WIMBLEDON

June 28, 2000

Wayne Ferreira

MODERATOR: Good afternoon, everybody. Wayne Ferreira.

WAYNE FERREIRA: Can't complain about that one at all.

WAYNE FERREIRA: Yeah. I played solid. I did a thing that was important for me: get through my serve games as easily as I can, then focus my attention on trying to make him play a lot of volleys off the serve. I mean, his serve is so good. He's not really that used to the ball coming back a lot. I made him play a lot. I think after a while of him playing a lot of volleys, he sort of got a little scared on his serve, didn't serve as well as normal.

WAYNE FERREIRA: Absolutely, yeah.

WAYNE FERREIRA: I've had good ones. I've played well in other matches. But as far as the focus and playing the type of game that I wanted to, yeah, definitely.

WAYNE FERREIRA: That happens very rarely in your life. Got to take every opportunity while you can.

WAYNE FERREIRA: Are you sure (laughter)?

WAYNE FERREIRA: Wasn't English, was it (laughter)? I mean, I get very frustrated. I always seem to feel that the umpire does nothing until it gets extremely close. I feel that the linesmen are very good; they're there for a reason. If they do make mistakes, which they generally do, like everybody, why pick that time to do it all the time? I feel that it happens always at those particular times. It's very frustrating.

WAYNE FERREIRA: I'm generalising.

WAYNE FERREIRA: Always seems to happen right at the wrong times, always when it's breakpoint or set point or late in the match or tiebreaker. Very rarely do you ever get it to happen first game or 1-Love in the third, 1-All. It always seems in my case, always seems to happen at that stage. I don't really feel that it's necessary to happen. If it's not going to happen or it's going to happen, it's going to happen all the time or not what I feel is at the wrong time.

WAYNE FERREIRA: Well, overruling is fine. I mean, I feel that they could overrule a lot more earlier in the matches. It seems as soon as it gets closer to 5-4 or 5-All, that's when they try to focus more on the overrule. If they're going to do that, they should do that the whole match and not, in my opinion, wait until it gets close.

WAYNE FERREIRA: No, no. I mean, I was sort of, I guess, surprised by the weakness of my racquet. I didn't really hit it that hard. The next minute it's in two pieces. It kind of scared me a little bit more than anything else because I had no intentions of doing that. I did want it to hit the chair. Breaking it in two like that, I didn't want to do that. I didn't feel that I was that angry to get to that stage. I was frustrated, but I wasn't angry. I was disappointed in the outcome of that. I didn't want to do it again, obviously, because it's not always nice to have those situations.

WAYNE FERREIRA: You shouldn't be asking me, you should ask them. I don't know. I mean, I have a lot of good days and I have a lot of bad days. I feel like I have a lot less pressure playing people like them. I have nothing to lose. Today I had absolutely nothing to lose. I was out there enjoying myself. I had a good first round. I played well. I'm enjoying myself. I have no pressure anymore. My tennis is fun. I think that's the stage when I play well and I enjoy myself. That's when it makes it tougher for the top guys to play me.

WAYNE FERREIRA: Yeah.

WAYNE FERREIRA: That was a different situation. I was still in the Serengeti at that stage, even while I was playing tennis. I was enjoying the whole atmosphere. I didn't have any pressure. I was on holiday in the middle of nowhere. I came there and was happy to be there, but didn't really worry too much about the outcome. Those are the situations when I play well. My problem is I put far too much pressure on myself. When it gets to the stage where I feel it's important for me to do well or I should do well or I have a good draw, those are the stages when I play poor tennis. In situations where I have nothing to lose, where I'm just enjoying myself, going out and just playing the game, those are the times I play well.

WAYNE FERREIRA: Yeah, I do get that way. I have a bad streak in me.

WAYNE FERREIRA: Yes, yes.

WAYNE FERREIRA: Absolutely not, no.

WAYNE FERREIRA: Not. That was not what I said, no.

WAYNE FERREIRA: My opinion of the situation is that I think Corretja and Costa have a point. I think that they've played great tennis. They're ranked 10 in the world. They deserve to be 10 in the world. If Wimbledon is going to not seed them, then I think the French should not seed the serve-and-volleyers. I think they've proved themselves to be the 10th best tennis player in the world. Why should he not get the chance to be seeded? I think if they should do it here, you know, then there are a lot of clay court specialists at the French who hope to play a lot of the seeds. There are a lot of so-called grass court specialists, like myself, that sometimes it's nice to play certain seeds. We don't get that opportunity here.

