adidas International

January 13, 2004

Wayne Ferreira

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

WAYNE FERREIRA: Yeah, very nice, yeah. It was pretty difficult to be as bad as I was last week, so... But, no, I played well. I'm very happy. I was surprised, actually. I didn't expect to play as well today as I did, especially after last week. I've been practicing pretty hard, but I still haven't really been hitting the ball that good. So I'm very happy. Came around nicely.

WAYNE FERREIRA: Yes. I've really, to be honest, I've been struggling the last four or five days on trying to get the precision on the backhand. I've been working pretty hard on it and doing a lot of drills. Maybe the drills have kind of just worked its way into it. I moved my feet really well, and I think that helped a lot.

WAYNE FERREIRA: I just got a friend who, actually, he's been working with Rick Leach, Aleco Preovolos. He's been coaching him for a lot of years. He lives pretty close to me at home. We've become good friends. We're golfing buddies. So I've asked him to come down here and help me while he's helping Rick.

WAYNE FERREIRA: Yeah, you know, my game is somewhat mental to a degree. I've always played badly the first week of the year, and I kind of went into last week knowing I was -- or expecting to play badly, and I did. Then I did that last year, too, and I came here and I turned it around. As soon as I got here, I kind of realized that it wouldn't be like that, and that I would work hard and it would be okay. So I wasn't too worried about the performance last week. I just didn't want it to be as bad as that. But I came around nicely today.

WAYNE FERREIRA: Absolutely, 100 percent, yeah. That's why I'm still playing, is because I enjoy it now. My attitude has changed a lot. It's more relaxed, more fun to play the game. That's why last week is disappointing. Even though it doesn't bother me that much, it's disappointing because I always want now to put in the best effort that I can and play as well as I can. Having fun is what makes me play well, too. Every time I enjoy myself and I have fun, I always seem to play a lot better.

WAYNE FERREIRA: Yeah, I believe I can beat anybody - anybody, any day.

WAYNE FERREIRA: It's great. It's great (smiling). When I was younger and I was seeded pretty high, there was always these guys that you always considered like a dangerous floater who you didn't really want to play. I think I'm one of those. It's kind of nice to be one of those now (smiling).

WAYNE FERREIRA: I actually like it. I don't really mind too much, you know. It's fun to play against them, because I know that they obviously know it's gonna be a tough match. It puts them under a bit of pressure. For me, it's fun. My tennis right now is how well I am against the rest of the world still, and how I compete. For me to play against them and to beat them makes me realize that I can still be at the level that I want to be at. Otherwise, tennis, I think, would be different for me. If I wasn't able to beat those players who I did when I was younger, I don't really feel I'd want to keep playing.

WAYNE FERREIRA: Well, Andre is the only one that I've never beaten - and played a lot and never beaten. The rest of them, I think I've beaten pretty much everybody. The ones that I haven't, I've only played maybe once or twice. So I think I can beat -- if I look at the draw and I look at who's ranked where, I think I can beat pretty much everybody.

WAYNE FERREIRA: Yeah, very much. It's very bad. The situation's terrible. A lot of it comes down to funding, you know, to a degree, you know, having the money to have camps or academies to bring these kids up. There just isn't any. There's nobody, there's no future. All the kids are moving on to the cricket, the rugby, even the soccer just because it's easier. There's more going for them, there's a better future for them. So it's very difficult. It's actually a shame, a real shame.

WAYNE FERREIRA: Well, I think when Amanda and I were doing well, there were a lot of people playing. Then the money just dried up. We had no tournaments there. There's no exposure. There were a lot of kids who had a lot of potential, but their families couldn't afford to send them anywhere. They had no choice but to just give up. They would struggle to try to play futures and challengers, but then they had no money for coaches. They didn't really have an opportunity to get any better than they did, so they ended up having to give up. Now the younger kids don't want to play because they know they don't have a future, don't have the money for it.

WAYNE FERREIRA: It seems like it's sorting itself out. They're starting to get a lot of backing from the government; seems to be helping a lot. Kevin Curran is doing a really good job there trying to organize sponsorships. He's trying to get money back in to start these academies and camps, these so-called "supersquads" that we used to have that I used to travel on. It's going to take him a long time, a lot of money, a long time. And they have to start from the 10- and 12-year-olds and try and work them up to being players again. I don't even know if it's even possible.

WAYNE FERREIRA: I'd like to be a part of it, yeah. What's nice about it is that it's actually -- there's a lot to gain from it, you know. Right now, it couldn't be worse. So there is a future, and it could be quite exciting to try and be a part of something that could regrow the whole game of tennis in South Africa. Right now it's in a terrible, terrible state.

WAYNE FERREIRA: It's still a thought at the moment, yeah. I mean, I'd like to play through this year. Obviously, depending on the ranking and how I feel and family life and things like that, I might play a few the year after. But my schedule is not a full schedule anymore - at all. It's, you know, tournaments I like, times that I like to play, and just for fun now.

WAYNE FERREIRA: At this stage I think I'm planning on about 16, 16 or 17.

WAYNE FERREIRA: All the Slams, yeah.

WAYNE FERREIRA: Last year I think I played about maybe -- I think I played 19 last year.

WAYNE FERREIRA: It was hot, very hot. I mean, I've been practicing here, but I think that court is very -- it's different, because there's no air in there. It doesn't get anything in there. I'm actually glad it was two sets, you know. It's always nice to play three because you can see how your fitness level is, but I was starting to feel a little bit hot at the end there.

WAYNE FERREIRA: Yeah, I know. It's not easy.