US OPEN

September 10, 2005

Robby Ginepri

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

ROBBY GINEPRI: A little achy.

ROBBY GINEPRI: Little blisters, but comes with playing five sets, five sets, five sets, five sets.

ROBBY GINEPRI: Yeah, but it helped get me back in the point.

ROBBY GINEPRI: I mean, I didn't. If it was, it was. You know, can't do anything about it now, so...

ROBBY GINEPRI: I wouldn't say the best tennis. I definitely gave it my best effort, I can tell you that. But the best tennis is tough to play, and especially against someone like Agassi, that moves you side to side and puts a lot of pressure on you, you never can probably play your best tennis.

ROBBY GINEPRI: I could have, if someone from the outside told me to. But I was just trying to win every single point that I could with hitting my backhand up the line or backhand-to-backhand. You know, if the backhand was off on his, it makes it a little bit easier. But today, it was tough.

ROBBY GINEPRI: Really haven't thought about it. Hasn't really sunk in yet. But with the summer I've had, it's been unbelievable working hard again and winning matches. So, I mean, all in all, I'm definitely on the right track to where I want to be.

ROBBY GINEPRI: Wasn't too bad out there. Even though I got broke first game, you know, I wasn't nervous like I thought I would have been.

ROBBY GINEPRI: It's obviously tough, you know. Andre is definitely going to be forced to do things he doesn't want to do. Roger is so good at bringing you into the net, if he knows that you're not comfortable up there. You know, with the way he serves, Andre's got to definitely be putting the pressure on him from the get-go. He's got to control rallies.

ROBBY GINEPRI: I mean, obviously when he broke me in the fifth set. But I thought we were pretty even throughout the whole match, you know. Bounced back from a set down each time. But he was too good in the fifth.

ROBBY GINEPRI: I wasn't winning matches that I should have been winning. I wasn't playing the way I could have been playing. It was just -- I was upset. If it was being away from home, or being away from friends, or when I was out on the road, I just wasn't having a good time, and that was the worst part about it, not enjoying my life.

ROBBY GINEPRI: Yeah, he's definitely right-on. I wasn't reaching my goals and my potential in the game of tennis. I'm starting to realize to be the best, you have to work your butt off every single day and days can't go by where you're upset about something, you can't let that affect the way you play. That's what happened.

ROBBY GINEPRI: A little bit. I got up to 25 in the world and thought everything was pretty smooth sailing from there, but I had to defend all the points and didn't know how to, I guess, take that into consideration. So maturity is definitely a big part of it now. I think I'm a lot smarter out on the tennis court. I make better decisions. So it's definitely shaping up for me.

ROBBY GINEPRI: Obviously, with Andre, it's going to be a factor for him tomorrow. He's got to, you know, get Federer or Lleyton on the defense, no matter who he plays, from the get-go. But today I thought I could have served a bit better. I served well in the fifth set, and kind of left me throughout the third and fourth.

ROBBY GINEPRI: Definitely. I wouldn't rate my clay court playing the way I have been up to any standard at all yet. It's pretty much garbage the last couple months when I was in Paris, over there, Rome and Hamburg. Just wasn't how I should be playing. But I'll be back and look forward to the clay. I'm always excited to get on it, so it's not like I hate it so...

ROBBY GINEPRI: I wouldn't say that. With the two days off, I felt pretty fresh out there today. Obviously it's better to get the match done in three sets. I would have probably felt 10 times better today. But for all it's worth, I felt pretty good out there.

ROBBY GINEPRI: Just I can hang with any player. I shouldn't be intimidated or afraid to walk on the court with anybody. My confidence has been pretty high, and my work ethic has definitely been up there. With that said, it definitely enlightens the future for me.

ROBBY GINEPRI: He has not said anything about it to me. I don't know if he said anything to him, but...

ROBBY GINEPRI: Yeah. He's definitely in a tough predicament right now. So whatever he says, goes. You know, I stand by whoever is playing.

ROBBY GINEPRI: I wouldn't get face-to-face and tell him I should be playing over James. I don't think it's the right thing to do. I know he's going to obviously pick the man that he feels is going to get the job done. So if that's James or myself, then we have to win.

ROBBY GINEPRI: He's still got it. That's why he's still going now right at age 35; he still believes that he can compete with anybody. It's a lot said for him to be out here and doing what he does. Because me picturing myself at 35 years old, I don't think I could have done what he has.

ROBBY GINEPRI: We're right there. It's tough. James took him to five; I took him to a fifth as well. It's looking positive for us. We've definitely been making strides here and there. To be playing against one of the best players that's been around the game, he's just so wise out there, we need to take that into consideration next time.