US OPEN

September 9, 1999

Ai Sugiyama

MAHESH BHUPATHI: I mean, obviously a Grand Slam is a Grand Slam. It's very special, you know. The more you can win, the better. This is the second time we're playing together. The first time we got a little unlucky at the French in the quarters. We basically have a lot of fun. We're just enjoying it now.

AI SUGIYAMA: It's great. This is my first Grand Slam title. I've been enjoying playing with Mahesh. I feel so good about it.

MAHESH BHUPATHI: That's exactly it, I think. Japanese girls are lucky for me (laughter).

AI SUGIYAMA: This time?

MAHESH BHUPATHI: I think I asked her to play at the French Open.

AI SUGIYAMA: Yeah.

MAHESH BHUPATHI: There was a misunderstanding at Wimby, so we didn't play. She asked if I wanted to play here.

AI SUGIYAMA: Yeah.

MAHESH BHUPATHI: Because, I mean, I think she's Top 10 in the world.

AI SUGIYAMA: Yeah, 12.

MAHESH BHUPATHI: I've always known that she's a good doubles player. She likes to play the forehand. I like to play the backhand. I thought we could make a good combination.

AI SUGIYAMA: Well, I mean, he's great, especially at the net. He's everywhere. I'm very comfortable at the baseline, but Mahesh doesn't care to not come in. It was good. I feel very comfortable playing with him. Once again, I'm enjoying too much to play with him. Yeah, I had a great time. Most important thing in mixed doubles is to enjoy. Yeah, it was best.

MAHESH BHUPATHI: I think the best part is, win or lose, she's always smiling on the court. No matter what situation it is. That keeps me very relaxed. Especially in the last game today, I was serving for the match, down three or four breakpoints. When your partner is smiling and egging you on, that's always a good thing.

MAHESH BHUPATHI: They just asked me that. I said Japanese girls are lucky for me.

MAHESH BHUPATHI: We knew we were playing well coming into the final. Both Don and Kimberly like to serve-and-volley. Our strength is our returns. We knew if we could get returning well, Kimberly was serving really well in the beginning. We eventually had to break down at 4-All in the first. Ai played really well from the back today. She stayed back and ripped a lot of balls. Those guys kept coming at us, but she kept passing and lobbing them. I think that was one of the reasons why we won.

MAHESH BHUPATHI: To be honest, mixed doubles, you can never tell. You could lose first round; you could end up winning it. You've just got to take it one step at a time. Once you get to the semifinal final, that's when you know you have a chance to win the title. That's maybe when you put a little more focus on the event.

AI SUGIYAMA: I feel if I can take it, I take it. Most of the time I say, "You." He's very good cover. Yeah, I mean, he plays great, I think. Our combination was good, I guess.

AI SUGIYAMA: Yeah, for sure.

AI SUGIYAMA: It's great. I feel so happy about it.

AI SUGIYAMA: Well, yeah, I'm enjoying playing mixed doubles with Mahesh. He also make me really relax all the time. Even if I miss an easy one, he said he don't mind, "Play tough." I feel really good on the court always.

AI SUGIYAMA: At home? Well, you can see that all the Japanese here also, they showing on TV our semifinals and finals match, which is very good. I think a lot of Japanese coming here to watch our matches. I hope they enjoy it and they also happy. I'm really glad that they support us.

MAHESH BHUPATHI: As I said already, Grand Slams are special. You grow up as a junior tennis player, you always dream about winning one Grand Slam title. I've already won one in the mixed. It's even more special winning another one. People might think, "This guy's a one-time wonder." Winning another title, I think, is even that much more special.

MAHESH BHUPATHI: Happy and confident. Hopefully I can take it on the court tomorrow.

MAHESH BHUPATHI: I'll skip that one (laughter).

MAHESH BHUPATHI: To be honest, as a tennis player, they're totally opposite. Leander is always chipping to come in. She always has such solid groundstrokes, she's always ripping from the back.

MAHESH BHUPATHI: No. We practiced in the morning. I haven't seen him after the match.

End of FastScripts….