U.S. OPEN

September 2, 1995

Boris Becker

BORIS BECKER: Don't ask me that, please, right now. I was really trying to concentrate just to hold serve once, and I wasn't able to do it. It hasn't happened to me in a long, long time, that I was losing my serve four times in a row, and I broke his serve all the time as well. Thanks God that it started to end in the third. It didn't for him. I kept breaking him. I was able to hold that finally.

BORIS BECKER: No, I knew Jason is a very good player. He raised his level a little bit in the second set, and I knew that the beginning of the third set is very important. I knew that I had to raise my level as well. I really had to get going. I had to serve better, and I was able to do it right away. I broke him right away a few times. I started to pick up my serve, and then unfortunately, I didn't take my opportunities in the beginning of the fourth set where I could have broken him as well and it would be much easier ride, but Jason there raised his game again and we played a great fourth set.

BORIS BECKER: Well, it is my, I think, U.S. Open No. 11, so I have been through many situations before, believe me.

BORIS BECKER: Not that I remember right now. I mean, it was -- if somebody may remember it, how many breaks there were in the row?

BORIS BECKER: Didn't feel like a man's match out there.

BORIS BECKER: Well, what was the impression that I didn't play well so far?

BORIS BECKER: You always can play better, but I thought I played very well the first three matches. I dropped one set. And, you know, last year I lost in the first round, so I am already 300% better than that. And -- that is it, really. And Jason he is a very good player. Especially last summer, he has been beating all the top players on the summer hard court. So he can play on a slow hard court. I thought apart from set 2, I thought it was very entertaining and very good match.

BORIS BECKER: I feel very good about my game right now. And I -- maybe I can fake it better these days than I used to. Of course, I have my ups-and-downs in a match, but I am able to cover it and keep it inside. So you may get the impression that everything is a very smooth ride for me in the afternoon there.

BORIS BECKER: First of all, I really don't understand the question that you put to Jason.

BORIS BECKER: I mean, I have been playing 11 years of tennis. I mean, I have won --

BORIS BECKER: Of course, I mean, that is most important part of my game. But, you know, if you see -- that is my top weapon, but if you see other top players have one top weapon, if that is gone, you are not as good a player anymore. In my case, obviously, it is the serve; especially on a hard court like that, when it is not that fast, there are many, many more aspects in the game, and I think I am moving pretty good right now, and my forehand is good right now. It takes a bit of pressure off my first serve, so, you know, I feel like I am playing really good tennis right now.

BORIS BECKER: Yeah, they have been. They enjoy when I am doing my thing out there. And I am trying to give them as much back as they give to me, and, you know, it has been going very well this week - our relationship.

BORIS BECKER: Well, it has been a story all year. So I have kind of gotten used to it, but, you know, it put so much more pressure on them, you know,. And as we saw the other day with Andre and Corretja, if you are not up to par, there are many guys in this draw who can play tennis too. And Pete and Andre know that, and it is just so much more added pressure to them. And I mean, I am just very happy the way it is going right now.

BORIS BECKER: Well, you know, it's the problem of reporting. If you talk about Andre and Pete all the time, obviously, you know, there are many more out there who can win the men's Championship and, you know, you have -- in women's field you have obviously Steffi and then you have Monica and, you know, you have also a few who have a chance to win it. But it depends on the reporting. If you report only about two guys, you know, the crowd obviously thinks about only two guys. So, you know, it is more up to you than up to us.

BORIS BECKER: Unfortunately, there are always moments of doubt, but I still -- I still feel nervous before big matches and I still have doubts along the line. But that makes it so special than afterwards. It still gives me thrills and that means I am still in it 100% with all my heart and soul, so that is a very good sign for me. If I wouldn't have that anymore, I wouldn't care; then it is time to go.

BORIS BECKER: Obviously, grass is more suited to my game. It is the perfect surface for me, but I have been able to hit pretty good balls on the hard court as well, and as I said before, I played three pretty good matches and I feel like I am playing good tennis. My serve could be a little bit better even though it picked up in the last two sets, and sure, you always have a chance obviously in the tournament.

BORIS BECKER: If we are still happy to be in the tournament on Thursday night you can ask us that.

BORIS BECKER: It doesn't hurt. I mean--

BORIS BECKER: Oh, I am -- absolutely. A win like that, it doesn't also happen overnight. It is a result of months and months of working very hard out on the practice court, and of course, you know it gives you very great self-belief and all the other players know, even when he is down he still has a chance. It is good for both sides.

BORIS BECKER: Actually, I practiced with Stefan yesterday and he beat me up pretty bad, so if he plays that kind of tennis, he is in there for a good match, but on the other side you are having Andre who is playing his best tennis of his life the last couple of months, and, you know, he had a tough match couple of nights ago, so he may feel his legs a little bit, but, you know, Andre is a great player and it's going to be very tough for Stefan to win that match.