March 8, 1995
INDIAN WELLS, CALIFORNIA
Q. Jim, did he surprise you by coming to the net as often
as he did?
JIM COURIER: No, not really. I mean, I have played Carlos a
bit. I know on the faster courts he tends to come in a bit more.
Q. Incredibly touch volleys, he made, shall we say?
JIM COURIER: That is how most of the clay courters volley like
that, they hit short volleys, so, I was expecting it, but just
wasn't quite sharp enough to react all the time. He hit some
good shots.
Q. Carlos said this match was more about you missing forehands
and he running a lot. Do you feel the same thing?
JIM COURIER: It was a match where I didn't play my best tennis
and I thought he played, you know, okay, and, you know, I am not
going to play great everyday and I didn't feel very good when
I started the match and I tried to work my way into it and it
just didn't work out. That is okay. There will be another day.
Q. He said he was especially eager to play you because of
the final of Rome two years ago. Did you feel that special feeling?
JIM COURIER: No. Felt no special feeling.
Q. Is a loss like this any easier to handle than it would
have been two years ago?
JIM COURIER: Why?
Q. You have grown up, you have matured; been through quite
a bit over the two years?
JIM COURIER: Yeah, I have lost a bit in the last two years.
Are you saying I am used to losing? (kiddingly). Losing is never
easy, but I am at a stage right now where I feel like I can handle
it. I feel good about the way I am playing in general. I know
that there is going to be bumps along the way and, you know, more
than anything right now, I just need some rest and, you know,
that I think that is going to do me more good than anything else.
Q. How did playing five matches in your last six days --
JIM COURIER: You mean playing six matches in the last seven
days?
Q. Did you play Thursday?
JIM COURIER: Yes, I did. I am tired. I am tired. There is
no way around that. But, you know, I am tired for a good reason.
I won a tournament last week, so that is okay. You know, I would
have liked to have been a little bit fresher coming in, but, you
know, I am tired for a good reason, as I said, so it is okay.
Who are you taking a picture of?
Q. It's a long time story. We will tell you afterwards.
JIM COURIER: All righty, then. Is your number still 911? All
righty, then. Anybody else?
Q. Boris Becker was in here before saying that most of the
players think this is the best tournament in North America. Want
to get your reaction.
JIM COURIER: I think it is a great tournament. I think the
weather is usually great. The stadium is nice, except for Sunday,
and possibly tomorrow. But you know, I think it is a wonderful
ambiance out here. There is very few things that are wrong with
the tournament. The lockerrooms are inadequate for this tournament,
but other than that, there is really not much that I would complain
about. I hope it stays like this. I hope we don't go to a two
week event with women because there is not enough room. There
is not enough room for us right now. God forbid that we would
have to be in one lockerroom instead of two.
Q. Would you rather that Charlie not raise the prize money
however how many hundreds of thousands of dollars that he wants
to and instead redo the lockerrooms?
JIM COURIER: I didn't hear that one.
Q. Would you rather that the lockerrooms be redone and the
prize money go up, say, $400,000?
JIM COURIER: I would. I think the prize money is pretty adequate
right now. I don't think it needs to go up anymore. I think
it would be great if he could put some of the money back into
the facility. I think that, you know, that is the way I look at
it. Maybe other people don't. But I think it would be -- you
have to keep investing in a business. You can't just put it out
there every year and just take all the profits. You have to reinvest
and reinvest to make your business better. I think that, you
know, -- that is the only thing I can tell you that is bad about
this tournament because Charlie has done wonderful things with
the event. I don't want to come off like I am knocking the event.
I am just gnit-picking a little bit.
Q. At 4-3 in the second set, you had, I think, it was triple
break against him. . .
JIM COURIER: Somewhere there. . .
Q. How did that get away from you basically?
JIM COURIER: He played five good points, I mean, he hit some
good serves and, you know, he crawled out of it. So -- good for
him.
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