US OPEN

August 25, 1997

David Wheaton

Q. David, there was some rumor going around before, I don't know how true it was, that you were a bit injured, that you'd asked for a delayed start. Is that correct?

DAVID WHEATON: No, not at all.

DAVID WHEATON: I was happy to play today, but not after I lost. No, no rumor at all.

DAVID WHEATON: I saw him play over the summer. I thought he played extremely sharp today. He served really well. You know, basically a lot of the points that I had control of, he kind of would steal them somehow, with either a great running shot or whatever. He played extremely sharp. I think I helped him out a little bit. Didn't quite finish off a few points, hit some volleys aggressively enough. Yeah, you know, he played well today. I have to say he played very well. I didn't even come close to playing at the top of my game. That's why it was kind of a mismatch today.

DAVID WHEATON: That's a good question. You know, I think that you just try to get prepared for each match and go out there and play the best match mentally and physically you can. Today I felt like I was ready to play. Just didn't quite have -- I felt a little flat maybe on the court. I'm not really sure what it was, to be honest. I don't really know why I didn't play too well. I didn't feel the same as other matches this summer. Obviously that hurts me when I wasn't kind of that razor sharp, you know, mentally and physically I wasn't quite all there today. I'm not really sure why, to be honest.

DAVID WHEATON: Uh-huh.

DAVID WHEATON: Like I said, a lot of the shots I was hitting, I'd hit a decent volley that would win the point normally. But, you know, he'd run over there and hit a good forehand passing shot on a number of occasions. He was doing well with his backhand, too. I just needed to be more aggressive on the volley. I haven't seen him play that well before, so I wasn't quite expecting that. Once again, I think I helped him out a little bit, too.

DAVID WHEATON: I know he's got one of the best serves in the game. I think today I was impressed about his game, he didn't make a lot of unforced errors at all. Didn't miss a lot of points in the shot. Just a handful of points he gave me in the match. I think that was key for him. I made quite a few unforced errors, hit a few winners. But his winner-to-error ratio seemed very good today.

DAVID WHEATON: I think it's very impressive. You know, I was kind of a little skeptical. I didn't realize they were redoing the whole grounds as well. They've really done a beautiful job with it. I think the locker room could be bigger. But other than that, it's a very nice complex.

DAVID WHEATON: I haven't decided yet. I don't even know. I haven't even thought about it yet. I expected to be here a little longer than the first Monday, so that's the way it goes sometimes, I guess.

DAVID WHEATON: Yeah. I had surgery to remove a bone spur on my right heel in March.

DAVID WHEATON: I stopped playing in November of last year. I didn't play until July of this year. Coming out for seven months or so.

End of FastScripts….