THE LIPTON CHAMPIONSHIPS

March 22, 1997

Vincent Spadea

Q. Was it wet out there? Were there puddles?

VINCE SPADEA: Yeah, it was wet. It was not just at the baseline, it was like in no man's land. We're talking circles. We're not talking drops only.

VINCE SPADEA: Trails, yeah. It was too much for my shoe to handle. I was handling some drops, but sometimes it just got heavy on me. I had to say, "Hey, wait a second."

VINCE SPADEA: No, just on every serve. Then like I think as he was coming to the net, he dropped a big load there. I mean, I don't know. I can't comment on what he does. I just had to do what I had to do. I just wanted to make sure everything was all right. I'm sure that's not the first time it happened. Probably happens all the time, especially in this kind of weather, when somebody is playing him.

VINCE SPADEA: I was thinking about a nice hot fudge sundae, so I was accentuating the word "fudge."

VINCE SPADEA: I was frustrated. I was frustrated about my play; not about the fact that I was losing the tiebreaker.

VINCE SPADEA: Yeah. That was the whole point, that he was being the aggressor, that I was sort of waiting for things to happen, instead of making them happen, then seeing the result. That's exactly what I did. I didn't even know I was down 4-1. Somebody told me.

VINCE SPADEA: Yeah.

VINCE SPADEA: Lit a fire under my --

VINCE SPADEA: No, because usually it goes against me. I've had a couple of violations now. It's bad. It's something I need to work on.

VINCE SPADEA: Yeah, once.

VINCE SPADEA: No. I mean, he hits a hard serve. I mean, he's a solid player obviously. All he does is win matches. He's not really intimidating, because my return is one of my strengths, so it's actually a nice challenge to go in against a big server and see what I can do, and at the same time he hits well from the back. I think he likes to play the baseline, forehand, likes to hit. It will be a good match-up for me.

VINCE SPADEA: I'm sure he's had his share. He's always going to have his share, whether he wins or loses, I'm sure. I mean, he's a tough player from the back. I think people don't realize that his back-court game, he's grown up on clay in Europe, but he plays obviously great on all surfaces. He's developed a foundation where he's pretty comfortable, but yet he's -- I don't think he comes to the net that much. Obviously, he's had his share of success at Wimbledon. I just need to go out and focus on my game, try to serve well. I think the baseline rallies will be tough. I know I can do something about it.

VINCE SPADEA: Is that right?

VINCE SPADEA: I've been through a lot of crap the last couple months. It's nice to get myself going, pain free, you know, just problem free really. It puts my mind back in tennis, really use the environment to my advantage as well, just go and play with a lot of energy, a lot of positive play. I'm enjoying this. Hopefully it will give me a good jump start to the rest of my year.

VINCE SPADEA: I don't know. I thought you would tell me that.

VINCE SPADEA: I heard I might not. It doesn't matter. I had a day off yesterday really. Tomorrow I'm in a rhythm, I just need to practice some of the things I need to do tomorrow. I'm pretty prepared for this tournament. That gives you good mental state of mind when you go into a match, into a tournament.

VINCE SPADEA: Yeah. I mean, I was passing him pretty good, especially when he came in off a ground stroke. When he came up off the serve, he had a better chance, because he had a lot on it. A couple times he might have gotten indecisive and maybe didn't feel that he wanted to give me another chance to pass him. I mean, I was trying to come in on him.

VINCE SPADEA: Mine, yeah. Those are the types of things you have to work on. I've improved that shot of mine. That gave him -- I'm notorious for my backhand usually. When I'm hitting a shot like that consistently, it gives a player some frustration. I think the dropshots might have been a sign of that. Also he might have wanted to get my tired. Theirs a lot of different things about dropshots. I didn't hit any because I don't feel that's my game on a hardcourt, not that that's relevant.

VINCE SPADEA: I think so. They bury their heads into a book, pretend they're disinterested when they're listening closely.

VINCE SPADEA: Yes. I mean, to a certain extent. If I get really analytical.

VINCE SPADEA: No. You start searching and looking, and obviously they've been in tennis for a while, they know my game. It's good to have them. I remember they commented on the US Open match.