NEWSWEEK CHAMPIONS CUP

March 14, 1997

Thomas Muster

THOMAS MUSTER: It is actually. I said before it would be a challenge playing either Philippoussis or Moya, doesn't matter. Philippoussis is was what I expected, mostly big serves. From my side, just how much I could keep him back, how well I will play from the back court. I knew if I'm not going to miss too many groundstrokes, play a solid baseline game, I would be all right there. I didn't know how his serving would come out. Obviously it was a very enjoyable match.

THOMAS MUSTER: 2-Love.

THOMAS MUSTER: No, no. It was just a really high lob. It was right in the sun. He miss-hit it a bit. When it came off the racquet, I said it was flying way out. It was just touching the line. From my point of view, with the reflection of the sun, I saw it would be that much out (indicating). That's why I was sure it was out. I looked at the mark, it was just touching the line, so it was a correct call. The second match point, he aced me, which was all right. Well, he just got lucky on that one, on the third one. That's just the way it goes. You have to stay focused. You can't really complain about luck and unluck. I still would have had a chance in the third set, even losing the second, so.

THOMAS MUSTER: I always do that when you play a big server. You give certain corners, changing the view for him. You move back and in, it changes the view of the server and the angles. He has to think. It puts a bit of pressure on servers, sure.

THOMAS MUSTER: Big servers mostly don't have a great baseline game. My baseline game is like his serve. It was a question, does he get more serves in or do I make more unforced errors? That was the game. What he usually aimed for was a tiebreak, get into a tiebreak, play aggressive there, to chip and charge or get a few points on the server's account, come up with big serves. His record was 7-0 this year, that shows what he basically aims for.

THOMAS MUSTER: He's way more focused, way more straight on his game. You can see what his goal is, his target in the match. When I played him first, he was like all over the court, hitting winners, wild shots, aces and double-faults. Now I think he's trying to put his game together.

THOMAS MUSTER: Well, it's a big serve, but it's not as effective maybe as Goran. Goran is a lefty and gets more angles on the serve than Mark does. Mark is serving harder, but not with such a great spin. That's the advantage of Goran's serve, too: not only is it fast, it's got a lot of spin on it. Mark doesn't have it. Obviously if you play him indoors, the surface makes a difference, that fast, that it's almost unreturnable. In terms of serve, I think it's still Goran's is more effective.

THOMAS MUSTER: Pete is different. Pete has an all-around game, has a volley, baseline game. Maybe his serve is not as hard, but it's more efficient because he's placing the ball better. He takes the service preparation for his next step. Mark goes for the ace. If it's not really an ace, it's maybe an ace on the second or a double-fault. Even when you bring the ball back in the game, there might be a wild shot, causes a break or something. Pete, you have to follow up, not only the serve. If you just compare the serve, I would put probably Goran's there, Mark's there. There are other guys serving really hard, in terms of speed, maybe Rusedski who serves better than Pete does in terms of speed.

THOMAS MUSTER: That's a danger. You cannot only keep the ball in play because he's going to risk and going for his shot. Once he's breaking you, you might lose the set with one break. That's all his goal is, to serve big and come out and hit big returns or come out with wild shots and maybe get three of them in, you're broken, that's it. Most, you make one unforced error, the game is done. You have to find a mixture between putting the ball back and also be aggressive. You cannot let yourself down because you're going to be too slow from your footwork and everything if you're too defensive. It's not only sort of back game, just a find the right mixture.

THOMAS MUSTER: So many?

THOMAS MUSTER: Didn't do your homework.

THOMAS MUSTER: French kitchen, Chinese kitchen, whatever.

THOMAS MUSTER: It doesn't matter actually, because I'm eating everything, almost everything. Seriously, I think I have a good record against Michael, but Michael really plays well at this event. Most of the time he's a solid player. I don't have to explain what's the toughness about playing Michael. Cedric, shown on hardcourt good performances in the past. Finalist at the US Open. He's capable to serve and volley well, to play well on the surface. Whoever win, it's going to be a tough opponent anyway. I'm just going to keep raising my game and trying to lift it to the top. I'll be able to win against both of them. If I don't, we'll see I have no chance anyway.