TENNIS MASTERS CUP

November 10, 2003

Mark Knowles

Daniel Nestor

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor, please.

MARK KNOWLES: Yeah, that was a little easier on the nerves.

MARK KNOWLES: Yeah, I think we can play better. No, I mean, obviously, every day you can play better. Obviously, that was one of the best matches we've played, you know, from first ball hit to the last ball hit. You know, we played a really good, solid match from all aspects of the game.

MARK KNOWLES: Yeah.

MARK KNOWLES: I was fortunate. I got a little bit kind of dull there at 3-1 on Dan's serve. I missed one or two balls I wouldn't normally miss on his serve. He bailed us out of that game, which is great. I felt like I had to do something to kind of give it back to him. I was fortunate to make two great reflexes, and obviously that was kind of the last nail in the coffin for those guys.

MARK KNOWLES: Yeah, actually, I do. Actually, Dan, he always wants me to stand at the net and he wants to just hit balls at my face, so (smiling)... I've actually had a lot of practice with that.

DANIEL NESTOR: Just tried to stay relaxed. Obviously, when you get in that situation, you don't want to start thinking about, "You're in trouble." You got to do it one point at a time, and that's what I did. I didn't think about, "What happens if we lose the game?" I just thought about one point at a time, stayed aggressive. I think I always serve a lot better if I'm going for my serves rather than playing it safe. I just went for it - not just for an ace, but being aggressive with my wrist and snapping on my serve and hitting it, not just guiding it.

MARK KNOWLES: Obviously, it's easier to play when you're ahead. I guess that's true most times that we've played them, we've gotten off to a really good start and we've been able to stay consistent throughout the match and really execute, you know, all aspects of the game. I think that showed a lot today. We stayed solid, you know, with every aspect of the game and didn't really give them another chance to get back in.

DANIEL NESTOR: Well, you know, I don't think we've officially qualified for the semifinals, so it doesn't really mean that much. We're playing, next match, a team that needs to win, so we have to stay on top of our games and, you know, focus. We're in a situation now where if we lose, we could be finished. So from here on in, every match is a must-win match now. Obviously, you know, getting through yesterday's match is a confidence-booster. It carried over to today. But I don't think any other match this week is going to be this easy, so...

DANIEL NESTOR: Yeah.

DANIEL NESTOR: We beat them in Paris. It always helps when you get off to a quick start, break serve early; that's what we did. We just have to play solid like we're playing and not give them any opportunities. Once we get ahead, we got to stay ahead and really bear down on serve, and no loose errors. I think that's something that's going to have to hold up for the rest of the tournament.