WIMBLEDON

June 30, 2000

Jan Michael Gambill

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: I can definitely say this is the most focused that I've ever been, certainly in a Slam. I'm very proud of the way I'm playing out there - mentally, especially.

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: Hell, no. I mean, I was impressed. That's just too good. I was hitting some good shots. He was diving. He wasn't going to give an inch. That's impressive. Paul played a great first set. You know, he made me hit tons and tons of balls. I made a lot of errors I think off my forehand side. I still served great, and I served great in the breaker even. I was making a lot of first serves. He was getting them back. He's hitting balls deep. That's just too good some of the time. I was a little frustrated. I threw the ball at the umpire, which is kind of funny (laughter). I apologized after the match. Rudi, it didn't bother him. It was a little frustrating. It was a tough breaker. I was lucky to come through with it. He had a couple where he served and he got those first serves in. I really focused on hitting my one-handed return. He served all to my forehand. I hit some great one-handed returns. That was huge, really was.

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: I think that I served great. I really was solid from that point of view. I also returned well. I punished him when he missed a lot of first serves there. Started groundstroking better, hitting the ball deeper. Once I figured out that I needed to hit a lot more shots to his forehand, cross-court balls, I was in the rallies a little better, controlling him better. He was ready for me to go cross-court with the backhand, for me to attack on that side. That's his best side anyway. He came up with some great shots. I needed to change it, and it worked.

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: I think I got better. It was a key thing to win that first-set tiebreaker. That's a huge hurdle. After you put so much effort into it, to lose it for him, I think that was tough. But he's had a couple five-set matches, you know. He's been playing a lot. Got to hand it to him to come out and play that good of a first set. I think I certainly served great. I think I only faced maybe one or two breakpoints after that first break in the first set. That's great.

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: Well, no. I think I was pretty well-balanced. I wasn't as focused as I needed to be. That's just part of maybe his great play, him making me hit a lot of balls, me making a few too many errors, not playing the match the way I really wanted it to be played. After that I think my focus was as good as it's ever been. I didn't really even know when the match was over. I was just really out there serving, focusing as much as I could on my toss, doing the things right fundamentally on my serve. It worked out.

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: Well, you're never going to know in a Grand Slam. So many good players in the world. It's tough to win so many matches. For one thing, I certainly would never count Pete out - injury, broken leg, anything. I think he's too good a player just to let that happen to him. We'll see how injured he is. He may get one more day here now because of the rain. You never know. Certainly my next round match is going to be a tough one. I either play Enqvist or Vinck, who is playing very good tennis on the grass. They're having a battle out there. There's no easy matches. I would never look past the next round at all, in the first place. I'm just going to look to go out and play fundamentally tough and be very focused as well.

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: It is amazing. It's a great feeling to be in the second week of a Slam, especially Wimbledon. I mean, it's great to be playing great tennis here. I'm having a great time. It's fun. I couldn't be happier.

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: Yeah, you know, I've been asked that question a lot of times. Until now, in a Slam at least, I haven't proven that I can be that guy. Now I'm playing it. It's getting closer and closer. You never know.

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: Oh, it's never been a burden, never been a burden. For people to say, "You could be the next guy," it's a huge honor. It's great. It's a definite compliment. It's not a burden at all. To go out and just have a good time with it, that's how I've always played my best tennis, is to have fun on the court.

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: I am falling in love with grass. It's funny. I always thought I could play well on it because I know I have a big serve, I volley pretty solid, I have penetrating groundstrokes. I always thought that I could play well on it. Now I'm proving to myself that I can. It's tough, though. It's tough coming out and playing three events a year on the grass. Personally I wish that maybe there were four or five. That would be nice. But I even played better on the clay. I'm having a better European tour this year. It's just very exciting. Very exciting to be playing great tennis over here.

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: I can tell you what: I will be one of the first people on the waiting list for the F-type when it comes out. But it's not going to be out for another year. I can save up.

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: My first name, yeah. Jan-Michael comes from Jan-Michael Vincent, the actor. My mom wasn't a huge fan, but she did like the name. She thought it was unique. Certainly not a lot of Jan-Michaels out there. I think that's where she got it.

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: I haven't seen many of his movies. I think he was a pretty good actor back in the '70s, '80s, I think is when he was. We used to watch Airwolf, though. That was a great shot. I liked Nightrider. I liked those shows about something special. Airwolf is pretty cool.

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: I haven't met him, no.

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: Nightrider was great. Nothing is cooler than KIT.

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: I really don't know how that works either. I haven't been spoken to much about it. I know that I was an alternate. It's hard to plan ahead, being an alternate.

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: That's pretty far ahead. I really haven't actually been thinking past that. I've just been thinking about this event. That's all I've been thinking about. I'm not going to even say until after this is over.

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: I definitely thought back to it before today. We're both much different players - I hope much better players - than we were. I wasn't good enough to beat him in the Juniors. Never was.

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: It was. He was just too good back then. He was so solid. Most of the Juniors just weren't ready to play a guy like this, that could pass, hit groundstrokes deep, come to the net, be versatile. I think I've improved a whole lot. It's great that we've both gotten so far in such a big event.

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: That's definitely the best thing this week. You know, having my mind in gear is how I'm going to play the best tennis. That's how everybody plays their best tennis, I think. Being able to pick the right shots, do the right thing at the big points, under the pressure, is half the battle, almost 90% of the battle.

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: That's a good question. I've thought about it. I doesn't bother me now to be in the car when somebody else is driving. It would be a little hard, especially the way I like to drive. I like to get up to speed fast. I don't speed necessarily, but it would be scary. In town, in London, is crazy. People are -- the roads are like this close (indicating small). I'm like, "This is crazy." I'd rather be a rider unless I lived here.

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: States is getting pretty close to that.

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: They're going to boycott?

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: How will they get around then? Tough thing to boycott. "We'll just walk." Luckily in this city, they can take the tubes. In the States, our prices are going up, as well. Nowhere near six bucks. I wouldn't like to play that much. I guess I'd do it if I had to. I like driving too much.

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: I think we're actually going to see Witches of Eastwick, do something different. It's weird having two days off in the middle of a Grand Slam. Sure great feeling to be in the second week.

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: No. I anticipated how quickly I was going to get home. You know, I wasn't really thinking of it that far ahead. I was focused on the Hewitt match first, then each match at a time. I'll be focused, ready to play on Monday when I go out there again.

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: My dad's here. My mom and brother were here in Europe. My mom left after the French Open. My brother left during Nottingham last week. Unfortunately they aren't here to see me play so well. They've been watching it on TV at home. They're pretty excited.