GREAT AMERICAN INSURANCE ATP CHAMPIONSHIP

August 7, 1996

Stefan Edberg

STEFAN EDBERG: I think the heat beat me today. It was very hot and I think especially playing on grandstand because it is sort of down below ground so much. But it is hot for both of us. I just didn't cope so well with it today and it is a tough battle out there and it -- when it is as hot as this, it is just -- it comes down to just trying to get through it somehow and -- but I still was close to winning the match even if I didn't feel very good and I got up 4-Love in the third, but wasn't quite enough.

STEFAN EDBERG: There is a lot -- the thing is sometimes you get so hot, you don't know where you are going to go and there is no where to go, but I have been through these experiences before and because it goes in sort of waves. You feel good for a little while; then it hits you and then suddenly you feel better again and then it hits you again, so it goes up and down.

STEFAN EDBERG: Yeah. I knew it was going to be hot because I didn't feel very good yesterday either. You know, it is tough. It is tough mentally going out there. You just have to just handle it as well as you can, but when it is hot like this, it is not tennis out there. It is a different ballgame.

STEFAN EDBERG: Yeah, it is. It is -- just got to guts it out and hopefully you get on to a good round, and --

STEFAN EDBERG: Yeah, but where do you set the limit? It is not very healthy being out there today whether you are a top trained athlete or whether you are not. But it is hard to set up any rules for it. But it wouldn't be such a bad idea, but I don't know. It is worth discussing.

STEFAN EDBERG: It has always been tough with the heat. I usually cope pretty well with the heat. My biggest problem is the humidity because I tend to sweat a lot and I lose a lot of fluid, probably more than an average player, but it is really the first week I am playing under this humidity. I did play in L.A. last week, but it is totally different. You can train for it. You get used to it, but the tough thing with the heat is, you know, when you have to come back day after day after day, it is all right, you play one match and you have a day off or it gets cooler the next day, but when you play one day after another, that is when it is really tough.

STEFAN EDBERG: It won't be that bad, 6 o'clock. It will still be very warm. Playing doubles is very different. It is not physically so demanding like playing singles, so we will see.

STEFAN EDBERG: It was okay. I mean, I just -- it was okay, I thought. It is just -- when it is hot, you just lose your speed and all, you know, you sort of have to pace yourself and if you don't have the legs, it is hard to hit the ball, but overall, it wasn't so bad. I didn't play badly. And, you know, I just ran out of speed and he played very well at the end and I just couldn't finish off the points.

STEFAN EDBERG: He offered to take it. I said yes, just go ahead (AUDIENCE LAUGHTER).

STEFAN EDBERG: Oh, yes. Wasn't so bad.

STEFAN EDBERG: Yeah, it actually was the heat that got me. It was nothing else. I haven't thought about it. I just don't know how I lost it being out there so long, but what can you do.

STEFAN EDBERG: No, not really. Today is fine. Okay, it was a loss, but it was more losing against the heat today, I thought, because the tennis was there, but my legs weren't there. That is the difference, but I don't know, I just haven't felt great this week. I felt good in L.A.. I don't know, maybe it is sort of good. Maybe I will be fresh for next week, hopefully, and for the weeks after that. So it is not the end of the world. Maybe I can stick around in doubles this week, it won't be too bad.

STEFAN EDBERG: Pretty much, yes. It is nice.

STEFAN EDBERG: No, I think I had most of the support in most of the places that I played. Like I said before, once you are young it is great, but because you are upcoming. When you get close to the end of your career, it is great because you have been there a long time; that is when you get the most of the support.