GREAT AMERICAN INSURANCE ATP CHAMPIONSHIP

August 9, 1996

Pete Sampras

PETE SAMPRAS: I don't think it was much of a factor. I felt pretty good physically. I just ran into a player that was on fire. I have never played a right-handed serve that was so overwhelming. He seemed like he was hitting 2, 3 aces a game. I never really felt like I was into the match. I don't think it had anything to do with the long match yesterday. I felt pretty good.

PETE SAMPRAS: I thought that was good, but this was pretty -- just as good. Love-15, four aces in a row; always seemed like he was serving aces whenever he needed it, and when a guy is serving that big, it puts a lot of pressure on your service games. I didn't play that great on my service games. I got a little careless and missed some shots, but he played great. I mean, he really returned well and one of the best performances I have ever played against, nothing really I could do. I felt like I was hitting the ball pretty well. But I just ran into a player that was on fire.

PETE SAMPRAS: A little bit mentally discouraging. I felt like, you know, you play a good point. You get up Love-15 or something; all of a sudden, he serves a couple of aces and service winner and the game is over, it was frustrating because seemed like everything he tried and everything he hit was on the line or very close to it and he was serving really big. Nothing you can really do but just hang in there and I thought I did that pretty well. He just played some really good service games to break me, service return games, so, it is disappointing. You just have to accept it. He played a great match and from here I go to Indy and hopefully have a good week there, so, you know, there are definitely some things I need to work on, trying to get these serves back.

PETE SAMPRAS: Well, I certainly hope that is the way they feel sometimes. Yeah, but I can see how discouraging it is when someone is serving that big and playing that well. You know, I guess it hasn't happened that often to me to have the server maybe Ivanisevic or Philippoussis has done that, but Enqvist, who isn't really known to serve that consistently, that was the difference. He serves really hard, but he doesn't consistently make them a lot and today he was on and that is really it. That sums it up.

PETE SAMPRAS: Yeah, I was thinking, you know, you know, he is going to have to keep this up to take me out and, you know, he pretty much did throughout the whole match. He hit a big serve on matchpoint and missed an easy forehand, just hoping that he would kind of come down to earth and give me a chance to kind of get into this match and I never really did.

PETE SAMPRAS: I think it is more coincidence than anything. I really don't have an explanation for that.

PETE SAMPRAS: I guess that makes him pretty good, I guess (AUDIENCE LAUGHTER). It is a nice compliment to hear that from him. I have played him a bunch and he has come so close to beating me and today he obviously beat me pretty handily, but it is nice to hear a nice compliment from someone that is a good player like Thomas, and so it was nice of him.

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