NEWSWEEK CHAMPIONS CUP

March 11, 1999

Marcelo Rios

MIKI SINGH: First question for Marcelo.

MARCELO RIOS: I think I played not that bad after being four months without playing a tough match. I beat myself there, I think. I didn't do anything spectacular, and I missed too much. I think I lose the match by myself. I should have won that thing easy, in two sets. I think that's the thing, I've been not playing a long time. My back was a little bit tired, but no pain. That's the way it goes. Really disappointed for losing the match. I think I should have won 6-4, 6-3.

MARCELO RIOS: I think I can play good maybe for a set, but then I start getting a little bit tired, my back start like pull me down a little bit. Like I say, I think if I was serving better, I think I shouldn't have any problem to beat him in two sets.

MARCELO RIOS: For sure, I was thinking about it. In the third set when you can't even like push for your serve, you get a little bit worried about it. But I was feeling good before the match. Even if I was injured, I knew if I play a little bit good, I was going to win the match. That's the way it goes. Now I got to get a little bit tougher and try to work out a little more.

MARCELO RIOS: He serve good, he play good. All these big guys, if they serve good, they play good. If they serve bad, they don't have the baseline game to rally and play long points. They just go for it. I think he played pretty good.

MARCELO RIOS: Maybe, I don't know. I think like running too much, my back's not used to run that much. It get a little bit tired. Maybe if I break him in that 3-All, 3-2 for me, the story will be different. But that's the way it went. Now I have to practice a little bit harder.

MARCELO RIOS: Yeah, for sure. Not playing a long time, you like to play. Maybe the first ones are tough when you don't know what to do. You're in the court without knowing where to hit the ball. You didn't play. A ball come pass, you not used to play three sets, something like that. But I want to play. More than play, I want to win matches.

MARCELO RIOS: I'm going to Bradenton first.

MARCELO RIOS: I think mental I'm pretty calm. Maybe physically I get a little bit tired, like I said. But I think it goes all together at the end. If you playing good, you're mentally good. If you feel good physically, you feel bad, you go down in both.

MARCELO RIOS: What do you mean "the company"?

MARCELO RIOS: First of all, I'm not going to have a coach because we friends. That's not the way it's go. We play tournaments, I need a coach. I don't do it because he's a friend, something like that. We haven't worked that much yet. I just started playing. I was two months off. We didn't practice that much. We started right now.

MARCELO RIOS: I'm not looking like that. I just trying to play. I'm happy that I'm back on the Tour. I'm not caring about the points. If I was Top 10 for a couple of years or No. 1, I think I can do it again. Right now, I got to play matches, like I said. I have to go try to play matches, the ranking will come back.

MARCELO RIOS: I don't know. I didn't even know there was a new stadium.