RCA TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS

August 13, 1996

Richey Reneberg

RICHEY RENEBERG: Well, he has been playing very well and he made a lot of errors today. I think the conditions here are a lot different than they were last week. They were using different balls. I think they were a lot lighter and I think it makes a big difference. I mean, you really have to change your game a little bit and, you know, I felt overall, I played well. I thought I hit the ball real well. I think in these conditions, where the balls are little lighter, it is important to serve well. And I thought I served pretty well today and I think he got kind of frustrated. It was a little windy out there. One of those days for him. He didn't play well, and I had felt like I played pretty solidly.

RICHEY RENEBERG: I feel pretty healthy now. I have been struggling a little bit all year, probably with my stomach. I think that is kind of related to what happened today me in Atlanta at the Olympics. I, for the most part, feel pretty healthy. I think it is just one of those things I will probably have to play with, play through, at least for a while, and -- but overall, today I felt great. I mean, I felt like everything felt pretty good. The only trouble I have sometimes in my stomach affects my movement, but today I felt I moved real well, and yeah, it is obviously nice to win a match. I haven't done played a lot of matches in singles lately, and because I was hurt at the Olympics, so it is nice to win a match and hopefully you can get on a roll, if I can.

RICHEY RENEBERG: Well, I mean, I just think at certain times you gain some confidence and for -- I was over there in Europe and I was playing very well in the grass and I just basically kind of went from match to match and I felt my confidence kind of grew each match and -- but basically I think back since around the Lipton tournament, I have been playing a lot better. I started using a different racket, so I think that has helped me a little bit. It is a little stiffer; allows me to swing a little bit harder with the ball and still allows me to have some control. I feel like really since Lipton I have been playing very well, and it seems like every time I play well -- when the results are good, it is because I am being aggressive. A lot of times I get in trouble because I get a little passive. That is what I tried to do today. I tried to be aggressive even when I was ahead. Being aggressive means you have to take a little more risk. You might make more errors, but I think overall, I play better. That is one thing I did real well in Tokyo this year. I got to the Finals there. It is something I do well and when I do well, my results seem to be very good.

RICHEY RENEBERG: Yeah, that win obviously helped me a lot. I mean, he is someone I had never beaten before that and I think the whole week I kind of got better and better there in Tokyo and I was being aggressive and, you know, it was working. There are times, though, when you kind of back off; you miss a couple of shots; you kind of back off, but I think if I continue to play that way and play aggressively, I think my results will be better than if I stay back a little more and try to counterpunch. It is getting harder and harder to do that these days. Everybody hits the ball so hard and you really kind have to find ways to win points and I don't win lots of points on my serve, so I have to find other ways to win points. That is one of the ways to, come into the net trying to put pressure on guys; that is one of the ways I have to do it.

RICHEY RENEBERG: Yeah, I'd say so. Back really since 1990 I have had pretty consistent success and -- but this year it was more unexpected than anything else. I am 30 now and so you start getting little older, thinking -- for tennis players that is older -- it is like you start thinking that, you know, I started the year; I was wondering if I was going to even make it through this year and then I started playing some of my best tennis, I think, of my career. And so I was somewhat surprised. I think that is why it has been such a good year for me because I feel like it was kind of unexpected and now my confidence is at a pretty high level and I like to hopefully maintain that through the end of the year and you know, try to start off next year doing well; try to keep this level of play going as long as I can.

RICHEY RENEBERG: Yeah, I always play well here and this is one of my favorite tournaments. I think it is obviously a lot of players' favorite tournament and it is always nice to come back here. Seems like it is -- funny, every year I never do well in Cincinnati and I always come here and do pretty well. But, you know, the fact that I have done well here in the past doesn't necessarily mean that I am always going to do well. You kind -- I kind of have to forget it, but I do keep it in the back of my mind that I played well here and the crowd has always been very supportive of me. It is just a nice environment. It is a tournament I played first time I turned pro. Always had very good memories. So I do seem to play some of my best tennis here.

RICHEY RENEBERG: That is right. It is nice, but at the same time time, it can be sort of a hinderance, I think because it is nice to for guys to play a first round. That was my first match today and he won one yesterday. Sometimes, like you say, I have been in the opposite position a few times and sometimes it is kind of nice to go out there and knowing you already won a match; you are used to the courts and everything, so, it is nice to have a first-round bye, but it is not necessarily -- doesn't help you when you step there out on the court.