adidas International

January 15, 2004

Wayne Ferreira

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

WAYNE FERREIRA: Well, I mean, I kind of expected not to play well last week, but I didn't expect to play that badly. You know, just the conditions were tougher. It was my first match of the year. I hadn't practiced very much. It just was a terrible day, you know. But I practiced hard after that. I got a couple matches in here this week so far. I can't really take much from that match last week. I mean, there's nothing to say, really, about it. It's just beginning-of-the-year blues, I guess.

WAYNE FERREIRA: Yeah, no, I like the Rebound Ace, you know. The first week is always tough because it's my first match of the year, being off for a while. Once I get out of that little hurdle, I'm normally fine. I always do well on this surface; I like it. It's a little bit quicker, gives me more opportunities to be a bit more aggressive. Suits my game a little bit more. I always have a good time and enjoy coming down here.

WAYNE FERREIRA: He's good. You know, he's pretty solid all around. There's not anything amazing; he doesn't have any great shots. He just moves well and gets a lot of balls back. I'm kind of a tough player for him to play against because, you know, I hit the ball pretty hard and I can overpower him a bit. So I would give him a lot of trouble on a regular basis. But, you know, he could do very well against a lot of other players because he makes a lot back and he doesn't miss much and he's the kind of player that's pretty tough for some people to play against.

WAYNE FERREIRA: I'm just trying to get something back for the cricket and the rugby (smiling). I don't know. I can't really say. Sometimes you just do well against certain players, doesn't really matter where they come from.

WAYNE FERREIRA: Yeah.

WAYNE FERREIRA: Yeah, it's tough to say. You take a guy like Lleyton, the type of tennis he plays is completely different to someone like Mark or Pat. A lot of times it's normally the style of play, but it's hard to say because a lot of the guys all play different types of tennis here. It's not that it's the same, you know, like same style all the time like the Spanish. It's kind of weird, but I don't know. Just lucky, I guess.

WAYNE FERREIRA: Well, I mean, I'm thinking probably, you know, maybe US Open, end of the year. It depends on a few things - you know, family. Family priorities are starting to come in a little bit more now. Body's starting to fall apart a little bit more. You know, but as long as I compete well like this week, and I feel healthy - somewhat healthy like I did this week - and I can compete at the level that I'd like to, I'd like to continue playing as long as I can. But got to give up some time.

WAYNE FERREIRA: Yeah, the winning does make it more difficult, that's for sure. It's easier to, you know, not do that well even though -- if I was practicing hard and I was trying my best and I was losing, it would make me realize it's time to leave. But I'm doing that and I'm still winning, so it makes it tough because I can go on, I can keep going on. But I've got to look at other things - my family, my son. Sometimes you got to change your priorities in life and do something different. I've got to figure out a time somewhere, you know; maybe not just prolong it. Got to do it some time.