US OPEN

September 4, 1999

Vincent Spadea

USTA: Questions for Vince.

VINCENT SPADEA: I feel pretty good. It's nice to get through. I mean, I'm still alive. I just get my body recovered. I feel like I'm kind of realizing more of what I can do physically. From a conditioning standpoint. I mean, definitely I'm feeling some effects. But I feel better than I did in the last match right now.

VINCENT SPADEA: Yeah, maybe that's why. I was unsure yesterday about how I was going to go into the match. I got through it, so.

VINCENT SPADEA: No, never played two five-setters.

VINCENT SPADEA: Would I do it again? Not really. They've not been just five-setters, they've been extended. One was a very extended five-setter. That wasn't exactly in the back of plans. I mean, what it's about is to try to get the last point, I guess.

VINCENT SPADEA: I don't remember that game, honestly.

VINCENT SPADEA: I think that was in the fourth set, right? In the fifth set?

VINCENT SPADEA: My goodness (laughter). I don't remember what I did to get out of it. I remember the fourth set. I hit a good serve. I don't remember that game, honestly. I remember the latter games, you know, the 4-3, the 5-4, whatever. You have to just keep plugging away. I didn't feel like if I lost my serve, I was out of the match. I mean, at 2-Love, it would have been way too early to feel negative. Plus, I mean, I thought he was playing at a high level.

VINCENT SPADEA: Yes.

VINCENT SPADEA: I think I missed the first serve. I hit a second serve. He did his routine. I kind of did mine. It was like the best man in that point would do it. It was a big shot, obviously. But I kept my mentality intact. What did that mean?

VINCENT SPADEA: Yeah, yeah. I felt like I needed to just bear down and hit the ball at least once and see if I could get into the next shot. I didn't try for like a screamer, but it was a pretty solidly hit shot.

VINCENT SPADEA: Probably not in the way I did it, no. I've done it, but that's why a year of progress can help.

VINCENT SPADEA: On match point?

VINCENT SPADEA: Yes, it was like basically the match point against me. It was almost like an identical point. I mean, he closed into the net pretty fast. If I hit cross-court, there's not a lot -- if he's right on top of the net. If I hit it down the line, at least he's got to kind of angle it; I have another play, unless I just hit it too high and he just closed it. That's one of my greatest shots is my backhand, my passing shots. It was nice to be in those positions with those kinds of balls, even though I was under pressure.

VINCENT SPADEA: Yeah. Well, I missed a bunch in the beginning of the match. The court plays quick. That's why he was effective against me on that court, because he hits the ball very flat, slices a lot. But I loosened up my hands and got that touch back that I usually have.

VINCENT SPADEA: No. I was just playing the points. I don't remember hitting a lot more backhand winners or telling myself I had to. I was just trying to play every point in a winning strategy.

VINCENT SPADEA: Well, I have a winning record against him, I think. I look forward to tomorrow's day off. He's obviously a top player. It's just going to be another match-up to see what happens. I don't know what he's thinking. I know what I'm thinking.

VINCENT SPADEA: Yes.

VINCENT SPADEA: Kind of, yeah.

VINCENT SPADEA: I'm not quite sure. I hit on the stadium once. It might be a tad bit slower.

VINCENT SPADEA: It wouldn't make any difference to me, I don't think, because it's not a grass court, no matter how fast it is. It not going to be a really slow court either. They all play similar. I've played him on hard courts maybe three or four times.

VINCENT SPADEA: Kind of, yeah. I mean, he's a big server. That's one of his strengths. That's his biggest strength. I kind of have ideas of what he does. I mean, a guy who wins Wimbledon, you know, is obviously a guy who can manage himself. I mean, I feel good about everything.

VINCENT SPADEA: It was more like exhaustion, fatigue. I felt like that before. I knew that I could recover. Today I might have been a little bit cautious in the beginning, but I felt -- I wasn't really tired at all today, which was interesting. I mean, honestly. I'll tell you.

VINCENT SPADEA: Yeah.

VINCENT SPADEA: Do you talk to everyone? I don't know.

VINCENT SPADEA: I had four different drinks I was drinking during the changeover. I had Hydrofuel, Ultrafuel, Carbo-fuel, Miracle Fuel. Geeze, that was the last one I took every time because --.

VINCENT SPADEA: Not even some nutritionists know what that is. I just found it out the grapevine, I guess.

VINCENT SPADEA: It's great. It's like Evian with -- it's like Scotch and water, hold the Scotch.