WESTERN AND SOUTHERN FINANCIAL GROUP MASTERS

August 19, 2005

Robby Ginepri

ROBBY GINEPRI: I think so, one of the best. The ball's been feeling great all week. I've been moving well and it's been setting up my position to hit each shot, so it's definitely up there.

ROBBY GINEPRI: I don't know. I was just sticking to how I play and what works best for me. Just kept going after my game plan. I really didn't have one going into the match, but I just wanted to keep my game the same and if it was good enough to win, you know, so be it.

ROBBY GINEPRI: The first set, yeah, getting the break the second game was very helpful, getting the 3-0 lead. Even the second set I had some chances I thought on his serve, but he came up with some good serves. And I just wanted to keep making sure I was holding my serve.

ROBBY GINEPRI: Not really. A lot of players are injured.

ROBBY GINEPRI: Yeah, I mixed up my serve really well today. I hit the one out wide on the deuce pretty good. Every time I needed it, it was there for me. Threw in the 90 mile-an-hour kick serves to the backhand; threw him off on a few so...

ROBBY GINEPRI: I just was going to play my game. That was my game plan, just playing my game. If it wasn't working or good enough, I was going to try to change something.

ROBBY GINEPRI: Not really. It was a tough match, you know, in Indian Wells even though the score didn't appear that way. But you never know what to expect with Marat. He can be on fire every shot and blow you off the court 6-0, 6-1, so you just got to be on your toes.

ROBBY GINEPRI: Yeah, that's pretty impressive for myself. My coach told me. I was pretty shocked that I only had three; I thought I had a few more than that. Any time you only have three unforced errors the whole match here, your chances are looking pretty good.

ROBBY GINEPRI: It's definitely up there. I hope to take the title here, like in Indianapolis. But it's a great run for me, and I hope it doesn't stop now.

ROBBY GINEPRI: I think, you know, it's not a group anymore. I think we've all established names for ourselves. We started up together, we were all playing challengers, and people separated and, you know, there's been up and downs for everybody. I think now we're all pretty much getting our name for ourselves.

ROBBY GINEPRI: Yeah, it's always fun seeing the best player play across the net. I'm definitely on top of my game so I think now's my best shot, if I ever had one against him. Jose, we've played a couple times, and the outcome was good for me. Either way it's going to be a battle.

ROBBY GINEPRI: I'm definitely going to go in there with the way I play; it's been working all week and all summer for me. So if something's going wrong out on the court, I'm probably going to have to change it when I'm out there.

ROBBY GINEPRI: Just knowing the way that I play since I've been five years old. Just been sticking with the way I serve, the way my patterns work, and everything's been clicking the whole week. Just been cutting down on so many unforced errors, which has been helping out tremendously on big points throughout a match. When the shot's there, I'm going for it, so... You keep that up, it would be tough to beat.

ROBBY GINEPRI: Yeah, I came here to win the tournament; I'm not entering a tournament if I'm not planning to do the 100% work to get to the finals and take the title. So that's what I came here to do and so far, so good.

ROBBY GINEPRI: Uh-huh, I do. When I'm hitting my first serve well, I think I'm winning a lot of points and a lot of games at 40-Love, which helps out a lot. Hitting second serves and playing some long points on your serve tires you out and it gives your opponent a chance to break. But this whole week I've been, you know, serving really well, hitting my spots, and it's been working for me.

ROBBY GINEPRI: Not really. I was just taking a week at a time and trying to get my game back in shape. I haven't been playing this way for a while. I think I'm definitely playing my best tennis right now. I didn't expect it to come this quick, but I'm happy it did.

ROBBY GINEPRI: I would say at least 45 minutes more on the court, and same with the gym. It was just when I'm in there working out on the court or in the gym, the quality wasn't as high as it needed to be. I'm just more focused now both in there and on the court.

ROBBY GINEPRI: I was just happy to be there, really. I didn't expect anything. I was just young and it was one of my first big matches on a big court. So it was just an unbelievable moment just to even get there, so I wasn't planning on winning that match.

ROBBY GINEPRI: Yeah, it was. I knew how much talent he had, and a lot of hype was about him. I think he was about 15 in the world at the time, but he was sure playing better than that.

ROBBY GINEPRI: Oh, yeah, definitely different mentality. I beat some pretty top-ranked players the last few weeks, and I feel like I'm right up there with them. So there's no reason why I should step out on the court with a losing mentality, even if it's against the best player in the world.