NEWSWEEK CHAMPIONS CUP

March 13, 1996

Stefan Edberg

Q. Can you talk about how you felt coming back off the court with the kind of the ovation you got? I know you were going to go through this all year.

STEFAN EDBERG: I felt good today. I mean, I did what I could today and I played a decent match today and the people have always been nice here. I was in a good mood today, so I felt good about it. But it is nice when you get a little bit of an ovation.

Q. Does it bring back any specific memories of the place when you get a warm farewell like that?

STEFAN EDBERG: I mean, it is more the appreciation from the people that has come out to watch you throughout the years and them giving you the bows, that is what is special about it, I feel.

Q. You could have obviously gotten an ovation three or four more days than today?

STEFAN EDBERG: That would have been so much better, but what can you do? I think I played fairly well today. I got off to a good start and played really well in the first set. The key game was the first game of the second set; had 40-15 and I lost that game and he got into a momentum and from then on, he played very, very well, I thought, and missed very, very few points and I had to do all the work and it's the same thing in the third set, I lost my first service game there too. So those were two key games there where he got in front and he never looked back.

Q. Stefan, one of your great rivals, Boris Becker, lost yesterday. Do you want to talk about what you thought made your rivalry with him so special?

STEFAN EDBERG: I think that has been a special one because coming up at the same time, playing junior tournaments against each other, I think we sort of been sparring each other to victories. He won the Wimbledon to start with and I won the Australian Open, sort of been battling back and forth. We have played in a lot of finals throughout the years and in a lot of big matches in Davis Cup that we have played as well, and I have always looked at him to see what he is up to and he sort of has pushed me to work harder.

Q. Have you guys been talking the last year about the stages you have been in your careers?

STEFAN EDBERG: Not a lot. I see Boris around in the locker room. I don't see him that often and we haven't really spoken about it. Maybe that would be something we will speak about when we get older.

Q. Was the delay any kind of a factor at all?

STEFAN EDBERG: No. That was fine because we only played one game, so that wasn't a problem and you sort of expect this kind of a day when you woke up this morning, you thought, uh-uhm, it is going to be one of these days, but I was pretty cool about it.

Q. How will you remember Michael Chang?

STEFAN EDBERG: I mean, I have played Michael a lot of times, and Michael is one of the gustiest players; probably one of the most physical players out there. He is a man that you have to beat. He is not going to make any mistakes. He is going to run out there all day and he is a great counter-puncher and I think he has really improved in the last couple of years where he has got a far bigger serve than he has ever had before and he is a very solid player where he is just sort have been bubbling to win another Grand Slam. He has failing in a couple of finals, but he is a guy you have to watch out for this year and he has a got chance at the French Open this year, I believe.

Q. Getting back to Becker again, what do you think made him such a tough opponent?

STEFAN EDBERG: Boris always had the ability to get up for the big matches. That is what has made him so big. I think for the big occasion, he is always risking his game and he has always been very focused at those times and that has been his biggest benefit and, you know, he is a big guy and he looks like, when he walks on the court, that he wants to win and that is why he is so good.

Q. If you had to pinpoint one thing as being the highlight of your career, what would that be?

STEFAN EDBERG: The highlights.... Here we go again.

Q. The biggest highlight.

STEFAN EDBERG: I don't know. I think winning Wimbledon first time is always sort of the ultimate goal for most of the players. If I had to pick one, it would be hard to pick one, but that would probably be the one.

Q. And on the other side, the French Open final?

STEFAN EDBERG: I would say so. Okay, I played some really bad matches that I had lost, but, you know, if -- I could actually pick some more than that one (laughter), but that is one of them, yes, definitely.

Q. Your best match ever has been the U.S. Open final?

STEFAN EDBERG: Yeah, against Courier in the final, I think so, under the circumstances, yes.

End of FastScripts........