US OPEN

August 30, 2004

Todd Martin

TODD MARTIN: Do you think anybody would be here if I didn't (laughter)?

TODD MARTIN: Well...

TODD MARTIN: Uhm... well, I mean, it's my last professional competitive...

TODD MARTIN: Yeah, yeah.

TODD MARTIN: Well, I tried to make it all the way to it and just couldn't, I couldn't last any longer.

TODD MARTIN: Well, I would say, first and foremost, the 1990 Open. Not because it was exhilarating necessarily, but it was my first opportunity to compete as a professional and to, you know... I really felt like it was the beginning of something new. That was something special, something awesome in a good and bad way at the time. The '95 Davis Cup year I know will mean more and more and more to me as my life goes on. Probably the finals of the '99 Open here.

TODD MARTIN: That wasn't in '95, but I did play pretty well despite getting... well, just by losing to Tim. But, no, I think one highlight of that year was clinching against Sweden in Vegas. Then just the whole week in Moscow for the finals was, you know, it was nice for me personally because Pete and I won our doubles match and my work was done. But also it's a special moment to be a part of, especially the way Pete played for the weekend. You know, to be there with my friends and be able to say once - that was the only time in my career that I was part of a winning Cup team.

TODD MARTIN: No, no. I had hopes, I had dreams, and I also had a plan to get to wherever I could get. You know, the first step was going to Northwestern and learning more about myself, learning more about life, learning more about the sport and giving myself an opportunity to go from childhood to adulthood. Maybe I didn't make that transition completely by the time I left school (smiling), but certainly the last 14 years on the tour have helped as well.

TODD MARTIN: Well, there are three people that contributed to my career in manners that aren't worth distinguishing between. Rick Ferman taught me from the time I was 10 and is still a huge entity in my life. Then Dean Goldfine and I spent seven years together. I met Jose the week before I turned pro here in '90. For the last 14 years, he's been teacher and, this year, coach. So those three guys, I said it out on the court, I don't think it would have been near possible to be in the position -- or any of the positions I've been in over the years without them.

TODD MARTIN: Well, it's been pretty difficult. I mean, it's, you know, half way through the match I'm thinking, "Jeez, how do I get a message to Jim Curley not to make any type of announcement, I'm still in it, I'm still going." But at the same time, you get to the point where you know in your heart. I've been thinking about it for probably a couple years, and I'm sure had I had better success over the last couple of years I wouldn't have thought about it quite as often or as deeply. But, you know, in the last few months it's gone from a lot less thinking, a lot more feeling, and I think that makes things pretty clear in my mind. I'm going to miss it terribly. It's been, obviously, a huge part of my life and probably throughout my life, the greatest source of -- I guess I would say it's generated probably more self-esteem in me as a person than any other one thing in my life. I've always been most confident, you know, on the court, in myself. I'm certainly not as confident a player as I once was, but I'm still very much a confident person in that scenario, or in that situation. But I also feel like what I've done for the last 14 years has prepared me pretty well to be confident in myself off the court, and hopefully that will prove true.

TODD MARTIN: Phew... thought the secret service was going to come out there for a second (smiling). My favorite five-set match, well, I think the match I played against Andre here was probably one of the best - it was probably the best match I'd ever been a part of. Unfortunately, the fella on the other side of the net played better than I did. But it's hard to match the emotions that I felt after I played Moya or while I played Moya in 2000, Round of 16 here.

TODD MARTIN: Well, it's awfully soon for me to -- I've tried, in making this decision, I've tried rightly or wrongly to avoid letting what's next in my life as a career get in the way of making a decision about what I've been doing on the court. So I haven't, you know -- I've obviously given it some thought. But for right now, I'm happy to go home and spend some time with my family and, you know, see what gets my juices flowing in the coming months.

TODD MARTIN: Well, I think first of all, the numbers of players has made a huge impact. When I say "the number of players," the number of players that play at a world-class level seem to be much more now than they used to be. I think the caliber of athlete has improved through the years. I also think that the technology has made it easier to play at a higher level for more guys. So those three things probably more than anything else.

TODD MARTIN: Well, in a simple way, yes, I achieved loads more than I could ever have imagined. But I also would say, more importantly, I reaped some lifelong benefits from the sport that wouldn't have been possible or would have been a lot more work and a lot -- and I would have needed a lot more help to have learned. But there are lots of things that I would have liked to have achieved that I didn't, but I understand that we're here for a purpose, and some of our purpose might be -- some of our purposes might be winning Grand Slams. But also, you know, some of us might be here to show that it's not everything and handle what success we do have with as much dignity as possible, and the failures as well.

TODD MARTIN: I'm going to say, "I didn't write." (Smiling). No, that's mean. I had to make one dig, and Charlie has been my target way too many times through the years. Jack will probably be curious at one point in his life, but I plan on being involved in the sport in some way, shape or form. I'd like to take him back to some of the places that I've been and introduce him to some of the people that I've gotten to know over the years. If he's interested, I think he can learn a lot about what I did just by doing that and not needing me to sit back and say, "Well, in 1992, at the Stockholm Open, I lost in the second round to..." you know. I think it can be a lot more learning by seeing. And if I would ask for one thing, it is to be able to show him these ropes a little bit.

