US OPEN

August 29, 1997

Mark Woodforde

Q. Mark, you're working very hard to shed the title "doubles specialist." Can you describe the improvement in your singles play, and have you ever had as big a win against as highly ranked an opponent?

MARK WOODFORDE: Well, I've beaten the No. 1 player in the world before, and the No. 2. Not that I want to brag sitting up here. Throughout my career, I've beaten most of the top players. So, you know, it's a great win, especially at this stage. I felt like I had one of the toughest draws out of -- definitely out of all the Australians. You know, to beat someone like Kafelnikov who had been playing quite well coming into the tournament, you know, does me a lot of good, keeps me alive; helped get me into the Grand Slam Cup. A lot of pluses coming out of not only today's match, but the first round as well.

MARK WOODFORDE: I'm hopefully heading towards that. I just feel like I'm still I am improving as a tennis player. I don't understand why at my age, even years to come, that I can't keep improving, as long as I stay healthy, and as long as my mental approach to the game, wanting to work, is still there. And accept that there are going to be some highs and lows because of my age, maybe my physical recovery in some matches might not be as easy as if I were in my mid 20s or early 20s. But, yeah, I've been playing great ever since Wimbledon. Not just since Wimbledon. I had a bad start to the year; I got it going. I've just carried on from there. I think after Wimbledon finished, I've been serving very well in all the tournaments that I've played. For someone like me who likes to finish the points up at net, it's a hell of a bonus to be serving as big as -- not quite as big as Philippoussis and Rafter, but I'd like to be able to do that, but I'm serving very well, getting a lot of free points and setting up points for me to finish up at net. It's working out for me.

MARK WOODFORDE: You know, my coach just came and hit me on the head and said, "Serve well." It's all the practice that I've put into it. I came away from Wimbledon very disappointed with my results in the singles. I felt like I could have gone further. Throughout every match I played in the singles, I served quite, quite poorly. For a lefty, when you've got someone like Tony Roche as the Davis Cup coach, telling you that you can serve better and you can be a better player, you know, it sort of inspires me a little bit. It's not just Roche, it's my coach, who is left-handed as well. I have played matches here and there where I've served very well and won them. I just wanted it to be continuous, rather than just dotted throughout the year. I worked very hard after Wimbledon in serving a lot. You know, I've really got it into a nice rhythm at the moment. It's going well. Like I said, it's getting me some free points, allowing me to -- I mean, I've played two of the best returners in the game, perhaps: Byron Black is a great returner; Yevgeny, we all know how well he returns the ball. I've been able to control that so far. My next one, I'm probably going to play the best returner ever. I'm going to have to serve, you know, better again. It's a big plus.

MARK WOODFORDE: You know, I think we've played about four or five times. The first few times, I was always shaking in my sand shoes because I just didn't think I was ever good enough to beat the guy. I was probably almost shaking hands before the match began. I managed to beat him last year at the Grand Slam Cup and then two weeks ago at Indianapolis. For me, that was a tremendous buzz to beat him back then, two weeks ago. It's another scalp that I can add. You know, if he's probably playing the best that we know he can play, then I would say my chances are remote. But I don't think all of a sudden he's going to be coming out and playing his best ever. You know, it's a chance for me to catch him while he's still not on the ball, so to speak. I feel like I've got a good chance. But it's going to be tough because he doesn't want to lose to me three times in a row. He's going to have a hell of a support crowd out there. I just feel like -- I'm not just going to be playing Andre, I'm going to be playing a whole lot of other people.

MARK WOODFORDE: It's hard to say. I think while he should be able to serve and volley a little bit more, I feel if I sort of could say a few things to him, it would be to try and attack a little bit more and try and solidify his net game. He tries it. He tried a few things out there today to try and upset my rhythm. You know, he was staying back, hitting, then he tried to hit them very high, use the wind, then he tried hitting and coming in. I was playing well enough to have an answer for most of what he tried today. But, you know, I think he just got outplayed in those conditions, in the wind, and by someone who wasn't afraid to win, get a big upset win.

MARK WOODFORDE: I'm such an imposing figure up at net, it's hard to get by me (laughter).

MARK WOODFORDE: Yeah. But I think, you know, that's just normal. Everyone gets nervous and has trouble, you know, finishing. The guy, he's looking at two sets to love down. He makes one bad shot and the match is finished in the tiebreaker. You know, I mean, you've got to have some nerves out there. He's not cold, super human in that respect. I think he just showed his natural emotion out there at that time. It was fortunate for me that I was up at the better end and was able to take advantage of it. But I think sometimes he gets distracted by everything that goes on. Maybe if he just sort of focused a little bit more on what's happening on the court, you know, he might have got through today. Who knows.

MARK WOODFORDE: You know, whenever you're playing against any player these days, especially for me, I'm always expecting a tough match. You know, I knew my work was going to be -- it was going to be a tough day at the office. But then again, I've been playing very well. I just felt like I had a good chance. I've beaten him before, so it's not like this is I humongous, that the guy should be thrown out of the US because he's lost to Mark Woodforde. I mean, I have beaten him before. That worked well for me. I just believe that I could beat the guy. You know, I think if you're frightened, then perhaps I would have been showing a little more, my nerves might have come through a little bit more had I not believed in myself. It was the other way around.

MARK WOODFORDE: Edberg, Courier was No. 2 when I beat him. I don't know. Look back in the books. I've played long enough.

MARK WOODFORDE: It means a whole lot. I commented to my girlfriend, "Look at all these players, they're all Australians. Isn't that fantastic?" It would have been nice to have been here, but of course I had some work to do the following day, so I was only able to watch it. I was very, very proud. I also said, "It would be nice if at some stage, doesn't matter when, if I could be almost like honored in that way. For me, it was just really terrific to watch those guys come out. They're all fantastic guys and women as well, those Australians that came out. They're great people. Hopefully, I can be remembered as being a nice person, nice player, great player, and be honored in a similar way. Got to get that Grand Slam title in the singles.

MARK WOODFORDE: Definitely. Definitely. You know, I think if Yevgeny sticks it out and plays -- someone like Yevgeny, if he continues to play a few more doubles matches, I think he would be able to step it up in a singles match where he can serve and volley a whole lot more. I've certainly -- I'm certainly a better player for playing singles and doubles. I believe someone like Agassi, if he played more doubles, he would be more of a complete singles player and be willing to come into net more, try to serve, volley a little bit more. Look at McEnroe and Edberg, great players of No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles ranking at the same time. I think they're the only two that maybe have done that of recent time. I wish there were more players that did that, yeah.

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