US OPEN

August 28, 1997

Pete Sampras

Q. He was kind of scrappy there, especially in the first set?

PETE SAMPRAS: Yeah. I mean, I came out firing. He was serving huge. Anyone that's qualified, won a match, came out with nothing to lose. You know, his game wasn't, you know, all that soft in the back court. But he served real big, moved well, especially at net. And, you know, I thought I played pretty well, returned well. The first set was the key. Once I won the first, kind of relaxed, went from there. All these guys come out, nothing to lose, anything's possible.

PETE SAMPRAS: Good memories, won a lot of big matches out there. It was nice to get back there. So I'm used to the surroundings, the court is a little more intimate than the court here. But playing the other night here, I really liked it. I won a lot of big matches out there, so it was nice to be out.

PETE SAMPRAS: Well, as long as it stays pretty cool, I'll continue to wear them. If it gets hot, it doesn't make much sense. I don't know what I'll do after this tournament, if I'll continue to wear the black ones. I don't know if they're going to make a lot of them. It's definitely making a statement (laughter).

PETE SAMPRAS: I don't know. You tell me.

PETE SAMPRAS: The statement is they're black, red and white, and people are noticing them, so that's what it's all about.

PETE SAMPRAS: It's not classy what I'm wearing?

PETE SAMPRAS: Once I saw them, I liked them. This is New York City, why not? It was first match. Nike is always trying to put out new things. With me wearing something so radical, definitely got a lot of attention. Same shoe I've been wearing, it's just black. You know, it's getting attention. You know, I'm sure once it gets hot, I'm not going to wear these shoes for the rest of my career, that's for sure.

PETE SAMPRAS: I'm going to stay away from the pink.

PETE SAMPRAS: Nothing you can do. I mean, you just hang out, wait for the rain to stop, get something to eat, hang out in the locker room, just kill time.

PETE SAMPRAS: Tic-tac-toe (laughter)? Wimbledon, usually you come prepared. You bring some cards and backgammon board. But here, it could rain. It was supposed to clear up today. I didn't come prepared.

PETE SAMPRAS: We're just talking shoes here, you know. We're not talking body piercing or anything like that.

PETE SAMPRAS: When I was someone coming up?

PETE SAMPRAS: I remember when I played Wilander here in '88 or '89, I had nothing to lose, he was the defending champion, he was still ranked pretty high at the time. I was on Stadium Court, a night match. I remember I had nothing to lose, but I didn't want to embarrass myself out there because at that point I wasn't that good of a player. Then once you kind of get into the match, he had all the pressure, it was a lot of fun. I ended up winning the match. That match always stands out as, you know, kind of an underdog coming through, nothing to lose. It's a lot of fun if you're playing well and the crowd's behind you like that.

PETE SAMPRAS: I don't know. I mean, a lot of people have been saying serve and volley on both serves, chip and charge. It's easier said than done. To be able to do that with all these guys with good groundies and good passing shots, not easy to do for five sets. I'm going to try some new things next year. Maybe I will come in a little bit more. I feel like the clay at Roland Garros is quick enough to do that. You know, it's going to take some time. I'm still trying to figure it out.

PETE SAMPRAS: The problem for me on clay is the movement, you know. It's not the fact that the court's that slow, it's movement, being up net, knowing my footing. It's tough to react to passing shots and overheads. So it's just a question of movement for me. These guys have a little bit more time to pass and return my serve on clay, so it makes it a little more difficult.

PETE SAMPRAS: No. Because the conditions were playing quick. He has a big, quick serve, gets it up to these guys' backhand, coming in. He's a good athlete, fights hard. Wasn't that surprising. He's not really raised on the claycourt surface. Goes to show that a serve and volleyer can win at Roland Garros. It's still going to be an ongoing quest for me to win there one year.

PETE SAMPRAS: Yeah, I feel I'm playing well and I'm moving well. The key for the first week is just to get through these matches as easily as possible. Today's match was a good test because it was, you know, he was playing well. I feel like my preparation has been ideal. The first couple matches, playing pretty solid. That's all I can really ask for at this point.

PETE SAMPRAS: Well, Wimbledon's totally different because of the grass. But I feel like I'm serving well and if I'm serving well I'm going to be pretty tough to beat. It just opens up the rest of my game with my groundies and returns, if I'm serving like I have the first couple of matches. Wimbledon was a completely different ball game. Grass court tennis is so much different than playing here. First two matches were pretty solid. Looking forward to my next match.

