US OPEN

September 11, 1999

Todd Martin

TODD MARTIN: No. It hasn't been strange. You know, it's been enjoyable. It's presented different challenges than others. That's one of the reasons it's enjoyable.

TODD MARTIN: It means I get to play tomorrow. It's exciting. It's something that a couple weeks ago I probably wouldn't have expected to happen. But it's here, and hopefully I'll be able to do a good job tomorrow.

TODD MARTIN: No. I didn't expect to be here myself; I knew I could. Given the right circumstances and playing well, I thought I had a great chance to be in the final. When somebody speaks in the quarterfinals, it's going out on a limb, regardless of who you pick. I told CBS the other day that I agreed with him. If I were to have picked three favorites, I would have picked those three. In fact, Richard was one of my only picks at the beginning of the tournament.

TODD MARTIN: I really didn't look at the draw at all this tournament. I had a pretty good idea who I played, just from watching the TV and them flashing the draw up. I wasn't aware that - I knew that Pete was in my section. I wasn't aware that Pat was on my half until at least the Round of 16, maybe after that.

TODD MARTIN: I don't have any preference. I have had a lot of trouble with Yevgeny. I've always felt comfortable against him playing. With Andre, at one point, I think I was probably ahead in the series. For that matter, I was ahead of Yevgeny because I won the first time (laughter). Yeah, you know, you don't have to play great; you only have to play better than the other guy. That's what I'll try to do.

TODD MARTIN: I felt good today. I woke up this morning, felt fresh. I was a little nervous that I might not be able to play as well on a full tank as I did on a half. Today I played probably even a little bit better than earlier in the week.

TODD MARTIN: I'm a star (laughter). If it mattered to me, I'd probably notice it. I've had to do more of this, more in the TV studio.

TODD MARTIN: That always happens, especially in the hotel. You're carrying your bags through the hotel lobby. It's hard not to draw a little attention. On the streets, you know, people watched the match the other night, and the next morning patted me on the back or something. It's nice.

TODD MARTIN: I got some advice midway through the third set with Rusedski that I didn't appreciate from one of the fans, and told him so.

TODD MARTIN: I can't remember, but it wasn't good.

TODD MARTIN: Well, when you're playing and you feel poorly, yeah, you don't know what it's going to be like the next day. At the end of the match, I didn't feel well. I was more concerned with the way I felt the next day. I did have pretty much 48 hours to recover. I recovered enough to play a pretty good match against Slava.

TODD MARTIN: Against Rusedski, I did.

TODD MARTIN: Huh-uh.

TODD MARTIN: Once before.

TODD MARTIN: Davis Cup.

TODD MARTIN: Not anger. I'd break it.

TODD MARTIN: I'd taken five courses in linguistics; three in the next closest subject. I had to declare a major in order to be eligible for my junior year, if I'd chosen to go back.

TODD MARTIN: Linguistics, the courses I took, had definitely a slant to them that I enjoyed. The first linguistics course I took was Language Acquisition for Children. I found that very intriguing. That's the reason I took other linguistics courses. I said, when I go back to school, I'd like to go back into education.

TODD MARTIN: They don't learn it; they acquire it.

TODD MARTIN: Well, first I have to acquire it (laughter). That was good.

TODD MARTIN: You want more?

TODD MARTIN: It would mean I accomplished something over this two weeks, something that nobody else these two weeks accomplished, or at least on the men's side. It would be a real honor.

TODD MARTIN: Only that it would be probably viewed by more people across the country, and I think that's great for tennis.

TODD MARTIN: Expectations and belief are two different things. I believed it from the beginning; I just didn't expect it. The only time I didn't believe maybe that I could was after my first round match, or during my first round match at points. But from the moment I walked out on the court against Richey, I felt like this was definitely a possibility, and I believed I could do it.

TODD MARTIN: No.

TODD MARTIN: I'd like to win this one the most, sure. This is our National Championship. To be able to win in front of your home crowd, that would be a thrill. Not that the others wouldn't (laughter).

TODD MARTIN: You mean, like how I feel about myself?

