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EUTELSAT MONTE CARLO OPEN

April 24, 1996

Boris Becker

MONTE CARLO, MONACO

Q. Was it difficult to play against a left-hander? You have another difficult one to come.

BORIS BECKER: It was tough to play. Doesn't matter against a left-hander or a right-hander. I haven't played in a couple of weeks. I was sick. I'm here two weeks; had good practice, but the match is different. I was glad to win the last point.

Q. Rios is another left-hander; recently playing much better than Rikl. Do you think that that could be a bigger problem now since your situation, your physical condition is so-so?

BORIS BECKER: No, my physical condition is excellent. Rikl -- Rios is still playing. He's in the first set.

Q. He won the first set.

BORIS BECKER: I also won the first set. Tomorrow is a new day. It's a new opponent. I usually play better with better opponents. You know, I take every day as it comes.

Q. Boris, looking back at last year's final, how frustrating an experience was it for you and how easy was it to get over that?

BORIS BECKER: Well, it took me a while to get over this. I don't want to bring it up again, to tell you the truth. I covered a lot of ground since last year. I really prefer talking about this tournament or -- what my chances are.

Q. Well, last year everybody thought that Muster was the king of clay; won eleven tournaments, okay, and you were one of the few that got to the match point against him. Does that mean anything to you? I mean, it means that maybe you could be as good as he is on clay?

BORIS BECKER: Well, I'm definitely not as steady every week as he is. On a good day, a good week, I think I can beat anybody on clay. Muster, in fact, came back many times from match point last year. If you look at the statistics, five times, he came back from match point. It's not always clear-cut out on the court. Sure, it matters who makes the last point, but there are many guys who, on a given day, can play excellent tennis. You start with zero-zero and everybody has a chance - even Becker.

Q. Boris, we have lost eight seeded players so far in this tournament. Is it reinforcing your own point there?

BORIS BECKER: Exactly. I said all along on the Super 9 tournaments, every round almost could be a final and not the tournament. I see today Costa and Chang are playing after me, all the guys before, those are great players playing each other in the first round. It's just, for me, I'm just happy to be still alive. You know, I'm happy to play tennis after all. Physically, I feel fine. Every week I'm going to be better. .

Q. When many seeds lose the first round, many times it is because the seeds play their first match, and the other opponent has played one match before.

BORIS BECKER: I played four already.

Q. So what is your favorite draw? I mean, you would like better to be, let's say, with 56 players and start to play one round after, or you like better those draws where 64 players start all the same?

BORIS BECKER: I prefer 32 draws, to tell the truth. You know, outdoor tournaments usually get rain at least one day. With 64, it's almost impossible, unless you play in August in Rome, you don't have rain. Usually; especially in the spring, 64 doesn't make sense. 56; have guys playing doubles -- we've been lucky yesterday to get through a couple of matches; otherwise some guys had to play twice today. If anything, the draws have to be smaller, but the problem is that the seeded guys at the beginning haven't played, and you play somebody who has won; has some confidence; who is in good shape. I'm glad that I won the match. I had a good match, long match, and now I'm ready.

Q. Boris, Agassi said in Barcelona, to go to the Olympic games is a question of nationality. Are you going to the Olympic games?

BORIS BECKER: I am not.

Q. What do you think about that opinion, that Agassi said?

BORIS BECKER: (No response)

Q. He plays the Olympic games because he loves his country - he said.

BORIS BECKER: I love my country, too. Has nothing to do with whether you want to play the Olympics or not. I live in Germany. I like it a lot, but different reasons for different folks. One doesn't go with the other.

Q. Boris, how easy or difficult is it for you to come from the hard courts of America or the faster indoor courts of Europe and adapt to playing on clay?

BORIS BECKER: Actually, it has been easy because I haven't played much on them. Even though I played in Palm Springs, I wasn't really feeling good. I only had one match, so it wasn't really different. I spend two weeks now here, two and a half. It's Wednesday today, and that hasn't bothered me.

End of FastScripts....

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