PETE SAMPRAS: No. Because you can't take anything for granted, especially in the men's game. You know, he came out with nothing to lose, he's got a pretty good game. Like I said, anything I possible, a couple points here and there. You just think over the course of a five-set match or four sets, that eventually you're going to have your chances. I definitely got my chances today and converted. But I don't care if he's 300 or 500, he qualified, he won a match. I'm sure he was ready to go today.

PETE SAMPRAS: I just got a little lucky. Just reacted and hit the shot that I thought was best at the point, at that time. But he guessed the wrong way.

PETE SAMPRAS: Yeah. I mean, there's always a time and a place for that. This is the time and this is the place to show some emotion. This is our last major of the year, so this is it.

PETE SAMPRAS: I try not to see it. They're showing it every ten minutes (laughter).

PETE SAMPRAS: Like I say, there's a time and place to show some emotion. Set point in the second set. Once I knew I won that point, that was pretty much the match. So I'm not going to do that first game of the match. There's just times in the match that, you know, you just release some emotion. That was it.

PETE SAMPRAS: I don't know whose side of the draw he's on to be honest with you.

PETE SAMPRAS: Sure. That got a lot of attention last year. People that didn't maybe follow tennis would follow that match if we would play each other. I'm sure it's the last thing on his mind, last thing on my mind. For the game, I'm sure it would be pretty exciting because people know the history of our match last year. But it's really the last thing on my mind.

PETE SAMPRAS: Well, for the game I think he brings a lot of attention. The game definitely needs him, especially at this point. A lot of guys, Becker and Stich, kind of coming out of the game. We need Andre to definitely stick around and play at the level he should be playing at, like he was a couple years ago. So, you know, I feel like that rivalry we had a couple years ago was something that was memorable, something the game really needs right now.

PETE SAMPRAS: When is that, after Lipton?

PETE SAMPRAS: What do I think of it? I don't know. I haven't given it much thought.

PETE SAMPRAS: That's a good possibility.

PETE SAMPRAS: Sure. I don't mind playing doubles. I mean, I do, but I don't (laughter). If it's Davis Cup, something that is as important as Davis Cup, yeah, I will play if I'm asked.

PETE SAMPRAS: Well, he's taken me the distance a couple times. He has a big serve, good all-around court game. Pretty straightforward match. I mean, you know, again, he's coming to come out swinging away. I feel like I'm playing well, just go out and play.

PETE SAMPRAS: Where you from?

PETE SAMPRAS: Thank God for that (laughter). What was your question?

PETE SAMPRAS: Doing MTV stuff?

PETE SAMPRAS: Like what kind of stuff (laughter)? I don't know. It was something that was easy. Somehow they got my number and they called me at seven in the morning to wake me up, and they did. But I don't plan on doing a lot of extra things. I just want to play, do some other things that I want to do. I like to try to keep things, you know, pretty simple in my life, especially off the court, enjoy my time off. So there's not a good chance I'll be hitting the MTV Music Awards or whatever is coming up here.

PETE SAMPRAS: Well, it will help, but I don't know if it will solve the problem. I really don't know how to solve the problem because there's not really a young American coming up today that I see that will have the impact this I've had or Michael or Andre or Jim or Todd. Like I've said before when I've been asked, this game goes in cycles. Now the Spaniards are coming up. They're doing very well. American tennis is still very strong. We still have the top two players, Andre is coming back. It all goes in cycles. The Swedes were dominating ten years ago. The Americans are still very strong. The future, ten years from now, it's hard to say where we're going to be.

PETE SAMPRAS: No.

PETE SAMPRAS: Yeah. I wasn't really part of the USTA program. I was on the JDC team for one year in LA playing against Michael Chang. Courier and Agassi were down at Bollettieri's. I wasn't involved with USTA development. I had my competition where I was and went from there.

PETE SAMPRAS: Yeah, it's possible. You know, I was fortunate, I had competition. I had Michael Chang, Courier, Agassi. We pushed each other to be good players. It just goes in cycles, it really does. We could talk about it all night, but it's really hard to say what's going to happen with American tennis. But we have a couple of good, young players, but it's hard to say how good they're really going to be, so we'll see.

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