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REPUBLIC NATIONAL MONTE CARLO OPENApril 20, 1998Nicolas KieferMONTE CARLO, MONACO Q. A terrific win for you, Nicolas. You must be very, very pleased with this clay court performance today. NICOLAS KIEFER: I mean, first set I was very surprised, too, because I had a very good start. Arrived here last Saturday, practiced here for one week now. I think it was a great match for me today. Q. We would have expected Mantilla, one of the prominent Spaniards, virtually live on this surface, wait for it to come, they pray for this season. NICOLAS KIEFER: Maybe the German players are coming now. You never know what's happening (laughter). Q. Do you feel it's that week that you had here that maybe sharpened you up for it? NICOLAS KIEFER: Yeah, maybe. After Davis Cup, I took one week off. Then I practiced one week here. All the other guys, they played straight after Davis Cup. They started in Estoril, Barcelona, so they had two more weeks to play now. This is my first tournament on clay court. You never know. I have my schedule to prepare one week before. Now I play here. I have one week off again, then I go to Hamburg. I think it's good. Q. You play a very attacking game. NICOLAS KIEFER: Yeah. That's the way I have to do it, otherwise if I play his game, I think that I have not so many chances because I have to -- it could be tough. Q. How much did you play on clay as a junior? Did you play a lot? NICOLAS KIEFER: I learned tennis on clay court. Q. Where, exactly? NICOLAS KIEFER: At home, in Germany. You know, when I started my junior tournaments, I played everywhere, hard court, clay court, grass. But now I can say that clay court is a good surface for me. Q. Usually the attacking player, especially the American players, say that the problem on clay for them is the footwork. Do you feel you have the natural footwork of a clay court player or something you have to learn every time you come back on clay? NICOLAS KIEFER: I mean, you have to learn every time to play on clay court, because you need a lot of patience. That's what you need. Q. You had a terrific Davis Cup match before this. It's been a very, very good month for you so far, hasn't it? NICOLAS KIEFER: Yeah, perfect. We played Davis Cup, won 5-Love. It was my first victory in Davis Cup. Stefan was up two sets to love. I won in five sets. Now this victory today. I hope I can continue like this, this month, maybe the rest of the year. Q. Can you explain to us how your team works with Boris being team manager and also as players together, is it easy to live with that? NICOLAS KIEFER: You mean Davis Cup? Q. Yes, Davis Cup. NICOLAS KIEFER: For me, it's not normal. He's a player, he's team chief. He can do whatever he wants. If he wants to play, he plays. If he says he doesn't want to play, he isn't playing. It depends on him what's going on. Q. Are you comfortable with that? NICOLAS KIEFER: I mean, it's good to have somebody like him in the team because he knows how everybody is playing. He played 14 years now. He know how it works, Davis Cup, and that's very good. End of FastScripts.... |
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