TMS - CINCINNATI

August 11, 2000

Todd Martin

TODD MARTIN: He played better than I did when he needed to.

TODD MARTIN: Yeah. His level rose when it needed to and mine didn't. To be more specific than that, he made me play when he needed to - at the end - and that was something I think I did better than he did all match long. But at the end, he did that better than I did.

TODD MARTIN: I felt like I hit it pretty well. I had to play against a guy who was playing a lot better than the first three guys I played. But for most of the match, I did. And then, you know, at a couple times throughout the course of the match I stopped -- I tried harder to win the points instead of just letting them happen a little bit more. And that's what I alluded to in the other question. So it wasn't quite as consistent, but that has a lot to do with who's on the other side of the net.

TODD MARTIN: Yeah, well, it's just a matter of forcing it and not being willing to endure maybe two or three shots that he can set up on before being able to sway the advantage or the point back to my side. It was more "Strike fast and strike hard" instead of "Do what I can, not to be struck and look for my opportunity to strike."

TODD MARTIN: Well, I think he hits the ball great. I think he does some -- he does some smart things when he, you know, at times. But I think more than anything else, he hits the ball so well and doesn't seem to care if he misses. And he swings very freely and makes a lot of the shots. I think probably the one thing I noticed in the almost three years since I've played him, he returns much better. But he also relies on his serve a great deal, and he's able to rely on it. It's a very, very good serve.

TODD MARTIN: Yeah. No, he -- it was more than just one point in the tiebreak. I mean, you know, there might have been one point where I didn't get it back or I got aced. But that's, you know, just getting the ball back in play isn't enough. Throughout the match, he served better when he -- when the pressure was on him, which is a sign of a very positive server. And I think he got a little frustrated because he went out there with a plan with his serve and that plan, I don't think, worked as well as he had hoped. So he started going after a lot more serves and trying to hit aces. I was unlucky enough or he was just a good enough server to have those go in.

TODD MARTIN: No, I think -- you know, it's tough for me to say because I'm playing on my half of the court mostly. But I didn't feel like he did anything differently. There were times where he hit the ball really well and a few times where he didn't. But I don't think it's in his chemistry to just sort of pluck the ball back. He's a swinger and he, you know, I just think that my mistake was not giving him more opportunities to swing. For every time he swings, there's a chance that he's going to miss, not just a chance that he's going to hit a winner or keep the ball on the court.

TODD MARTIN: Well, I was aware that they were always clapping on my serve, and I could have used five or six seconds less time. But it was nice to have that support. It is actually -- it can be a little - I don't know what the word is - but it gets into your head a little bit when there is that rise to the occasion, if you're up break point or in the tiebreaker when I needed to serve they were getting behind me. But it, you know, it almost alerts you to the fact that it's getting more important and already the player is reminded that it is the case.

TODD MARTIN: Yeah, every crowd's for me. (Laughter.)

TODD MARTIN: I still feel like I've played better this week than I did for the majority of the US Open last year. In fact, I think the best match I played at the US Open was against Andre in the final. So my tennis is fine. I feel very good about my tennis. It's just a matter of, you know, getting into crucial situations and tight situations and not necessarily thumbing your nose at them and plowing through, but just, you know, realizing it but ignoring it at the same time and just, you know, get the job done. And now, you know, I think I'm -- I haven't capitalized on enough of those situations this year in order to feel assured that when I get to 5-3 in the third set it's my time - it's my turn.

TODD MARTIN: You can use the same answer I gave to him. When push came to shove, I stopped focusing on making him play. I forced even -- not necessarily just going for winners, but trying to attack before it was time. And he was up to that.

TODD MARTIN: At the risk of sounding incredibly callous and not too sensitive, I could care less what other people think. I'll be excited to be there again and I'll be excited to recall some of the memories. But, you know, I do do this job primarily for myself, and that's selfish. But, you know, that's just the way it is.

TODD MARTIN: You know what, there's two guys out there, and every point is dictated by two guys. I think I hit a good serve on the first point, and the second point I hit a good return. So those two points won me the tiebreak. The third point, he hit his first shot as hard as he could and missed it by three feet. Then I hit one more good serve, and then it's over for sure. Over for sure. Unless he comes up with an incredible level of play. And even the last couple of points in the tiebreak, he had hardly to play. So it's impossible to sustain my level and his level for the whole time. It's not impossible, I mean I've played stretches in the match much better than I played that tiebreak. It just so happened that it came when he was not ready to play. I think if you look at his first-serve percentage and a few other things in that tiebreak, you'll see that that just wasn't the way he played the rest of the match.