U.S. OPEN

August 31, 1996

Alex O'Brien

ALEX O'BRIEN: No. I felt like I was just playing good tennis, just outplayed him the first set. I was on the ball, seeing it well, hitting it well, moving my feet, really taking it to him. I wasn't thinking about the wave I've been riding, just kind of playing.

ALEX O'BRIEN: I felt like I outplayed him in the second set. I got unlucky on that game when I got broken, that turned the tide. He started playing well and started serving like Harry Houdini. You can't do anything when he serves like that. You have to say, "Too good." You tell yourself to have a nice trip home.

ALEX O'BRIEN: Every time I got a chance, I felt like I was putting pressure on him, he came up with some aces. You have to take off your hat and say, "That's great playing, Dave."

ALEX O'BRIEN: No, it's not a shock to my system. I'm very disappointed. I wish I could have won. You can't win everything. Everything can't go your way all the time. I gave it my best effort today and it just wasn't good enough.

ALEX O'BRIEN: No. He just played better than I did towards the end of the match.

ALEX O'BRIEN: Zero.

ALEX O'BRIEN: I think I've had maybe two days off.

ALEX O'BRIEN: That I didn't play.

ALEX O'BRIEN: That I didn't play a match.

ALEX O'BRIEN: I'm pretty sure, yeah.

ALEX O'BRIEN: The two days I think I didn't play, I think -- well, yeah, in New Haven I had two days off.

ALEX O'BRIEN: No. I played on Sunday. I had a day off there. I had Monday off, then I played on Sunday. I had three days off.

ALEX O'BRIEN: Toronto to here? Yeah, probably like two more days there. I can't remember if we lost on Friday. I think we lost on Friday. I lost singles on Friday. I played here Monday, so I had two days off there. I had quite a few days off actually (laughter).

ALEX O'BRIEN: I think that's right. I'm feeling great right now, let me tell you.

ALEX O'BRIEN: I really want to put in my best effort for doubles, so I'm going to head straight back to the training room, try to get back into it. I'd like to do well here in doubles. My partner and I fought out a hard match last night. We won 7-6 in the third. I'd also like to take this moment to say doubles is a great game and I hope you guys promote it a little bit. Last year I had one of the most disappointing times of my life. I made it to the finals of this Grand Slam. They scheduled us before a women's semifinal. There were maybe like, you know, 20 people in the crowd. They were yelling back and forth at each other, "Pass me a beer." We were playing the biggest matches of our career. It just seemed like kind of a who cares joke. We had some good tennis out there. I just wish that you guys would kind of promote it a little as well. It's a great game, fun to watch. It does get boring sometimes especially when you watch guys hit aces two thousand times in a row and there's no point play.

ALEX O'BRIEN: No. It's really hard. Yesterday in my doubles, it's -- he just beat me. I'm not going to make any excuses. The guy beat me. He served great. That's the bottom line.

ALEX O'BRIEN: You know what worried me a little more, I was on his serve every single game in the second set. I had so many breakpoints. Even at 5-All, I think I had four breakpoints. Every single time he came up with a big serve. You know, you shouldn't get frustrated. You should say, "Too good." I was like, "Gosh, I'm playing the best I can here, putting a lot of pressure on him, and he's all of a sudden coming up with aces every time." Maybe not aces every time, but that was a little disappointing, big service winners. I forgot what happened on the lob. I should have won that game, I think.

ALEX O'BRIEN: He hit a lob and I was looking at it?

ALEX O'BRIEN: I felt there were a few shaky calls, but that doesn't change a match.

ALEX O'BRIEN: He did. He hit a good return on breakpoint. Hadn't been making his backhand. He hit a great backhand down the line. That's the way he plays, kind of comes out of nowhere with three or four slap shots. That's why he's hard to play.

ALEX O'BRIEN: No, didn't go at the same time.

ALEX O'BRIEN: Maybe I was just trying to say, "Keep playing, hang in there, keep playing your game. You've been beating the guy." I was beating him up to that point, playing better than he was, moving well. I don't know. I don't know what happened. The wheels fell off.

ALEX O'BRIEN: It's been fun. It's been exciting for me. I've realized that there's a lot of added things to take care of. I got home at 12:30, the night before I got to bed at 4:00. After the match I was amped up. The night before I got to bed at 11:00. I'll be happy not to see this place, maybe take a little break. I've been going, going, going, doing a lot of things. I'm not complaining in the least bit because I've had a great time, I've had a great run. It's tough because there are a lot of demands placed on you. There are a lot of things going on. That's part of the deal. That's why it's fun.

ALEX O'BRIEN: Maybe when I get back in Amarillo and have a few beers, think about it all, kind of sort it all out. It has been pretty fast. I've gotten some great coverage. The press has been awesome. I'm not just saying that. Seriously, I mean, I've gotten some nice press. Things have been going my way. I want to be bitter right now and feel sorry for myself, but I can't really complain.

ALEX O'BRIEN: Yes. He's beaten me every single time.

ALEX O'BRIEN: I really felt like I had a perfect game -- I have a perfect game to beat him. I return well, serve well, move well. Just didn't stick with my game plan. I didn't move quite as well as I would have liked to today.

ALEX O'BRIEN: I didn't convert one after the first set?

ALEX O'BRIEN: Yeah. I don't know if you watched the match, but I felt every time I had a chance at a breakpoint, he was hitting some big serves.

ALEX O'BRIEN: Yeah, I feel like I can do a little more damage maybe in tournaments, that I'm a legitimate player more. I also realize that I have a lot of things that I still need to work on, that if I can improve those, improve mentally even more, that will help me as well.

ALEX O'BRIEN: Just tenacity, perseverance. Things weren't going my way, and I hung in there. I got a few lucky wins or a few wins that gave me a little confidence. It just built and built. I beat a good player here, beat a good player there. I just felt like I was a good player.

ALEX O'BRIEN: Yeah, on the court I would get to a position of 5-4 and serve for the match, just play a terrible game or choke, get nervous. I had a lot of matches like that where I didn't come through in the clutch. Then I kind of turned that around. I started thinking, "Hey, you know, I'm here for a reason. I'm up 4-2 in the third for a reason."

ALEX O'BRIEN: I don't know yet. I'm trying to figure out my schedule. I entered some tournaments in Europe, didn't get accepted. Maybe Asia.

ALEX O'BRIEN: I've had to readjust my schedule. I've been playing doubles in the big tournaments. I kind of still wind up going to the same tournaments.

ALEX O'BRIEN: No. I had a good run, played some good matches, fought hard. I'm disappointed I didn't win today. I felt I did the best I could today. That's all you can ask for.

ALEX O'BRIEN: 26, yeah.

ALEX O'BRIEN: I started when I was 22. I think there's a certain maturation period for tennis players. Mine was pretty long time. I don't think it's that strange that I'm coming on at 26. You look at most of the guys like Courier, Todd Martin, took all them a couple years to work things out. I've looked to them and looked at previous precedence.