THE LIPTON CHAMPIONSHIPS

March 23, 1997

Vincent Spadea

VINCE SPADEA: Well, I lost the match. I mean, you know, I had some bad things go against me. I guess he did, too. I kind of let down a little bit in that 4-All game maybe. It was also tough because I was down Love-15. I still thought I could get back. He actually just played a little bit steady. I kind of pressed too much, played a sloppy game. It's a little bit difficult. It's like an injury or a rain delay. You just sit there forever, not moving. I just got too consumed with what was going on rather than, you know, focusing and capitalizing on the opportunities I did have control of.

VINCE SPADEA: Yeah. I mean, it definitely gives you confidence. I knew I was holding serve pretty comfortably the whole match. I mean, I thought I had a lot of opportunities out there. It slipped by, so on to the next one.

VINCE SPADEA: I think the crowd got extremely involved. It kind of delayed the play. Obviously they were uncomfortable with what was going on, as was I. I mean, I was just trying to get some kind of explanations and try to play for my own right at that time. I mean, it's a little bit ridiculous what he was trying to do. There wasn't a lot I could do about it. It was just chaotic, basically. Understatement.

VINCE SPADEA: I don't think so. I couldn't even hear him say it, actually. I made a gesture that was --

VINCE SPADEA: Yeah. I actually didn't complete it with the whole, you know, thing. You know what I mean? I gave him a high-five basically. That's what I was trying to do. He interpreted it the wrong way.

VINCE SPADEA: I just thought it was a little ridiculous. He was a little too active in that match. I've never played a match where the umpire was that involved, ever, even in the first two sets where Goran was very displeased.

VINCE SPADEA: You've got to argue your own point. I mean, what are you going to do? You're not going to really bring it out. I tried to bring out the supervisor or whatever. You can't replace a guy who is incompetent, as he was. That's it. You move on and try to focus on the next point. That's what he was doing.

VINCE SPADEA: I don't know. He would have complimented my actions probably with a few drinks. He would have gotten the bench more involved, the crowd more involved, if that was possible.

VINCE SPADEA: When we replayed it, yeah. I got myself back. He just played a good game really. Aside from all the drama and all the crap, I mean, the tennis was actually where he just outplayed me. Well, I wouldn't say that. He made big shots at big time, big serves. Made a big passing shot on breakpoint where I came in off not a great ball, but he still had to hit a cross-court shot. I didn't really move, so. That's what happened. There were a few breakpoints that I just played a little too sloppy. I thought regardless of what happened, I still definitely was in charge of the match, have a chance to win.

VINCE SPADEA: No. I mean, I play well at night. I've had a lot of great night experience. I've been working on my return a lot. I played him once before. I knew it wasn't going to be that impossible unless he just got grooved, where I was kind of diving, not getting anything back. But he cranked up his serve when he needed to, in big situations. In the tiebreaker he served well. In those last few games. Even then I had a lot of breakpoints. He hardly had any, I don't think.

VINCE SPADEA: Then he had two. Pretty ridiculous, so.