TODD MARTIN: Well, you know, I hadn't talked to Patrick before I made this decision, but Davis Cup is a very important part of American tennis. I want to be involved in American tennis. So if he sees there being a way for me to contribute, I'll at the very least give it some serious consideration. But that's, you know, that would be much more his decision than mine.

TODD MARTIN: Greatest regret... you know, I'd like to say that there are no regrets, but, you know, I haven't -- well, I guess if I were to say a regret, I didn't necessarily treat every person I came into contact with as well as I could have. And that's, I think, most everybody I know would cut me a little slack on that, but that's where you're very much in control; out there, very much not in control of what happens. As far as wins and losses, there are no regrets. It's much more understanding that there are opportunities and capitalizing on those opportunities at times and failing to capitalize at other times.

TODD MARTIN: Well, the traveling and being away from my family are probably the most, and that's been the best part. Trying to get better at this. Up until today, spend every day of the last 14 years trying to figure out one way or another to do better, and, you know, part of me probably will still make those attempts. But I look forward not to having such great importance put on that anymore.

TODD MARTIN: I was thinking, "Play a good game here, keep playing like I did in the game I broke him to go up 5-3 and I might get to play again."

TODD MARTIN: Well, it's -- the only thing I can think of right now is because it's a little fresh in my mind with the Olympics just finishing, I had an opportunity to be on the '96 Olympic team as a doubles player. I didn't qualify as a singles player at the time. Had I accepted the opportunity to play doubles, I would have ended up being able to play singles as well because Sampras withdrew before the event. So hindsight is 20/20. I was pretty convinced I made the right decision at the time.

TODD MARTIN: Well, there's three of us in the equation now, and I see us staying put for now.

TODD MARTIN: Well, I think it's hard to say Pete wasn't the toughest opponent. Toughest shot, maybe Hewitt's backhand passing shot. Stab at the dark.

TODD MARTIN: Well, I'll tell you right now, my level of play has been extraordinarily high at times for the last two years, as high as I feel it's maybe ever been. And in practice, tremendous. That's what's going to be tough, is because I feel like I've enjoyed the work more in the last couple years than I had in the first 12. Just mentally, I couldn't keep it together like I used to, and I feel like, you know, years ago, that was where I was best. If the door opened a little bit, I could find my way in, which leads me to answer your question about Andre. It's impressive, because I think he'd be the first to admit, he probably doesn't feel quite the same physically as he has over the years. But he still locks in when he needs to and comes up with his best tennis mentally.

TODD MARTIN: Don't get confused. That was against Moya.

TODD MARTIN: I know, but I didn't go around in the stands.

TODD MARTIN: There was a lot in my match with Greg in '99, there was a lot more that went into that match than just those five sets. I was sick the day before. I had a few IVs. He was cleaning my clock pretty well and eventually I sort of hung in there enough to have a chance. Then he was cleaning my clock again in the fifth set. His game fell off and my game picked up at the right time. But the most important part of that was it provided me another opportunity to play, and it just so happens that that was the best I had ever done at the Open that year. So in ways, that's one of the more important matches of my life, or of my career, because I had, you know -- if it weren't for that match, winning that match, I wouldn't have had, well, in particular, the most important match of my career in the final here.

TODD MARTIN: My favorite court to play on, well, unfortunately, I never got to play on it - Court 2 at Roland Garros.

TODD MARTIN: I don't know what you call it, "The Closet."

TODD MARTIN: It's too long ago to remember (smiling). Well, I think, you know, I guess for someone, you know, like me, it took a while to get to where I was a competitive junior, it took a while to get to where I was one of the best collegiate players, it took a while to get to where I felt like I belonged out here at all. Then I went from sort of the end of '92 being barely in the Top 100, starting to feel like, "Okay, I can justify being out here, I can see myself being out here for at least a few more years," you know. 13 months later I was in the final of the Australian Open. I don't really know if I was -- I don't want to say prepared. I just don't know really if I would have ever been able to stop and say, "Jeez, you know, that's pretty nice." I think in '99, one, I was older and able to understand things a bit better and understand the rarity of that occasion and also thrilled to have a chance for another occasion.

TODD MARTIN: I stopped kicking myself pretty much when I got home. I remember my parents saying, "You can't cry over spilled milk." You know, it taught me some valuable lessons. It was an opportunity that I would have loved to have had, to play in the finals of Wimbledon, because you never know what could have happened. But then again, Mal was the better player on the day. That was the breaks. I understood that intellectually right then and there. I didn't quite come to terms with it emotionally until I was able to get out and do my work again.

TODD MARTIN: Plenty. He's already accomplished a lot, and he's going to accomplish a lot more than he has so far. Who knows if it's a lot more in your eyes, but, you know, I think the guys who handle their careers professionally - and I think Andy does - accomplish something every day. I'm sure he'll feel that way when he's done.