COMPAQ GRAND SLAM CUP

September 23, 1997

Mark Woodforde

Q. Mark, that was a pretty youthful tiebreak you played in the first set.

MARK WOODFORDE: Yeah, and it lasted probably another five more games and then went downhill from there. But, yeah, I mean, I was serving well. I think if I can get through some comfortable service games against really anyone, it helps me tremendously. I've been serving well since Wimbledon. It's one part of my game that I really tried to concentrate on. It helped me with some fantastic results over the summer, and I guess over the weekend back in Washington, DC. But, I think I sort of hit the hill a little bit today after I set in a bit. It went somewhere.

MARK WOODFORDE: Yeah. What a shitty day for my serve to disappear, huh? Turn 32 and it's gone (laughter). It would have been a great, sweet birthday had I been able to win. Yeah, I think if I didn't feel like I could improve as a tennis player, I wouldn't be out here against a lot of the younger guys. I think nearly everyone is younger than me, it seems these days. But, yeah, that's a real key for me and to my career, to prolonging it as long as I can. As long as I can see improvement in bits and pieces, then, you know, I'm happy out there. I know that I have a game that can really probably disturb a lot of even the top guys, some of the very best guys. Looking back, I've beaten a lot of Top-10 players and a few No. 1s along the way. I'm very proud of the fact that when I'm feeling good and strong on the court, healthy, that I can do that. So, you know, I think probably you'll see me stop when, you know, my body breaks down on me or I just really feel like I can't do it any longer against the top guys. I want to be competitive as long as I can. That's the enjoyment that I get from the tennis game.

MARK WOODFORDE: Well, you know, it just gives me a lot of heart. You know, I try not to -- you know, I try not to get too cocky about it, that I can still play with those guys. You know, it's a nice feeling to go out there. I mean, you know, there are times when, you know, get beaten fairly convincingly against certain guys; there's usually a reason. I take a lot of pride when I do go out there against, you know, for instance, at The Open when I beat Kafelnikov. I probably beat him with a lot more brains than anyone else. It doesn't always have to be power these days. That's probably why I still am playing because my game doesn't take a physical toll on my body. I don't stand out there and try and hit as hard as possible, as humanly possible, and you see my shoulder sort of breaking down. I guess I'm the kind of guy who is nudging it around and puts the ball on the spot and hopefully finishes the points up at net. So, I get a lot of satisfaction when I can play those guys and do it well. Today was not a great day. Probably on these courts, I should beat someone like Marcelo with my type of game. You know, he basically stays on the baseline and just counterpunches. You know, as I said earlier, I served well in the first part of the match, and then I think I lost it, you know, got a little bit tired; wasn't able to get any free points. And, at the end, I was really moving horrendously. Maybe that's a little bit from last week and the flight and the quick turnaround to get on these courts. Plus, I've been practicing a lot of doubles; not singles.

MARK WOODFORDE: Yeah, let's put it down to that (laughter). It's an easy way out. No, not all the time. I think where probably it counts more is if I play consecutive days, singles and doubles, then my turnaround overnight is not as clean as perhaps what some of the younger guys, they're able to recuperate a lot faster than what I do. You know, you can't have everything with age.

MARK WOODFORDE: No. You know, it would have been a nice present to have won. That would have been my best present for the day. But, you know, I got some chocolates from Barbara and Jane. For me, you know, these days, I don't seem to really celebrate big time on my birthday. It's another number added to. And 32, to me, sounds a lot more worldly than 31 does. I might have a nice glass of red wine tonight or something. That would be about it.

MARK WOODFORDE: Won't be playing tennis, I know that.

MARK WOODFORDE: Well, I head to Asia for a couple of weeks and then come back for the two big ones, Stuttgart and Paris. I think to take a positive out of today was that I got a match under my belt and I know the areas that I really will have to work on. Marcelo is going to be in those two latter tournaments, European tournaments. Guys who play similar to him. I know I can play a lot better than what I did today. You know, I know that I won't be flying in like the day before and expecting to beat some of these guys. So, you know, this year is a little bit of a difference with tournaments. Todd and I have tried to lead in with some of the other European tournaments, Vienna, Lyon maybe, something like that. We've had a pretty strenuous year. We really want to focus on some of the bigger tournaments. Stuttgart and Paris are the two biggest you can possibly play on the indoor circuit. I'm looking forward to four tournaments. It's nice to know that you just have four tournaments left, and you can really put everything into it. You know, I've had some good results leading up to here and I really hope to take advantage of it. If I can work out what I learned today, put it into effect, practice well, hopefully I'll be deep into those tournaments in the singles.