U.S. OPEN

September 5, 1996

Paul Annacone

PAUL ANNACONE: No. He just started feeling bad at the end of the match. It was up and down during the match, but he said basically just at the end, he kind of felt pretty bad obviously.

PAUL ANNACONE: No, it is stomach. Obviously, it was very upset. His back was kind of locking up a little bit on him. His legs felt heavy, but he was able to finish.

PAUL ANNACONE: He was fine before he went on. I mean, he played -- how long did they play?

PAUL ANNACONE: He did a lot of running first two sets, was pretty hot, I thought he did a lot of running the first two sets and, you know, Pete, I think a lot of times looks tired when he plays anyway, so I think that it is tough sometimes to tell if he is more disappointed with how he is playing or he is actually tired, but tonight I think was kind of a culmination of a lot of things.

PAUL ANNACONE: Yeah, well, he didn't cramp. I mean, he is not dehydrated. You are right; I am no expert, but usually when your muscles cramp it is either from fatigue or usually more so from dehydration, and he didn't have leg cramps or arm cramps or whatever, so he was -- I was with him tonight. He was drinking plenty of fluids today.

PAUL ANNACONE: Well, I don't know. I mean, I am not really sure there is any word in the dictionary. I mean, you know the guy is just pretty special, and special people can do special things, and with his stoic personality you wouldn't think he would have a flare for the dramatic. Between here and Australia about 18 months ago, I don't really know what to say except that there is certain things you can't teach and some things you just sit back in awe and take part of, take part in, and to me, it is just pretty incredible.

PAUL ANNACONE: You know, it has been a rough 18 months, you know, and I think when Pete does well - and at the French came a little short of his goal- and here he is hanging in there. It has been kind of a tough year, but when he gets through matches like that, you know, I think all of us tend to have a pretty good feel that Tim has got a big smile on his face watching, so that I think that it is pretty special. And Tommy G. is here and a part of the whole situation, and it is their birthday in a few days, so it is just a lot of emotion and the most amazing thing I find about Pete is that I have never met anyone in my life that has been able to stay focused and keep his eye on the ball figuratively and in his mind, I just never met anyone that has been able to do that and leave the distractions to the side to the level that he can do it.

PAUL ANNACONE: I guess until he started throwing up, I mean, yeah. I mean, you know, I think he is in pretty good shape. He trained really hard. He had an Achilles problem. He couldn't play in the Olympics. Then he trained hard for a couple of weeks, played a couple of hard court tournaments. He is in pretty good shape, but, you know, I think some of the problem is a lot of people don't realize how good a lot of the players are, unless you are one of the players and you are out there 30 weeks a year, and Alex Corretja is a hell of a tennis player, and he played pretty close to a perfect tennis match for the way he plays, his style of play. And he didn't give Pete any free points. He gave him no easy points, he is chasing balls into the first row, hitting passing shots. The guy is a hell of a tennis player and when you play at that level, regardless of whether you are playing Pete or Andre or any of these guys, you are capable of winning and Alex was right there and with a little misfortune and a couple of mind boggling things by Pete, he ended up not coming out on top.

PAUL ANNACONE: I just asked him how he felt; patted him on the back. I said, how do you feel. He said I feel a little better now. Then he sat there for a few minutes and, you know, the doctor was looking him over and stuff and I just said I am not really -- I don't really know what to say, but if I can get you anything, let me know. There are certain times where you shut your mouth and just kind of sit there and take it all in. I think that is one of them. What can you say? Whether he won or lost, what can you say? You can't really say anything. You know, it is his moment. It is his time and you just sit there and just be glad that you are able to take part in it in some way, shape or form.

PAUL ANNACONE: Yeah, you know, it is an emotionally draining match No. 1 and take -- like I said, taking into consideration what happened the last 18 months, you can multiply that by a pretty large number, and I think it is pretty tough last year. He got through a couple of Grand Slam victories without Timmy on the road, but helping us by phone calls and talking to me and he was still a part of everything, and now he is still a part of it. It is just in a spiritual way and looking down on us. It is nice -- it is really -- it is a nice thing to get through, but somehow we got to get ready and play again on Saturday.

