US OPEN

September 2, 1999

Vincent Spadea

USTA: Questions, please?

VINCENT SPADEA: Yeah -- wait one second. (Laughter.)

VINCENT SPADEA: Yeah, any time you are out for a long time playing and running, it's physically draining.

VINCENT SPADEA: No, I don't feel I need this right now. But, no. I'm cool.

VINCENT SPADEA: The first time?

VINCENT SPADEA: With the ankle?

VINCENT SPADEA: No. That's when I was in control. I won the first set and I won the second set. I was up at break in the second; won a tiebreaker. So I wasn't being too careful, I don't think, because he was playing, it seemed like, 1,000 percent. Didn't have any liability or anything, so I felt like I just played my game.

VINCENT SPADEA: I said maybe I have a chance to break him for the match.

VINCENT SPADEA: That's what I was thinking.

VINCENT SPADEA: I was thinking I might as well just hit hard serves, as my serve is bigger than it used to be.

VINCENT SPADEA: I had ten Aces for the match?

VINCENT SPADEA: That's a little bit low, I think, for that kind of match. I think he returned pretty exceptional for a guy who was known maybe to play on clay. I wasn't too sure about that. But my serve, I mean, it definitely helped me in a lot of ways, and, you know, I lost my serve, too. He returned well. He broke the guy the first day a lot, he's one of the best servers.

VINCENT SPADEA: He played pretty solid the whole match. I kind of was playing a lot of defense, and I was trying to play offense but it wasn't as effective. So I felt like in the fifth I needed to just hit the ball hard and come in and -- because, I mean, you start losing a little bit of energy, too, as the match goes on. But the fourth set, he played well. And he wasn't -- he was mixing up a lot of defensive shots, and then it would be attacking, but not a lot of forced errors. So it made it difficult.

VINCENT SPADEA: It's similar, I think. That match reminded me of that match in a way. But physically, I mean, Chang was a ground-stroker. And the other guy, the guy I played, was a ground-stroker. So it takes a lot out of you. I don't play that many short points, but that's my game, and I have a day to recover.

VINCENT SPADEA: Yeah, I think I'm fitter, definitely. I'm better and fitter and I'm not a quitter. (Laughter.)

VINCENT SPADEA: Lapentti match?

VINCENT SPADEA: A little bit. Yeah. It was slipping away, but I mean Lapentti played good tennis, better tennis than I did, at the last minute, and this guy was playing tough, too. So, I mean, you have to analyze what the situation is. I mean, but against Lapentti, honestly I was in like a lot of pain, my foot; whereas, today, I was just tired. That was like more the opposite goal and the opponent. So I felt like it was a little bit easier -- with Lapentti, I was tired and he was difficult and I had a lot of pain. It's difficult when you're playing with pain to add on to a dramatic situation.

VINCENT SPADEA: Yes. They were -- it was an unbelievable feeling during the end and when it finished. But I think maybe it's the style game that we both had that made everyone really interested, and it wasn't like -- it was a very even match, and we were playing long points, and they could see the effort that it took for us to just win a point. So I think that enhanced their motivation.

VINCENT SPADEA: Is that who I played? Well, we were on the grass, grass infield. And he's playing well. He's in the third round. I lost in three sets to him there. That's what happened.

VINCENT SPADEA: Yeah. My passing shots are my strengths, but every match is a different match with contrasted styles.

VINCENT SPADEA: I'm not sure. I haven't analyzed it. I thought I was playing as best as I could. I don't know if I executed as well as I have against other players, but, you know, some circumstances creep in and you don't really know.

VINCENT SPADEA: He did?

VINCENT SPADEA: He did or I did?

VINCENT SPADEA: Oh.

VINCENT SPADEA: Sometimes you're not as sharp on your shots at the time. Plus, I didn't want to spend a lot of energy to try to break him again in the third. If it came with some easier points, fine, but I needed to save the energy for my service games.

VINCENT SPADEA: Yeah. He beat the No. 5 seed, I think. Obviously, he was playing at a high level. I didn't see any of the match. I was unsure. I've practiced with Canas before, but I have never played him; so I didn't know what to expect. But he played well, I think, for what he's ranked. I don't know what he's ranked.

VINCENT SPADEA: Yeah.

VINCENT SPADEA: Well, I was looking for a short ball, and he just started playing aggressive, and I started playing defense; and he had the point one, kind of, and I just reached out, hit an extra lob, and that's -- those are turning points in matches a lot of times. You know, you can only make an effort and see what happens. It doesn't have to always be pretty. But it was deep enough where he missed the overhead.

VINCENT SPADEA: Right, and make him hit another shot. Because that's the -- that's what a battle is about.

VINCENT SPADEA: I haven't studied the draw thus far. And I mean, the seed -- Henman's out, he was a seed. So it's an unseeded matchup for the next one. But, I mean, on paper I'm ranked higher than most of the players in that bracket, I assume. So it's a great opportunity. I hope to take advantage.

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