TMS - STUTTGART

November 4, 2000

Wayne Ferreira

MODERATOR: Questions for Wayne, please.

WAYNE FERREIRA: Yeah, it's nice. I've had a great week. You know, I've come close. I played good matches this year. I didn't really feel that I've had the chance to get to one. This week, the way that I've played, I think I deserve to be in the finals, so I'm really happy.

WAYNE FERREIRA: Not really. I didn't come out and start, play as well the first few games today as I did the other days. But I don't think that I was nervous. I just wasn't as aggressive as the other days. No, nervous was not much a part of it.

WAYNE FERREIRA: Well, I guess I've taken a lot of pressure off myself to do well. I'm not expecting, you know, great things. I'm not expecting to win every week like I thought I should and I could. I'm not taking my losses as badly as I used to. I have less pressure. There's a lot of other guys doing better. I think my attitude toward the game is better.

WAYNE FERREIRA: Yeah, totally. The thing with the indoors, which is quite difficult for me, is when I'm on, I play really well. When I'm a little bit off, I'm very bad. It's a tough surface for me. This week I've played very well. I've had great wins, and I've played great tennis. As far as everything else, I've still got a lot of good left in me. I think I can actually improve and actually even get better.

WAYNE FERREIRA: Well, I am really excited to get the opportunity to play him. I've seen him play a lot. He's had some good wins. Obviously, he gets the ball back a lot. He's very consistent. He's got good groundstrokes. He serves well for his size. He's got a lot of game. I think it's a bit like today. I think I have to come out very aggressive on the serve especially and try and make him work hard and punish the second serve a lot. I think it's going to be important for me to try and overpower him. I think that might be a good key to winning the match.

WAYNE FERREIRA: Yeah, it's possible. I think these two weeks have been two totally opposite weeks. Last week, I was ready to give up the year and go on holiday. This week, I'm ready to play forever. It's a tough thing. You caught me at a good time for my goals. I just want to have enjoyment. I want to stay happy. I would like to, as far as one goal, win a tournament again. It's been a numerous amount of years I haven't. I haven't really given myself the opportunity to. I'd like to do that more often, be more consistent more often. You know, when you do that, you win matches, your ranking gets up, all that sort of stuff happens. Those sort of aspects are important for me to stay focused.