U.S. OPEN

August 30, 1993

Patrick McEnroe

Q. Patrick, what is the key when you are down two sets, keeping your mental frame of mind and focused on you what have to do?

PATRICK McENROE: I tried at the beginning of each set to really focus on getting ahead and just really thinking about getting ahead in this set, and if I could get ahead in this set, then you know, that is a positive and not thinking about it, I have got to win three straight, just thinking about, get ahead this set, try to get an early break and then get through the set. That is how I played each set in the last 3. That is how I had played the first two sets too.

Q. Was there a difference in his game, at the start of the third that he only won five games in the last three sets?

PATRICK McENROE: Well, I decided that I had to take the ball a little bit earlier and try to be a little bit more aggressive from the baseline. We were just kind of playing back and forth, he liked that and he was moving me around a bit more and he was being the aggressor. And I just felt like that wasn't the game that I was going to win against him. I had to be able to take the ball just a little bit earlier and as I did that, I hit the ball better and better. I took the ball inside the baseline as much as I could, and as the match went on I felt stronger and stronger.

Q. Did you notice at a point where you felt you had him; was there a certain point of the match where --

PATRICK McENROE: Yeah, 5-2, 40-Love in the fifth, but I mean, he is a great player and is he a young player and he has had some great results this year, so I just -- I never let that enter my mind. I felt like I had to keep doing what I was doing and keep telling myself to do what I have been doing to get ahead and not worry about really the score. There were some close games in the beginning, in the third and fourth sets, there were close games, if he had won them, it could have turned it around.

Q. Patrick, this has to be maybe one of the most satisfying wins; don't you think?

PATRICK McENROE: It is always great to win a comeback from two sets, and especially in the U.S. Open, which is an important tournament, especially for me. I feel like I am really playing the best I have played and I think that I can do well here this year and, I mean, it is a great win, but there is the next match, and we will just see what happens with that. That is the way tennis is.

Q. Is it strange for you at all not having John here as a player?

PATRICK McENROE: Not really. I think it is too bad for the game, but for me, you know, he hasn't been playing all year, so I am used to it.

Q. What happened to your head?

PATRICK McENROE: I got an infection about a week and a half ago. Don't ask me how. I don't know how.

Q. You are going to play doubles, Patrick?

PATRICK McENROE: Yes, I am playing with Reneberg.

Q. What did you think of the match with Connors two years ago here in the U.S. Open?

PATRICK McENROE: That actually did run through my mind, but I tried to not really let it affect me. That was a different match. Obviously, you think about it, but I have thought about it for two years, just like I think about other matches, but this is a satisfying win. This doesn't make up for that, or whatever, I mean, that was a match that I learned from. Maybe I learned from it today. Maybe it helped me today. I always felt after that match that I would learn from that and it would help me in the long run, and maybe it will help me here this year.

Q. Thank you.

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