THE LIPTON CHAMPIONSHIPS

March 14, 1994

Alberto Berasategui

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: Hello.

Q. Tough match, Alberto. You seemed to really be in control of the match. Where do you think it got away from you and why?

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: I think one of the keys that I lost the match was in the 3-Love in the second set and I had 15-40 and he make-- he did two aces and then I had another breakpoint, but I didn't play as well as I was playing. But anyway, I had a lot of chances and I am happy the way I played, because I played a really good match. Let's see if I can play next tournament like this.

Q. Did you get tired at all, fatigue was a factor at all?

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: Yeah, I got tired. I was tired at 6-1, 3-Love already but when I make 6-1, 4-1, my shots were not as good as the first set. He started to come to the net because my shots were shorter and shorter and I think that also was one of the keys that I lost the match.

Q. I know this is a cliché, did you feel that you were in the zone for a while everything was going your way?

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: Well, I was playing really well, but I don't think I was in a zone. I mean, that is the kind of game I play I run around my forehand and that is my best shot I have, and I think he didn't play as well as he started to play in the second set, but maybe he let some shots short in the court and I could finish with my forehand but I don't think I was --

Q. You hit 2 second serve aces at that point; that seemed like you were just so confident?

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: I was confident because I was winning so easily, but those second serves, I was serving every time to his backhand and I had to try to hit once to his forehand, so --

Q. You had second serve aces 115 miles an hour, and there was kind of a delay between the first and second serve. Did you forget that was a second serve or did you deliberately hit it that hard?

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: When you try to hit an ace with that second serve, I mean, you just hit it the hardest you can. I do not think if I am going to make a doublefault, I don't care, but I mean, maybe the little thing was broken, but it was 115; that was a lot for my second serve.

Q. It seemed throughout the tournament even the higher seeded players, the unranked players have given the top seeded players so many problems in this tournament; it seems like anybody can go out there and win. Did you feel like even though the other players are getting all the headlines; that you can go out and beat anybody on any given day?

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: Yeah. Last year I beat also Bruguera on clay court. I think any player can beat the top ones. It doesn't happen on girls. Usually they go to quarters or semifinals, 6-2, 6-1. The guys they go, I mean, most of the matches are really hard.

Q. Alberto, how long did it take you to develop that forehand, I mean, because you hit it with the same side of the racket as you do with your backhand; you just don't pick up the racket. How long did it take?

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: I think it was because when I was little I didn't have too much power and that is the way I hold my racket; it gives me more confidence. I started to play like this when I was 7. It got better and better.

Q. Are you Basque?

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: Yes.

Q. Do you ever play jai-alai?

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: I try to play, but it is a hard game to play and I only tried it twice.

Q. Seems like a lot of kids in the Basque region grow up playing jai-alai and tennis is kind of a secondary thing?

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: Yeah, tennis is not like a growing sport in the Basque country. They play more jai-alai, and other kind of games, they don't even know.

Q. Do you have friends that play here in Miami?

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: I know a few guys, but they are not really friends, but I know a few guys that play.

Q. Do you feel in order to get to the next level that you have to improve your backhand because Michael was obviously attacking your backhand?

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: I have to improve a little bit my backhand, but I don't think I have to improve it so much, because I mean, the backhand at the first -- in the beginning of the match my backhand was the same as the second set and I was winning 6-1, 4-1 but I think I have to improve a little bit coming to the net, take my forehand and make a good shot and go to the net.

Q. Do you think you will be playing Davis Cup next week?

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: Yeah. Well, I mean, I am in the team. I don't think I would be playing because Bruguera and Costa are better ranking; if they get --

Q. The doubles?

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: The double, no. Not for me.

Q. So you think Bruguera and Costa will play singles?

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: Yeah, that is probably the team. Bruguera, for sure and Costa, it depends on the captain, but I think he will play unless he gets injured or something like that.

Q. Do you know anything about the Italian players Gaudenzi and Pescosolido?

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: Gaudenzi, I played him under 18 tournaments. He is my age. He plays very well and Pescosolido, I played him here.

Q. Did you win?

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: Yeah, I think those two are the ones I have played there.

Q. When you at 6-1, 4-1, were you nervous about winning the match or did you think, okay, I got him?

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: I got a little bit nervous, but when I got really nervous it was, I think 4-3 in the second set when he broke me.

Q. You went in the third; he had won about 10 games out of 11 or something like that. Then you came back and broke him making it 4-2 in the last set. Did you think that was your shot to get back in it?

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: I thought that was going to be -- I was going to win that game to make 4-3, but I was tired at that point and I didn't have so much luck. I had two or three advantage with my serve and I couldn't win them game that was it. 5-2 and I was finished.

Q. Did you ever hit any one with your forehands whether intentionally or not?

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: My father. No, I never hit anyone.

Q. Is he okay now?

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: Yes.

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