US OPEN

August 29, 1997

Wayne Ferreira

Q. Wayne, you looked to us as if you played very well indeed. How did you see it?

WAYNE FERREIRA: I played very, very good throughout the whole match. It was very important for me, my last matches started off really badly, and it was important for me to come out much better today. I had a good game plan. It worked really well. I played solid tennis the whole match.

WAYNE FERREIRA: Very similar to Canada. The other time I played him indoors, started off really badly, he blew me away. He served really well. I just didn't return very well. You know, that's why it was important for me today in the first couple of games to make him play a lot of volleys; make him work hard on his serve. If he worked really hard at the beginning, then he starts going for a little bit more than usual, starts staying back, which is what I wanted him to do.

WAYNE FERREIRA: It's much better. Much better at the back.

WAYNE FERREIRA: I didn't watch any, no.

WAYNE FERREIRA: I'm sure he was. To beat Muster, you've got to play decently. I think, you know, he was playing well. He hasn't had such a good run up to the Open. Then he beat Muster relatively easy. I thought he would be playing really good tennis.

WAYNE FERREIRA: I wouldn't say he really had much of a chance. I think I played too solidly for him. I made him play a lot on his serve. I served very well. I mixed it up a lot, got a lot of first serves. I played solid. I never gave him a chance. It's very difficult to win a match if you're not getting any chances at all.

WAYNE FERREIRA: I just played solidly. I think he had maybe one breakpoint on my serve. That was it.

WAYNE FERREIRA: Like I said, he blew me away. I served poorly, very poorly. He served huge. Indoors, it's much faster. I think he had a little bit more confidence back then. He was playing very well at that stage. Basically, I didn't even stand a chance in that match.

WAYNE FERREIRA: He served okay. But when he did get a first serve in, I made him play it. It's very tough mentally for someone like him who needs to come in a lot to know he has to hit a good volley all the time. Tried to bring up a couple on his feet, missed them. I could see straightaway. That's what I wanted to do, make him play. It's awfully tough. I know what it's like having to come in against somebody you have to come in against, it's pretty hard.

WAYNE FERREIRA: I don't really think he had a lack of confidence after beating Muster as easy as he did. I didn't watch the match. I don't really know what happened. Anytime you beat him, you've got to be feeling pretty good.

WAYNE FERREIRA: Well, Gary Muller, who did the thing this morning, said maybe he'll give me a press conference next time I play my next match. Maybe it will help me play as well as I did today. The press conference this morning is a great cause. It made me feel good, watching Mandela on TV made me feel really, really good.

WAYNE FERREIRA: Well, I just think it's a great cause. I think the whole thing is going to be fantastic. You know, for him to be -- for Mr. Mandela to be involved is great. For such a variety of tennis players, and the strength of the tennis players to want to be involved, you can't get anything better. For the cause that it's for, it's just a -- the whole setup of this exhibition, it's fantastic. I'm really glad that I was asked to be a part of it. I've wanted to help out in things in South Africa. Unfortunately, I don't really have the time and really know what's the right thing to do. So when this little exhibition started boiling and I started thinking bit, I was really excited about it. I've wanted to be involved right from the beginning.

WAYNE FERREIRA: No. I don't really talk to them too much about their tennis careers.

WAYNE FERREIRA: I'm still having problems, yeah. I'm taking -- after this I've battled through the summer. I've had a lot of pain. I still do have a lot. But I wanted to play here. I was playing well, and I didn't think it would be the right thing to take time off right now. After the Open, I'm going to take as much time off as necessary to recover from it.

WAYNE FERREIRA: It's the right one.

WAYNE FERREIRA: No. I had an MRI done on it. Everything was perfect. It's just rest. Unfortunately, I haven't given much of it.

WAYNE FERREIRA: I think at this stage, it's easier for me now. Because I'm 55, not that many expectations on me. Mentally, it's actually pretty good for me. I've been in the Top 10 for a matter of four or five years. It got sort of monotonous after a while. I needed something to push me a level higher. Not that I wanted this to happen in any way, but I think this is the sort of situation that will help me a lot. You know, bad things like this can inspire me to get over the hurdle that I needed not to be just Top 10, but to have a go at the really, really top. Obviously I'm disappointed. It's been a disappointing year. Things are going much better now. I think it's going to help me a lot.

WAYNE FERREIRA: To this stadium?

WAYNE FERREIRA: Well, my personal view is I think it's great. I think it's a really, really nice stadium. I do think they could have made the locker rooms a little bit bigger. They're a little bit small and cramped inside there. Besides this, I've been on this Arthur Ashe Stadium, it's a great court, good atmosphere. Unfortunately, I've been on the old center there, which I've played on before. I'd like to be on this one once. The whole setup, the lounge upstairs, the food and everything, it's fantastic, it's good. It's really definitely an improvement from the last couple of years.

WAYNE FERREIRA: Taking one at a time. It's tough. Even though Tim is not there, Thomas is not there, I play the winner of Gimelstob and Gustafsson. They're both tough. I struggled against Gustafsson. Gimelstob plays well. From now on, they don't get any easier, they're still tough.