WIMBLEDON

June 28, 2001

Jamie Delgado

JAMIE DELGADO: Second set maybe I felt like I was getting into it, and a couple of half chances. So in the second set I probably felt like I had the most chance. But against somebody as good as that, those half chances you have to take.

JAMIE DELGADO: Great. I never played on Centre or 1 here. So to play on there against someone as good as Agassi was, yeah, I enjoyed it a lot. It was good.

JAMIE DELGADO: Yeah, I mean it was -- you know, that comes from winning all the tournaments that he's won and everything he's achieved. Obviously, anyone he plays, he probably feels that he should win. When you do play someone as good as that, someone like me at the moment, you're trying to maybe press a little bit too much and go for a few shots that you wouldn't normally go for. So on that side, he's obviously more comfortable than I am.

JAMIE DELGADO: Yeah, if I keep working on my game. I saw some good signs there that I could, you know, play some good stuff against someone that good. You know, the better I get at it, the more chances I'll get to play these top players. You know, you beat them once or twice and, obviously, confidence will come with that.

JAMIE DELGADO: Yeah, fortunately I haven't played satellites for a few years. But life on the satellite is, in certain countries, is poor, hotels, food. I mean, you know, when you talk about Wimbledon, this is the premiere tournament in the world, so it's -- there's obviously a big difference here.

JAMIE DELGADO: No, I mean, it's a massive tournament that we all, you know, all year long we look forward to this time. So it's a time where we really enjoy it. I've played it a few times so I'm used to playing here now.

JAMIE DELGADO: I was happy with the way I started. I possibly, first few games, started better than him. Against someone like that that returns that well, it is important that you hold on the first few games. So that stage, yeah, I was happy with the way I started.

JAMIE DELGADO: The things that he does really well are things I'm trying to work on - staying up the court, taking (inaudible) away from your opponents. He does that probably best in the world and doesn't make errors with it. Just to play against him and see how he does it is a big bonus for me. I just have to keep working on that. You know, I felt like at times I played well, hung in the rallies well and attacked him. You just got to maintain that over a long period of time, which he's obviously comfortable doing.

JAMIE DELGADO: When I played today?

JAMIE DELGADO: No, I obviously saw how he performed. I would have loved to perform like he did going into a match like he did. But not during the match I wasn't thinking about Barry.

JAMIE DELGADO: No, just his encouragement really. Sampras and Agassi are really two completely different players. But obviously, you got -- on a court like that, against someone like that, you got to try and relax as soon as you can and play your game, which I thought I did reasonably well.

JAMIE DELGADO: It's tough to tell in the early rounds. All I know is that, you know, Andre is playing very well. You know, he's obviously -- I mean, you got to put Pete as a favourite, obviously, with his record here. But I think Andre is a very close second. You know, his form has been a lot better than Pete's this year, so it's -- you know, maybe he is the favourite. I don't know.

JAMIE DELGADO: Yeah. I mean, he's the best returner in the game, and, you know, he stands a very good chance.

JAMIE DELGADO: I mean, I think just maybe Pete made a few more errors than Andre. Andre doesn't give much away. When I'm serving against Andre, he's, you know, he fights. Every point is a big point to him. He doesn't give anything away, whereas Pete can give you some cheap points off returns. But, you know, Pete's obviously very hard to beat as well.

JAMIE DELGADO: Rover.

JAMIE DELGADO: 400.

JAMIE DELGADO: I think it's N. I'm not sure actually. I should know, but...

JAMIE DELGADO: I mean, Tim's in Sampras' quarter, I think. So that's obviously going to be a tough match. I think both of them have got a great chance, I think, this year. Possibly I'd favour Greg's draw than Tim's. But Tim's had more success here than Greg over the last few years. Both of them are playing well. I don't know who to pick to do better. I would prefer Greg's draw than Tim's. But who knows. It's a tough one to call.

JAMIE DELGADO: Yeah, I mean, I was obviously very impressed with him, with his attitude towards the match. You know, obviously I'm ranked a lot lower than him but he was still fighting for every point and, you know, didn't look like he took anything for granted. He was trying to -- he was concentrating very hard and was there to beat me as comfortably as he could. I think it's a great quality that he's got.

JAMIE DELGADO: Yeah, you always want to do as well as you can. Unfortunately, we've all drawn the big guys in the second round. You know, personally, for me, I had a good win against Medvedev in the first round, lost to Agassi who could possibly win it. So, it's a pretty tough draw I think this year. Obviously, you do want to do as well as you can. The draws are quite important with that as well.