TMS - INDIAN WELLS

March 15, 2000

Pete Sampras

MIKI SINGH: Questions for Pete.

PETE SAMPRAS: What did I do differently? As far as?

PETE SAMPRAS: No, I'm not aware of that. That's a statistic. When you go out and play -- it was -- kind of -- what's your question (laughter)? Tiebreaks, obviously I came back from a 4-2 deficit in the last one and managed to squeak it out. Wayne has obviously played me very tough over the years. He's a great shot-maker. I don't think we both played at a very high level, but it was exciting tennis. I managed to, you know, pick off a couple forehands cross-court, which was nice. I just kind of squeaked it out at the end.

PETE SAMPRAS: Well, yeah. I was missing a lot of them, too. I was going for a lot of big shots. I've just relied on that shot pretty much over the past ten years. Today they were dropping in. He was putting a lot of pressure on my service games; made me work very hard. He's a tough guy for me to play because he's got a good all-around court game. The forehand definitely kind of saved me today.

PETE SAMPRAS: It was hot. No question it was a hot day. Not having played many matches this year, you go out in the heat, I thought I handled it pretty well. I mean, we were both a little bit tired at the end. I certainly hope I can recover okay for tomorrow.

PETE SAMPRAS: Uh-huh.

PETE SAMPRAS: At one point, it was a little difficult. I was going for big second serves. When you're going for that type of speed, especially playing Wayne, who was putting a lot of pressure on my service games, I had to go for a lot. I threw in a couple doubles, which is going to happen when you're going for big second serves.

PETE SAMPRAS: Not only that; he's a very talented player, he's a great shot-maker. He believes he can beat me. He's done it before. You know, Wayne has got as much talent as anyone on tour. Mentally he has his ups-and-downs. He seems to obviously be very positive when he plays me. He came up with some great shots. I was serving big. Looking at the clock, 128, 130, he was getting it back pretty easily. He played well. I played pretty well myself. It was a good one to get through.

PETE SAMPRAS: Doesn't matter.

PETE SAMPRAS: Yeah, it was hot out there. I thought I handled it pretty well today. It won't be an easy match because Byron will make me work a lot, doesn't miss much. Should be a good one.

PETE SAMPRAS: The conditions are a little bit quicker. The ball goes through the air just a touch quicker than last night. We were both having a hard time kind of controlling it out there. It is quicker, no question. It's quicker during the day.

PETE SAMPRAS: There are no easy draws. I mean, you look at all the upsets. If players are ranked 30 or 40, they're capable of beating the top players. I play Byron, I'm going to have my hands full against him. You can't look ahead in the men's game. That's really the kiss of death.

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