US OPEN

August 27, 2002

Wayne Arthurs

WAYNE ARTHURS: Nothing. I don't really know what I can take from that match, actually. Really didn't put enough pressure on him in the first couple sets. I played two bad tiebreakers. He probably let me in a little bit in the third set. I got back into it. I thought I was maybe a little bit on top after that. Then he played an unbelievable game in that last game to break me. I don't know, just gonna have to do something about returning better, I think. Obviously, my service games are pretty much up there, but my service returns are just letting me down.

WAYNE ARTHURS: No idea. Probably. Could have been. It's pretty standard for me, though, over five sets. And, again, I just obviously don't put enough pressure on the guys, if I just make a return back in the middle of the court. His ground strokes are too good just to do that. Just, I don't know. See a bit of the bogey man, lost to him three times. Just would have been nice to get a little better draw here, the way I've been playing. Just would have been nice sort of just to ease into it a little bit. But that's the way it goes.

WAYNE ARTHURS: I was a little disappointed with the way it came out. I just seem to attract Top 16 players here. I've played them the last - I don't know - four out of five years, I think I've played a Top 16 player. It was, as I say, a little disappointing to get such a tough draw in the first round.

WAYNE ARTHURS: I got to play doubles still here and then back for Davis Cup back in Australia. Back in Adelaide.

WAYNE ARTHURS: I only heard -- I came into the locker room, didn't even know what happened to him. I haven't seen it on tape or anything, so people are saying that it looked pretty bad on the video. But I don't know. We'll have to wait and see with that one, I think.

WAYNE ARTHURS: He has had a rough run, yeah. I don't know if it was the same knee -- was it a knee or ankle? I don't know what it was.

WAYNE ARTHURS: Looks pretty bad? Didn't look good...?

WAYNE ARTHURS: Did he?

WAYNE ARTHURS: Pretty unfortunate. The guy's got so much talent, could have gone a long way here.

WAYNE ARTHURS: I think we still got a very, very good chance to win it, win that tie. If I play, say, singles, I give myself a very good chance to beat whoever I'm playing in that singles tie. It's a setback, but I don't think it's going to matter too much, I don't think.

WAYNE ARTHURS: I always look forward to Davis Cup. It's part of my calendar now. I make myself available for every tie and enjoy it every time I've been there. So, I'm very much looking forward to it, going home as well. I haven't been home for I don't know how long now, so that will be good as well.

WAYNE ARTHURS: Obviously, there, it's Pat's worst surface. So, it's a little different. Pat's arm was not 100 percent also in that match. But Juan Carlos puts a lot of pressure on you, is hitting the ball very hard from the baseline. It's very difficult for me to come up to the net and play my game. That's the main reason. Pat's coming in, I like to return at a target a little bit more. Juan Carlos is not doing that, not letting me -- he's dictating every point from the back. It's very difficult for me to play such a guy that's doing that.

WAYNE ARTHURS: Pretty ugly, isn't it (laughing). Don't know what he's done to that. Trying to come out blond, and it's gone an ugly yellow (smiling).

WAYNE ARTHURS: I'm 31 (smiling). I haven't got too many ideas up my sleeve anymore. I got to go with what I got at this stage.

WAYNE ARTHURS: I heard that comment quite a lot, yeah. If you look at the ace count, I'm leading that by 120. That's probably a pretty good reason why he says that.

WAYNE ARTHURS: It is, actually. I'm very disappointed. Particularly with the way I've been playing, hitting the ball the last three, four weeks. Yeah, just a point in that first-set tiebreak where I could have gone up 4-1, I think, and I lost that ball right in the lights. Pretty low, those lights. Bit of a distraction. Plenty more tournaments, six more tournaments, seven more tournaments this year. Hopefully, I can end up inside the Top 40 by the end of the year.

WAYNE ARTHURS: Yeah, I was actually. I served pretty well, I think. I don't know what my first serve percentage was, but to serve 36 aces against a guy like that is always pleasing. Got to get the other side of my game up somehow.

WAYNE ARTHURS: Ten days beforehand, yeah.

WAYNE ARTHURS: I go back to Asia for two weeks and back to Europe after that for the last four of the year.

WAYNE ARTHURS: Then back to Australia for three months. It's gonna be very nice.