THE LIPTON CHAMPIONSHIPS

March 19, 1995

Stefan Edberg

Q. Stefan, was the doublefault at the end kind of a fitting end to a horrible afternoon?

STEFAN EDBERG: Pretty much, I think. No, it was a just terrible day for me today and this is one of these days where you don't wish it is going to happen, but, you know, sometimes you have to face it where you don't feel well and not hitting the ball well, and he is tough to play because he has got a very weird game. He is taking a lot of pace off the ball and makes it very hard when it is windy out there, too, so -- and it just didn't go my way today. It was tough being out there.

Q. It is more difficult picking up his serve off his racket than other players because of the strange motion that he has?

STEFAN EDBERG: I think the way that he plays, he plays like nobody else and I have played him once before and I beat him in straight sets and I knew that, you know, he is tough to play and you really have to concentrate and penetrate and really do everything with the ball, but on a day like this when it is windy, it is heavy, you don't really hit the ball well, it is really tough to play against him. And I found it really, really, really tough today. It is hard to tell what he is going to do; whether he is going to hit a short ball or long ball or lob, it makes it tough.

Q. Is his kind of playing tennis some kind of a nightmare for even top players?

STEFAN EDBERG: Well, he is tough to play. I think so because like I said, he doesn't really play like anybody else. He plays sort of strange and if you are not hitting the ball well, I mean, it is tough. If you are hitting the ball, you know, then it is a different story. But, you know, he can play.

Q. But on the other hand, is it that players like you would get used to it if would you have played him maybe two or three or four times before?

STEFAN EDBERG: Yeah, it makes it easier, yes, definitely, but you have to understand here in Key Biscayne conditions are really tricky here even if you don't think it is windy, it is really windy out there, it is heavy and if you are not really on and not hitting the ball well, playing serve and volley out there is one of the most difficult courts in the world to play and especially if somebody shifts the ball and it goes down on your feet, the ball is going like this (indicating back and forth motion), it makes it really hard.

Q. Just because of the conditions, do you think it is a disadvantage having a "bye" in a tournament like this where you play a guy who has played one match already on those conditions?

STEFAN EDBERG: It is always a disadvantage. Most of the time I would say if you are playing a guy that has already played a match because it makes a difference. Sometimes, obviously, it is nice to have a bye where you don't have to play the first round and -- the first match is always difficult and, so there is always a little benefit to play the match before because you always feel a little bit better; you feel like you are in the tournament, so it is a little bit of a benefit.

Q. Because I see on this kind of draw with 56 or 96 players, it is a lot of upsets in the second round which is the first match for a seeded player?

STEFAN EDBERG: Yeah, in most of the tournaments, it is going to be because just that is the way it is. Plus tournaments are a lot tougher nowadays than they used to be, so if you have a bye, you know, in the 56 draw you can be ranked No. 8th in the world and you play somebody who is 20th in the world; you face them the next time. We face it week here and week there. Sometimes you benefit, sometimes you don't.

Q. Stefan, how often does the word retirement creep into your thoughts?

STEFAN EDBERG: Well, it is always going to come a time when you feel it is time to do something else, but it is really up to me and I think looking at myself, it is how long you can motivate yourself. That is really the key factor and physically I can go on playing for quite sometime. I am pretty sure about that, but it is really motivation that becomes tougher and tougher; especially, you know, doing it week after week after week after week, but, you know, we will see.

Q. Is there one big aim in your head, what big tournament you want to win, especially?

STEFAN EDBERG: Well, there is always tournaments that you would like to win, I mean, the way I look at it, in any tournament it is nice to win -- obviously, you can always pick the big ones, those are the fantastic ones to win, but even winning like here winning in Indian Wells, winning in Hamburg, whatever, is always a great feeling on winning, that is what keeps me going and this year, I haven't played that much. This is my fifth tournament here. I played okay. This is sort of not a good results, but I am sort of aiming for the summer here and hoping to do well at the French; at Wimbledon at the Open where I didn't do very well at all last year, so hopefully things will get a lot better by then.

Q. Thank you very much.

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