THE LIPTON CHAMPIONSHIPS

March 25, 1998

Gustavo Kuerten

MIKI SINGH: English questions first and then Portuguese and Spanish after.

 

GUSTAVO KUERTEN: Well, not start to think about that still. But I'll see. Now I will have a few days to practice for Davis Cup. I think I'm going to be ready when I have my first tournament in Barcelona.

 

GUSTAVO KUERTEN: I don't know. Not sure. Five, six. He knows for sure.

GUSTAVO KUERTEN: Five.

 

GUSTAVO KUERTEN: Yeah, I think I can play great. I have good results here, so I will start with some confidence on clay, too. I hope to just start playing good the first tournaments, because I have no points to defend and I can play more relaxed than the French.

 

GUSTAVO KUERTEN: Did I?

 

GUSTAVO KUERTEN: You don't see me very often maybe (laughter).

 

GUSTAVO KUERTEN: Sometimes.

 

GUSTAVO KUERTEN: Sometimes.

 

GUSTAVO KUERTEN: It's the same one always.

 

GUSTAVO KUERTEN: It's a good racquet.

 

GUSTAVO KUERTEN: Yeah, today or tomorrow. I'm not sure. Flying back. We have Davis Cup now against Spain.

 

GUSTAVO KUERTEN: Nine hours and then one more hour to my city.

 

GUSTAVO KUERTEN: First Sao Paolo then connections.

 

GUSTAVO KUERTEN: Well, I think since the beginning, he start pretty solid. He got the early break. He could play more relaxed. I didn't feel comfortable at all on court. He was always rush me. I couldn't find a way to win the points easily or to really command the points. So I think that the first game was very important. He just took over the few games in the beginning. He start to play better and better. It was tough for me to come back. Didn't give me any chance. That's why I lost, I think.

 

GUSTAVO KUERTEN: I didn't understand.

 

GUSTAVO KUERTEN: His?

 

GUSTAVO KUERTEN: Was kicking very high. With the wind, I don't know. Maybe I wasn't moving so well, I couldn't play my long ball. I always play short. He comes in. When he served, I think I did few points only. Didn't have a chance.

 

GUSTAVO KUERTEN: Sometimes I tried, but he served deep, too. Wasn't comfortable, so it was tough for me. I was alwayys behind of him in the score It's tough to change, to start the things going better when you are losing, the guy has confidence.

 

GUSTAVO KUERTEN: Well, I think not. Maybe if I had one more day to recover, today would be a little bit better. But I had to play today. I had to be prepared. Normally, we have weeks like this, so we have to get used. Wasn't the schedule fault; it was my fault, playing too long the first match.

 

GUSTAVO KUERTEN: No, no, no. They asked me. I agree with them. I just started this year.

 

GUSTAVO KUERTEN: We started some ideas, but I'm just now talking about the boss there, up there, to see if my ideas are good or not (laughter). Maybe if it's good, we start working more.

 

GUSTAVO KUERTEN: We play all year soccer. My team just won the Championship. I was here in Miami in the tennis. Is normal for me. Brazil played already.

 

GUSTAVO KUERTEN: Playing now against Germany. If I have the time to see it, I see. If not, I try to think of my tennis and afterwards I see how is the soccer going.

 

GUSTAVO KUERTEN: No.

 

GUSTAVO KUERTEN: I'm not planning to really go for like one day that I know for sure that I'm going. If I have some time off there, for sure, I would like to go there. Never saw it before.

 

GUSTAVO KUERTEN: Yeah. I played last time in Kitzbuhel last year, August I think. Now we start to practice for Davis Cup on Saturday probably.

 

GUSTAVO KUERTEN: I'm playing Barcelona my first tournament.

 

GUSTAVO KUERTEN: Today or tomorrow.

 

GUSTAVO KUERTEN: Yeah.

 

GUSTAVO KUERTEN: (Pause.) (Laughter). They have a lot of good players. I think the only problem is for the coach to elect the player, like Brazil in the soccer (laughter).

 

GUSTAVO KUERTEN: No, don't know the guys.

 

GUSTAVO KUERTEN: Who?

 

GUSTAVO KUERTEN: Who (laughter)? They are pretty strong. I think it will be a very tight match there. For sure, it will be good thing for everybody.

 

GUSTAVO KUERTEN: I think it's like half and half. They're a strong team, but we playing home. It's like the same.

 

GUSTAVO KUERTEN: Well, I think normally they are noisy everywhere. It's nowhere that change too much. We play in a good place, in a place that we thought is the best for us. I'm sure that the group will be there and help us a lot, like they did all the time that we played Davis Cup.