GREAT AMERICAN INSURANCE ATP CHAMPIONSHIP

August 8, 1997

Yevgeny Kafelnikov

JOE LYNCH: First question for Yevgeny.

YEVGENY KAFELNIKOV: Well, I can tell you I didn't play my best match, but on the other hand, maybe he didn't let me play my best tennis, because he was too good on his serve. You know, he was very good off the ground. Just really very, very difficult to check if his game is on the top or not. Because I wasn't performing my best.

YEVGENY KAFELNIKOV: A little bit. A little bit, yeah. I was on the road for a long time. You know, I haven't had any chance to relax and I've been playing all the day majors. And it was really the fact that, you know, I wasn't too sharp today.

YEVGENY KAFELNIKOV: No. I mean in the beginning, I had one breakpoint. If I would have make it you know, I was, you know, maybe things start for me a little bit not so difficult. But, once he held, you know, he never give me really any chance to play my game, because he was really focusing on one big shot, and every time he was making those shots it was going in.

YEVGENY KAFELNIKOV: I mean I definitely feel the ball pretty well. There's no question about it. It's a matter of physical condition. If -- I certainly would put more focus on that than anything else. And, you know, I still have three weeks, three weeks to go, and I'm sure I'll be ready for the Grand Slam.

YEVGENY KAFELNIKOV: Yeah. I'm playing the week before.

YEVGENY KAFELNIKOV: Yeah.

YEVGENY KAFELNIKOV: Well, it's a little bit frustrating when you're losing two and two. It's no matter against which player. Either it's Pete Sampras or the guy who's ranked near the top hundred; doesn't really matter. But that is the way, you know. You cannot play your best matches every time you go on the court. Of course have a bad day sometimes. Especially when you're having really long -- where you have no to chance basically to recover.

YEVGENY KAFELNIKOV: I felt tired. Like I said I've been playing all the day majors and Pete, he had one month off, and certainly he was focusing on parts of the game which he really need to improve. So he just show today that his serve was working one hundred percent and his grounds strokes were hundred percent. He just dominated.