U.S. OPEN

August 31, 1995

Stefan Edberg

STEFAN EDBERG: Probably, I have at some point. It was a long time since I played on an outside court. It is a pretty good court to play on. Quite a good atmosphere. People are pretty close and I didn't feel too bad. It was quite nice. For a change, I mean, at least the place is full. That is what you want sometimes, to play better on an a court like that, when it is full, than playing in a half empty stadium.

STEFAN EDBERG: I could play another outside match that would be fine. Play Andre on court 16.

STEFAN EDBERG: I think for me it is a great challenge, playing the best player in the world and playing here at the Open, where the atmosphere can be really good, and so playing here on the Center Court, I mean, I am really looking forward to it because I really have nothing to lose. I can go out there and play relaxed and just go for it and see how far it will take me.

STEFAN EDBERG: Always a different atmosphere when you play in a Grand Slam. I am not sure how he is going to be on the Center Court, because we both won a lot of matches out there and we both feel comfortable playing on that court.

STEFAN EDBERG: Sure. It is an opportunity, and it is great playing on the Center Court, playing against the best player of the world right now, and I know it is going to make me play my absolutely best tennis to have a chance to beat him. And he is in the position where I have been in for many years, where maybe he is supposed to win that match. But hopefully I will be a good challenge to him.

STEFAN EDBERG: Well, obviously not win as many matches. I think I have lost a little bit of the consistency. It is really in the last year I feel sort of, from last summer, that that match hasn't been very good at all, and it is really the first time in my life I faced sort of like a downhill slide because everything has been great so far and it's a little hard to adjust to it. But there is always a way back. It is not great being in that position, but there is room to move up again. I am not playing that badly. It is just -- some matches this year where I haven't played very well and I had some bad losses. Once you start losing matches, other people think they have a chance and you lose a bit of confidence. So it is a little bit of a tough position to find yourself in, but it is not the end of the world.

STEFAN EDBERG: It is different playing on an outside court because there is not that much room playing, I mean, everything appears to be different. Everything is tighter, everything is smaller, so it is quite a big difference playing on an outside court than to what it is playing on the stadium. Obviously for the top players, it is more difficult playing on outside court than on a big court than for the other players who are used to playing out there, a lot more difficult coming on the center court.

STEFAN EDBERG: No, I was ready to play out there. Like I said, it is a pretty good court to play on. It is nothing wrong there. Just go out there and do the job, but that is what I had in mind today.

STEFAN EDBERG: Sports drink.

STEFAN EDBERG: With the rankings, okay, it is a fair system. The ranking tells the story, but it tells the story of the last twelve months, if I am playing my best tennis, I don't think I am No. 19 in the world. I think I am better than that, and do you agree or --

STEFAN EDBERG: Thanks. But I think so. I still am playing at my best. I still can challenge the best ones. That is all I need to know.

STEFAN EDBERG: I have been serving well so far in the two matches that I have played here, and that is always a key because I have had shoulder problems all summer. So this is really, in the last two weeks, that I have been fully fit. So it makes a difference, yes.

STEFAN EDBERG: What happened?

STEFAN EDBERG: Well, Washington, okay, that was a final. But it was a very, very hot day playing in 120 degrees on the court. It becomes a different battle. It is a match of survival, grinding it out. I have had some touch matches going in there. He came out -- it was a very, very close match which either of us could have won, but he came up with the shots at the end and...

STEFAN EDBERG: When did I play that one? That was not a good match. In Cincinnati, you mean? That was awful.

STEFAN EDBERG: Went back to Europe after that to do something.

STEFAN EDBERG: I must have lost it on the way, but I mean, I am not going to be top five for the rest of my life. I have had a long spell where I have been at the top of the game and, you know, now I face -- there is probably some reasons for this, but it is tough to point out. That is where it went wrong and this is the match where something else went wrong. It is a little bit of a natural thing too because you can't just keep going, and going forever. Sometimes you got to -- you are going to run into trouble and that is what I have done, but it is always a way out of it too.

STEFAN EDBERG: That would help, definitely.

STEFAN EDBERG: Yeah, those are the greatest moments playing in the Slams and it is great for your fitness too because you are playing three out of five sets, so if you can come through a Grand Slam; making it to the very end of the tournament, that is going to help you for the next couple of months, so it is a great opportunity to show that you can still play tennis and to get back into shape as well.

STEFAN EDBERG: A little bit tougher, obviously, but I mean, he should be feeling pretty good about himself. He has played great all summer; hasn't lost a match since Wimbledon, but on the other hand, he knows he is -- there is going to be a day where he is going to lose a match. It is just a matter of time - whether it is going to happen here or next week or in the next month, but at the same time, he will feel a little bit of the pressure too, that is for sure.

STEFAN EDBERG: No, something that you have to work out. It takes time and that is what it is all about, digging out, because there are going to be times like today -- it is not very hot, but it is warm. I felt good for a couple of -- suddenly you find yourself a little bit sluggish and you lose concentration for a couple of minutes. That is what happened. I lost the third set, but it didn't really bother me too much. As long as you get on with it in the beginning of the fourth set and you take charge again, you are okay and it was actually good that I played four sets today because I got to spend some time out there and I needed to work. That is probably going to be good going into the next match.

STEFAN EDBERG: Both. It is because of Davis Cup and it is because I feel that I needed to play some matches and I had a tough draw yesterday and played a tough match so I really wanted to play here. It is not normal, but under the circumstances...

STEFAN EDBERG: No, the thing is that we have a big problem with Apell. He has had a shoulder problem for some time and we are not sure whether he will be fit for Davis Cup or not so our --

STEFAN EDBERG: It is a little bit similar, yes. So it makes you believe there is always a way back. It still is and I am still pretty young, and still pretty healthy and it is just a matter of, you know, motivation and leading the team.

STEFAN EDBERG: I didn't think that much because I came here pretty late today. The two matches before went like this. (snapping fingers). Didn't have too much time.

STEFAN EDBERG: That is expected because normally I don't play on an outside court. It is a chance for people to see somebody that is normally playing on the show court, so they are going to be there - see what is going on.