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U.S. OPEN

August 29, 1994

Ivan Lendl

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK

Q. That was a pretty easy forehand volley you put into the net to give him set point.

IVAN LENDL: Oh, that one. He had a set point in the first set. I forgot about it already. I am trying to figure out what you are talking about. Let's put it this way, no forehand volleys are easy for me.

Q. How has the summer been for you? Has it been an easy summer, a difficult summer?

IVAN LENDL: Has been very easy, I didn't have much work.

Q. When you say "not much work," you mean playing a lot?

IVAN LENDL: Yeah. Has been really easy. I had plenty of time on my hands.

Q. By choice?

IVAN LENDL: No. I didn't lose the matches by choice, no.

Q. So you had an extensive schedule and just didn't go well?

IVAN LENDL: Something like that.

Q. You looked very good out there today.

IVAN LENDL: How did my tennis look?

Q. That is what I am talking about.

IVAN LENDL: Oh.

Q. You feel like it was coming -- like you are coming around?

IVAN LENDL: I felt like I hit the ball quite well today. I didn't do anything spectacular, but I was fairly solid.

Q. That first game of the match you lost but you passed him three times and that was -- you had that shot working all day for you.

IVAN LENDL: Well, if he is going to come in a lot, to beat him I have to pass some, and as long as I go for my returns and hit them, hopefully, I am going to make some. If I don't, that is too bad. You got to hit against these guys now.

Q. Ivan, what do you look for coming here now?

IVAN LENDL: Not much anymore. Have some fun. Win some matches, hopefully.

Q. With Goran being out of the tournament already, he was in your bracket, do you look at that and say well, maybe I can. . .

IVAN LENDL: I was in his bracket. You got it wrong.

Q. Do you look at that and say maybe you can do any better?

IVAN LENDL: No, there are two more matches to get to him and they are both tough, so it is not going to be easy.

Q. This sounds like a much more mellow relaxed Ivan Lendl from the one that came here years ago and won this thing years ago; is that true now, Ivan?

IVAN LENDL: Don't ask me.

Q. I mean, do you really care whether you win or lose anymore?

IVAN LENDL: Certainly. Certainly I care whether I win or lose. A lot - believe me. I don't care whether it is on the tennis court or hockey rink or golf course, whatever, I don't like losing.

Q. So because of the defeats this year, has it been -- you know, has it worn on you, gotten you tired? You know, you are losing to people that we are not used to seeing you lose to.

IVAN LENDL: Doesn't make me happy, that is for sure.

Q. How much do you spend working, more or less?

IVAN LENDL: I am sorry?

Q. Comparably with the earliest times, how much do you work now?

IVAN LENDL: I work as much as my body allows me. You figure it out.

Q. Is it hard enough?

IVAN LENDL: Yeah. Yeah, I think it is enough.

Q. Do you know when you decided that you were just going to do this for fun, to enjoy it? Did that happen --

IVAN LENDL: Well, you see, I look at it this way. I am either playing well enough to win the tournaments and be ranked 1, 2, 3 or 4 in the world or something or I am not. At the moment I am not ranked 1, 2, 3 or 4, but whether I am at 25 or 35 makes very little difference to me so at that stage I just try to play and hopefully I enjoy and play well and maybe catch on somewhere. But it is -- a lot of it is health questions and a lot of it is questions of confidence also. And you can't have confidence without winning so, just try your best and if you catch on somewhere, confidence comes back, let's look at it again.

Q. Are you commuting?

IVAN LENDL: No, it's too far.

Q. Is that any different? I mean you used to just hop in the car.

IVAN LENDL: I still hop in the car. I still stay in Greenwich. It's a little different staying in a hotel.

Q. So you stay in a hotel in Greenwich?

IVAN LENDL: Yes.

Q. Do you think that you will get that confidence back, do you think you will catch on, or. . . .

IVAN LENDL: If I catch on and hit three, four good matches in a row, yeah.

Q. As you have been around all these years and lately tennis has been hearing all this stuff about not being very colorful, and if someone would look at your career right now people probably think you are one of the most colorful people around out there. Do you find that ironic at all?

IVAN LENDL: Quite honestly, I think that whole thing is totally stupid. I mean, it has been said about most No. 1 players in the world throughout history. People were writing 25 years ago that Rod Laver is boring and not colorful. That is where I rest my case.

Q. Is it like history, becomes more interesting as it gets older?

IVAN LENDL: You guys write it. You figure it out. I am not going to try to get into your minds, that is for sure.

Q. The fans seem to be on your side. Do you find that it is coming with age?

IVAN LENDL: I think it is coming with losing. I think people like to root for the underdog and then when the top player they have been watching for a long time starts losing, they start rooting for him more because they would like to see him more.

Q. Last year you know the injury you had to go out in the first round. Are you feeling better, I guess it is nice to be able. . .

IVAN LENDL: A little bit nice to be able to finish the match.

Q. Do you have any plans for playing doubles?

IVAN LENDL: This tournament?

Q. Your career.

IVAN LENDL: I play every now and then just for fun; especially when I travel somewhere far and let us say if I go to the Far East and/or Australia and I get there a couple of days earlier; try to play some doubles and hopefully I will get lucky and get scheduled Monday or Tuesday before I start my singles so I get used to the court and get a little bit more practice that way.

End of FastScripts...

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