DAVIS CUP - AUSTRIA Vs. USA

February 6, 2004

Robby Ginepri

ROBBY GINEPRI: I wasn't playing, you know, on top of my game and Jurgen was hitting a lot of unbelievable shots and Pat just told me "Stay calm out there and good things will happen." I was just trying to hold serve and get a sniff at his -- to get the break.

ROBBY GINEPRI: I got a little nervous. I threw in a lot of doublefaults where I normally don't. My second serve is usually pretty clutch at some big times, but today it wasn't. But, you know, I am happy to get through the match.

ROBBY GINEPRI: The adrenaline was going, fans were getting me into it, and I was just pumped out there.

ROBBY GINEPRI: First time. That was only my second fifth-set match.

ROBBY GINEPRI: I didn't know that. Would have liked to have closed out the first set, but he hung in there, hit some good shots, made me play on some big points and I didn't come up with the goods in the first two sets but I hung in there and took it.

ROBBY GINEPRI: Definitely. I loved it. Fired me up from the get-go, and to have the crowd behind me when I was down two sets meant a lot. It definitely helped me get through the match.

ROBBY GINEPRI: Yes.

ROBBY GINEPRI: He was up 40-Love the first service game of the fifth and I hung in there, hit some good returns, and got the break and I didn't look back from there.

ROBBY GINEPRI: You are trying to break every single game, but for me it is good because I like to get on top and play ahead. He broke me back a couple of times and so if I didn't get the break I would have been down a break. It was excellent.

ROBBY GINEPRI: We were both more experienced, all of our shots are definitely, you know, a lot better. We have been working hard on our games, and we each have more experience. I knew it was going to be a tough match going into it, and I didn't, you know, when we played on grass, it was a whole different story, so -- but today, I got the job done.

ROBBY GINEPRI: Playing for the country for the first time, and, you know, there's no other experience out there that teaches you how to deal with that. It's a whole different aspect of my tennis career and I love the atmosphere out there. I was just ready to go from the first ball.

ROBBY GINEPRI: There's big ones that you win, but there's matches like these that mean a lot more than the big wins because some days you don't play as good as you can. To squeak out the matches that you have to figure out how to win is more important to me.

ROBBY GINEPRI: Usually I am pretty relaxed out on the court, but the crowd definitely changed the way I was, you know, motivating out there and the teammates on the sidelines cheering for me an getting me pumped up, it meant a lot. I couldn't have done it without them.

ROBBY GINEPRI: Definitely top three, four matches. Having Pat there by me for the first time, giving me pointers here and there, all the changeovers meant a lot, kept me into the match. I don't know if I could have done it without him .

ROBBY GINEPRI: "Stay relaxed. He's not going to keep it up." He was very positive throughout the whole match which meant a lot.

ROBBY GINEPRI: I wasn't attacking the ball like I normally do. I played a little tentative throughout the first couple of sets, even in the third set, hopefully on Sunday that I can be more aggressive and play my game better before I came here.

ROBBY GINEPRI: I was definitely still fired up from the adrenaline pretty much throughout the whole fifth set. I was relaxed and a lot of the emotions were running through my head.

ROBBY GINEPRI: A little nervous at the beginning of the match compared -- I mean, I had warmed up about 12:30 and sitting out on the court I was kind of getting nervous. I had to get away from the court. Actually I watched the Elf, so that made me laugh a little bit. Got my mind off the match. I knew once the first ball hit, it would go away and it did. Same with Newport, you are always nervous for the new experience that you haven't experienced before, so, I was happy to get the job done.

ROBBY GINEPRI: Yeah, there's more pressure because normally I am just playing for myself and my coach. But playing for the whole country and your teammates looking over there, and there's not many chances that you get to play in big situations like this, and it is tough to capitalize on them.

ROBBY GINEPRI: Win them (laughter) I would have came out -- I came out pretty hot, but I would have liked to have served at 5-3 and won that game, but he made me play and he won the first two sets and nothing I can do about it.

ROBBY GINEPRI: Of course. First Davis Cup match, I could never forget no matter which way it went today but the way I won it and I don't think I am going to ever forget it. Hopefully I will get a lot more opportunities to play.

ROBBY GINEPRI: Not really. I mean, Pat has his mindset no matter what happens, and would have been a little bummed I think but he told me when I was down two sets he asked me if I have came back from two sets down, I said no. Well, he said, "today is going to be the day." He had a lot of confidence in me which meant a lot.

ROBBY GINEPRI: It is so far so good. Last time I was here I had to have wrist surgery so it's a lot better than that.

ROBBY GINEPRI: There's perks to both of that. With me I like having somebody there and motivating me and keeping me positive. I won the Portland exhibition where I could have my coach on-court, and I did well there. And today with Pat out there, it was just the same.