US OPEN

August 31, 2002

Jiri Novak

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

JIRI NOVAK: Yeah, he surprise me as well, you know. But, you know, that's the tennis. That's the life. I'm through the third round, that's very important for me. But anyway, I think that I was playing very nice tennis today because I felt from the morning that I can let's say reach a good result. You know, I was just feeling really good. I was just practicing very well in the morning. I just felt a good touch for the ball, you know. I just come out on the Armstrong Stadium. I felt great. I thought I could win. But was only the difficult match in front of me, you know. I just start to play very well. I was serving very well. I had so many chances, so many important ideas, you know, to make the break in the first set. I did it. Then I was just holding my serve. I think that I was much better in the first set. In the second set he was leading 2-1. He broke my serve. But he didn't hold, you know, right -- you know, another game. I just broke him back. Then I was just, you know, let's say the main person on the court, you know. I was just playing my best tennis. I was just trying to hit so many balls over the net, you know? And he just quit, you know, after the second set. Surprise me.

JIRI NOVAK: I was there let's say five or six times during the whole match. But my tactic was to play my best tennis. My best tennis is always from the baseline, you know. Because I'm not kind of the player which is playing serve and volley. But, you know, how I said, I felt the ball very well today and I was hitting so many balls. I didn't make so many mistakes, you know, from the baseline. It was I think the key in the match.

JIRI NOVAK: I didn't see anything because I think that we played during two sets pretty solid tennis. He was running a lot. I was just trying to, you know, make him little bit run. But it surprise me. He just call the trainer and then he just said, "I stop to play."

JIRI NOVAK: Yeah.

JIRI NOVAK: For sure it happened to me let's say three or four times in my life, you know. Twice in let's say five or six days, you know, so it surprise me a lot. But that's the tennis. That's the sport. It can happen, you know. I'm very happy that it happen to me.

JIRI NOVAK: I don't know, maybe because the schedule is pretty tough for the players. They are playing so many tournaments. I mean, the weather is great here. Is not high humidity, you know, is not that hot, you know? But I don't know the reason. Let's say somebody's cramping, somebody got injury, the knee, the ankle, it's tough to say, you know, what is the reason why they have so many injuries. I think that everybody must be little bit tired, you know. And this is my opinion.

JIRI NOVAK: Yeah. You know, I have the chances every time. I played Lleyton Hewitt three or four times and I won only one set, you know. If it's gonna be Hewitt, he's the main favorite in the match, you know, so I can play just without pressure, that I don't have nothing to lose, you know. I think that we will play on the center court here. It's gonna be my first match on the center court, this one. But I think everything is open, you know. He must, first of all, beat James Blake. Then he must beat me. So everything is open.