TODD MARTIN: You know, I'd still put one foot in front of the other. I don't think it matters a whole lot in the broad scheme of things.

TODD MARTIN: Well, I think maybe as much as anything, it gives me some confidence. I played a very solid three sets of tennis today. I'm certainly not going to suffer from having a little less court time today. The most important thing for me is that I got the job done in a high-pressure situation today. The closest things that I have to compare it with -- to have tomorrow to compare with.

TODD MARTIN: It's not true. I said earlier, I don't have to be better than I have so far; I just need to be better than him. You know, we'll see what that takes tomorrow.

TODD MARTIN: Well, I think you're selling one person way short if you don't mention Jose Higueras.

TODD MARTIN: He's had as much of an effect as any of them on my tennis game. Rick taught me how to play tennis. Since then, he's been an incredible contributor to my life in general. Jose, I spoke about. Gully has been a terrific supporter. I was a neighbor of his for a few years, somebody that I've always relied on for camaraderie and support. Dean has been the most tolerant individual I've ever met in my life, to put up with me the last few years, has taught me a lot about professionalism, a lot about the game of tennis, how to be just a super person.

TODD MARTIN: Once again, please.

TODD MARTIN: I think, if I do my job right, I learn and better myself from every match. Those two matches certainly were opportunities for me to learn some things. I feel the same way as a person. Against Lleyton, I really disappointed myself. Against Pat, I proved a lot of things to myself. You go to bed knowing those things. On the tennis court, you're maybe a little bit better prepared for the next time you encounter those situations. I think the other night against Greg was a somewhat similar situation as I had with both guys, because at first I was disappointed with myself, and at last I proved something to myself.

TODD MARTIN: Yeah, if you wanted to make it just one sentence (laughter).

TODD MARTIN: I know one thing, I grabbed a racquet every time I saw a Grand Slam final, couldn't get to the tennis courts quickly enough. It was inspiring to watch those players. You know, I probably did dream about winning a US Open, but I dreamt more about just being able to play at these wonderful places.

TODD MARTIN: Yeah.

TODD MARTIN: Definitely, I am. My peers are mostly, at least the peers you're referring to, are guys who could have or did turn pro before they left -- before they were finished with high school. Gee, you know, in comparison to those guys, I had absolutely no fathomable chance of being at a level anywhere near high enough to do this. These guys competed for Grand Slam titles ten years ago. I was happy to get a wildcard here nine years ago. Yeah, I'm a very late-bloomer. But, as you see, all those guys are still playing on a very high level now. They age just as quickly as I do; it just doesn't show.

TODD MARTIN: Sure, sure, yeah. It's impossible not to.

TODD MARTIN: I've thought for the last 11 months, 10 or 11 months probably, that I've played my best tennis of my career. I said yesterday that I thought if the body is willing and able, the resources you store up, and the experiences that you go through over the course of a career should benefit you. I think that's so far the case this week.

TODD MARTIN: I don't feel that. I feel like today is more that than the other night. The other night was the opportunity to prove to myself that I could overcome something - first of all, a player like Greg in a bad situation where I was down and out. And, more importantly, prove to myself that I could cope with not being 100%, coming up with some good tennis, being able to reverse the tide of a very bad match.

TODD MARTIN: Yeah. It was very nice. I was very pleased, more than anything else, with the way I played the last two games. That's important. I'm not taking a monkey off my back, which I'm sure some people would write. I feel just like that was, you know, a great opportunity to be in the same situation and do something good with it.

TODD MARTIN: Not that long. I won't tell you that I don't think about it once in a while. I think about a lot of matches. That's one of them. Most of my memories are good from '96 Wimbledon.

TODD MARTIN: Actually, I was still 26 when I had the surgery.

TODD MARTIN: There were lots of moments during the six months I sat out with it that I wondered -- there were a few moments that I wondered if I'd play again, and a lot of moments where I definitely questioned whether I would be able to play the way I liked to play. Those thoughts stuck with me for another six months to a year.

TODD MARTIN: No.