TMS - MADRID

October 19, 2002

Jiri Novak

Q. With Agassi, your record against him is 4-0. What do you expect in the final match tomorrow?

JIRI NOVAK: You know, it's the first final for me on the Super Masters Series tournament. I will play the final against Andre Agassi. I know he is very tough to beat, especially for me because I had four meetings with him and I never won a set. In this case, I don't have nothing to lose because, you know - how will I say it - I never won a set. This is amazing for me to play the final on this event like this. I don't know exactly right now what I have to do, what I have to play tomorrow. But I will just try to fight for every ball, and I will just try to beat him.

JIRI NOVAK: It was a little bit of a surprise for me that I, yesterday evening, came to the hotel and saw the result, that Federer lost against Santoro. It was a big surprise for me. I was a little bit, let's say, happier and luckier. I didn't want to play to Federer because he beat me last week in Vienna. I was just expecting the tough match. Against Santoro, I was pretty scared, as well, but not as much as like against Federer. I lost to Santoro this year in Dubai 7-6 in the third set. But definitely I felt very good today. I was hitting the balls very hard, very fast, and I was moving very fast. I think that I was playing the best tennis during this week.

JIRI NOVAK: Yes.

JIRI NOVAK: He's not here.

JIRI NOVAK: Yes.

JIRI NOVAK: Zlin. Yeah, Zlin from my city where I was born. They are playing the second division in Czech Republic. I know you want to hear Real Madrid because we are in Madrid. You know, I'm just watching the football like a fan. I'm not supporting any teams. I'm just trying to watch the best football.

JIRI NOVAK: Yeah, it's tough to say. I'm a little bit in front of the guys which are on the spot 7 or 8, but I know that we got still two tournaments to go. I know all these players will fight very hard to reach the Tennis Masters. I have a little advantage because I'm a little bit in front of them. I will do everything what I can do, you know, to reach the Tennis Masters in this moment.

JIRI NOVAK: No, definitely not. I'm just living my dream, you know. This is so exciting because in the beginning of the year I was, let's say, the No. 30, 35 in the world. I didn't expect in the end of the year I'd be in the Top 10 and I will have a chance, you know, to reach the Tennis Masters Cup. This is just amazing for me.

JIRI NOVAK: I felt great because I reached the second final in a row, especially this year because I lost six times in the semifinals. I just broke something in my mind, you know, last week. I was always losing in the semifinal, and I reach the final. It was much easier to think about this, you know, today because I knew that I can do it. I was just trying to do it again.

JIRI NOVAK: I have to say that I don't care what the crowd is going to do tomorrow, you know, because I was playing in the first round against Robredo and everything was against me; second round, Moya, everybody was against me. It's going to be the same problem tomorrow because I will be playing against Agassi. I think everybody wanted, you know, to win this event for Andre Agassi. I don't care anything about the crowd. It's tough to say what is going to be the strategy for the tomorrow. I said a couple minutes ago that I never won the set, you know. We got a similar game. We are playing both of us from the baseline. He is playing better in this position. I think I have to fight, first of all, then I will see what's going to happen tomorrow.