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DAVIS CUP QUARTERFINALS

April 9, 2006

Team Chile

CHILE vs. USA , RANCHO MIRAGE, CALIFORNIA

THE MODERATOR: Questions in English.
Q. Would you mind going over what was going on in the third, a couple disputes with the line judges.
HANS GILDEMEISTER: Well, of course, when there are big points, Fernando broke back 4-2, was 3-4 serving. There were two big points. Well, the referee, I think he made a mistake. That's all. It's very hard to be a chair umpire, to make the calls. It's not easy because the balls come fast. Obviously, the balls were close.
That happen already. Nothing we can do now. But I think it was a good match. I mean, I prefer to talk about the match. I think Fernando made Roddick play his best tennis of the year. That's what I wanted to do, because if Andy would play a little bit less, Fernando would have won the match.
Q. Did you see any physical or mental breakdown at any certain point of the match based on what happened the other day?
HANS GILDEMEISTER: I think after the third set, Fernando, he was a little bit tired. He felt the first day five-set match against Blake definitely, definitely.
But if he would have won the third set, when you're winning, nothing hurts, you feel great. But when he lost the third set, he got a little bad -- he lost his concentration. Obviously, those big overrules, that's part of the game.
Q. Would you talk about your fan support this week. They were very vocal out there.
HANS GILDEMEISTER: They were great. They were great. Great supporters. Whenever Fernando and Nicolas go, they've been in the Olympics, New York, France, I knew they were going to be here. I know it was very far away from Chile, but we have some people around LA, New York, California. I knew they were going to support us very much.
I think it was half and half, half American and half Chilean. I think was a good spirited match for Davis Cup. That's all about this Davis Cup.
Q. I thought your move acting as you did today, to keep your singles players fresh, was the only thing you could have done. Andy says, "I want you to write it was a dumb move instead of a genius move." How would you reply to Andy?
HANS GILDEMEISTER: First of all, you saw Fernando play today. If he would have played the doubles yesterday, he probably would have got injured because the doctor, they didn't want me to put Fernando. I waited till the last minute to put Fernando. The doctor didn't give me the pass to play. I mean, we have no chance. If we would have played doubles, maybe he would have played one or two sets and we would have stopped.
Unfortunately, Adrian and Paul got a little nervous, they were playing against the No. 1 team in the world. I think it was the right thing to do yesterday because even if we were play four or five sets, today would have been dead. Impossible to play against Roddick. Against Roddick, you have to be 110%, especially on grass. Andy is the second best player in the world on grass. He had to be in good shape to play.
Obviously, after the third set, he came a bit down, Fernando, because of the Friday match was very long, and exhausted.
Q. You indicated that you did not feel Andy was playing at his best. Did his play today surprise you?
HANS GILDEMEISTER: You know, Andy didn't have a good year. I talked to you in the beginning of the week. I did hope that Andy didn't get a comeback in these two days. I think he's coming back. I know he's going to come back sometime in the year, but not this week. Unfortunately for us, he came back on Friday and Sunday.
He played his best tennis I think today for a long time. I don't know what he said. But I think he played a very good match.
Q. After looking at Andy's play today, what kind of chances do you think he would have on Wimbledon grass against Roger?
HANS GILDEMEISTER: The same chances he had the last two years (laughter). It's tough to play Federer in any surface - especially in grass.
Q. Can you talk about the US and Russia in the next round.
HANS GILDEMEISTER: Well, I think they play in Russia, I heard. It's going to be difficult. We play there last year, but only with Fernando because Nicolas didn't go there because he was sick.
It's going to be a tough tie. I think it's going to be wide open for both teams. But I think depends on what surface they play. I think they going to put clay. If they put clay, I think the advantage is Russia. In hard court, indoor, could be America. But if they play slow clay, it's going to be very difficult for the US.
Q. Can you talk about the tie all week and the facilities here. You were upset after the first day.
HANS GILDEMEISTER: No, I wasn't upset. I had a great time coming back to Palm Springs after 33 years. I think was a very emotional tie. Not too many people thought that we could come to Sunday to finish it. We had a real good chance today. When Fernando won the first set, and the second set he had a good chance, like was Love-15, 3-4 or 3-All, I don't remember, and he hit an unbelievable passing shot. On a different day maybe would have been playing Blake and Massu right now. I don't know what would happen in the fifth and final match.
I think everything was great. The Mission Hills people, the USTA, everybody. I'm very happy. I'm very grateful. We had a great stay here.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you.

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