PILOT PEN TENNIS

August 25, 2005

Vincent Spadea

Q. You got broke right away. How tough was it to be under the gun the way he was serving?

VINCENT SPADEA: I just didn't break serve. I lost my serve once and that was it. It wasn't a good start to the third.

VINCENT SPADEA: I beat him 3 and 0 a couple of years ago, so my return is my strength so if I can't break him I am just having an off-day. I think he got a little lucky on his second serve. He hit two second serves 118 on break points. He will do that two out of 10 matches. Otherwise he wouldn't be ranked 30 in the world. So I kind have had some bad luck. But I also played like crap on some of the game points too.

VINCENT SPADEA: I just wasn't making the shots. My return was off and that was the bottom line. You make him hit a couple more shots and that's the game. I couldn't even get the ball in play. So a couple of them were his aces; a couple of them were my mistakes. That's life when you are not focused and you are not grooved that extra amount, I guess. That's all I can attribute it to.

VINCENT SPADEA: The main thing if I broke down his serve, he would have broken down completely.I had a couple of lack luster service games myself. Overall it was a good match. I had some good points some bad points but I have to just kind of look for the positive now.

VINCENT SPADEA: The guys never call a ball out. They just assume he just starts serving aces in succession and it is just ridiculous. The only time I did break him was when the guy overruled a ball because the umpires weren't going to call squat out. They are just too passive out there.

VINCENT SPADEA: I don't know. It happens all the time, you know. Sometime they have a good day and sometimes they have a bad day.

VINCENT SPADEA: I just played my second match so I hadn't noticed anything -- he hits a big serve.

VINCENT SPADEA: I didn't see him. It was an ace then I saw he got struck down. Hopefully he's still doing all right. I don't know what happened to him afterwards but he looked pretty stung and it was a big serve. I didn't even go for the serve because I couldn't -- I didn't have time. Pretty vicious hit in a dangerous area, actually, so the fact that he kept out there was pretty amazing.

VINCENT SPADEA: I think around in the neck area.

VINCENT SPADEA: I guess, yeah. It's one of the things you have to worry about when you are a linesmen. It's not an easy job, especially if you are at the receiving end of a big serve. What are you going to do, that's the risk you take, but at the same time you got to -- you have to be alert and get your reflexes going. The next serve he actually hit straight at him again luckily I got to it. I was surprised, it was a pretty big serve too.

VINCENT SPADEA: It is the best I have played all summer which is not saying a lot. But I am just looking try to get one win and then go from there. Not at the top of my game right now, so it's not too encouraging, but I can't be negative, otherwise I am just shooting myself in the foot.

VINCENT SPADEA: I don't know. My return probably for today, I mean but I don't know, generally I am hitting the ball fairly well. I just need to steady down and get a little better concentration and will, I think. I don't know.