THE LIPTON CHAMPIONSHIPS

March 17, 1994

Stefan Edberg

Q. Stefan, how did that tiebreaker get away from you?

STEFAN EDBERG: Well, I'm not quite sure, but I did give away the tiebreaker a little bit to him. But playing a few sloppy points and, you know, he took the chance; he came up with some good shots, and I think that was the turning point a little bit. Because in the first set I didn't really get off too good. I was feeling okay. I got down the break, but then I worked my way back and actually played quite well for half a set there. And I think if I would have won the first set, I think the outcome in the second set would have been totally different, probably. But, you know, he broke me first game. After that, he was very confident. He played well in the second set, I thought.

Q. You think it was a case of him getting more confidence, or maybe you feeling a little bad?

STEFAN EDBERG: These couple of days I've been feeling a little bit sluggish, but not too bad. You need to be on top of your game in order to beat Andre, and I was probably a step slower today. But, you know, that's the way it goes. And that first set was quite important.

Q. Andre talked a lot about a new regime he has, fitness regime. Were you able to sense he was quicker?

STEFAN EDBERG: Well, I've seen him play; he's actually played well here; he looks fitter than he's looked for quite some time. He seems to be back on track, playing good tennis again, okay. Now he's only played a couple of tournaments here. Everything looks fine so far, I think. He is probably a little quicker than he was. I thought he was a little too big, you know, on his upper body. He's slimming down.

Q. Stefan, can you compare the way Andre played today to say a couple of years ago when he was really playing well?

STEFAN EDBERG: Second set he played very well today, I think. First set, maybe a little bit tentative. I didn't really play that well myself. But he's playing quite well, but he's playing under perfect conditions for him. He is playing on a slow, hardcourt, with light Penn balls, with a little bit of wind. He likes these conditions, but, you know, time will tell in the next couple of months. But I'm sure he will do well.

Q. Do you like the Men's Tour now better than you did when you were up-and-coming?

STEFAN EDBERG: If --

Q. Do you like the Men's Tour in general now?

STEFAN EDBERG: I like it, because otherwise I wouldn't be here. But I enjoy playing, and it's very competitive. It's changed since I started ten years, even twelve years ago, but it's, you know, it's tough out there, but it is challenging, I think, because I need to work hard in order to stay at the top of the game.

Q. How has it changed?

STEFAN EDBERG: Well, there are more guys that really can play the game. The depth is a lot stronger than it used to be. That's the big difference. Everybody can more or less play today.

Q. Is the Lipton beginning to be a bigger deal?

STEFAN EDBERG: Well, hopefully, it's got potential after they put up this new stadium; facilities are very good, so it's got potential.

Q. How do you feel about your serve today?

STEFAN EDBERG: I served okay, nothing special, but I needed to serve a little bit better than I did today. I served okay in the first set.

Q. Was it a kind of a last-minute decision to play here?

STEFAN EDBERG: Uh-huh.

Q. Looking back on it, are you glad you made that decision?

STEFAN EDBERG: Yeah, why not. I mean, I think I played some good tennis here. I had a good chance to do well here this week, but maybe was running out of steam a little bit here because I've been playing a lot of weeks this year, and I don't regret anything.

Q. You said it has potential. To follow-up: What do you mean? What is it lacking?

STEFAN EDBERG: Well, it's perhaps not ever going to be a Grand Slam, but it is definitely going to be one of the bigger events of the year. It takes time for a tournament to grow; it doesn't happen overnight; it takes years. And I think now with the new stadium, it stands a much better chance than it did before. And the weather being very, very good this year - I mean, it's the best weather I've seen in seven, eight years, nothing close to it - helps, too. People remember, you know, the new stadium, nice weather; they'll be back next year.

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