US OPEN

September 9, 1999

Slava Dosedel

Q. Having reached the quarterfinals of the US Open, obviously tonight didn't turn out the way you would have hoped, but do you derive satisfaction with your performance here?

SLAVA DOSEDEL: Of course. I mean, it's the best result I ever had in my career. I cannot compare it to anything. It's just the biggest result I had. It's great.

SLAVA DOSEDEL: Well, the matches he beat me, he was always in very good shape. Lost in Barcelona. He won the tournament afterwards. He was in very good form. But, of course, it was in my memory in the beginning, so I was a little bit feeling like under pressure. But after the first set, I got back into my own rhythm so we started to play, I think, both really good tennis. It was just a question of a few points.

SLAVA DOSEDEL: I didn't feel it that way. I felt pretty good on the court because the crowd was fair play. They were fair to me. I mean, they didn't clap if I missed the first serve or if I made a mistake. I think the crowd was really fair. I didn't feel too much pressure from the crowd. I mean, I had my own little box there, which was helping me a lot. No, I don't think it was big disadvantage.

SLAVA DOSEDEL: My evaluation?

SLAVA DOSEDEL: Big surprise. I mean, coming here to play on hard courts when I usually had last few years very good summer on clay. This year I was a little bit struggling, so I didn't really expect that I can do such a good result here, especially on hard court which is not my favorite surface. It's just the best feeling.