PAUL ANNACONE: You know, I have known Pete since he was 17 and I have never -- the most impressive thing that I have seen from him is that I really don't have to worry about his professionalism. He never takes anybody for granted. He doesn't walk out on the court thinking it is going to be 2 and 2 and it is done with every single person he plays, he knows that he has got to play, and, you know, he knew this guy could play. Like I said, everybody that is in the tennis world, as we are 30 weeks a year on the road, knows that Alex Corretja can play. Whether they thought he could play at that level for five sets against Pete in that arena, no one really knew, but I think people should remember his name and remember how well he played in quite an incredible environment.

PAUL ANNACONE: You know, I just think at some point this kind of happened in Australia too. This happened at the French this year too. I think at some point you can take the tactics and kind of throw them out the window when it gets to a point where so much emotion is involved and you are physically exhausted and you both have been fighting tooth and nail; you are kind of dragging this and that. Sure, for me, sitting there strictly tennis going, geez, he should be taking the ball earlier; putting more pressure on the guy, but, you know, there is a few more things going on than that, and so as a coach, I don't think it is fair to sit there and critique. At that point it is about guts and it is about heart, and you hope that he hangs in and does well and more importantly to me, I just hope that he stays happy, healthy and continues to try to achieve his goals because they -- that is the most important thing to him, obviously, tennis, winning Grand Slams titles is great, but, to me, if he is happy and healthy and tried to chase those goals, that is most important.

PAUL ANNACONE: I am not sure -- you know, I think time kind of fades things, but I am not sure I have seen anything with that drama before. I said that after he played Courier at the Australian too, but I don't think I can -- I have seen something like that before.

PAUL ANNACONE: That is his call, but when you are in a tiebreaker and you can serve like Pete serves, then I didn't figure he was going to be coming off the court unless they had an ambulance and sledge hammer to knock him out.

PAUL ANNACONE: What can you say? I mean, special things happen to special people and champions can do stuff that we all only dream about. Some people are afraid of winning. Some people are afraid of losing. And most people doubt their talents. Very few people have the humility that he does, but knows when it is crunch time he can do special things and if he doesn't do them, he goes out doing what he does best and keeps his head up high.

PAUL ANNACONE: Vomitus maximus (audience laughter). No, I think he is exhausted. I don't know. I am not a doctor. I'd say physically and mentally exhausted.

PAUL ANNACONE: No. All his vital signs are good. He feels much better now than he did a half hour ago. I am sure in an hour with a little peace and quiet he will be feeling even better. We will see how he rebounds and see how he handles the next challenge.

PAUL ANNACONE: I don't know what is going on really. I just saw Todd in there stretching him. If he is stretching, that is a good sign.

PAUL ANNACONE: I wasn't really count -- I was all the way on the other side and I saw him bent over and I wasn't sure what was going on then I saw him vomit. I didn't count.

PAUL ANNACONE: He came in to change. His pants were soak and wet. He came to change his clothes twice, I think, and if you tend to sweat that much you get a little bit heavy after a while.

PAUL ANNACONE: I guest if he lost I probably would have said that. I don't know, I think you have got to feel as good as you can feel at every point in the match; that is a critical match, and if you are concerned about the rhythm or superstitious or you have some doubts, then you go with the status quo. If you feel like you have enough ability and you are confident in what you could, then you do whatever you can to do at your best; especially at the big times in matches.

PAUL ANNACONE: I think tennis is a bizarre sport. It is an individual sport where our whole lives we are brought up to be the best tennis players we can be. Unfortunately, most of us aren't brought up to realize that we are in the entertainment business as well; we are going to have to handle you guys and many other people. We are taught to win tennis matches. A lot of people forget that Pete, Andre, Michael, Boris and all these other people hit super stardom when they are 17, 18. They don't understand it is sometimes difficult for them to handle all of this. But in terms of a tennis community, I think that, you know, there is some gentlemen out there and people that aren't gentlemen as well. Pete is a gentleman. Stefan is a gentleman. There is a lot of different groups of athletes, as there are in every other sport, so I think that like all the other sports, there is a good balance of people that you want to spend time with and people that you don't.

PAUL ANNACONE: I mean, I am not even worried about it. It is what is out of my control. I think that if he -- I mean, knowing Pete, I would say he will be ready to play on Saturday. But, you know, we will see what happens. If he is not, he is not. Life goes on. But I think tell be here.