April 17, 2000
MONTE CARLO, MONACO
Q. Delicate subject, Greg was rather unhappy about the amount of time you spent in the
bathroom.
SLAVA DOSEDEL: Yeah, as I can say, it took me 20 seconds in the bathroom and it was, I
think kind of mistake of the bodyguard because I told him: Let us go downstairs for the
toilet. And he said: No, no, it is too small, too crowded, too bad. So he took me to the
clubhouse and probably all the way here and back seems like a long time, but for me
personally it took 20 seconds.
Q. Greg said you looked pretty down and out, tired, at the end of the second set and
you looked a lot better at the start of the third. Amazing what trips to the bathroom do.
SLAVA DOSEDEL: I think I was quite under pressure at the end of the second set, so
maybe it looked like I was down, but still I mean, my condition is very good and I never
felt tired during the whole match, so for sure, it was not a point. And he was playing
quite well at the end of the second set. He hit some lines and put me under pressure the
whole time.
Q. Sorry if this was the first question you were asked - which toilet did they take you
to?
SLAVA DOSEDEL: To the clubhouse. I told the bodyguards: Let's go down, but he said: No,
no. It is too small, too bad and they took me here. I was just following the bodyguard. I
mean, it was not on purpose for sure.
Q. So you were surprised, were you, when Greg said something at the end of the match?
SLAVA DOSEDEL: Yeah, I mean, I didn't expect anything like that. I was completely
surprised because I think the whole match we were quite fair to each other. There were no
points arguing or anything so I was very surprised.
Q. What did he actually say?
SLAVA DOSEDEL: He said something like that is a bad kind of sportsmanship, but I
couldn't hear it well because of the crowd, of course.
Q. How did you find the conditions generally out there because it seemed quite noisy,
the heavy atmosphere, at times in the third set you couldn't hear the shots being played
because of the rain on the roof. Was it very frustrating or are you sort of used to --
SLAVA DOSEDEL: No, I think I liked it. Of course, winning the match is different,
seeing of the things, but I was not bothered by anything. Of course the court -- was some
bad bounces on the court, but it was on both sides and this is clay court, I mean, the
court is not always perfect.
Q. How long did it take to you feel comfortable on clay?
SLAVA DOSEDEL: Not long. Because it is my favorite surface. It took me very little
time, maybe two days to get used to it. So it is quite good. Actually I was asking the
umpire before the third set if we can take the roof down, but I was happy that he didn't
do it because it was quite hard rain afterwards.
Q. You mentioned you felt under pressure at the end of the second set. Do you think
that is because you expected to win this match because it is your favorite surface and
everybody knows it is his least favorite surface?
SLAVA DOSEDEL: Yes, time to time I have some troubles to finish the match actually. It
happens to me a lot of times that I am up a break and I am serving for the match but I
cannot finish the match and also I think I didn't play bad, just Greg came up and made one
more step in -- on his pressure he was hitting the ball much harder and close to the
lines. So that was the point.
Q. Did Davis Cup still play on your mind, Henman coming back from two sets down when
you appeared to have the match won, was that in your mind at all?
SLAVA DOSEDEL: No, I forgot that match already, but...
Q. Sorry to remind you.
SLAVA DOSEDEL: My mind was, actually, the match from last Davis Cup against Pete
Sampras, I mean, we were 2-1 up after Saturday, but still it was quite far away to go, but
we had the chances.
Q. Was that the greatest part of your career so far, that Davis Cup match?
SLAVA DOSEDEL: Me, personally, no. It was the worst, actually. No, I mean, I played my
game and I actually had no chance against Agassi and very little chance against Sampras.
But yeah, it was very good feeling after Saturday. It was a bit disappointing on Sunday of
course.
End of FastScripts
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