TELECOM ITALIA MASTERS

May 7, 2003

Martin Verkerk

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

MARTIN VERKERK: The main thing is that it's the hard work that you put in in practice and in everything, but a lot has to do also with confidence and with believing in yourself. Because sometimes when you play big players, you think more about the name or about what they achieved before. Now, I'm more thinking I mean, "It's today and you play today against each other, don't think who's there." I mean, if Sampras is there or Agassi, it doesn't matter. You play a match against somebody. So that has to do also with it. But also the thing is that I make less mistakes and I serve much better. I was serving already like that a year ago, but now I serve -- like my percentage of my serve is much higher. I can serve a whole match now real good and not like one set or a few games. I serve the whole match well. So that's really important for my game also.

MARTIN VERKERK: Yeah, in the US Open I played against him, he's right. I wasn't playing so well as today. Also, the occasion was much bigger there. I played with 22,000 people in a big stadium in New York against Roddick. So that's a different story than here in Rome to play him on clay. But that's right, I knew that he -- he's not afraid, because you're never afraid, but same for me - I know Roddick is a big server. So you know that you have to try to get the serve back. But, yeah, what you say, he probably thought my serve was good, but from the back also I was a little better today. I mean not for always maybe, but today I was better in all areas than he was.

MARTIN VERKERK: No, I like that about him because, I mean, he shows his emotions. He try to play with the crowd. He always is aggressive. He fights for every ball. I like that. You know, he always wants to win. He wants to serve big. He wants to impress or - yeah, impress - the player, that I know that he's Roddick and he serves well and he has a power game. And that he was upset after he got broken in the third set is normal because normally when you get broken in the third set, and I was serving like I did today, it's gonna be tough for him to break my serve. So then he lose the match. So, but, he's pretty -- let's say it like this - you know that you play Roddick because he's tough on the court, he's a big guy. But I try to stay strong, also, and let myself see also. Of course I am impressed by his game and impressed by what he achieved, but today I was fighting against him like man to man, and I won.

MARTIN VERKERK: 198, yeah, it's a mistake.

MARTIN VERKERK: I've never played on grass before in my life, so we will see what's gonna happen there. I look forward to it, and I think it should suit my game a lot. I think, yeah, I'm happy to go to the grass.

MARTIN VERKERK: Two only. I play Rosmalen, 's-Hertogenbosch and Wimbledon. I don't play Queens and Halle because I have two weeks of club matches in Holland.

MARTIN VERKERK: I play in Hilversum, for Hilversum. It's close to Amsterdam. It's a Dutch league, it's two weeks, and it's all over Holland.

MARTIN VERKERK: No, clay.

MARTIN VERKERK: No, no. This is the first time I got into Wimbledon this year, so now I have to. No, I thought always that it was tough for me because I'm pretty big, and to get low on the grass, and my knees were not that well as they are now, I'm stronger now. But I think I can do well on grass now because I serve well, my volleys are okay, returns are okay. I mean, anything can happen.

MARTIN VERKERK: I don't know anymore (smiling). I don't know - grass (laughter). I really don't know. I play well on the clay courts now. Maybe I get a little bit more all around. Grass, I wouldn't know, we'll see during Wimbledon. But clay, I like. Hard courts, I like. Indoor, I mean, it's all okay. I really don't know anymore.

MARTIN VERKERK: No, one tournament doesn't make you rich or anything. But, no, I mean, the main thing is that you get more press, of course, in Holland. You get more attention. People expect more from you. I mean, I lost, like, four times first round in a row before this tournament, and then you get in the papers like, "Yeah, he's not winning anymore, what happened?" Blah, blah, blah. So it makes it more nice because people recognize you. I mean, that is the nice part of it. But the less part is that they expect sometimes too much from me because if you win one tournament, doesn't matter that you're a Top 20 player in the world. But, I mean, it changed because before Milan, nobody knew me in Holland. Now, everybody - well, not everybody - but a lot of people recognize me.

MARTIN VERKERK: No, I mean, that's not the thing. The thing was that if you come on the center court with the big crowd, they know Roddick, they know he is a star, he is the big serve normally. People know him. So you come on the court, and I like the audience a lot because they were really like positive people and really nice. But when you start playing big also, like when the match goes on and on and on and it's a third set, then people start to go for both sides. At the beginning, they always like the big star. They always like Kuerten, they always like Ferrero, Agassi. I mean, it's always like that. They like the famous guy, and that's normal. But it's tough sometimes because you have to play against a big guy and then also against a crowd. But this time, it was not against a crowd because they were really, really good - really good.

MARTIN VERKERK: Soccer was my first sport.

MARTIN VERKERK: No, no, I played soccer in forward, like Del Piero. Then I played tennis. But I was better in tennis, actually. I didn't like that people were kicking my legs all the time in soccer. So it was a little bit too -- I was really small when I was young, a small guy.

MARTIN VERKERK: Like 14, really big I got.

MARTIN VERKERK: I don't know exactly, but small. So I grow really big, so I got pain in my knees a lot in the beginning, and I was a little skinny and everything. So tennis, I liked it more because it was not so many contact and not so many -- I was better in tennis.

MARTIN VERKERK: In Tean. It's not a big soccer club, but...

MARTIN VERKERK: Yeah, also we have tennis clubs there.

MARTIN VERKERK: No, I know Romburg well, but it's Tean I play.

MARTIN VERKERK: 14, 15, I chose for tennis. Too many injuries with soccer, so...