THE LIPTON CHAMPIONSHIPS

March 22, 1999

Richard Krajicek

GREG SHARKO: Richard advances to his third Lipton quarterfinal, the first since '93. He'll take on the winner of Sampras and Albert Costa. First question for Richard.

RICHARD KRAJICEK: Well, I expected also a tough match. I expected that he would make more returns and make it more difficult for me in my service games. I have to say I was serving pretty good. Especially out first game, I didn't put I think one first serve in. After that I had a very high percentage first serve. I know it's important to try to get ahead of him. Last week he played very good against Enqvist. The next match against Philippoussis, he played a lot less. So I knew that yesterday he had a good match, that he can still have a little bit of a letdown. I thought if I could get in front quick, stay on top of him, attack him a the bit, I have a good chance that he gets maybe a little discouraged. I think that's what happened. I broke him quick, then he was only behind all the time. Yeah, when I broke him the second set, I don't think he was very believing in his shots anymore.

RICHARD KRAJICEK: I think that's as important or maybe even more important. I think Pete Sampras, of course, is a very good player, and sometimes he can play unbelievable tennis. The reason why he's six years in a row number one is because I think he's by far the mentally toughest player on the Tour. You cannot be six years in a row No. 1 on your talent only. I think mentally it's much -- the percentage is much higher of importance than the tennis. I think maybe he's still young and inexperienced. Yesterday he wins two tiebreakers, he can tough it out. But maybe he has a problem of doing it consistently for a whole tournament. I don't know if he's won a title yet, but maybe he needs a couple of those wins, that he maybe wins a title, that he believes he can do three, four, five, six matches in a row, that he can be mentally tough. I believe he can be mentally tough, but he has a letdown like this against me, and he had it last week also against Philippoussis. I think he just needs endurance in his mental toughness. I think he has it, but you need to have it match after match or at least you can have 10, 15 matches, one match a little bit less, but you cannot have one good match and one bad match. I think maybe that's the only thing he needs to improve. He hits the ball unbelievably hard. He's strong, physically very strong player. If he can be mentally tough, more consistent, then he can be easy Top 5.

RICHARD KRAJICEK: I've been able to do much more physical work now. I notice I'm in much better balance when I come to the net. Again I get wrong-footed, I can correct it very well. That i think is for me my biggest gain. That also of course has to do with feeling secure. I can stay a little bit lower, I can change directions when I want to, any speed, I come to the net, can I stop. That gives you a very nice feeling. That gives me a much better feeling that I can also cover the net much better. I think in the end it's working also to the opponent, that he knows I'm tougher to pass.

RICHARD KRAJICEK: After Rosmalen, I thought about it basically the second half of the year. The first half of the year, the knee was pretty good and I was very happy with it. In Rosmalen, you're a little bit unsure sometimes. You try not to think about it. It mostly was when I had a couple of matches in a row. The knee got a little more tender, you felt maybe a little bit less stable, then you know it might happen.

RICHARD KRAJICEK: Yeah. It's always good for me because especially in the first couple rounds I think I can play some ugly matches. It's nice to play, even though I play my first match on grandstand, there was about eight people or something. It was completely empty (laughter). I know at least the color of the grandstand when there's no people. Stadium today also, but at least there was a little bit in stadium. So, yeah, I could get in my game. First match, I played pretty good first set, a little bit of a letdown. There's not much attention. You have more time to yourself maybe, time to figure out your game. I liked it. Yesterday I played a little bit better. Today I really felt ready for this match. Maybe if I would have played first match on center, maybe there would have been a little bit more crowd, maybe you feel a little more pressure.

RICHARD KRAJICEK: It was amazing. Two days of neck rubbing because I had a stiff neck (laughter). I had to get ready for my matches. It's unbelievable. This guy is so big, it's a joke. For starters, I cannot hold the ball (indicating). He holds the ball up, I have to jump. If he doesn't want me to touch the ball, there's no way I can touch the ball. I got this far above his shoulder with my head (indicating). I know what my coach feels like now when he's standing next to me.

RICHARD KRAJICEK: Well, if not, he's for sure pretty close. I have no idea. We have tall people in Holland. Our volleyball team has a lot of tall people also. I think in the Olympics in '96, we were the tallest, the Dutch team was the tallest team.

RICHARD KRAJICEK: Well, he left Holland pretty quick, eight or ten years ago, he went to college in the States. Maybe even longer. I think Eltingh and Haarhuis met him a couple years ago. I don't know if I wasn't here or what happened. It's interesting. He's in a way the most successful Dutch sporter we have, and probably the least famous for how big, how famous and good he is in the sport. In Holland, he's known, but he's not really famous actually.

RICHARD KRAJICEK: No. The football players are by far the most.

RICHARD KRAJICEK: I have a good record against him. A lot of times it's been pretty close. I beat him last year in Stuttgart, 7-6 in the third, Stuttgart indoors. He's beaten me here in Miami, I don't know, six or seven years ago in a very close match, two sets though. He likes this court. That's his advantage, playing in front of the home crowd. I have my advantage that I have beaten him, I don't know, five out of seven times I think. It will be an interesting match. But he has to win this match first.