XXVI OLYMPIC GAMES

July 25, 1996

Andre Agassi

ANDRE AGASSI: Upstaged by a flock of geese who did nothing but shit on you. So that makes the upstage feel a little bit worse.

ANDRE AGASSI: Yeah. I was just saying they were maybe showing their displeasure about the match. I wasn't playing very well for them. Something you don't want to do is toss the ball and see that coming down.

ANDRE AGASSI: I felt pretty good about it. Striking the ball more confidently today and moving better and definitely a step up, if not two, from last match. And if I can just keep that kind of concentration, I think, not losing my serve today is a key sign. You know, it shows that I am staying focused and not giving away donations on my service games. And my focus and concentration is - I think was a lot stronger today than it has been probably for most of the year, so I feel pretty good about that.

ANDRE AGASSI: I think so. I think a lot of it is, you know, just the emotion of being here. But also just, you know, the confidence. I mean, I won a close one yesterday and I think you get through matches like that kind of -- you start remembering why you do bear down at 15-40, 1-2 in the second set, because if you hold in the match, you can just finish off the match and get it done with, and move on to the next round. So I think sometimes I tend to get a little discouraged with myself after one point - I am serving 15-30 and I miss, make a couple of loose errors because of the disappointment, and I think as I win the matches, confidence builds in that respect.

ANDRE AGASSI: Yes, that is correct.

ANDRE AGASSI: Oh, I mean, I am here to play. You know, a little shot is better than no shot.

ANDRE AGASSI: I think he is just kind of treating his groin as thoroughly as possible, and he is going to give it 'til the last minute as possible to see how it feels. I don't know if there has been any miracles. I don't think there has been any miracles stepping forward yet in the injury. By the same token, he still feels close enough that he wants to give it another day to decide.

ANDRE AGASSI: Absolutely.

ANDRE AGASSI: Well, I mean, the team took a hit, you've got to adjust to it. As far as I am concerned, it is the responsibility of everybody playing to -- if it calls for you to give more, then you've got to give more. It is as simple as that. Even if it costs me a medal, it is still something that, you know, you've got to do. I am not going to not play just to give myself a chance at -- a little bit better of a chance at the singles. I feel like we deserve to have a team that competes well in both of the singles and the doubles, and if it boils down to me, then that is what I am going to do. I am going to show up and play well and hopefully surprise a lot of people.

ANDRE AGASSI: We played one time back in '91 in Sidney indoors.

ANDRE AGASSI: Mal is a great all-around player; he returns well, serves well, volleys well, moves well. So it is just a question of really how our dynamics work out. I think I can definitely offer power to the team. He can offer the athleticism and the feel and it could be a strong team. I mean, certainly in doubles it is -- you know, you can hold if you can break, then it is a pretty good shot. So if we are on our game, I think we will be tough to beat.

ANDRE AGASSI: In the last year, maybe one time. I am trying to remember offhand.

ANDRE AGASSI: Geez, I am almost thinking it was -- oh, yeah, yeah, year ago, two years. Last time I played was in Palm Springs Pat Galbraith. We lost first round. Time before that was a year-and-a-half earlier in Cincinnati with Korda. We won in Cincinnati. So, I mean, it really doubles kind of -- it can happen that way. Couple good singles player can click well and compete hard.

ANDRE AGASSI: Well, I think we have been pretty fortunate with the weather so far and I have had two straight set matches. Playing on my day off, doubles could actually enhance my singles. It could get me out there in match situations and kind of preparing double time for my singles - no pun intended.

ANDRE AGASSI: Won't give me much time to get in some golf.

ANDRE AGASSI: To me an Olympic gold would be a great accomplishment really than any Grand Slam. I think in our sport you want to win the Grand Slams. I think if somebody has never won a Grand Slam, they would choose that as being the top priority. But being there and knowing what it is like to win a few Grand Slams, really there is no feeling like winning a medal for your country. I can't imagine it being that way. I will tell you if I accomplish it exactly what it feels like, but the desire to have it is as great, if possible, greater.

ANDRE AGASSI: Yeah.

ANDRE AGASSI: "Hi, Bolivia, please for us." (AUDIENCE LAUGHTER).

ANDRE AGASSI: You know, it is tough to say. I can't really get in the heads of the other athletes who chose not to be here. It is one thing like Pete to be injured, which is, I am sure, something he wasn't too pleased about, but it is another thing to decline, so I can't get inside the heads of them. Because I can't comprehend the feeling of being inconvenienced by the] Olympics. By the same token, you know, I can say that we have a very tough summer schedule and if you do have really any desire to win the U.S. Open that the best preparation is to not be here, but again it would boil down to where your priorities are and the importance you put on the tournaments that we play year after year, week after week, and what the importance you put on the Olympics. To me, being here is worth the whole year, so I don't have any problem being here and I certainly have no comprehension as to what -- why others wouldn't want to, except for the -- really the brutal schedule it is not easy to have entire summer filled with nothing, but very intense tennis and very hot conditions.

ANDRE AGASSI: There is no question that I guess when you get gymnasts who compete in a world championship, it is quite unique for them or if you get swimmers to compete in a world championship. For us these faces are faces we will see not only last week, but week after next, so we are used to it. In a certain sense it is -- what -- it is the same as we play all year-round. By the same token, there is a different level of intensity and pressure about it. I would be open to any adjustments in how we compete as a country. I would certainly want to entertain those thoughts just to make a distinction between playing here and playing any other week, but the gold medal is as, for right now, meant for one person which I think, it would be nice if a team can accomplish it together.

ANDRE AGASSI: I think it is great on that level. But I am not talk -- I am just talking about how much tennis is being played. You look at somebody who has gone -- I have been a little fortunate this year, in preparation for this event to not have done well in Paris and Wimbledon, Pete winning in Wimbledon, I mean, getting to the semis of the French and getting to latter part of the week of Wimbledon; now he has time to, you know, to recover from that, which obviously took a toll on his body. He would have to play here and then play next two weeks and then if he is lucky have a week off before the U.S. Open. That is just way too much tennis in such a short period of time especially when you consider every event is going to have 100 plus conditions outside, 100 plus degrees of not to mention humidity. It is going to take a toll. Summer always takes a toll on your bodies, not to mention just throwing in a two-week Grand Slam, really, that is what this is. It is that kind of intensity.