U.S. OPEN

August 29, 1996

Leander Paes

LEANDER PAES: How you all doing?

LEANDER PAES: Tired.

LEANDER PAES: I think the first thing I realized is you can't take on -- at least my style of playing, I can't take on Andre too much from the back of the court. I felt if I caught his ball early before it kicked, I could pressurize him a lot. I was doing that. It was working really well in the beginning. Somewhere around 4-Love, after that long game, I lost the rhythm on my serve. My first serve percentage started going down after that. I wasn't able to come to the net as much. I was coming in after softer balls rather than a serve. I think I lost a little concentration there, a little focus with what I wanted to do. That really hurt me bad today. Give him one chance, he's going to come back, and that's exactly what he did today.

LEANDER PAES: Confidence-wise, I was up two breaks. I was feeling pretty comfortable. I think the main thing that hurt me -- we played about a 10 or 12-minute game, I lost the rhythm on my serve. I came back and tried to loosen my arm up. I was going for too much on my serve. What was working well against Andre is I was cutting his angles off. I changed my game plan and started going for the line a bit more. I got hurt from it.

LEANDER PAES: I've played quite a few matches with a big crowd. My junior career there were crowds, Davis Cup I played especially with big crowds, for me and against me. I love the New York crowd because they really get into the match. At one point there in the beginning of the first set when it was a quick rally at the net, it was a lot of fun. The crowd gets into it, and I like that.

LEANDER PAES: To be honest with you, I just -- I'm not used to something like that. I've done well in the juniors. I'm used to a crowd coming out. I'm not used to crowds like this. When I went back home, we have four thousand people in New Delhi. Things have been going very fast. I just kept my head down, concentrated on work hard. That's what's got me there. As long as I keep working hard, you're going to see some good tennis in the next couple years from me.

LEANDER PAES: Good question, Bud. I think I need to get there first to answer your question.

LEANDER PAES: Yeah, I remember that backhand volley, too. I missed the same thing against him at the Olympics. I went for too much, let it slide, six inches wide. I think it's more mental, up there (indicating). Even though I missed that backhand volley for 5-Love, I was up for two breaks. When you're up two breaks, you need to come out ready and do what's making you win. I think I lost the focus there, right throughout that second set. After that, I just couldn't get it back, as much as I was trying. I was trying to slow it down, pick it up, all sorts of different strategies. I was trying to come off of some chip returns. I just wasn't getting my first serve percentage up. That really killed me.

LEANDER PAES: Well, basically what happened, I was on my forehand, just the way we play, I grunt. Andre does it himself. Monica is an example, a lot of players. As far as I'm concerned on certain forehands that are short and I hit big, I like to breathe out and I grunt. I guess to make sure of the whole thing, he didn't expect to lose the first set, things were getting out of his control. He kind of told the supervisor to ask me to keep quiet.

LEANDER PAES: It's not for me to judge, Bud. He's a comrade of mine. I hold him in high regard. He's a friend of mine. Again, it's something that's there. He's been pulled up for it quite a few times. He got defaulted because of his behavior I think two weeks ago. As far as I'm concerned, he's a friend of mine. I just go and do whatever it takes. If I have to grunt more, I grunt more. If I have to cry, I cry. If I scream, I scream. Whatever it takes for me to do out there, I'm doing it within the rules. As long as I'm being honest, I'm not trying to break his concentration or play with his mind, which I wasn't trying to do. I just keep doing whatever I need to do.

LEANDER PAES: Yeah, it's the same. I'm not even thinking about it. Just certain shots I like to smack, or certain times on a first serve I grunt a little bit.

LEANDER PAES: We're getting into very technical questions also. Again, on the same time, you don't know what his reasons are. He's he; he's a champion. At the same time he complained about it, so I'm not the one to answer that question.

LEANDER PAES: No. It got me fired up a bit. Should have done it at 4-Love once more.

LEANDER PAES: That whole second set after I was up 4-Love, I was missing volleys, missing close points that I was normally winning in the beginning of the match. At 4-3 I missed a bad forehand volley, missed a floating return. I then missed a backhand volley. I was getting edgy, trying to say, "Calm down, relax. Go back to your game plan." Some people call that the zone, some people call the level of tennis that you can sustain for a certain period of time. The match is going to go up and down. You have to go with it and hopefully have more ups than downs or stay at a high plateau. I was trying to look for that, trying to get a second wind to pick myself up again and get excited again. I didn't have time today.

