TMS - STUTTGART

November 3, 2000

Wayne Ferreira

MODERATOR: Questions for Wayne, please.

WAYNE FERREIRA: Can't say. Just, I guess, really just trying to not really have too much pressure. I guess my belief is that if I'm not out here, not playing well, trying hard, I'd rather be at home. I'm missing being with my family, so I've got to make it worthwhile.

WAYNE FERREIRA: More so these days. You know, with having the baby, getting towards what I guess is the end of my career, just thinking about a time to retire, I guess maybe that also makes me play well because I maybe don't have that much longer to go. There's that side. I want to be able to retire from the game feeling good about what it is that I've done rather than, say, finishing like I've been playing the last couple of years.

WAYNE FERREIRA: No, no. Practice always helps. The fitness level is quite important for me, which I try and work on. It's a little tough sometimes because I have a lot of pain in various parts of my body. But the practicing side, you know, normally when I went home, I didn't really play much. But now, living in Berkeley, where I am, I go out every day and I practice with the college team. It's like practice, but it's fun practice, yet I'm still playing. I enjoy it. I'm getting practice with enjoyment in it. I seem to be playing quite a lot. I think that helps my game, continue playing all the time, and not really take any breaks.

WAYNE FERREIRA: Oh, there's a lot of things I would have done differently in my career.

WAYNE FERREIRA: I wouldn't have played as much. I wouldn't have traveled half as much. I probably would have done different training when I did do it. I mean, there's a lot of little aspects in hindsight down the line you think you would have changed that would have been good for me. Thinking about it, traveling and playing as much as I did was really a bad thing.

WAYNE FERREIRA: I think the schedule is very tough. I think the new ranking, for me, if it had been at the beginning of my career would have been perfect. It would have saved me playing a lot more. I think I would have done a lot better because always for me the important thing is that if I know that a match counts or is important, every single match that I play, I seem to put in a better effort. But with the old ranking, it seemed that it didn't really matter how you did from week to week because there was always next week. If one week didn't count, doesn't matter, there was next week. Now the difference is that the Masters Series and the Grand Slams all count. So for me, that's a big thing.

WAYNE FERREIRA: No. I could play for a few more years. It all depends on how I feel, if my body can withstand the abuse that I give it, if the enjoyment level can stay there, you know, if I can just handle being away from my family as much as I am.

WAYNE FERREIRA: No, no.

WAYNE FERREIRA: Well, I have been working a couple weeks with Mats Wilander, but he's been really busy this year with moving his house and playing in the seniors. He's actually coming to Paris, to Bercy.

WAYNE FERREIRA: Well, it's only been about three weeks this year, four weeks this year. I can't really consider him my coach, no. But maybe next year we can organize a little bit more. He can, you know, spend some more time. It's up in the air. We really haven't discussed it. At this stage, there's really nothing set in stone at all.

WAYNE FERREIRA: I always felt I've always deserved to be in the Top 10. I believed I did well enough to be there and beat enough people. I think maybe just because it happened so fast, it was so easy getting there. I had no pressure. Then when I got there, all of a sudden it changed, and then I was supposed to beat everybody. It became a little bit more difficult. Now, these days, I'm ranked 18. It's not really that bad, but I feel I could be a lot higher. I feel like I've had a good year this year. I mean, it's been a better year than, say, the past two or three years. Yet I don't feel that I'm playing at my best. I'm still not winning any tournaments. I'm still not being as consistent as I would like. I still have my bad days. So I feel that even though I'm 18, I could be ranked a lot higher this year.

WAYNE FERREIRA: I've never played with him before. I never hit with him before. He seems tough, beats a lot of players, runs down a lot of balls. He plays a bit like Chang I guess on the retrieving side. It's going to be a similar match whichever one I play. I think he's great. He's achieved a lot for his game and he's tough to beat.