US OPEN

September 3, 2002

Sjeng Schalken

MODERATOR: Questions for Sjeng.

SJENG SCHALKEN: Yes, it's very satisfying because you never know. It's so tough every round. To get two times to the quarterfinals, it's a great feeling.

SJENG SCHALKEN: Yeah, I hope so. Steadily I'm moving forward in my whole career. Every year I'm improving my ranking over the last seven years, except last year I dropped four places at the end. I'll say iit's steadily moving forward. I'm playing better and better in the big tournaments, like the Grand Slams, and the Masters Series. That's where the good players are. I feel like I'm getting more steady on a higher level.

SJENG SCHALKEN: Well, it's nice, of course. You see today with Guga, everybody knows Guga, so you're playing against the stadium a little bit. It's just because he's more known than me. Of course, it's more advantage if people starting to know me. They know how I play. Okay, there are always some people who like the power tennis, but I don't have that game. I have to dig deep many times. My serve is just not that great. But I have other things: good backhand, good backhand, attacking style from the ground. If people also in New York start to notice that, they like that, I think they can come and watch my matches, of course.

SJENG SCHALKEN: The first one and a half sets I played out of this world with my game. I didn't make too many mistakes. Actually, I was pinpointing him with my flat shots everywhere. Then he started to pick up his deep groundstrokes so that I couldn't attack that much anymore. The longer the rally goes, he gets better, so I have to keep the rallies short. Actually, I got away with the second set. I didn't really deserve it. In the third and far in the fourth set, he was the better player. Then far in the fourth, I started attacking his second serve to more put pressure on him, and I think that was the key of the match.

SJENG SCHALKEN: Of course, then he's changing tactic. You have to beat him again then. So he's thinking, he wants to win badly. Yeah, it's a new tactic. He broke me in the second set with slices, low slices. I miss-hit it three times and got broken. I was in the driver's seat. From that moment on, he was taking over. You see that the change of tactic can quickly change the way the match progresses.

SJENG SCHALKEN: It was my weakest point till three years ago. That's why I was always around 50. I worked really hard on that because I'm very emotional inside, but I'm not going to show it anymore because I lost so many matches with it.

SJENG SCHALKEN: No. I worked with my coach, Alex Reynders at that time. It was a big mental problem. I wanted to work on it. I think we started seven years ago. It took me four years to settle down. Also because you get a little older, you get a little bit more relaxed, you have seen everything. But sometimes I'm tired, then I start to get more emotional, in particular weeks if I play a lot, but not in a Grand Slam.

SJENG SCHALKEN: Yeah, I got angry. If you get angry, you don't see what you have to do to win. You cannot think about tactics anymore. That's why I lose. That's why I'm really quiet. Yeah, I've learned that.

SJENG SCHALKEN: I'm capable of getting to the third round because I'm a seeded player. This tournament, I played Mark Philippoussis first round, then all of a sudden it changes. You're happy to get to the second round - you're really happy. I got lucky there because it was a really hard match. Unfortunately, he got injured. I was getting back in the match, but still I was still two sets to one down. You see that at the Australian Open this year. I play Kucera first round. You have so many good floaters who a little bit dropped in the ranking by injury or whatever else. You cannot get far in the tournament every time. Only the really good ones can do that, like Sampras, Agassi, who are always in the quarterfinals. I'm not that -- I don't have their successes.

SJENG SCHALKEN: He's a rising star. He's beating everybody. He has a great forehand. When he has a chance, he attacks with it. It's going to be a very physical match, I think.

SJENG SCHALKEN: Yes, I'm going to play that he doesn't like it. I'm a thinker on court, so I will try to find a way. It's still going to be very tactical for me, but also physical. Once he's in the driver's seat in the point, then he's going to make me run.

SJENG SCHALKEN: It was also I think I don't have natural. I had the worst serve. I had to work also really hard. I think Australia '96 I had a very complex serve. I don't have a quick arm. I don't have any quickness in it. I can accelerate with my groundstrokes, not with my serve. Also Alex Reynders said, "Okay, your serve, we make it very simple for you." That's the way I played. I cannot hit the 120 miles an hour shots, but I'm very consistent and I can place the ball really well. Sometimes my serve is not working at all and I get too much under pressure. It's all those things. I get a forehand and backhand from my nature, which always are good, and the rest I had to work for really hard. That's why it took a long time for me to get up. It feels like it's all coming together now.

SJENG SCHALKEN: Completely.

SJENG SCHALKEN: Stay quiet, think on the court. The matches are long. You always get chances. If I get a short ball, I go for it and attack.

SJENG SCHALKEN: 2:30.

SJENG SCHALKEN: I got up at 10:30 because at 11:00 the breakfast is closed, otherwise I would stay in bed longer.