I mean, they really done a good job foodwise because I think they changed the cook and they changed the facility there and -- no, without any joke. I mean, it is honestly better and the food is great. You have a lot of choices now and to me, I mean, I was eating already for over ten days because I was here Monday last week, so the food is good. You have lots of choices and the prices are affordable. You can eat -- for the tickets that they give us, I can eat and I can also eat with my coach, so, I mean it is great.

ANDREI MEDVEDEV: It is exciting, still exciting.

ANDREI MEDVEDEV: I was eating pasta that -- I mean, you have different choice of sauce and you have a different choice -- you can eat linguini, spaghetti, any type of pasta. You can also eat baked potatoes and all sorts of meat, vegetables, salads and fruit. Honestly, it is great. And of course, the stadium and the facilities need some other works to be done, but if they move the way they move with the food, by the end of my career it will be a pleasure to play here.

ANDREI MEDVEDEV: Yes.

ANDREI MEDVEDEV: It is very nice of you mentioning birthday and not saying happy birthday, so I don't have to answer the question.

ANDREI MEDVEDEV: It feels good. Actually, doesn't feel any different, just when you -- when you meet the girl you can say "I am 20." I am not a teenager. I kind of don't need it anymore because I have a girlfriend, but still, it is nice, you meet somebody you say I am 20.

ANDREI MEDVEDEV: And it only gets 21, 22. It won't get back to teen, so that is nice.

ANDREI MEDVEDEV: No, I actually don't like to celebrate my birthday very much. I like to just have my family and a couple of friends, go out for dinner, that is all. But I like presents very much.

ANDREI MEDVEDEV: Of course.

ANDREI MEDVEDEV: I got the very nice present from the girlfriend and my family and also from my ex-coach, it was very nice, he sent flowers, and I get the present from little Sasha from my friends, so it was very special and nice. I kind of had a very good many.

ANDREI MEDVEDEV: Well, I seen him couple of days ago, but before that, it has been a while.

ANDREI MEDVEDEV: No. I mean, yeah, sort of. But you cannot really notice it because I only haven't seen him for six months.

ANDREI MEDVEDEV: I haven't seen him play.

ANDREI MEDVEDEV: No. I mean, what do you mean? It is -- I mean, it is the same because as soon as you go on the court you have to play. I am pretty sure he is not blind. He see how, you know, how -- what is the next word -- how the stadium is, I would say. And he knows that he has to concentrate extra. And he has a coach and I don't think that he needs any explanation that this is the Grand Slam and this is the last Grand Slam of the year so you have to play more concentrate.

ANDREI MEDVEDEV: Well, I mean, I don't know. I am not his advisor, for sure. He didn't ask me how he feels like. Obviously, you could see already that it is something different compared to all the other tournaments. So I am sure he can make the adjustments.

ANDREI MEDVEDEV: No. For sure Pete is the best player by far at the moment and I mean, this is very obvious, but it is kind of make me feel happy because now I see what, you know, what I should be, what I should try to be, what kind of player I should try to be. So I mean, if I would be lucky enough to reach the quarterfinal and I would hope to play Pete, and not because, you know, I want to say I want to beat him, I just want to see how I play. I want to see how far I am from the top because he is obviously the top at the moment. I don't know, I think he is reachable because he is human and he has two arms and two legs and I mean, I am pretty sure if the people work hard and they put enough effort and if they be -- if they will be very dedicated, they have a chance to reach him. But I don't know how soon it will be. But I would be the first one who will try for sure next year. I just hope to have less injuries.

ANDREI MEDVEDEV: He is very professional and also very good person. I mean, it is easy to communicate with him and he is kind of independent, that is what I like about him. He doesn't depend on me, so when we meet on the court he does his job and then, you know, I don't have to think what he is doing because he takes care of it for himself. That is great for me. We have been working, especially lately, on fitness program and I improve my fitness. We were trying to lose some weight and I also have done some jogging. Of course, tenniswise he explain me a few things which of course I was explained before, but it is very important to hear from somebody else, then you think if two people tell you the same thing, for sure it is right. It has been great.

ANDREI MEDVEDEV: No, we just talked about the possibility to work. It kind of worked out. He told me with his contract with Jim was expiring and he was able to be like a free agent or something so we talked about the deal and, you know, we started working.

ANDREI MEDVEDEV: My next match will be either against Novacek or Volkov, so it is a hard match and I hope to pass this one, but if my knees won't bother me I think I have a good chance to play well here. I don't know how well but just good. I might lose in the second round, but as long as I play good I wouldn't mind that.

ANDREI MEDVEDEV: No, I enjoy when the media writes exactly what I say and I really hate when all the press last year was saying that I was complaining about the food. This is pretty stupid of you because I wasn't complaining. I was saying the truth and unfortunately most of the people don't like to hear the truth if it is painful and I think okay, this guy is complaining. So it -- I kind of got pissed off and I didn't care what the press was saying. So if you would be nice to me which means only saying things that I say, then it is great, we have a great relationship. But if you will act like an asshole I will act like an asshole to you. I hope it is clear for everybody.

ANDREI MEDVEDEV: No, but I am saying if the press will understand me, what I mean and because I think I express myself very clear and if had you guys understand what I mean, but you write something different, then you are in trouble because I won't talk to you anymore. Then you have no job, perhaps, you get fired from the newspaper.

ANDREI MEDVEDEV: Yeah, I took the position in the players' council so I was questioning most of the players what they think about it and we all agreed to the point that only if the music is not loud, only in this point there were 50% who agreed to have music on the court and still 50% didn't. So I mean, it would be up to the ATP, but the top 10 guys they decided they split half and half. I mean, they didn't really enjoy music on the changeovers.

ANDREI MEDVEDEV: Because it pissed me off that ATP was panicking and trying to change the rules that we have at the moment. They were just overreacting on the things that there were a few articles like tennis is dying and everything so took the position because I felt that somebody has to protect the players and actually we made some good changes that hopefully will help the game. But you know, of course it is between players and ATP Tour, but you know, they should take it more easier because the people that said they don't enjoy tennis anymore they obviously don't understand anything in tennis.

ANDREI MEDVEDEV: Believe it or not but the tournament director here or the guy who is responsible for the facilities and for the players relations or something like that, he came to me and he said, it is really because of you we change the cook and we change the facility. So I don't know if he is real on that or not but that is what he said. I am pretty sure that if I wouldn't say anything and if the other players wouldn't agree to that I am pretty sure we would have the same food like last year and we would get some poisoning.

ANDREI MEDVEDEV: Yes, I mean, if they move like this, I have a few more positions that I will tell at the end of the tournament, so you can just you know, you have nothing to write yet, and then when I leave you can write whatever you want, so I don't read it and then I tell you a few suggestions if they move the way they moved with the food I told you by the end of my clear it will be pleasant to play here.

Q. Thanks, Andrei.