TMS - FORO ITALICO

May 8, 2000

Andre Agassi

Q. Did you know that the T-shirt you're wearing is the color of our national soccer team?

ANDRE AGASSI: This one?

ANDRE AGASSI: I didn't know that.

ANDRE AGASSI: Well, I think, first of all, it's been, you know, three months since Todd has played a match, and I think his rhythm was a little bit off early in the first set and I got to a quick lead. In the second set, he was holding serve strongly, and he played one game to break me with four good returns. So I just had to get back into the set and was pretty fortunate to finish it 7-6. But I thought he was getting better.

ANDRE AGASSI: No question. I mean, I think that the best preparation is certainly to get a number of matches. How many is the question that's tough to answer. Last year I didn't have much at all excluding here, so I think for me it's best to be fresh, it's best to be in shape, and then to go in to Paris working hard, and that's the best I can be prepared.

ANDRE AGASSI: Yes. You know, the first one is always difficult, and I think against a player like Todd, he plays very aggressively, and it's tough to get a lot of rhythm. So I felt like I played solid, solid enough. But I think the test will start coming more and more.

ANDRE AGASSI: I felt like here last year was a very good week for me. I started to feel confident and, you know, it was the start of the most incredible year of my life, and I wish everybody could have a year like I've had. It's been amazing. So, you know, it feels almost like my end of the year. January 1st is everybody else's New Year. For me, you know, coming out here and feeling good in Rome was the start.

ANDRE AGASSI: Yeah, it was a difficult time. I didn't even know if I was going to play in Paris, and, yeah. I mean, I was wondering how I was going to get along, too. That was my first tournament in a while playing here, and it was responding well here. But the conditions were very fast, and the balls weren't getting heavy. I was really worried about that in Paris. Then I injured it even more in Dusseldorf because it was very heavy there, so it was quite a miraculous turnaround. Things had to go perfectly, and they did.

ANDRE AGASSI: Well, I think it gets more difficult every year, regardless of how well or not well you're doing. The players get better. It's another year of the toll being taken on you physically and mentally. So, I mean, I think it always kind of gets more difficult. You come to expect that. But I have to say in some respects, you can always count on a few things getting easier, and those vary. But in this case, you know, being the defending champion in Paris is nothing short of an honor, and it's almost like stepping out there will be another opportunity to kind of take in such a wonderful accomplishment and experience. And so I think that will be certainly motivating in itself.

ANDRE AGASSI: I think it's playing a little bit heavier than last year, the balls. The court seems very much the same to me, but the balls seem like they're a little bit heavier, not quite as fast.

ANDRE AGASSI: The ones that were there were outstanding. It's very nice, very supportive.

End of FastScripts….