U.S. OPEN

September 4, 1995

Vincent Spadea

VINCE SPADEA: Yeah, it was a combination. Yesterday I was -- or the other day I was, I saw the ball really well and I was really moving and I was really going after my shots, and today I was a little bit tentative and a little flat-footed and he played a good match. He didn't make many errors, and it was tough for me to get, you know, control of the point and he hit a lot of good shots and I don't think I went for my shots as much as I could have. But it was an experience anyway.

VINCE SPADEA: Well, he hits the ball very flat and he drives through the court with his shots and, you know, that was a little bit different than the other match. Obviously, they were hitting -- two different places, or whatever, the other guys I played in the first few rounds as well, and, you know, so didn't have as much time to prepare. And since I wasn't moving particularly well, I found, you know, hitting the ball a little bit short and then he took advantage of the point. He seemed to not miss many serves, first serves at all. I don't know what the deal was there. I mean, he must have had a high percentage because he was serving, you know, pretty smart and keeping me off balance and I wasn't able to step in too much; which is what I like to do usually, and he had the lefty serve as well, kind of gave a different spin, different whatever, but I just -- I just couldn't gain control of the points because I didn't really go after my shots the way I should have. Or, you know, I had some chances, but to get back in the match; didn't convert too many times, so...

VINCE SPADEA: Yeah. Still, I mean, I was -- it seemed that -- I mean, I was just getting down an early break in every set and it just seemed that my serving rhythm was not there at all. I was disappointed in that. I expected a little bit of a higher percentage on my first serves and it was just not a fun time out there on my serve, especially, because I did expect to win a lot more games and points that way. I don't know what it really was to tell you the truth. I don't know if I was rushing or if it was mechanical or in my toss or whatever. But, you know, that stretch, yeah, it was at the end of the second set, then I got broken at 5-All, which was not a positive thing.

VINCE SPADEA: For sure, it is experience. That is one factor, and it is just a matter of focusing on the right things when you are out there and trying to execute the way you can. And that didn't happen too much today and, you know, just two different matches, two different environments, you know, it was just a little bit different for me. It was not --

VINCE SPADEA: No. Not particularly. I was more disappointed on what I was doing wrong and I was trying to figure out how to get back in winning more points without having to work really hard. I mean, the times I did win the points, is I was hitting some really good shots which is basically, you know, tough to do consistently. I mean, obviously to get further in this tournament that is what it is going to take and he didn't -- he didn't give me a lot of errors to really -- to really help me out in my own pursuit out there, but again, I was making errors myself, so I didn't give him many chances as well and I was hitting short, so then it is easy not to make errors on the short balls.

VINCE SPADEA: It is the best experience I have had at the U.S. Open. U.S. Open is always a tournament where I have had trouble really focusing on a particular match at hand and because there is so much going on and I did a fine job of that this year. And it was more positive than I have ever experienced and it was a tough match today, so, that is what I am thinking about right now. I will assess the rest of the whole tournament --

VINCE SPADEA: Of course. Any time you are winning matches, especially in a big tournament like this, it gives you confidence to keep moving forward. I think I made a step forward in this tournament. I felt that I was going to play well here whether I won my first round or lost whatever, I knew that I was going to try to move myself forward and I did. Today was a different kind of experience. I needed to improve in some parts of my game as well as some parts of my mentality when you encounter this type of situation which.

VINCE SPADEA: Hopefully it should not take longer than a week or so or two. I definitely need to rest it to the point where I don't feel at all anything where it is like my left wrist because, you know, it is kind of annoying when you got to go out and tape it and play that way, you know, not knowing that there is something possible where you can injure yourself worse and -- but things worked out better than I thought they would coming into the tournament. I was in bad shape a few days before the tournament and I recovered pretty well and got going a little bit and now it is time to move on.

VINCE SPADEA: Something like that. I don't know the exact numbers. But I will consult someone down in Florida.

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