NEWSWEEK CHAMPIONS CUP

March 8, 1995

Jim Courier

Q. Jim, did he surprise you by coming to the net as often as he did?

JIM COURIER: No, not really. I mean, I have played Carlos a bit. I know on the faster courts he tends to come in a bit more.

Q. Incredibly touch volleys, he made, shall we say?

JIM COURIER: That is how most of the clay courters volley like that, they hit short volleys, so, I was expecting it, but just wasn't quite sharp enough to react all the time. He hit some good shots.

Q. Carlos said this match was more about you missing forehands and he running a lot. Do you feel the same thing?

JIM COURIER: It was a match where I didn't play my best tennis and I thought he played, you know, okay, and, you know, I am not going to play great everyday and I didn't feel very good when I started the match and I tried to work my way into it and it just didn't work out. That is okay. There will be another day.

Q. He said he was especially eager to play you because of the final of Rome two years ago. Did you feel that special feeling?

JIM COURIER: No. Felt no special feeling.

Q. Is a loss like this any easier to handle than it would have been two years ago?

JIM COURIER: Why?

Q. You have grown up, you have matured; been through quite a bit over the two years?

JIM COURIER: Yeah, I have lost a bit in the last two years. Are you saying I am used to losing? (kiddingly). Losing is never easy, but I am at a stage right now where I feel like I can handle it. I feel good about the way I am playing in general. I know that there is going to be bumps along the way and, you know, more than anything right now, I just need some rest and, you know, that I think that is going to do me more good than anything else.

Q. How did playing five matches in your last six days --

JIM COURIER: You mean playing six matches in the last seven days?

Q. Did you play Thursday?

JIM COURIER: Yes, I did. I am tired. I am tired. There is no way around that. But, you know, I am tired for a good reason. I won a tournament last week, so that is okay. You know, I would have liked to have been a little bit fresher coming in, but, you know, I am tired for a good reason, as I said, so it is okay. Who are you taking a picture of?

Q. It's a long time story. We will tell you afterwards.

JIM COURIER: All righty, then. Is your number still 911? All righty, then. Anybody else?

Q. Boris Becker was in here before saying that most of the players think this is the best tournament in North America. Want to get your reaction.

JIM COURIER: I think it is a great tournament. I think the weather is usually great. The stadium is nice, except for Sunday, and possibly tomorrow. But you know, I think it is a wonderful ambiance out here. There is very few things that are wrong with the tournament. The lockerrooms are inadequate for this tournament, but other than that, there is really not much that I would complain about. I hope it stays like this. I hope we don't go to a two week event with women because there is not enough room. There is not enough room for us right now. God forbid that we would have to be in one lockerroom instead of two.

Q. Would you rather that Charlie not raise the prize money however how many hundreds of thousands of dollars that he wants to and instead redo the lockerrooms?

JIM COURIER: I didn't hear that one.

Q. Would you rather that the lockerrooms be redone and the prize money go up, say, $400,000?

JIM COURIER: I would. I think the prize money is pretty adequate right now. I don't think it needs to go up anymore. I think it would be great if he could put some of the money back into the facility. I think that, you know, that is the way I look at it. Maybe other people don't. But I think it would be -- you have to keep investing in a business. You can't just put it out there every year and just take all the profits. You have to reinvest and reinvest to make your business better. I think that, you know, -- that is the only thing I can tell you that is bad about this tournament because Charlie has done wonderful things with the event. I don't want to come off like I am knocking the event. I am just gnit-picking a little bit.

Q. At 4-3 in the second set, you had, I think, it was triple break against him. . .

JIM COURIER: Somewhere there. . .

Q. How did that get away from you basically?

JIM COURIER: He played five good points, I mean, he hit some good serves and, you know, he crawled out of it. So -- good for him.

End of FastScripts...