PILOT PEN INTERNATIONAL

August 14, 1996

Wayne Ferreira

WAYNE FERREIRA: If I didn't hit the serves as well as I did, I probably would have lost. Probably the only thing that saved me. Couple of games I was down a couple breakpoints, I got a lot of aces in. I think I definitely would have lost if I didn't serve so well.

WAYNE FERREIRA: Pretty bad day. Besides the serve, it was a pretty ordinary came of tennis.

WAYNE FERREIRA: I've been pretty consistent. I played a lot of good matches. I've been competing very well and made a lot of good ones. I've been doing everything well, putting my game together. Kind of everything's coming together in the way that I'd like to. Just when I'm playing certain people, when they're playing certain ways, I'm trying to do different things, they all seem to be doing pretty well. Today is an exception. I guess everyone's allowed bad days.

WAYNE FERREIRA: I've been trying to work on my serve percentage, something I've been working on a lot. When I do get my serve in, it's a big factor. It's a weapon for me if it goes in. I've been missing a lot. After that, I try to be more aggressive, trying to come in a couple second serves, also trying to serve a lot more on my first serve, serve and volley, just being more aggressive. I hit the ball well from the baseline, but sometimes I don't do the right thing after I get in a position to attack, and I'll stay back. I'm trying to just change it up and be more aggressive and do the right thing.

WAYNE FERREIRA: Just be, I think, mentally it's a tough tournament to play, a lot of matches, hot. Very different venue. It's a tough one. You know, you have been very mentally tough in all your matches. I think the important thing is the first couple of matches to concentrate really hard on getting them over with really quickly and not spend too much time out on the court because, you know, Grand Slams in five sets, the fitness becomes a big factor when you get to the second week. If you can have easy matches, it makes it a lot easier.

WAYNE FERREIRA: It's an interesting place. It's different because it takes a long time, long drives to get to tennis every day. For me it's just a different -- I don't know. It's hard to explain really. I have different feelings.

WAYNE FERREIRA: It is the toughest, yeah. It's a tough one.

WAYNE FERREIRA: It's that, but also it's a bit tough mentally because by now we're starting to get towards the end of the year, last Grand Slam, sort of getting physically tired more and mentally tired from playing a lot of matches. The summer is very long. It's very hard because it's very hot and a lot of long matches. Takes it out of you. By the time you get to the Open, at that stage a lot of people are looking to have a break already. Mentally it's tough to get yourself up to fight hard and to play after the long summer that you've had up till then.

WAYNE FERREIRA: Unfortunately with the Olympics this year, it ruined my schedule a lot. With the designations that the players have to make, unfortunately seven weeks in a row leading up to the Open. I have no break up to that, so it's going to be very difficult for me this year.

WAYNE FERREIRA: Sometimes the designations can be difficult to do. They are tough. You know, the Olympics only comes around once every four years. That's really the only thing that really ruined it for me. The Toronto week, which is coming up next week, is normally during the Olympics. Normally I play that and take the week off before the Open. This year I have to play it, so I have no choice. A little difficult.

WAYNE FERREIRA: Well, I never really had any association with him at all except for one Davis Cup tie that we had. Didn't really help me there. Actually I got a new coach, Don, used to be the No. 1 doubles player in the world a couple years back. Started working with me from the claycourt season. Since then the way we've been working on things and trying to do it differently, it seems -- just his ideas are much better, helping me a lot. Also because he's a very good friend of mine and has been for years. His input that he gives me, I think I respect him a lot. Whatever he says I tend to believe more and do more. He's helped me a lot in the last month and a half especially through the grass court season. We worked on a lot. I didn't do as well as I would have liked to. We worked on a lot of things. It all seems to be coming and paying off now, which is important. Hopefully by the Open it will be coming along good.

WAYNE FERREIRA: Yes. He played singles and was a good single's player. He was a pure serve and volleyer. So he's trying to work that into my game because that's a part of my game that I don't have which I'd like to have more. He's working a lot on that and trying to improve that. I've always felt and he's always felt that that's the only part of my game that needs to be worked on to make me the best player I can be. It seems to be going along pretty well.

WAYNE FERREIRA: His golf game is about as bad as mine right now.

WAYNE FERREIRA: I think it's pretty good. Made the run -- tournaments leading up to the Master's pretty interesting, or even the No. 1 rankings pretty interesting, because anyone can win and be No. 1. I think it makes tennis exciting. It's always boring to have the same people winning all the time and the same people are in the finals. It's nice for the spectators to see new faces, brings more excitement, different kind of excitement. For me and I think for most of the players, we all -- obviously, the Sampras and Agassis, they don't like it so much because they're not dominating, but for the rest of us, we all think it's a pretty good thing.

WAYNE FERREIRA: I definitely believe that now, yeah. This year has been like that. I've always had a problem mentally on going to tournaments knowing that I always wanted to do well and win matches. Lately, the last year, I feel every time I play a match, I feel I can win the match and every time I play a tournament, I feel I can win the tournament. That's what makes you a good player, having the belief that you know you can win. A lot of people don't have that and that's why they're not as good as they can be. Like Kafelnikov, that's part of his game that makes him so good. Very confident, knows he can beat anybody. He beats people when he probably shouldn't only because he has the belief he can do it. It's an important thing to have. I've tried to worked on that over the years. It's difficult. Once you start beating players on a regular basis, you get to feel much better in yourself and your game.