U.S. OPEN

September 7, 1994

Todd Martin

TODD MARTIN: No, I feel terrible.

TODD MARTIN: I feel terrible about it.

TODD MARTIN: Come on, Rich.

TODD MARTIN: I feel good. Good. I'm pleased with the way I did certain things out there, and I'm not pleased with certain other things. But most of all, I'm pleased that I get to play a match here.

TODD MARTIN: I think the level of intensity throughout the match has to be a little bit higher. And I think that, that probably will take everything to just, you know, make everything a little bit better. Plus make it better differently throughout the match, and I think that's all I can control, really. And if that's good enough to win the tournament, then, it certainly will be fine.

TODD MARTIN: Oh, I think about it. Just trying to prevent anything from happening again. But it's been feeling pretty good, and trainers have been taking really good care of me. That won't change and hopefully the condition of my leg will only keep getting better.

TODD MARTIN: Not very.

TODD MARTIN: Because I think I'd be impressed with myself if I'd done what Pete has done. I'm pleased with how I've played at the Slams, and you know, I could have played just as well and lost in round of 16 in the third round and the second round and first round here. I was at a point where I almost lost the first round here. So I think a lot of it is being in the right place at the right time, and it's nice that -- not to have to face serves like Ivanisevic's or Becker's here. But more than anything else, it's -- I've got more tennis to play, so I can't really sit around and be impressed with myself, or be satisfied, because hopefully in the future, I'll do better.

TODD MARTIN: Chosen people?

TODD MARTIN: No, I think it's anybody's tournament. There are seven of us left, and that's a lot. So, I've got maybe one in seven, one in four chance, whatever way you want to figure it out. And what I've done in the past rounds and in the past months or in the past years, it doesn't really matter. It matters how I play on Saturday, and hopefully, it will matter that -- how I play on Sunday.

TODD MARTIN: Because I'm not impressed with it.

TODD MARTIN: Because I'm not very impressed with it. How are you enjoying this, Rich?

TODD MARTIN: Allow me to elaborate, please. What was the question?

TODD MARTIN: Well, I think for each tournament, it's been a different reason. Going down to Australia, I went down in the best shape I've ever been in, and showed up not having to hit a lot of tennis balls, played a tournament and did okay, and, you know, I started off well on that tournament, and I kept the momentum going and kept on playing better and better. And, you know, at Wimbledon, I came off of a really good tournament at Queens; the surface is probably the best for my game, not necessarily my favorite, but I went in and basically I focused when it came down to the crunch time, and I think here, actually, being injured all summer has helped me. After Wimbledon, I think that's the reason I got hurt in Toronto, was I broke everything down at Wimbledon, and just didn't have enough juice to start going at Toronto when I tried to. And taking the bulk of the summer off, trying to get a little stronger again, and also just having a chance to refresh your mind. I think that's really helped me. I think, you know, first round here, I was-- didn't show any signs of being fresh, actually. I really played-- put in one of my worst mental efforts in the first two sets that I've put in all year. And then, you know, I finally decided to play some tennis, and not feel sorry for myself for not having had matches this summer, and maybe not being at my peak strength or whatever. And since then, I've played good tennis. I'm just -- you know, I am really looking forward to playing this weekend.

TODD MARTIN: I would venture not to guess publicly.

TODD MARTIN: Well, I saw Andre's interview the other night and Thomas was the guy that beat him at the French, and I obviously was the one that beat him at Wimbledon, and he sounded like he had a personal vendetta to resolve, whatever. I certainly don't think in my mind anything will have to do with our match at Wimbledon, other than the fact that I'll take a few things from that match that I did well and try to apply them on Saturday, if Andre should win tonight.

TODD MARTIN: Right, I could care less. I think the only difference is I've never played Thomas and I've played Andre quite a bit. And you know, who knows who wins? You know, just because -- I'm ranked higher than both of them, that doesn't mean I get a buy into the finals. Wish it did. But I think it's -- you know, it's going to be tough playing either one of them. They are both very talented, and they both work very hard. And whether all you guys are going to write about my match or the other semifinal match, it doesn't really matter.

TODD MARTIN: Rich, I'm in the semis of the U.S. Open. If I can't get excited about that, there's a couple of really nice golf courses back home to go play.

TODD MARTIN: It's similar and dissimilar in that we were both injured. I was able to start practicing the week of Cincinnati, able to play the week of Indianapolis, although I didn't play much, and then, also able to play less -- play a week an and a half ago. So I came in with four matches, week and a half of practice and Pete came in with basically a half week to a week's worth of fairly casual practice and I was just impressed at how well he played and felt a bit sorry for him yesterday because of -- because of the circumstances, but he still put up great fight and played a good match too.

TODD MARTIN: I knew it was going to be a lot tougher than the other matches had been. Pete was also fortunate as I was in the draw, and didn't have to work too hard early. And -- but Jaime, he's one of everybody's least favorite players to play.

TODD MARTIN: No, no, I really thought after he got through his first couple matches, he'd be pretty solid again. And the way he pulled out his match against Roger in the third round, I thought was very impressive and it didn't convince me, but it gave me the impression that he was pretty ready to compete and I think he competed pretty well. He just, you know, some things just don't hold up under three and a half, four hours of pounding on the cement.

TODD MARTIN: No, because I could lose the next five or six in the row. It is a crapshoot when you get to five sets. You want to win the matches in three sets-- unlike I've done this week-- and unlike I did it at Wimbledon. I think -- you've got to make things as easy as you can for yourself. And fifth set is not that much different than the third set in a two out of three set match, and we played three sets all year long, why shouldn't we be able to play fifth sets.

TODD MARTIN: No. I think -- there's no sense in worrying about those types of things. Like I said earlier, you know, if I can't finish a match or if I can't play at the top of my game for a whole match, then I try to win the match at 90 percent or 80 percent, just like Pete did. He almost won the match at quite a debilitated state and if it doesn't happen, we're not going to take it to our grave about how upset we were about losing in the semifinals of the U.S. Open. I think we're going to go out and give it our all and if we don't win, we'll get ready for the next one and be pleased with what we've had so far.

TODD MARTIN: He's been trying.

TODD MARTIN: I've never had two days off this late in the tournament and I'm certainly not upset about it. I think it will -- if nothing else, I can sleep in tomorrow and sleep in the next day after that. For a guy like me, that's important.

TODD MARTIN: Dovetails? Chosen people? What is this?

TODD MARTIN: Well, basically, it's taking what works and doing it more often without doing what doesn't work as much-- I don't get out too much. It's like basketball. Dean Smith created the four corners and he did that for a 15 point lead at -- with a minute or two left in the game and he didn't want the other team to have the ball, but with five minutes left in the game and 15 point lead, he's still going to play his normal game. He's going to do what's best for the team and that's really what I've got to learn how to do more as the match progresses. I did it well the first two sets. I didn't do it well the third set. I didn't do all that great in the fourth set, but that's why I'm playing Saturday, because I get another test for myself.

TODD MARTIN: No, I'm just trying to put it in terms where you guys were can understand it a little more, and I think it is a good analogy because I do get passive. Although Dean Smith's four corners was a very offensive move, how can they score if you don't give them the ball, and -- so, I've got to take control of the match as much as I can however way I can control the match.

TODD MARTIN: Well, I never played Muster and I'm 1 and 3 against Jaime. But I'm 1 and 0 this year. So ...

TODD MARTIN: Well, for most of the match, I figure they will be for Andre and for the changeovers where he changes his shirt, they will definitely be for Andre, and I hope for just a little while, if it's only when I walk off the court, that they're for me.