TMS - INDIAN WELLS

March 15, 2000

Sjeng Schalken

GREG SHARKO: Sjeng posted his best win of the season today. He'll move into the Round of 16 where we'll play the winner of Albert Costa and Goran Ivanisevic.

SJENG SCHALKEN: Could be. I was a couple of times close with Agassi and Sampras, and I couldn't actually just -- didn't make it. But I'm very happy that I beat Kafelnikov. He's also one of the three best guys here on the circuit. I'm really pleased that I finally got through.

SJENG SCHALKEN: First time was on grass. It was my first grass, and as always a disaster. It was really quick, 6-Love, 6-2. I didn't have any chance. The second match, he just won the Australian Open, was in good shape, and I lost also. I was very happy that I could turn things around.

SJENG SCHALKEN: The actual plan against these top players, the groundstrokes have to be good, so I have to work on the groundstrokes in the match, get confident on that. If I got more pressure in my shots, then I have a chance to everybody. In the beginning, I started slow, but my forehand and backhand started to go better and better and better. At the end, yeah, I was hitting the ball very well. I worked myself good in the match.

SJENG SCHALKEN: Well, I know that it is very tough also for those guys to win every match. It is easy possible that they lose all of a sudden in a one day because I think it's so close to each other. The top-ranked players are just a little bit better in a good day. Everybody can beat everybody. I think that's the standard answer of that. It's very strong.

SJENG SCHALKEN: You think what is going to happen in the match. To everybody, your own hits has to be perfect, otherwise you won't win. But he stays in the back more, so you focus on that. If you play like Rusedski or Krajicek, you know he's going to come in, so you know you have to go in also more. Those are the things you focus on before the match.

SJENG SCHALKEN: I didn't have any problem. The sun was giving a lot of light.

SJENG SCHALKEN: Oh, the sun. The sun is there. You know that. All the courts are facing the same way. You practice three days before the tournament, you know where the sun is at which time. That's not a problem I think for nobody.

SJENG SCHALKEN: Every match is a big fight, of course. The next round will be as tough as this one. Albert Costa or Goran Ivanisevic, both guys I beat last time on hard court, but those were big matches. Anything can happen. I just go on.

SJENG SCHALKEN: The normal routine is before this big event, I played in Scottsdale. It's also a little bit of altitude. It's the same court, very nice to practice. There actually is the training. If you come in this tournament, everything has to be good. So the preparation was in Scottsdale. I lost to Ferreira first round. We hit a lot of balls, two and a half hours on the court. That's the main preparation for this week.