NASDAQ-100 OPEN

March 26, 2004

Jurgen Melzer

JURGEN MELZER: Well, I feel great after beating Henman. You have to feel great; if not, there's something wrong. But, well, I was playing okay like the whole three sets. I felt if I maybe can keep it up, I can break back. It was a crucial first point in this game, which I was pretty unlucky. But I came back, made a couple of good returns, especially passing shot on 30-all was not bad. So I came back in the breaker. I played my best tennis when it was important. That's why I won it.

JURGEN MELZER: No, that was the matchpoint. That was matchpoint.

JURGEN MELZER: The forehand down the line passing shot was huge.

JURGEN MELZER: Well, I was running there. You don't think much. You just think, "Put it somehow over and try to hit it as fast as you can." That's what I did. It came in. It's not a ball you play every day 100 times so maybe one out of ten comes. I was lucky that this time it was on the other side of the net.

JURGEN MELZER: Well, I don't mind. He wasn't serve and volleying all the time. He mixed it up. I don't care, I don't mind playing serve and volley guys. If I return okay, then... But he is covering the net so good so you have to be like all the time like making good passing shots. If not, he puts it away.

JURGEN MELZER: No, there's nothing technically or tactically. I played a good match against Robby. I had him in the third set, I should have won the third set. But there was a crucial point one and a half weeks ago when I lost to Hanescu in Indian Wells. My coach and me, we had a big talk. I wasn't like playing the right game in the right situations. We talked about that. I got my confidence back last week in Boca Raton, although it was windy. It probably helped me today because it was very windy, too. So if I am confident, I can play all right and I did that today.

JURGEN MELZER: Well, playing Todd Martin is not easy, especially at the big tournaments. He always plays good. I beat him last week, which is maybe a little bit of an advantage. I know how he plays. He's almost like Henman; he comes in whenever he can. It's pretty much the same style of playing. So if I return good, I have a chance.

JURGEN MELZER: No, no, I wouldn't say that. It's like sometimes it's better to be to the net before Tim, so maybe make you cover his best shots. So I tried to come in on some points, maybe as a surprise, and it worked out. Although I missed a couple of volleys, but in the end it turned out that it was like the right tactic.

JURGEN MELZER: Maybe that's what caught him up. I think also like I came up with big shots like hitting very hard. That's what I tried. Playing with him from the baseline, giving him a chance to come in, it's 3-3 and that's it and I walk out of the court as a loser. I tried to play as aggressive as I could, making the big shots, and I did today. So it was a good performance.

JURGEN MELZER: It's my best shot, but it worked pretty well today, and especially on the passing shots. But you have to do that if you want to beat Henman.

JURGEN MELZER: I think he's got one.

JURGEN MELZER: Oh, Federer. Well, there's been so much talk about this. I don't really want to go into this. It's his decision and I think --

JURGEN MELZER: Well, in general, I wouldn't do that. Like I need somebody to look at. I travel maybe three or four tournaments a year alone, what you need for your development as a human being. But it's always nice to have somebody to talk to, and especially, I mean, my coach, we've been together now for eight years so he knows me pretty well. It's good to have somebody to talk about the tactics and everything. I mean, if you don't feel good one day, you need somebody to talk to you, and that's the coach.

JURGEN MELZER: Well, it's probably the biggest win. I beat Haas in Vienna once when he was ranked No. 2. It was a big win because it was in front of my home crowd. Here, I mean, it's such a big tournament. Beating Henman, it's huge.

JURGEN MELZER: I think it's a fair court. It's fair for the baseliners and fair for those who want to attack. Well, I think I also make a clay court look fast when I hit a ripper. But I think, as I said, it's fair, it's for everybody. You can play serve and volley, you can stay back, you can play almost every game there.

JURGEN MELZER: No, he's one of the -- I don't like playing guys who like have big first serves, like where you walk left and right, like aces all the time. He gives you a chance to return. I mean, he's serving pretty close to the lines. When he's there, you have no chance to put it back properly. But sometimes he gives you a good chance to attack, and it's not -- well, I felt today I had a good feeling on the return.

JURGEN MELZER: Yeah, well, I broke him twice and that was enough.

JURGEN MELZER: I think it was not a disadvantage. It's tough to play Karlovic . Playing Karlovic is not easy because he serves so huge. It's depending on couple of points where you have to pass him or make a return. From the baseline he's not -- he's just hitting the ball as hard as he can and going for every shot, so you don't get a good rhythm. Today, I felt I had pretty good rhythm although he came in a lot. But I felt the ball all right today.

JURGEN MELZER: Well, I was fearing his volleys. I mean, he's covering the net so impressive. He's like -- I thought like everywhere I hit the ball, he is there. It's not like when you rip it and it's cross court and suddenly he has his racquet there so you have to play another one. That's the thing you have to fear from Tim. He is like coming in, coming in, giving you pressure all the time. If you have a little bit of like lack of confidence, then you don't pass and you make him play easy shots.

JURGEN MELZER: Of course.

JURGEN MELZER: When he stays back, I mean, that's probably not his best tennis. I don't know. I mean, he's a huge player, so I don't know.

JURGEN MELZER: Yeah, worked pretty well - especially the one in the tiebreaker was not bad (smiling).