EUTELSAT MONTE CARLO OPEN

April 23, 1996

Andre Agassi

ANDRE AGASSI: Yes, that's right.

ANDRE AGASSI: Well, you know, there's not much you can really do except try to, you know, stay relaxed and yet not so relaxed that you forget about what you're doing. I think the most difficult is the first few games right when you come out, make sure your feet get moving quick or else you cannot find your rhythm sometimes for an entire set.

ANDRE AGASSI: I've been working pretty hard since Key Biscayne. I got sick, unfortunately, pretty bad. I couldn't make it to Barcelona. That kind of hurt my preparation for here and affects my long-term plan for Paris. But really, I've just been trying to get into good shape and have been hitting a lot of balls - nothing quite like getting out there on the clay. Really, it's kind of experimental for me. I use this week as, you know, to prepare myself for Paris.

ANDRE AGASSI: Yes.

ANDRE AGASSI: No.

ANDRE AGASSI: No.

ANDRE AGASSI: Well, I don't know about the rules so I'd have to kind of hear about them first, you know, specifically, and see what I think of them. I don't know what they are.

ANDRE AGASSI: Well, I don't try to be special, I just wear what I like really, you know. To me it's comfortable wearing big shorts. I think that, you know, wearing little shorts that ride up your butt is not quite my style, you know.

ANDRE AGASSI: Sure.

ANDRE AGASSI: Well, I think anybody that wins the French Open has established themselves as a player to beat the next year-round really, so absolutely.

ANDRE AGASSI: I mean, to win the clays this year, you must be in good form. You can't win these tournaments without being in good form.

ANDRE AGASSI: Negative.

ANDRE AGASSI: Yeah.

ANDRE AGASSI: In one year, you mean?

ANDRE AGASSI: Ten tournaments in one year?

ANDRE AGASSI: Both seem pretty damn impossible to me, to be quite honest. I haven't done either yet, so..... I think probably to win ten tournaments on clay, to establish -- in one year, to establish yourself that consistently. Good, big tournaments, especially. I think that it's possible to have a good two weeks in Roland Garros; seen a few guys do it. Both are extremely impressive.

ANDRE AGASSI: You know, I don't know why he picked Rome. To me, you make your schedules individually. You have to play seven of the nine big tournaments. I think the sport is way too diverse. There's way too many tournaments. There's way too many possibilities to not play somebody for a long time. I think a lot of it's not good, but it has nothing to do with us. We just go with the rules and make our schedule. To me, to play Rome, it leaves me with only one week before the French; that leaves me really not mentally in the right frame of mind. I like to come into the French feeling like I just had some time to regroup mentally, and I prefer playing a week earlier, just the timing of the events. I think with Pete, it's a chance that it's a little quicker in Rome than it is in Hamburg, a little more familiar, you know, as far as similar to the French Open.

ANDRE AGASSI: Yes.

ANDRE AGASSI: Yes, very impressed with it. I was really pleased to see there wasn't a bad seat in the whole house. Every seat was a spectacular view of the court. It's going to definitely -- if it gets embraced, it's really going to be an enjoyable court to have, as much as center, I think. Maybe the tradition and mystique of center will still be there, but it's a great court, much better than what they have now certainly.

ANDRE AGASSI: Yes. The shade and wind you get on that court is very tough.

ANDRE AGASSI: As well as the light. The shade creates a problem. It's a difficult court to play on.

ANDRE AGASSI: That's always appreciated by the players certainly. I don't know what their reasons would be. I haven't heard. I enjoy anybody that's going to be in there for the sake of the game, you know. It's nice to have that.