US OPEN

August 29, 2000

Wayne Arthurs

MODERATOR: Questions for Wayne.

WAYNE ARTHURS: Yeah, pretty good. No complaints (laughter).

WAYNE ARTHURS: That's the unfortunate thing. That's maybe why I'm not so hyped up about it. It would have been 100 bonus points out there.

WAYNE ARTHURS: I struggled in the first set to actually -- the depth of the court, I couldn't quite get it in the first set. People are sitting down low. When you're back on the outside courts, you have the fence up there. That took me a little bit of time to get used to that. After that, I got into a pretty good rhythm.

WAYNE ARTHURS: Yeah, it certainly helps. It helps me get in closer to the net. I also -- I can move the ball around a little bit further on him. Once he returns it low or something, this far away (indicating). It helps a lot actually.

WAYNE ARTHURS: There's a few big points actually. I think it was in the fourth set where I was down a few breakpoints. I served -- actually I took some pace off the second serve and served it slower to him. He was actually reaching for it.

WAYNE ARTHURS: I've always played well here actually. I played Corretja here last year and had a pretty good win. The surface actually suits my game very well.

WAYNE ARTHURS: I think I did that pretty well today actually. I think that's because the bonus points weren't there.

WAYNE ARTHURS: Yeah, I think it is. I think you'll find a lot of guys, when you're playing someone like that, there's a lot of points up for grabs where there was bonus points, there was 130 points right there if I won that match with the old system. With this system it's like beating - not that it was - but it's like beating any other player in the draw. Takes a little bit of pressure off.

WAYNE ARTHURS: No. But it would have been nice to be rewarded in some way when you've beaten the No. 2 guy in the world.

WAYNE ARTHURS: Davis Cup is still up there against Kafelnikov. This would come in pretty close, second, with Corretja here last year actually.

WAYNE ARTHURS: No, that's right. I don't think John Newcombe even knew me.

WAYNE ARTHURS: It certainly is. Now I go home, people see what I've achieved in the last year or so, it's nice to get that feeling. You walk in somewhere, someone says "Hello," actually knows who you are after ten years of grinding.

WAYNE ARTHURS: Probably more a mental thing than anything else. Also I had about four years where I didn't really play singles at all. I concentrated on my doubles. That was probably a mistake by me. The last three years or so, I've had a coach with me, who's actually not here at the moment, but he's helped me a lot in the last three years just to focus on more things, the positive things in my game, which is my serve.

WAYNE ARTHURS: I actually needed to go back to Wrexham. After Wimbledon, I lost all my points. I was like 155 in the world. I needed to go and get some matches under my belt. I won that tournament, then I came over to Washington and played pretty well in Washington, actually had breakpoints in the third against Corretja in the third in the quarterfinals. That could have been another stepping stone.

WAYNE ARTHURS: My ranking was still good enough to get into Washington, so I didn't have to play qualifying here.

WAYNE ARTHURS: That's right.

WAYNE ARTHURS: That's right.

WAYNE ARTHURS: No. My ranking, because of the six weeks, you have to enter six weeks before, my ranking was still enough for Washington.

WAYNE ARTHURS: Not at all, no. I had a pretty decent season last year, as well. I think I made more last year than I have this year.

WAYNE ARTHURS: I had two match points at 6-5. He served a great serve on the first one. I couldn't do anything about it. Then the second one, had a bit of a dispute after the linesman didn't actually see it, but actually a fair way out (indicating). I went for the second one. Coming into the tiebreaker, I knew I'd been serving well, hopefully my nerve would keep up. It did. I played a pretty good tiebreaker actually.

WAYNE ARTHURS: I played average in the first match. I played a good second match against Nargiso. That was the match where I knew I would get in the main draw. That was the one where I focused on the most because I'd be a lucky loser anyway if I lost the last round. The last round of quallies, going through the motions a little bit.

WAYNE ARTHURS: Yeah. I always liked the courts here. Hopefully they never slow it down.

WAYNE ARTHURS: Not really. I mean, it's always difficult to qualify here. I play a lot better when I've been playing a lot of matches. The three matches in Washington, also the Wrexham challenger, I had five matches there, also three in qualifying. I tend to play a lot better when I've been playing a lot of matches. Qualifying certainly helped.

WAYNE ARTHURS: I knew what I had to do. I mean, I watched Gustavo a lot. I saw him playing against Henman. I knew basically what I needed to do. Also I've been talking to my coach on the phone, as well. He gave me a few tips, as well. Not much different, although he's not here.

WAYNE ARTHURS: Brent Larkham.

WAYNE ARTHURS: Back in Canberra, with his brother at the moment who had some shoulder problems. He's back playing.

WAYNE ARTHURS: When I play these guys, especially generally claycourters like Corretja, they stand a long way back on my serve. It helps me a lot to get a lot of first serves in. Also I like the style that they play. I mean, Gustavo has a pretty good first serve, but his second serve lets me come in a little bit on it, whereas someone who is serving big on both serves, it's a little bit more difficult to get into the point. I match up pretty good against quite a few of these guys.

WAYNE ARTHURS: Intimidated?

WAYNE ARTHURS: I hope he was (laughter). Yeah, he looked a little bit dejected when he's not getting into every point, he's not playing every point. That's a positive for me, I suppose.

WAYNE ARTHURS: Great place.

WAYNE ARTHURS: It's in North Wales, west of Manchester.

WAYNE ARTHURS: It's two together. It's actually not a centre court.

WAYNE ARTHURS: I actually live in Pinner, P-i-n-n-e-r.

WAYNE ARTHURS: Sometimes at Bushey, also down at Queen's, as well.

WAYNE ARTHURS: Yeah, they're hard courts, outdoor hard courts.

WAYNE ARTHURS: No, it didn't actually. Had a couple of rainy mornings, but didn't actually prevent us.

WAYNE ARTHURS: Svarc

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