US OPEN

September 9, 1999

Todd Martin

Q. How exhausted are you?

TODD MARTIN: Pretty tired. I'm pretty tired. Again, I feel like I felt better than I thought I would, you know. Not as well as I'd like.

Q. Do you have enough in you if it has to go five sets in a couple days?

TODD MARTIN: I hope so. The good news is I didn't deplete myself as I did the other night. I'm assuming I'll be in better shape come Saturday.

Q. How did you manage to get yourself together after the practice today?

TODD MARTIN: I certainly think the fact that it was the quarterfinals of the US Open helps. I think once you get into any match and start trying to think your way through a match, you think more of what you can do with your shots than how you feel. The good thing about yesterday and today in practice was that I served very well. I felt comfortable serving. I made an extra focus tonight on my serve. I think I ended up serving over 70% first serves. That's great.

Q. Does it help playing at night with the crowd? Do you think it's better conditions overall?

TODD MARTIN: Well, I think it's the best conditions to play in, minus the wind. I think playing in this city at night is great. That helps. Also the fact that we didn't have to play early in the day when it was fairly hot for sure helped me, too.

Q. You've knocked on the door of winning a Major several times now. You have a shot at winning again. What does it mean to you to be in the semifinals, to have a chance like this?

TODD MARTIN: Well, I feel like I've had 29 shots. I think that's how many tournaments - Grand Slams - I've played. That's how I approach each tournament. Sometimes the opportunities get better as the tournament goes along. That's the case here. Still, there's four guys that can play great tennis. I have to worry about one of them on Saturday. Hopefully, I'll get to worry about another one on Sunday.

Q. You're one of the four. Does that mean something more to you?

TODD MARTIN: Listen, each match you win brings a bit of satisfaction or pleasure. All five of my matches so far have been much different from each other. Minus the one against Magnus, each one has brought me different types of satisfaction.

Q. After Patrick's withdrawal and Pete's, last week there seemed to be the wind out of the sails of the US Open. A lot of pundits said this Open lost some energy with the top two out.

TODD MARTIN: Two of the Top 3 or 4. I don't know, Kafelnikov might be ahead of Rafter anyway. It doesn't matter. Two good players.

Q. My point being, your performance the other night was spectacular. Do you feel that perhaps you've kind of reenergized the interest in this tournament?

TODD MARTIN: Me personally?

Q. Yes.

TODD MARTIN: No (laughter). I think over the past few days there have been a number of great matches. I would hope rather than seeing their favorite player come out and cruise, people would rather watch competitive tennis. That's what the tournament's had an abundance of the last few days.

Q. Can you talk about how you match up against Pioline.

TODD MARTIN: Yeah, it's an interesting match-up. We're both pretty aggressive in different ways. Definitely different styles as far as how we're aggressive. He's probably the prettiest player to watch on the Tour. I'm probably at the other end of the spectrum. It's fun to play him. He's a great guy, a good sportsman. It's always enjoyable to be out on the court with him. Seeing the way he played today, I'm looking forward to the challenge because I felt like he played great today. I would expect the same on Saturday.

Q. How is his game pretty and yours not?

TODD MARTIN: Let's see. Athleticism, big, loopy strokes, he's French. Really, it's the athleticism and the grace in which he's athletic. I think I'm athletic in my own special way, but nowhere near to the extent that he is.

Q. Do you put any significance to the fact that you have a 30-year-old, 29, 29 and 25-year-old in the final?

TODD MARTIN: It shows me that Kafelnikov is a little out of place. Listen, if the older body is fit and healthy, I think it makes sense that there can be success at this age, because I think experience and knowledge, maybe a little bit more perspective than some of the other guys, might actually help.

Q. Do you think the crowd is excited of possibly having two Americans in the final?

TODD MARTIN: Well, I know crowds look ahead more than players do. I would hope they're excited. More than anything, I hope they're excited to see two great matches on Saturday and one on Sunday. Hopefully Andre and I can meet there.

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