U.S. OPEN

September 1, 1996

Paul Haarhuis

PAUL HAARHUIS: No. I thought the level wasn't too high actually.

PAUL HAARHUIS: No, but I didn't think he was all that good. I mean, I don't know. I played very poorly, I thought. I was still first two sets pretty close. I mean, I thought he was making mistakes on my service game. A couple times we had a rally like three hits over the net, it was like, "Hey, we did it." . It's a little bit his game obviously to come to the net all the time, serve and volley, come in, chip and charge. That's his game. I just didn't feel any rhythm. My strokes weren't feeling so good. The first two sets were close. I've lost to him every time, but I've played much better than this and lost to him before. I didn't think he was playing that great.

PAUL HAARHUIS: Yes. And then?

PAUL HAARHUIS: Not really. I made a couple poor shot selections. He came up with some good shots. At deuce I changed my mind at the last moment hitting the ball, instead of cross court, down the line. Next shot instead of down the line, I changed it to cross court. His intensity was --

PAUL HAARHUIS: No. I mean, I'm definitely not playing the best tennis of my life.

PAUL HAARHUIS: He started 13 years ago, I started eight years ago, so there's five years in between where he's been playing. If I play five more years, hey, in five years' time, my farewell Tour is finished long ago. I would have liked to beat him and finish his Grand Slam career here, it would be a nice thing for me and him (laughter). He could tell his friends back home he lost to me (laughter). I guess that wasn't the way it was supposed to be. He played too good for me. I mean, because I wasn't returning well at all the whole match. That one break I got, he missed four volleys on top of the net. That's why I felt he wasn't on top of his game. I barely ever made a return at his feet. I put every ball shoulder high, so.

PAUL HAARHUIS: Is there a translator?

PAUL HAARHUIS: That's going to happen. That happens in Japan, too, everywhere. What do you expect, he's playing his last Grand Slam here at the US Open.

PAUL HAARHUIS: Not really. The accomplishments, what he's accomplished, what he's done for tennis, his statistics. When you warm up and you start being introduced, this guy tells a little bit of what you achieve, then he starts with what Stefan has, then you know that's the reason he's Stefan Edberg and why he's been No. 1 and whatever.

PAUL HAARHUIS: Me? If I keep playing like this, not too long (laughter). Won't make many points like this. My ATP ranking will go down. I think I have about a year more to go like this before I lose my last point.

PAUL HAARHUIS: Did I stay there?

PAUL HAARHUIS: When?

PAUL HAARHUIS: When we were warming up?

PAUL HAARHUIS: That's what I was talking.

PAUL HAARHUIS: Obviously I was listening to it, otherwise I wouldn't have mentioned it. That's why I'm saying, I was listening to it. I listened to what he said about me, then about Stefan. There's a big difference.

PAUL HAARHUIS: Well, you feel a little bit small then, a little bit different.

PAUL HAARHUIS: I think that's what I was trying to explain to whoever I was trying to explaining it to. Any real good questions in English (laughter)?

PAUL HAARHUIS: No.

PAUL HAARHUIS: Because I'm getting married next week.

PAUL HAARHUIS: I don't know. No. I hope -- no. I hope not, otherwise there's going to be a divorce very fast (laughter).

PAUL HAARHUIS: Yeah, but his backhand volley has always been the best in the game. Although that one game when I broke him, he missed four in a row on top of the net, high volleys, so. He came up with real good shots, but I also felt not once during the whole match I was really putting a lot of pressure on his serve, that I was really returning on his feet. There's three times I did that in the match, I think I can recount three. He came up with good volleys, but to be saying his backhand volley was great, I mean, it's been his best shot in the game, so I was pretty much surprised that he missed -- to me he missed a couple easy ones, so.