ATP TOUR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

November 18, 1996

Thomas Enqvist

This is the eight best players in the world. It is just going to be a really exciting tournament.

I don't see a particular favorite. Like I said, anybody in this group is a winner. I think it is going to be a tough tournament, an exciting tournament.

Of course you want to be in the draw and you want to play. But you earn your points through the whole year and if you don't have enough points to be in the draw, there is nothing you can do.

I am going to be out there practicing and I have Davis Cup final coming up next week, so I will practice and try to stay in good shape. I am going to practice hard this week.

My shoulder is good. I have inflammation. I take treatment for it, massage and different kind of stuff.

I took sometime off, three days. I have been practicing a little bit and rest a little bit. This week I am going to practice a little bit earlier and on Sunday we are going to meet in Malmo and we are going to have a meeting before the Davis Cup match starts.

I think I can leave like Thursday or Friday. I actually don't know. I will go to Stockholm maybe one or two days and we are going to see each other, the team, on Sunday morning.

Of course it is more fun to be in the field. It is a different feeling. Last year you were very proud to qualify for the ATP Tour World Championships. This year you come down here as alternate. It is a different feeling, but, you know, if you don't have enough points to be there, you are not good enough. So that is how I see it

I think Davis up is going to be a tough match. I think that it is two strong teams. But, I think that we have a good team and we have a good chance to win.

Davis Cup, you watched it on the TV and Davis Cup is really big in Sweden. It is almost not only for the players, but the whole Swedish Federation, so it is a big thing.

Stefan has been playing a lot of Davis Cup matches and a lot of Davis Cup Finals so I think it is good to have his routine. He is still playing very good. When Stefan is on our team, we have a better team. We have a strong team when he is on the team.

It is an individual game. I have my coach. I don't discuss my game with him. I don't discuss so much my tennis with Stefan or Muster or anybody else.

(referring to Davis Cup) Tactics and stuff like that, of course, you talk to each other. Like you said, playing a lot of big matches, of course, he can give you some good advice in that case,.

My father is an engineer and my mother is economic. They both work. I have one older brother and one younger sister.

I did a lot of sports when I was a kid. I played soccer and I played a little bit of ice hockey and I chose when I was 13, 14 that tennis was the sport that I played well in, and that was most fun to play. I think I choose it because it was more fun. I did well. Tennis was a big sport in Sweden. I think a mixture of that.

After my first year turning pro, when I finished the year at 60, I think I know that I could have a chance to be a good player. But, I don't know how. Not before that, I didn't have any thoughts to be a professional tennis player.

Working the point around a little bit, that is, I think, what I have improved most in the last couple of years.

Davis Cup is one of the most tournaments to play. You look forward to it and you are very proud to represent your country and you are looking forward to every match.

Of course it is a little bit extra pressure playing Davis Cup because you are not just playing for yourself. You are playing for the team. I think that is what makes it so exciting.

It was an important match in Prague because if I won we surely went to the final and it is always nice to win an important match, you know, which is very close and if you can win that one, you come out stronger and your confidence is rising, for sure.

The most important match I have played, that is impossible to say. Every match is very important. And, of course, if you play a final, it is special, but if you play Davis Cup is special too. But, I can't put one as the most important.

I think everybody feels that for Stefan to win Davis Cup would be unbelievable thing. I think we are going to do everything possible to win. Also I think you are so excited to play Davis Cup final and so on. Once you are out there, I don't think you are going to think you are going to win for Stefan, but to win for Sweden.

Stefan has been the No. 1 Swedish player for such a long time. He has been a top guy for such a long time, one of the best players ever played in the game. I think he always been really playing Davis Cup for the Swedish Federation and playing for the Swedish people. I think Stefan likes to play. He feels it is important for Swedish tennis.

All of us want to play well for the team. As I said, it is one of the most exciting tournaments of the year.

It is going to be a loss because Stefan has been one of the best players in the world. Also, I think you can't play with the same team forever. In every sport, everybody is falling off after a while and for the moment I think we have a lot of young guys coming up and I am playing well and Gustafsson is playing well, so I think we are going to have a strong team even if Stefan is not playing.