TMS - FORO ITALICO

May 14, 2000

Magnus Norman

Q. What is the secret of your victory?

MAGNUS NORMAN: I don't know, hard work I guess, you know. As you saw today, you know, the match was very tough and I think the third set today was very crucial. There was a lot of breaks in the beginning of the third set and I was a little bit lucky to be able to win the third. I think that won the match for me.

MAGNUS NORMAN: I don't know. I think both of us were getting a little bit tired, actually, because of the heat and there was long rallies in the second set. I don't know really why, but as you said, I served unbelievable in the first five games. I came out and I was hitting the ball very clean and I thought, "This is going to be a pretty easy afternoon for me." But things got a little bit difficult in the second set. So...

MAGNUS NORMAN: I think Italy's a great sports country. Everybody's very interested in sports, and whenever you turn on the television there's always a soccer match or a tennis match or there's racing or whatever. And, I mean, the atmosphere to play here in Italy is just great, even though the crowd was on Guga's side, it's just great to be part of such an event. It was the same in '98 when we played the Davis Cup final. Even though the crowd was obviously on the Italy side, it was like huge, you know, one of my best memories ever.

MAGNUS NORMAN: Absolutely, Bud. (Laughter.) Actually, I wanted to check out the score. As you heard, Lazio is my team, and they have a Swedish coach. That's why. And, yeah, absolutely.

MAGNUS NORMAN: No, it didn't. No, absolutely not. The thing that bothered me a little bit at the beginning was all these damn helicopters flying around, but they seemed to disappear after a while.

MAGNUS NORMAN: It was I guess Fabrice Santoro in Wimbledon last year.

MAGNUS NORMAN: I don't know why. The coach and I have talked about it, and even though I won the title early like last year in Orlando, I didn't play my best tennis and I felt like on Tour in Wimbledon, everything clicked. Even though I lost to Rusedski in the next round, I felt like the new Magnus Norman, you know. Ever since, I've been playing superbly, I've been really satisfied.

MAGNUS NORMAN: Today I can speak a little bit higher about No. 1 because I won a Masters Series and that's something that everybody likes to do, and, you know, I don't want to say I'm No. 1 in the world. I'm leading the race and that's something that I never would have dreamed about after four or five months, you know. So I'm obviously very proud about that.

MAGNUS NORMAN: No, because of my game. My coach and I were working up to Wimbledon very hard on me being aggressive, you know, taking the ball early, you know. I was doing that in practice but never in the match. Even though I won a lot, I felt like, you know, there was something missing. And all of a sudden against Santoro, I don't know why in Wimbledon, everything clicked and I felt like, "Hey, this is the way I should play. This is the way I should approach the game." And, you know, ever since then I've played like that. So that's actually pretty funny. I just remember that match like this, you know.

MAGNUS NORMAN: I have no memories about Mats winning in Rome. I have memories from the tournament, you know, not a particular match but, you know, the Italian Open Championships, there has always been a lot of tradition in the tournament and I usually watch it on television, you know, when the other guys were playing. So, you know, it's just -- I haven't really -- that I won the tournament today, you know, hasn't really sunk in yet. But it's an unbelievable feeling, you know.

MAGNUS NORMAN: Yeah, it's great to be compared to Borg, Edberg and Wilander. I was happy because of the last two days because of the No. 1 spot and it's just unbelievable. It's almost too much for me, but, you know, I got to be -- hopefully I can play like this, you know, throughout the year and the comparison will be even more, you know.

MAGNUS NORMAN: Well, a little bit, you know. I'm leading the race now. Everybody wants to catch me for the moment, and I know going into the French that I can win the title. I've won here, you know, and, you know, it's a great feeling. But it doesn't change my personality at all, but it maybe changes the way I look at the tournament when I go to the French Open. Because now I know that I can beat a good guy like Kuerten on a big final, best of five sets, so, you know, absolutely. You're right.

MAGNUS NORMAN: I think I have the best -- not relationship -- but I think I know Borg a little bit better than the other guys because he's from the same club in Sweden that I am. So normally we would pass each other in the locker room sometimes and we chat a little bit. So his son is actually playing doubles there also. So he's there all the time. But the one I remember from television and watching matches is Edberg, because, you know, his Finals against Becker in Wimbledon. Those are the matches that I remember most.

MAGNUS NORMAN: The club where the Stockholm Open is played, called Kungliga.

MAGNUS NORMAN: That's a good question. I haven't thought about it yet, but it's a good day for Swedish sports, and... Yeah. Let's wait and see. Something. But for the tennis players, it's always the next tournament next week, so that's a shame about our schedule, but, you know, I can celebrate at the end of the year maybe.

MAGNUS NORMAN: A little bit. I'm playing the World Team Cup as well the week after Hamburg, it's a really rough schedule. So maybe if I do well in Hamburg, maybe I have to think about quitting the World Team Cup, I don't know. But I'm pretty strong physically. I'm pretty strong mentally. So once the French is there, I'm going to be 100 percent motivated and I'll be able to do better.

MAGNUS NORMAN: Really?

MAGNUS NORMAN: Well, I don't try to imitate him. That's just something that came to my mind after the match, you know, that I did something similar to Borg. But, no, I was just empty when I won the match, you know, I had no thoughts at all and, you know, it was just an incredible feeling. All credit to my coach because without him, I wouldn't be here for the moment, so... You know.

MAGNUS NORMAN: No, I don't think so.