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TMS - THE ERICSSON OPEN

March 24, 2001

David Prinosil

MIAMI, FLORIDA

THE MODERATOR: First question, please.

Q. A truly fantastic display of service returning out there today. Did you just have some sort of groove you couldn't get out of today?

DAVID PRINOSIL: I mean, we played a few times against each other and was always tight matches. And I knew what he's gonna do against me. Last time, it was I knew that he's gonna be -- kick it to my forehand a lot because usually I don't like it. But today, I mean, I came out and was returning unbelievable. I think he didn't know what to do. And I mean, I know if I can return very well, what I did today, I can beat him. And that's why I won today, because I was returning unbelievable.

Q. Have you ever in your life returned this well against a player this strong?

DAVID PRINOSIL: Yeah, I mean, of course maybe not like today. But it's actually my -- I know that I can return well. That's my game. Even if I lose my serve, I can still break the guys because of my return. Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's not good. Today was good.

Q. He said you're a player that has great hot streaks. You've got a good ranking at the moment. Do you feel as though even after ten years on the Tour you probably could be playing as well as you've ever played?

DAVID PRINOSIL: That's right. I had my best season last year and I'm improving all the time. And you can see on Andre Agassi, I mean he's playing 30, 31, is playing his best tennis. I mean, I'm 28 now, and I think I had the same as Greg last year, I had a lot of injuries also in the beginning.

Q. Same hospital?

DAVID PRINOSIL: We were in the same hospital, same operation, same city in Munich. So I was coming unbelievable the next half year after last year, and I didn't -- I had some tough, tough matches here the month before. I mean, I played last week Sampras, then I played twice first round against Safin, so it's not so easy. I didn't have so many matches. I just went two rounds in the Australian Open. But it feels fine to win some matches and my ranking's 30 at the moment and I hope I can go higher and higher.

Q. David, you say you've had very tough draws this year, and Agassi as well. Must have gotten to a point where the draw would come out and you would look at it and say, "How do I keep drawing these guys every time, first round, second round?"

DAVID PRINOSIL: You have to keep going, keep going, keep going. Everybody, it's tough. I mean, I was little bit lucky that I was seeded here so I didn't play first round against -- second round against Agassi or somebody else. Still, Greg is not seeded but was very tough, tough opponent in the second round for sure. You just have to keep playing. Some days, I mean, there's no easy opponents. Of course it's little bit better to play some other guy than Agassi the first round. But you have to keep going and keep going and some day you will win, you will beat someone.

Q. How about the current rivalry, as it were, in the German Davis Cup side? I mean, you've got Kiefer back now and obviously Tommy Haas, too, but if you keep playing the way you're playing, would you hope to get a singles, one of the singles berths in the next round?

DAVID PRINOSIL: Honestly, I'm not thinking about it now. Everybody playing in a tournament and I just concentrate on this game. Of course, I mean, Nicolas wasn't seeded. Second round, lost to Sampras. That's a tough draw also for him. I mean, we got to see. If I play well here, and if I still be in the tournament next week, or the week after in the Davis Cup preparation, maybe I can play singles of course.

Q. When you were in the hospital in Munich with Greg, you had a similar operation but you didn't have the same surgeon. Is that right?

DAVID PRINOSIL: No, no. Different one.

Q. Not the same surgeon. Different one?

DAVID PRINOSIL: I had two days before Greg and I saw him two days later.

Q. You were chatting to each other, obviously?

DAVID PRINOSIL: Yeah. We had rehabilitation. It was in the same place in Germany. So we spend month together.

Q. You still like him? (Laughter.)

DAVID PRINOSIL: He was talking a lot. But... (Laughing.) No, we understood each other very well. I mean, he came after the match to me and said, "Good luck for the next round and keep playing like this," so we like each other.

Q. Speaking of good luck, late in the second set, the double let cord point, you hit the let cord leaving him a fairly easy shot. He hits the let cord and gives you a sitter to put away. Was that just the way the day was going for you?

DAVID PRINOSIL: That's right. If everything is going right, also lucky shots are going for you. You have to have luck a little bit. Everybody has luck, was a little bit lucky for me. But I think I had the whole match actually under control. Even if I had a break 2-0 and I lost my serve, I had him always under pressure on his serve. He knew that he has to serve pretty big to win his serves.

Q. Did you notice him every time you hit some unbelievable service return off a 130-mile an hour serve, he would begin looking up at Pat Cash in the box like, "Somebody help me."

DAVID PRINOSIL: Yeah, everybody's doing that. I wasn't looking at him. I was just concentrating on my game and I was looking at my coach.

Q. You didn't play here for many years. Today you get your first win ever at Key Biscayne. Why didn't you come here all those years?

DAVID PRINOSIL: I played here four times, I lost four times first round.

Q. But then '93?

DAVID PRINOSIL: Actually, you know what happen, I play here first year, was unbelievably windy, it was after hurricane. I said I'm not gonna come here anymore. But I came again because every year is the weather is changing. But was actually always pretty windy. I don't like wind so much. So I was playing the tournaments actually in Europe a lot of times, and -- but now I'm the fifth time here so it's nice to be in the third round.

Q. You changed your mind about Key Biscayne?

DAVID PRINOSIL: Ask me maybe after finals. (Laughter.)

End of FastScripts....

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