AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 21, 2001

Todd Martin

TODD MARTIN: Good to know you, Richie.

TODD MARTIN: How did you figure that one out?

TODD MARTIN: Well, I think I was sold a bill of goods and I was fortunate enough to believe it, and that was the big key. Every time I've ever played Pete, I kept on making adjustments along the way and rather than sticking to my guns and really having - I don't know - a shoot-out with him. And today, I finally stuck to my guns and, you know, took his second serve and gave some swings to him and made him pass me with his backhand when I was serving. And, you know, plus a few little things, that was the big key. I have a couple of men who are older than me to thank for it. So...

TODD MARTIN: You know what, nothing feels better than to know that I did something today that I've never done before. Even the two times I beat Pete before, I don't really feel like I was very committed to doing it the right way and today I did it the right way. If I would have lost, I still would have felt pretty good about it.

TODD MARTIN: One's five years and one's probably 17 or 18 years, Jose and Dean. They've been beating things into my head. Finally I let my skull open up a little bit.

TODD MARTIN: For the most part. I think I'm a deceptively stubborn person, and, you know, I believe it, I believe it, I believe it. Then when I get out there and I'm unsuccessful or I don't stick to it or don't feel like I change things too much, I am not successful, then I have a tough time really believing it. And today I proved it to myself. Despite them telling me over the years, I proved it to myself that this was not such a bad way to play.

TODD MARTIN: What's your name?

TODD MARTIN: I'm a little slow. What were you saying, John?

TODD MARTIN: I've had much more emotional wins. But as far as satisfaction of doing the job the right way, it was up there. I mean, it was a very well-played match on my part and I don't -- that sounds pretty self-gratifying, but it was.

TODD MARTIN: Listen to me, if I thought about the past, I'd be retired by now.

TODD MARTIN: At the very top, as far as being No. 1, yeah. Because I don't think he's willing to play the schedule that would probably be necessary for him to achieve that type of ranking. I would assume Andre Agassi's pretty darn pleased that he lost today, and I wouldn't doubt that a couple other guys might be as well. I still think in my mind he's the best player in the world. And I don't think he came up with the caliber of play today that I think he's accustomed to.

TODD MARTIN: I made one mistake early in the game. The first point I -- Pete sat on the forehand return a little bit and hit a very good return, and I rushed it a little bit. I saw an open court and saw the opportunity to be at the net. But other than that, I did play a pretty good game. The nice thing about it was the whole match after the, you know, the bulk of the first set, I felt very comfortable in my serve. Not necessarily success-wise, but didn't feel the pressure to swing for aces. And I didn't let myself do it there, which enabled me to hit probably, I don't know, three out of five or maybe even four out of five first serves in the last game. That's a big key to my game.

TODD MARTIN: Well, how did you get that impression?

TODD MARTIN: Why weren't you there in person? (Laughter.) Well, you know what, Pete's a friend of mine and I don't like to see him lose.

TODD MARTIN: If I have to see him lose, I'd just as soon it be to me but that doesn't mean I can't be, you know, sorry for him because I think, you know, I think he felt like he had a good shot to win today and a good shot to win the title. So that doesn't take away from my enjoyment of what I achieve today, and I don't think since it wasn't this emotional win, it was more of a very gratifying performance, that's how I felt. I didn't feel elation; I felt, you know, I was just pleased. Very pleased.

TODD MARTIN: I think my chances are I get to walk out on the court again on Tuesday, and from there, we'll see what happens. It's impossible to predict.

TODD MARTIN: Well, I don't think it should change too much. I think -- I certainly don't want to get in to a situation like Andrew was today in the fact that he was sort of just slugging it out with Andre from the back court. That's not my game, first of all. But even though it is Andrew's game, you saw how difficult over the course of time it is to do that. So from that comment, you probably can decipher what my game plan might be.

TODD MARTIN: Well, you know what, you know, it wasn't the greatest experience for me. I mean I lost a match that I had a great chance to win. But, first of all, it's not the first time that has happened. Second of all, it's not the last time that it will happen. Maybe, maybe, hopefully to that extent it will be the last time. But there's going to be other matches. In fact, this summer in Cincinnati, I had an opportunity to beat Guga in the quarterfinals and let that one slip away. I thought my opponent played pretty darn well. But, you know, that memory is gone as far as, you know, anything other than realizing that it can happen and to try to be better prepared for it if it does. And, you know, if my rematch comes with him in Memphis, Tennessee, or Melbourne, Australia or wherever else, it's fine. And it has nothing to do with him; it has something to do with me. You know, I've -- today proved to me that I could, you know, serve out a match or whatever. It doesn't have to be against the same guy.

TODD MARTIN: Well, I always find it peculiar that you guys ask that question of somebody who's still in the tournament. (Laughter.) But no disrespect, at least you have the guts to ask me because I know most of you guys think that. I think, well, I was really impressed with how Patrick played today. I thought Tim was going to have an edge in that match, and I didn't get to see all of it. But from what I saw, Pat played great. And I think it's hard to argue with Moya after what he did last night as long as he's physically fit. And there's a bunch of other guys who have great shots. You know, the winner of my match with Andre on Tuesday I would put in that same category. There's eight guys after tomorrow that will probably have a pretty good chance.

TODD MARTIN: Well, I don't really have any thoughts. I don't know if that's going to happen and if it does, then he's my teammate. If it doesn't, then he's our first former captain.

TODD MARTIN: No, no. When it gets down to it, we're all tennis players, even the captain. I mean Gully, John, Patrick, they're all players at heart. So they -- I've always looked at them as very much playing-minded individuals and it's one of the reasons why they're able to help when we're on the court.

TODD MARTIN: You mean for this tournament?

TODD MARTIN: For Davis Cup?

TODD MARTIN: Oh, Andre thinks John -- I thought Andre thought Andre was up for it. But that's news to me.

TODD MARTIN: You know what, it doesn't really matter. I mean with doubles especially, it's a matter of working as a team unless you have somebody like Pete who can really take over a doubles match in almost every regard. He can obviously hold his own serve; he can dominate the net. And I think especially in doubles he returns serve very well. So unless you have a situation like that, it's about having two guys out there doing the job. And if John knows how to gel with a partner, regardless of who that partner is, then, you know, he doesn't need to be as talented as some of these guys or as sharp as some of these guys. It's more about being a team.

TODD MARTIN: You know, I would do what was asked of me and make sure we did our best.

TODD MARTIN: Well, I think the US Open final was better played by me because he played much better in the US Open final than he did last year at Wimbledon. I thought I did some things very, very well at Wimbledon, and I improved on some things compared to our experience in New York City. So -- but overall, I played a great match against him in the final of the Open.

TODD MARTIN: Well, I sat down. It's not one of them, I mean it's both Dean and Jose. I'd hate to see one of them get stuck with trying to beat something into my brain, because both of them had been doing it. Yeah, since the match I haven't spoken too much with Jose and Dean, and -- but they've both, you know, both have expressed the obvious of, you know, that's what can happen when you do and what you're supposed to do really. It's really -- it was very reassuring to me to have some of those -- to be able to pick up on some of those things during the course of the match and believe it for myself. And it didn't take very long today to start believing it for myself because everything felt pretty good, and it wasn't because I was hitting the ball so cleanly or moving so well. Even though I did those things well, it was more the way I chose to play the points. The errors I made were good, the, you know, the balls I shanked were okay. I was trying to do the right thing, and that's been beaten into my brain a little bit more since I was off the court. So...

TODD MARTIN: I'd like to become a father when I'm ready to be a father. Right now I'm not ready to be, but whether I'm hitting a tennis ball or not doesn't matter.