THE LIPTON CHAMPIONSHIPS

March 23, 1998

Wayne Ferreira

MIKI SINGH: Please welcome Wayne Ferreira, a three-set winner today over top seed Pete Sampras. It's the third straight time he's beaten Pete, all three in three sets. In the fourth round, he'll place either Steve Campbell or Todd Martin. It's also the third time he's reached the fourth round. First question for Wayne.

WAYNE FERREIRA: No. I can't really say. I mean, you know, Pete, after I broke him in the third, starting playing a lot better towards the end. He played a good point. The second serve, I decided to go wide; thought I'd change it up a little bit. He hit a good shot. I didn't play a bad point. Settled down, tried to get the first serve in. I actually played well. I actually served well and played a good game.

WAYNE FERREIRA: Well, I'm sure he felt it before he got out on the court. But after the first set, I think he had different ideas. I noticed early in the second, even though it was 1-All, 2-1, he started getting a little bit upset with the line calls, a little bit mad at himself, which is sort of unusual for him at a stage where he was winning that easily. It's sort of not like him at all. I guess maybe from the beginning of the second, he started realizing maybe I was playing a little bit better. He definitely knew the second wasn't going to be as easy as the first.

WAYNE FERREIRA: You know, I know from my own experiences that when things aren't going well, you tend to get upset with a lot of other things outside. Definitely, when that situation starts happening, you can tell that he's not feeling good about his game. He's a little maybe not confident as he would like to be. There's a lot of other things bothering him than just his game. It's always easy to start thinking about other things to try to get your mind off, but it's not always that good. I do think he's going through a bit of a slump. I haven't seen him play any matches this whole year. He has lost matches that he normally wins, so I guess he is struggling quite a lot.

WAYNE FERREIRA: I don't know what he's thinking. I think after five years, you have to have a bad patch somewhere. It's taken him five years. Most of us it takes a couple of months. I just think he's going through -- I don't know. I can't really say. I haven't spoken to him. I don't know him well enough to ask him. I don't think he's -- I think he's the only person that will know that one.

WAYNE FERREIRA: Last year?

WAYNE FERREIRA: I had a bad patch at the beginning where I was fine. After Australia, I had problems with my racquets, which I didn't really like that much. Went through about three months where I was changing, chopping and changing racquets. I lost a lot of confidence that side. I didn't find a racquet that I liked for a while, until about the French Open. Then I hurt myself at the French, so that didn't help either.

WAYNE FERREIRA: It was something I needed to have, otherwise I never would have got better. It was something that maybe I prolonged a little bit longer. But in the sense I was told through a lot of people that maybe it wasn't necessary to have. So if I didn't have it, I wouldn't be playing now, so I'm glad I did do it in the end.

WAYNE FERREIRA: I was off, well -- I had the surgery over the Stuttgart indoor week. I played a very casual doubles match at the Mandela Challenge, then Australia. I'd say two months maybe.

WAYNE FERREIRA: No, no, no never. I knew I'd be back. The thing that is I've always had problems with when I had my knee surgery the year before, I came back way too quick, rushed it, paid the penalty for that. This one I was willing to take the full amount of time, no matter what it was, to get fully prepared and better, which I did. That's why I don't have any more problems anymore.

WAYNE FERREIRA: I had, you know, those medical terms go right over you. Supposingly, when I fell over, the bones hit so hard against each other that it excretes a fluid, like a jelly substance, that got hard, inside all the ligaments and the bones. Nothing was able to move around. So the bones were still banging against each other, bruising everything. I don't know, all these things, they told me.

WAYNE FERREIRA: It was pretty much a mess.

WAYNE FERREIRA: Well, I tried to get the first serve in, get through that. For me, looking at it at 6-4, the point that was going to be the hard one, I think, was 6-5. I played a good point at 6-4, had a good winner, which was sort of aggressive, and I was happy about. Then 6-5, Pete just gave me the point. I didn't have to do anything about it. It's sort of unusual for him, I think, to do something like that. But I'm not going to complain really.

WAYNE FERREIRA: Yeah, definitely. Definitely. I mean, you know, it's tough. Match point, 6-5, serving a double, not always the best situation when you turn around at 6-All and have to serve again. I think he was still thinking about that serve.

WAYNE FERREIRA: He missed a lot. I can't honestly sit here and say that it was because of my great tennis today. I mean, I played well and I did enough to win the match. I fought hard after losing the first set, being killed. But he definitely didn't play as the Pete that he normally is.

WAYNE FERREIRA: I give myself credit. The main credit I give is for just hanging in there. Being 6-Love, being killed, there's times that I would have made not tried hard in the second or got down on myself. I just hung in there. I think, for me, that's always a hard thing to do. It's the best positive side out of the match that I could see.

WAYNE FERREIRA: This is the first real problem that I had. I just felt that the racquet that I had was a good racquet, but the way the technology was changing, and the way they were changing the balls, the balls were coming a lot heavier and making it a lot harder. I actually started getting a bit of problem with my shoulder and elbow, because the racquet wasn't powerful enough, as the rest are today. I just felt if I wanted to improve my game, get better and progress with everybody else, I had to change. I had to struggle to find one that I liked.

WAYNE FERREIRA: I don't know. I don't know. I mean, he's a tough person. He's been No. 1 for a long time. Every time I have played him, I've always felt good playing him. It's a nice thing to have in the back of my mind that I can keep with him.

WAYNE FERREIRA: I always feel good, Bud (laughter). I do that sometimes. The match goes by so quick, you try and rush things, you try and get it over with, you try and get that first game. It goes by so quick. Before you realize anything, you're done 6-Love. Then it is: Stop, relax, try to get back in. Once you're in, it's okay. Sometimes you're down a set and a break, it's too late. Luckily I got it back in time.

WAYNE FERREIRA: I'd like to be back there. The way I'm playing right now, obviously I'm not as well as I'd like to be. I still have some problems which come up now and again. I feel I have the capabilities of getting back to No. 10, if I could just stay healthy. I'll be back there; it's just a matter of time.

WAYNE FERREIRA: Thank you.