U.S. OPEN

August 30, 1996

Pete Sampras

PETE SAMPRAS: Not really. I mean, you know, I felt pretty good going into the fifth. I wasn't playing great tennis today. I was a little bit up and down. I went through spells where I was making a lot of errors. I thought I hit the ball, you know, pretty well. I really think the experience might have come through in the end. He played a bad service game in the fifth set. I just won the important points today. I never really thought like I was going to lose. I felt the closer it got, not letting it get away.

PETE SAMPRAS: He was going with the wind. Once he got over my head, I knew it was going to take a pretty good bounce. I just kind of hit it. I didn't know where it was going to go because the wind was swirling around. Could have went over the stadium. It managed to drop in.

PETE SAMPRAS: I think his second serve, hit a forehand volley, pretty good backhand volley. The way he's been lobbing all day, I thought I was going to lose the point. Run it down, hit a pretty good lob back, went from there. He's a strong player. I've never played him before. Didn't really know what to expect, get a feel of what he was going to do. He's strong, served well, got a good backhand. I definitely was pushing the limit.

PETE SAMPRAS: Yeah. I was missing. I was missing a lot of errors. Periods where I was pressing too much. That's the way I play. I always feel like if you keep on going for it, eventually you're going to connect on a few. That's the way I was taught, that's the way I'll continue to play. I just feel like I can get better. It's one of those matches where I didn't play great, but I have to give him credit, he definitely made me work. If I can get better in my next match, that's --

PETE SAMPRAS: No. I mean, all these guys are rough. Anyone in the draw is capable of beating 1, 2, 3 in the world. These guys have nothing to lose, they go out swinging away. It was difficult because I'd never seen him play. I couldn't really figure him out for a couple sets there. Strong player.

PETE SAMPRAS: Well, I mean, after I lost the fourth, this is the fifth set of the US Open, and the crowd really got behind me. I felt the adrenaline help me out. This is it. Either you go home tomorrow or you stick around. I decided to stick around.

PETE SAMPRAS: Well, completely changed the whole perspective of the match because it could have gone into a tiebreaker, would have been 5-All. I played a very conservative point, just waiting for a short ball to my forehand. I wasn't going to miss, I was just going to keep it in play. Maybe he would have pressed and missed. I just hit a good forehand off the line and went from there.

PETE SAMPRAS: Well, each player you play in the draw is so different. Like I said, I've never seen him play so it did take me a while to kind of figure out the shots he likes and doesn't like, realize that his backhand was a lot better than his forehand. These guys have nothing to lose. They go out and swing away. These guys can beat, I don't care what you're ranked. Look what happened to Andre yesterday. The guy is playing out of his mind. He managed to win. You would hope the longer the match goes, you hope that the better player will win. That's what happened.

PETE SAMPRAS: Yeah, yeah.

PETE SAMPRAS: Yeah. If I would have lost, the year is over for me, more or less. Even though there's some tournaments in Europe I like to play. As far as the majors were concerned, it would have been a disappointment if I would have lost. Those thoughts don't really cross your mind when you're playing. You have to go out and try your best and try to win the last point. It would have been a disappointment, sure.

PETE SAMPRAS: It's always nice to have played someone before a major, as far as throughout the year it would have been nice to have played him so you know what he likes and doesn't like. Paul scouts them out to see what type of player he is. Two out of three, three out of five, it's still difficult to get used to his style of play. He's very deceptive. Didn't seem like he had a big serve, but it was coming in pretty good. He moved pretty well. It's definitely nice to go out knowing what's to be expected. It was all right.

PETE SAMPRAS: Well, I played a bad game, started pressing a little bit. Like I say, I knew I was down two breaks. He raised his level, and I kind of played a little careless. That was it, 6-1. At that point it was only one set all, I felt like I was still hitting the ball pretty well, it's just I was missing. Needed to tighten up my tennis.

PETE SAMPRAS: I felt as far as the conditions, it was quite breezy. That court is always difficult when it's breezy, bounces off the stadium, swirls around. I never knew which way the wind was going. It's tough to hit groundies, tough to serve. My serve really wasn't there today. I was missing quite a bit of my percentage. I don't know what it was, but probably wasn't too high. I definitely need to serve better.

PETE SAMPRAS: I feel okay. I just have a stretch and a little rub, have a day off tomorrow, be ready for Sunday.

PETE SAMPRAS: I really felt the crowd get behind me in the beginning of the fifth to spur me on. Once you feel that, you don't think about how tired you are or whatever. That helped me out. Maybe the experience, he's a younger guy, he's never played a lot of big matches, where I think that's what happened. He played a bad game, double-faulted a couple times, that was it.

PETE SAMPRAS: It's hard to say. Five-set matches, I've always felt could go either way. I feel endurance-wise pretty good. It wasn't that hot today. My conditioning felt pretty strong. I don't think I'm in the greatest shape of my life; I feel I'm in good shape.

PETE SAMPRAS: Not worth talking about unless we both win our matches. Dangerous player, big game. Played him twice, once at Wimbledon, once in Australia; he's got big serves, serves real hard. It's really the last thing on my lined. I play Volkov who is a strong player. There's no reason to talk about it.

PETE SAMPRAS: No. On a match like that, it's good to stretch down a little bit, get a little rub, work out the kinks. That's what I've always done.

PETE SAMPRAS: It would be very disappointing. I think one thing you have to understand, in order to win these majors, it takes a little bit of luck. That's one thing I haven't gotten this year at the French and Wimbledon. I think we all take it for granted that I should win a major every year. It's not easy out there. I've always measured my year on how I do at these tournaments. If I don't win one this year, I'll look back at '96 and will be disappointed. I'm 25, I have many more Grand Slams ahead of me. There's no reason to panic. I feel pretty good.

PETE SAMPRAS: Do I look uptight (laughter)?

PETE SAMPRAS: Yes, I think it's going to determine who finishes the year. That's not really on my mind right now. The ranking just takes care of itself. The one thing I'm concentrating on is trying to win here, that's it. I've always felt the majors are a lot more important than No. 1. It's a great way to end the year. Muster and Chang are in contention. We'll see what happens.

PETE SAMPRAS: Different players. This guy stayed back, hit the ball very big off both sides. They're different. Philippoussis is a lot more aggressive, serve and volleys, served a lot bigger. This guy can return very well, much more of a counter-puncher. Philippoussis is much more of a serve and volleyer.

PETE SAMPRAS: No. I hit a good serve and he just -- I really didn't have a shot. He hit the line. It wasn't real playable.