LEANDER PAES: Sorry?

LEANDER PAES: I definitely had a peak, definitely at a peak. I was playing a high quality of tennis. I think with my strategy, I lost a little focus there, lost getting more first serves in.

LEANDER PAES: As far as I'm concerned, with my style of playing, I just try and relax. I just try and get in rhythm with the ball. Eventually, no matter what you're playing, you're playing with the ball. I try and make that ball a friend of mine, get good rhythm, good position. I felt I lost a little rhythm there. I was trying to get back into the rhythm really.

LEANDER PAES: I think a bit of everything. I'm encouraged again as I played a great first set, first set and four games. I just didn't close it out. What's getting at me is that's normally my strength, to finish the match. When the match gets tight, I'm generally good at it. The twice I've played Andre now, Atlanta, the beginning of the first set, got close and I didn't put it away. Here I was much closer than Atlanta. Up a set and 4-Love, two breaks, couldn't put it away again. Next time maybe in the third set, fourth time I'll get him hopefully (laughter).

LEANDER PAES: That everybody's human. He's a champion, but beatable, too. I think the biggest thing that I've learned from playing the challengers and playing the satellites, coming up, working my ranking up, is the fact that when you play these guys, they're great, and that's why he beat me badly today in the third and fourth set, but he's human, too. If I work hard, I can be as great if I keep going on and try hard.

LEANDER PAES: I have a hundred points to defend from Aruba. This match was worth a hundred points. You don't really think of stuff like that. You think of what you need to do to beat your opponent, what you need to do to win really. That is just keep going in my mind. I was trying different strategies, stay back, come in off the first ball, second ball, my serve. You try different things to get to your opponent.

LEANDER PAES: The Olympics is the Olympics. For a match that I won the bronze medal, nothing can compete with that. I lost right now, so I can't really say anything about it. Each incident is special in its own way. You remember that incident for that moment in time.

LEANDER PAES: Not really. I mean, I've played -- I played great tennis the first set and a half, but I've played some better matches. I've played matches that I've been able to sustain it for a long period of time, even though it's been a best of three set match. When I lost the second set, I've come back in the third and played even better. The first set and a half was great.

LEANDER PAES: Well, no expectations. I'll just keep working hard. I need to go back today and recover from this match, keep working hard. I've been training hard in the gym, with my running and tennis. That's something I need to concentrate on. Everything else happens. As long as you train hard and keep your head down to what got you here, the rest falls into place: matches, crowds, publicity.

LEANDER PAES: International circuit?

LEANDER PAES: I started playing tennis when I was five. I played every single sport: Soccer, hockey, field hockey, cricket, basketball, tennis, rugby, almost every sport. I had to choose when I was eight years old which one I wanted to go into. I'm more talented at soccer than I am at tennis, but I have more fun with tennis. I really enjoy being on the court with my opponent, whether it's Andre, anyone on the challenger circuit, I have a lot of fun on the court. That's the main reason I do this as my profession.

LEANDER PAES: We have to see. No point in talking about it. I've got to prove it.

LEANDER PAES: I think the biggest thing that one has to do is stay calm and stay relaxed. I do that with my breathing. I concentrate on staying relaxed, keeping it up for a long period of time. The talent is there, but my real task is to sustain it for a longer period of time. Today I just couldn't after a while. I just lost it, clicked off. The fifth game in the second was big. Next time, hopefully, I'll just relax and keep it going, hopefully carry that the whole match through.

LEANDER PAES: I don't remember right now exactly. Something about, "That was a scare." Something on that term.

LEANDER PAES: Not really. We've had a good rapport for the last couple of weeks. I've known him for a while before, but never really played him, so never really have been as close as friends really. Even Atlanta, after we finished playing, shook hands, gave each other a hug. To me he's a nice guy, he's relaxed. He's a competitor on the court. That goes for all of us. We won't give an inch. It just shows why he's a champion, why he won that match today, because he is a competitor. Down two breaks in the second set, down a set, and he still fights. To me, that's something you respect; that's not something you disrespect or shun. He's a friend to me, so.

LEANDER PAES: My dad is a doctor, medical doctor, but he played field hockey for India in the '72 Olympics. My mom is a secretary at ICI, international company. She used to play basketball for India.