EUROCARD OPEN

October 29, 1998

Richard Krajicek

Q. Can you comment on the performance how you feel you played?

RICHARD KRAJICEK: I think I played too good if I could say so myself. I was serving good from the beginning and normally he is a pretty quick starter and he won the toss, he gave me the serve. You never know, he can come out with a few good returns, but I kept -- I started serving well and I kept serving well. So he never got a rhythm on his serve. In the beginning, he was serving very slow, caught me off guard a little bit. I missed a couple of returns. Maybe I shouldn't have missed; then I got on it. I put a lot of pressure on the service games, but I chip charged and served a lot; make him hit passing shots which, of course, he hits a lot. He can miss a couple because he has to keep making them. I think at 4-All in the second the breakpoint maybe wasn't that difficult a passing shot, but if you have to make them all the time, then eventually you can miss a couple.

RICHARD KRAJICEK: I just wanted to give myself one more shot because I am a very good indoor court player. By having an operation after US Open, I wouldn't make the indoor season at all; then I would be fit for the holidays. I mean, so that wasn't really a goal. I was trying to at least play these three tournaments indoors. I did a lot of work, a lot of weights and a lot of cycling to get a lot of tension in the muscles to really make them as strong as possible. And play this event. After Paris if I don't qualify, then I am going to have an operation for sure.

RICHARD KRAJICEK: I feel it a little bit. It is okay. As long as it doesn't -- if I make like a really wrong move, then the meniscus has a tear in it, then it can completely like rip off in a way and then it is very painful. Then I have to stop. But I just wanted to try one more time. If something happens like in US Open, then I will stop basically on the spot; then I will have an operation straight-a-way. But because, like I said, if I would have an operation right after the US Open then I would be ready to play maybe in two or three weeks, then the season is finished. So I just wanted to try these couple of events, had a long break and work out a lot physically.

RICHARD KRAJICEK: Not so good at the moment. I was hoping to get a little bit of a better result in Vienna. Normally I do play pretty good after a long break, but I have to say I lost to Cedric Pioline. He was playing a good match. So I lost second round there. Now the difference between me and Tim -- I mean, it is only two spots, but it is like 400 points or even more.

RICHARD KRAJICEK: Yeah, I know but still, it is a lot and I think at the moment I am just trying to play a good tournament and if he would lose, I think tomorrow even then my chances of qualifying are basically minimum. But if I would do well here, maybe make semis or finals, or maybe win it, then it depends on how I do next week. At the moment I am not looking at the qualifying. Just trying to play as good as possible. If I am still here Saturday and Sunday then I can start thinking a little bit about trying to qualify for Hannover next week.

RICHARD KRAJICEK: No. That knee since I had the surgery has been good. That is why I am going to have surgery on the other one because I hope it will come out as good as the right one. The left one is the troubled knee. So, yeah, just tearing the lining, however you want to call it, you have to cut that away and try to postpone it as much as possible because I notice how easy -- also people, not only press, Dutch press, but also people that I know, how easy people talk about an operation even though it is only arthroscopic. They still go inside your body; it still takes six to eight weeks to recover from that. That is why I tried to postpone it as much as possible. I don't take it lightly at all. There are no guarantees that the knee will feel better. That is why I held it off as long as possible.