EUROCARD OPEN

October 29, 1998

Jan Michael Gambill

Q. You seem to have his number?

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: I guess this year I have won twice against him. Some important matches for me. I feel like today, he actually played a better match. He certainly served a lot better than I did. I just scraped and did my best from the baseline; played a little better from the baseline, but the tiebreakers, I guess, told the story. I played better tiebreakers. He made a few errors.

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: I was just looking at my service games really trying to play tough during those. I felt like I could win the grand stroke rallies even though I wasn't getting any first serves in. I felt like I could win off my second serve; hit some good passing shots; hopefully get to a tiebreak. He hit great serves. I did have the one break chance where he had a long rally; hit a slice down-the-line. I should have gone one-handed; played two-handed; made him play to the ball. Overall, I am happy with my performance on baseline and net play. Serve needs a little work for the next round, I think.

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: Yeah, that was part -- I have a little bit of a back problem. I didn't want to play as long as I was playing. It was a little bit of a problem for me to run. I was trying to put pressure on him to win the point quicker and he doesn't maybe pass as well as some guys off of a good approach, so I wanted to put the pressure on him especially at the end of the match there.

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: I guess it is the same as when I play anybody else, I try to return well and serve big and I returned pretty well today. I usually play a pretty good groundstroke game. Tim didn't get a few first serves in on key points, but on other points he was acing me left and right. I didn't know what to do. I don't know if I have ever been aced that many times. How many?

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: Nobody has ever aced me more than that. He was hitting out wide to my forehand a lot; that is a weakness of mine a little bit, and -- but just hitting the lines with those serves, that is just too good when a guy does that. I was trying to stab at a few and make him make a few errors.

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: One of those is my mom.

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: Ursula is from Germany, but she is British. She is a big fan of mine. She travels to a lot of the events. I love her support. She had a friend there as well. So, it is great to have people you are familiar with travelling and cheering for you.

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: I like it when the crowd is rowdy. I like it when the crowd, you know, goes out there and has a good time watching hopefully an entertaining match. That is what we are there to do is to entertain the crowd there in the first place, I think, and play some good tennis. When they get into it and they are rowdy, at least not during the points, but after the point, it is more fun for me to be out there and more exciting to play.

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: Absolutely.

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: Possibly. I know it will be rowdy whether I go or not. It is going to be a big match. I know the Brits will be excited for it. It is going to be a tough one.

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: It was. It has always been my dream to play Davis Cup. There was my chance and I went out there and gave it my best and was a little nervous, but it was a great opportunity. Every chance I get to play Davis Cup, I am going to take it up.

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: Oh, it is always a huge opportunity to play the No. 1 player in the world and particularly Pete who may be the best player to ever play the game. Any chance you get to play a guy like that, both to learn from and hopefully go out and play real good matches, is a great opportunity. I played him earlier this year and played a close match. I will be excited.

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: I did play both of them.

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: Partially, yeah.

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: Yeah, I played the tournament in Puebla, Mexico. I am excited to be here in Stuttgart.

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: Yep, outside 200.

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: I don't think I have really thought about it that way. Probably I actually did think more of how was he going to get back into the top and I knew he had it in him. I didn't know him real well then. I do now. When he wants to play tennis, he is one of the most talented guys out there, and it was weird to see him in the Challenger, real weird. In Vegas I had lost 6 in the third in the quarterfinals and I would have played him in the semis there. That would have been really weird for a Challenger.

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: Fix my serve, really going to work hard on getting my serve to the point where I am winning a lot of free points again. I missed too many serves, in the net, all over the place. My motion is not just quite what it was earlier this year. Keep refining my groundstrokes and my net game and play a smarter brand of tennis which I am actually starting to do better. Especially here. Relish the time that I have off, take a week, go to Hawaii for a week, and take a little time off, but I actually have the chance here in December, and then come back excited to play and ready to play and in the Hopman Cup which will be my first event to play.

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: I hope so. I look to the game as always advancing myself and bettering my game and doing everything I possibly can. Definitely something I am looking forward to.

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: I had wanted to be top 100 earlier this year, so --

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: Diane.

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: My dad, Chuck.

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: I will go body boarding and I guess I go to the ocean a lot and I love the beach. I wish I could surf. I think it would take a little more practice for me to be able to really surf standing up on a board. I don't think I have that much coordination yet. I will give it a try, though, when we go to Hawaii.

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