IBM/ATP TOUR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

November 19, 1995

Boris Becker

BORIS BECKER: How do you put happiness into words.... It is very difficult, but I am, you know, obviously extremely, extremely happy because first of all, I became world champion again. I always said that this was my favorite indoor tournament. I talked about the crowd. I talked about the atmosphere. I talked about my feelings of us leaving this place, where we have built a tradition in five, six years, and, you know, so many things go through my mind right now that it is tough to put it into two or three words or sentences.

BORIS BECKER: Especially satisfying. It is especially satisfying after I couldn't make the ATP final two years ago and basically the whole world wrote me off already; have me already there -- they start saying I was too old, but then I was 25. And, you know, finally putting it down, putting it on the line in a major final, playing Michael Chang who beat Sampras yesterday, and beating him in straight sets and playing in the second set the best I have played in a long, long time, and, you know, still keeping the nerves in the tiebreakers very rewarding after a very good year, but a year where I could have produced many huge wins. I was close a couple of times. I talked about it too, but I happen to play the wrong guy maybe in the final, you know, guys on their best surface in their best game and now, finally, I played someone where I think before the match that I had more chances to win than Michael had, you know, it is an indoor surface where I am usually playing better than he does. I finally had my chance and I took it.

BORIS BECKER: I not only picked it up in two matches. We have to really say that in my first round match after the week turned out that Ferreira was playing excellent tennis. He beat Sampras in a Round Robin and he missed the semifinal by one set, and I played already good then, but that is normal in a way that you get better in a tournament. The more matches you play on a surface with the balls under the same circumstances, the better you get, and, you know, also my match with Pete was good. You know, in the second set, you know, I gave him a good match, but the big turnaround for me was the Kafelnikov match where the pressure was all on me. I had to win in two sets and it was probably the most pressure I felt in a long time in a tennis match because every single point mattered and once I got over that hurdle, I knew that I had a chance of doing something very big.

BORIS BECKER: Tell you the truth, I didn't think ten years ago that I would still be playing after I won Wimbledon. Those first couple of years so many things happen to me, professionally and in my private life that I didn't think I could last. I didn't think the desire for tennis could be greater than the loss of privacy; the demands of me being always the winner, winning many, many big matches all the time and the expectations which is so high that I didn't think I could bear that all. But, somehow, I managed to survive. I had my bad years, you know, I had my years where tennis was not my main priority, but in the back of my mind, I never gave up. I always knew that I had to do certain things in my private life in order to find a base, in order to make sure that I could -- I could perform well in my tennis again and, you know, I changed many things over my ten years, starting from coaches, starting in my private life, I changed many things obviously, but I never lost my desire for tennis. I never lost that hunger and I think that is the reason why I am still here.

BORIS BECKER: Well, you cannot go all the time for your second serve because the match is too long and you have to mix it up all the time, but the main thing was that I had a high first serve percentage and, you know, I had a good timing on my second serve as well meaning I put some on the forehand, I sliced some. I kicked some high and on his service games trying to take advantage of his short serves and he improved his first serve a lot, but his second is still not as strong and I was trying to take the opportunity there when I had it.

BORIS BECKER: In a way, they return a little bit similar. Michael takes the ball very early even on the first serve. He was standing very close to the service line which surprised me a little bit. But he did that well with Sampras, and so he decided to do it again with me. But if you don't serve it on the line, Michael is going to get to it and he is going to put the ball back. And that is probably his main weapon. He makes you play all the time. And you always have to finish the volley, have to finish the points because with his speed, he gets to all the balls on the court basically, so I had to come up with great serves, you know, throughout the whole match.

BORIS BECKER: Enqvist takes more chances. Michael in a way makes you play the volley, but Enqvist goes for it more, which makes him more dangerous, but also more flaky. He can never have an hour where he puts the ball on the court on the return, but then he can have four where he just passes by you. Both styles have their ups-and-downs.