US OPEN

September 4, 2003

Todd Martin

TODD MARTIN: Well, I would say the fourth and fifth set were fairly similar except for two things. One, he served well the entire set, and I did not. I served one, I don't want to say bad game, I'd like to say a game where I didn't serve as well as I had been. And he played some great tennis. I think that was in the sixth game of the fifth. He never really gave me too many opportunities, I don't think, on his serve in the fifth. A lot of that's because he served well and played well from there.

TODD MARTIN: You know, it's not easy to sit around for a number of days. But it's not easy for you guys, it's not easy for the referee, it's not easy for the fans, it's not easy for us, it's not easy for the numerous volunteers, and security guards, and you name it. But it's all of our jobs, that when the time comes, we're ready to take care of business. That means get the court dry. That means call the lines. That means cheer for your favorite player. It means executing your shots at the right time. And, frankly, I don't think any of our problems, Juan Carlos' or mine, today, had anything to do with the amount of time off that we had this week. I thought Juan Carlos played great Tuesday night when we started, and he played great the beginning of the match today. I had to change a lot of things in order to show any chink in his armor. Finally, I did. Unfortunately, he was up to the task in the fifth.

TODD MARTIN: No, the only thing I saw on the videotape was the fact that the breakpoint that he broke me on at 2-love in the first set when I was serving, I got a bad call. That was enough videotape for me. I just hope certain other people get to see the videotape. So, no, but it -- I had plenty of time with Jose, my coach these last few weeks. He helped me see a few things that helped me a lot today. They didn't necessarily help me in the second set when we went back out, but it helped nonetheless - eventually. And also, I got more comfortable with how he was playing. He is so fast and he takes aggressive swings off of both sides pretty much every ball. I just was out of sorts the first couple sets because the ball was on me so quickly, the ball was going by me so quickly. I didn't understand where I was supposed to be. Finally, you know, I got a little bit more comfortable, a little bit more aggressive. Eventually, I felt more comfortable playing that way, and I think he felt less comfortable. Some good things happened.

TODD MARTIN: You know, if we knew that these computers were absolutely, positively right all the time, I think that would be great. But, you know, I know in James' match with Andy in Cincinnati, the umpire made a call and the computer said that the ball was six inches in when the umpire had called it out. Well, turns out that the machine was wrong. So I think we need to polish things up a little bit before we make drastic changes like that. Human error is a lot more acceptable than going to a machine. This cyclops machine I can't stand. I apologize to the guy who created it. But it's rough. It's really tough for us when a machine makes a mistake and the people in charge can't overrule the machine. Human error is a whole lot more acceptable for me.

TODD MARTIN: The second part I didn't understand.

TODD MARTIN: Yeah. You know, I think enough retirement ceremonies have occurred this fortnight so you're not gonna get anything like that out of me tonight. But I am going to prepare -- I am not going to play this fall, competing. I'll play a number of exhibitions for charity and one for competition this fall. But I have no desire to go over to Europe and compete. I think it's a great opportunity for me to spend some time with my family. And while I do that, I will prepare myself to go down to Australia. And if that preparation feels good and feels like I should make that trip, I will. If it doesn't, then I've got some decisions to make.

TODD MARTIN: I think all the people who complain about technology of the racquets, of the string, of whatever, and how it's destroying the game, what they're basically saying, the core statement that they're making, is the game is too easy. And the technology is making the game too easy. I think if you put us indoors year-round, you're, again, making the game a little bit too easy. I think the game inherently was meant to be played outdoors. You know, one of the nice things about this type of weather that we've experienced the last couple days, if we're playing on clay courts, there's probably only a couple of rain delays, short rain delays. But we're playing on hard courts, and we have to accept, all of us, all of the members of the tennis world, have to accept that and roll with the punches.

TODD MARTIN: Going down two-sets-to-love is nothing to write home to mom about. Winning that third set feels a little bit better. Keeping the momentum, winning the fourth set is -- especially, I think, as an American, but probably for every player, especially here, instills some added confidence, some exhilaration that is rarely found, and a burst of energy that you probably didn't expect to have.

TODD MARTIN: No. You know, competing is not about competing as much as it is about understanding what's happening on the court this day, this moment, and making the most of it. I played a couple of very good sets in the third and fourth, and the best way for me to compete was to continue to do what I had been doing, hopefully find one or two more things that also worked, that I hadn't done yet, and being ready to play every point. I felt like I was, and I felt like I did those things. Just felt like more than against some of the other guys that I've lost to -- or that I've beaten after being down two-sets-to-love, or beating in a fifth set, Juan Carlos switched the momentum back to his side and played a better set than I did. You can't -- I can be disappointed about not having the opportunity to play again tomorrow; but I can't be too disappointed about the way I competed, certainly in the last few sets.