TMS - STUTTGART

November 1, 2000

Magnus Norman

MODERATOR: Questions for Magnus.

MAGNUS NORMAN: You can never know, never expect what's going to happen. I got through the first round on Wednesday evening, got a walkover already, I'm in the third round already. But it's nice. I like it here in Stuttgart. I have a title here in Weissenhof like last year. I have good memories from here. I like the city. It's nice to get some practice in. I would have liked to play a match today, but it's better to have a rest, better to rest than to play. It's a sad way, of course, to do it. Marc had a fever, I think. He came up to me like a couple of hours ago. Obviously he's disappointed. At the same time, I'm looking forward to tomorrow. Just been practicing a little bit. I'm feeling very motivated again to play well. I'm looking forward to tomorrow.

MAGNUS NORMAN: I did, yeah. Especially after the Olympics. I went straight from the US Open to the Olympics. I was very, very tired. I had no motivation, and the body was aching all the way through. I took a week, a good ten days off from everything. I went to Vienna to get some practice and to play a match. Then in Shanghai I felt like my motivation was back again. I feel fresh again. I feel ready. I had some big goals still to achieve this year.

MAGNUS NORMAN: One was getting to The Masters. That's obviously the case today. It's been confirmed. But obviously I'm looking -- I'm perhaps No. 3 in the world now in the race. It can only get better from here. You know, Sampras has pulled out from Paris, as well. I know I have a good chance. But indoors, it's not really my surface. I have to play very good to be able to be on top of the race at the end of the season. I feel like no one is really taking me as the favorite, either for Stuttgart, Paris, or Lisbon. It's very nice. I'm No. 3 in the Champions Race. Nobody really thinks I'm going to play very well indoors. I'm very motivated to show everybody that I can even play indoors.

MAGNUS NORMAN: It's very tough. What can you do? I was here at 10:00 practicing this morning with Thomas Enqvist. Then I went back to the hotel, had lunch. I was walking around a little bit in the city, preparing for the match. I was really pumped when I came here. Then all of a sudden, you know, all the motivation is gone. You have to go practice. I was practicing pretty hard here for one hour just to get the frustration out of the body.

MAGNUS NORMAN: Absolutely, my game is 110% there. I'm ready.