THE LIPTON CHAMPIONSHIPS

March 21, 1995

Andre Agassi

ANDRE AGASSI: When I was serving 3-4 in the second?

Q. Yes.

ANDRE AGASSI: Yeah, I mean, he hit a nice slice approach shot up the line and I had one option and I had to execute it perfectly, really. I mean, I had no option but to hit the thing perfect, and I did. It just -- I didn't believe I hit it even after I kind of -- until it bounced, I wasn't convinced I was going to make that shot. I just kind of swung at it and hit it pretty hard in order to get it by him and I made it.

Q. How far did it clear the net by?

ANDRE AGASSI: I am going to say maybe an inch.

Q. Close?

ANDRE AGASSI: Yeah, very close.

Q. Even though, Andre, obviously you have hit shots like that before, is that still sort of one of the bigger rushes? You looked pretty pleased afterwards when you made a shot like that.

ANDRE AGASSI: Especially the timing of the match, because I felt like -- I looked up at Brad early in the second I said, geez, my intensity is gone, I just-- it just dropped after I had him 15-40. The first game of second, I didn't break, and it was very uncharacteristic for me to kind of lose, in a sense, a little intensity there, and I did, and he ended up getting the break on me. When I fought back, I played a real good game to break him back, and now, the match really swings, you know, now at 3-4, I am serving if I can, you know, consolidate that. Break back by holding, the match swings to my favor, but it still -- you are still in that place where it is possible that the momentum could go back and forth, and so the timing of that shot made it just feel that much better. But it is what you show up to work for, really. It is the epitome of it. It is a great feeling.

Q. You talked about losing the intensity for a minute being a little worried about that. Wasn't that something that plagued you a bit in year's past, you seemed to overcome it, so is it a little bit alarming if it creeps back in there once in awhile?

ANDRE AGASSI: No, I mean, I used to struggle with it on a much bigger scope. I mean, it was much more consuming kind of feeling. I mean, it was the doubts. It was the frustrations. Today was just, you know, the sun was moving down, all of a sudden it went from hot to kind of a nice breeze and the shade is moving half way across the court, and, you know, the game that I lost my serve, I made two errors right off the bat; both of them really came close to the baseline and just missed. It was kind of a strange kind of break, so I am not too concerned about it at all. It was just important to turn that around and it is possible to lose sets to these guys. Mal is a great athlete who plays real well. The question is how would I have responded in the third and, you know, I was there to play.

Q. There is a particular shot that you can judge if you are in a good day you can judge your condition for the day; a particular shot of yours.

ANDRE AGASSI: You know what? It is not so much "the shot" with me. I don't really struggle with my shots. I would say above anything, it will be my footwork. When I am not sharp on my feet, I am not really taking the ball early, or I am not moving back for the deep ones, quick enough, or if I am not moving my feet; then a lot of things go down hill. If I am moving my feet, even in my shots are off a little, I will zero in on it without too much of a problem.

Q. When you do sense that you lose the intensity, apart from looking at Brad, what do you do now to get yourself back into it that maybe you didn't do in year's past.

ANDRE AGASSI: It is not a question of just losing intensity in year's past. I mean, in year's past, you know, I would have felt, you know, even up a set down 4-1 like, oh, you know, here it is; I am letting the match slip away. Today, it didn't cross my mind to let the match slip away. I just felt like for a moment I lost my serve. That is what it boils down to. I lost my serve. That is going to happen a lot, You know, so it is how I respond to it. I didn't feel like my reason for being down was so consuming, you know, it just wasn't. In year's past, I would be down 4-1 and it would carry-over and I would just -- rather than lose a set 6-1 and get onto the third, you know, and that is -- that is behind me - thank God.

Q. Andre, there is a lot of work being done in trying to get younger people -- for tennis to appeal to a broader spectrum of people out here. Do you get a feeling that the people here empathize would you even more than they do other places or sort of they like you more here? There was a child here a couple of years ago - I don't know whether you remember it - about four, five year old child when you were losing a match started crying up in the stands.

ANDRE AGASSI: Yeah.

Q. Because you were losing.

ANDRE AGASSI: I think she saw me crying first.

Q. Do you get the feeling that this younger crowd likes you more than they do even other places?

ANDRE AGASSI: I think, you know, I sense certainly a strong sense of support and seems -- the audience seems to be a bit younger here. As far as the children, there seems to be a lot of young kids and they always seem to have a pretty strong response to me when I am out there on the court. In a sense, I do feel the strong support. But I mean, not overwhelmingly. I felt like today they were very fair about their support and cheering for a good match and cheering for good shots.

Q. One year ago there was some friction here between you and Nick. How would you describe your relationship with Nick now a year later?

ANDRE AGASSI: I am not sure if I will ever really truly get over it to the degree where I can say, you know, there is no problem. I mean, it is a definite respect thing, you know, it is like I still haven't shaken the fact that I felt like, you know, violated in a lot of ways, but I think the difference is now is I really don't find myself thinking about it as much and -- which is kind of nice, but I guess it is some kind of -- like asking how your relationship is with your ex-wife, you know, you just do your best not to think about her.

Q. Are you paying alimony?

ANDRE AGASSI: No, but if he had it his way, I would be paying alimony - let me tell you.

Q. Do you regard it now as one of those things that happened in life, but in the long-term it can be to your benefit just one of those things?

ANDRE AGASSI: Oh, yeah, I believe any experience in life, if you strive for truth and you strive for growth, you come to grow and to feel stronger and to feel more prepared to deal with whatever else maybe down the road, but that doesn't change the fact that it was a very negative experience that I wish I had never had to go through and that I don't wish on anybody.

Q. Conversely, you thought that playing now even though you'd win Wimbledon before, if that happened you are a far better competitor now and who knows if you haven't had the change and got together with Brad and changed attitudes .....

ANDRE AGASSI: Yeah, I really think I am really glad that it happened in a professional sense, you know, it is kind of twofold. There is the person and the professional. Professionally, I mean-- I wish it would have happened earlier, you know, just because we had been together so long and I think we had kind of -- I had kind of mixed out what his knowledge of the game was, and it would have been nice to kind of move on to a higher level of strategy and playing that I believe even at the time existed somewhere, you know, but it turned out to be good professionally, but it is still -- it is still a tough thing to say was positive. I mean, it turned out to have some positive points to it.

GREG SHARKO: Anymore questions?

Q. Player reaction to the lockerroom of the commercial between you and Pete?

ANDRE AGASSI: I haven't -- I don't know. I don't know.

GREG SHARKO: Anything else? Thanks.

ANDRE AGASSI: I got a question, how was the wine last night; was it good?

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