U.S. OPEN

September 5, 1995

Pete Sampras

PETE SAMPRAS: Pretty good. Pretty well. I mean, seemed like the first set really kind of determined the whole match. We were both a little bit tentative in the beginning; not playing that great. Then I, you know, whenever I play Todd, it always comes down to a point here and there and it came down to a tiebreaker and I played pretty solid. From that point on, I kind of escalated my tennis to a higher level and Todd, you know, really, I think, got a little bit discouraged at that point. He doublefaulted three times his first service games. It seemed like his level dropped a little bit. I was starting to get a read to his serve and starting to feel a little bit more comfortable out there. As the match went on, I started to play a lot better, so it was a good one to get through. I think the match would have gone a lot different if I would have lost that first set. But, you know, I feel like I played pretty well.

PETE SAMPRAS: My groundies, I am hitting them pretty well. I still think I can hit them better, but my whole game revolves around my serve. If I am serving well and hitting two aces a game, that just makes the rest of my game that much better. And -- but, you know, I was really starting to get a feel on my return and because he has got extremely tough serve to get back - 6 foot 6; got a huge kick serve and it is a tough one to get over, chip it and if you don't hit the return quite deep enough, you know, you are going to be in a defensive position, so, you know, if I could serve well; get a higher percentage, I don't know what my percentage was tonight, but I think I can serve a little bit better. But I served pretty well when I had to.

PETE SAMPRAS: I played him a couple of times. Things went pretty well against him. I haven't lost to him and he -- obviously doesn't mind playing a player like me. He beat Stich today who plays just like me. He returns extremely well. Doesn't really serve all that big, so I can get into his service games. I just need to stay patient; hopefully hit my groundies pretty clean and deep. Pretty straightforward match. I played him probably three, four times probably so far, so I kind of know what to expect. It is a match that I think if I play, I should get through.

PETE SAMPRAS: As far as returning?

PETE SAMPRAS: Well, it is always nice to play somebody who doesn't serve that big and Todd has got a huge serve. He doesn't hit it that hard, but he hits the corners -- hits all the corners, and very tough serve to read because he is so tall. So it is going to feel good to at least see a serve that I can see, you know, Philippoussis I don't know what to really expect and Todd, I kind of knew what to expect a little bit more, so he is obviously to beat Enqvist, who I think is one of the best players in the world, and Stich today, I mean, he has got to be oozing with confidence.

PETE SAMPRAS: A little bit. He doesn't have quite the versatility and the reach on the return and on the out-wide forehand shot, but, you know, he has been hitting it all his life so I am sure he is used to that.

PETE SAMPRAS: Not really.

PETE SAMPRAS: Not particularly.

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