WAYNE FERREIRA: Yeah, I think so. I don't really even know who I have to play.

WAYNE FERREIRA: No. Never played him before. He's played well so far this year. I have no idea what I'm going to do, how I'm going to play. I'm happy. I played two good matches so far. I beat somebody who to me is a great tennis player. I'm just going to enjoy that moment for a little while, then think about the rest later.

WAYNE FERREIRA: Absolutely not, no. That's not what I'm saying at all.

WAYNE FERREIRA: I always regret my outbursts whenever I do them. A lot of times I do - not always - but sometimes I do apologize.

WAYNE FERREIRA: That's all fine and dandy, but then the umpire isn't going to understand a word I'm saying, is he? Doesn't really help anything. I was talking to him. I was not talking to myself.

WAYNE FERREIRA: Exactly.

WAYNE FERREIRA: No, I didn't.

WAYNE FERREIRA: No. I think they're just trying to do what they're trying to do as best they can. The umpires that we have on the tour, and the umpire that I had in particular today, is a great umpire. I have no problems with him whatever. I think it was more of a frustrating thing for me, not really against him, but just frustrating how I feel that it always happens generally when it gets close that the overrules happen. But the umpires are really good. They've got some great umpires.

WAYNE FERREIRA: I don't, no.

WAYNE FERREIRA: No, I don't think so really.

WAYNE FERREIRA: Well, I was still enjoying myself. I was having fun out there. I haven't had too many opportunities myself to play on Centre Court against a great grass court player like Richard. I mean, I didn't want to, you know, ruin the situation. I wanted to have fun and enjoy myself and put the best effort that I could in and play as well as I believe I can.

WAYNE FERREIRA: It's possible. But generally, you know, I do get negative effects out of it. Today I didn't. Maybe it is because of that, yeah.

WAYNE FERREIRA: Richard is a great player. I mean, he is one of the toughest players on the tour on grass. But I just feel that maybe he does deserve to get seeded. But then I guess, you know, Alex deserves to get seeded, too. I don't think it's a match fixing or a draw fixing at all. I don't say that whatsoever. I just feel bad for Alex because he is a tough tennis player, and he is hard to beat. He's still not going to be that easy to beat on the grass. I think it's sad for him because he's had a great year. I mean, it's got to be a little bit demoralising for him and not get seeded where he feels he deserves it and I'm sure most people feel he deserves to be seeded.

WAYNE FERREIRA: I don't think that's really that fair. I mean, I know I would be really annoyed if I got to the French Open and I was ranked 10 in the world and I didn't get seeded. I mean, being seeded is a very big bonus. You don't have to play another seed until the fourth round. I mean, if you're not seeded, you could play one in the first round. It makes a big difference. I mean, it does make the draw a lot different. In the French Open, there are a lot of seeds that lose early. Why can't Wimbledon be the same? Not all seeds win and like the surfaces that they are, but they are ranked where they are and they deserve to be there. That's why they're there.

WAYNE FERREIRA: That's not a bad idea. They do that at the Ericsson. That seems to work pretty decently. Then again, you know, they all get a bye, too. I don't know. I mean, it's hard to say. I'm not going to be the one to say what's right and what's wrong. I have my opinion on what I think. I just think that if I was in their situation, their position, I'd be pretty upset not to get seeded.

WAYNE FERREIRA: I still am, yes. I'm going to meet up with him a week here and there in the summer.

WAYNE FERREIRA: No. The problem with him is he's more busy than I am. He's got a lot of tournaments. We'll meet up whenever we can.

WAYNE FERREIRA: Plenty, plenty.

WAYNE FERREIRA: At the French we worked on a lot of aspects of my game, even just the actual shots. Worked on just tactics. There is a lot. I mean, he has so much to offer.

WAYNE FERREIRA: Whenever we can. When he has the time in his schedule and I have the time in mine, we're going to try our best. I think he enjoys it. I enjoy being with him. We have fun together. I think we can make something positive out of it.