US OPEN

September 2, 2000

Jan Michael Gambill

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: Actually, I think the toughest part about a rain delay is when you have the rain delay and then you have to actually come back and play that day. It's hard for me if we had like an hour off last night, it's getting real late, that would have been harder to play than, say, a match like today where I had a good night's sleep and came out ready to play. I was fired up. Either way I was going to play well. I actually thought -- it's the mindset. You kind of get complacent in a rain delay, thinking, "Is it going to stop?" Sometimes it happens, half hour, you're ready. Sometimes it's too quick. Yesterday, I was thinking it was going to stop. I was not thinking about not playing until I went home. Today I came out firing.

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: The one that almost hit my leg (laughter)?

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: That was as quick as I could get out of the way. I was like, "Oh, God." That would be the worst nightmare if he actually double-faulted and it hit me in the leg. I was glad it missed me.

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: When that happened?

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: I didn't think about it at all. If you saw my face, I hope that I betrayed no emotion. I was just ready to go out and serve the next point. Logically, for me to go out there and to be too emotional isn't how I win. I've figured out to play the best way for me is just play it point by point, stay calm. I like to get pumped sometimes on big points, but when it really comes down to it, I just want to stay focused and think about the next point and do my best out there.

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: I think it's a culmination of a lot of my strokes actually coming together, the things I've worked on so hard. I've always known that I've had good groundstrokes. I'm not making the dumb mistakes like I have in the past, that's one major point. Playing a little smarter tennis, hitting the right shots at the right times. My second serve is bigger than it used to be, harder for guys to attack it. A lot easier for me to win free points on my second serve. My first serve is big. I'm placing it pretty well. I think I'm varying it fairly well. You know, guys are not really getting on it. I'm able -- one of the biggest things is obviously confidence from winning those matches and knowing you can beat the big guys in the big tournaments. But also I'm able to have a game where I'm up 40-15, the guy is serving, he wins it. In the past that has really destroyed me. On my serve I then play a terrible game and sometimes lose it or barely win it, just kind of go down a little bit. Now I'm just forgetting about it, playing the next game and focusing on what's next. Also the last thing I think would be between sets, I'm not having letdowns anymore, just playing all the way through.

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: Well, that's a pretty wide category I just covered. I think not too many more besides that. But I'm definitely just playing smarter. I'm just really focusing on the guy's return and, you know, when I miss it, go to the next one. I'm separating the two very well.

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: Absolutely not. To tell you the truth, that's the first I've heard. Pam Shriver came down and told me who I played after I won today. I never look at the draw, I never look past the person I'm playing next. It doesn't work. What's the point of that? I mean, you can say, "If I got that far, I'd play this guy." You've got to get that far. Everybody out here is a great player. Thomas Johansson is a great player. That's going to be a tough match. I'm just going to get pumped up for that one. I don't care about the ones that are after that until I get to them.

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: Well, of course. My dad's always been there for me. He's the one that's helped me get there. Since I was six years old, he's been my coach. I think the things that he's been telling me are finally sinking in. He's been telling me the right things all these years. It's just been hard for me to get my game to the point where I can always do it the right way. Also, Scott who works with me, isn't here at The Open, offers a lot of support and pretty much agrees with the things my dad says. Extra eyes and ears out there, is a very good player in his own right. I have a good hitting partner. As well as my brother. I think our team that we have put together is a good one. That's also helping me.

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: Absolutely not.

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: Oh, I think so, absolutely. Those big emotional matches and tournaments and events are what I've always dreamed of playing. I mean, I've always looked at playing the Grand Slams, playing Centre Court Wimbledon, Center Court US Open. These things are all dreams. It's amazing I'm actually here and doing it. It's fun. You know, this is fun. Also Davis Cup, you know. I used to watch it, of course, as a kid, growing up, watching the amazing players that we've had play Davis Cup. Now being on the team is something very special to me, especially playing under Mac. I've looked up to Mac since I was five or six years old. He's one of my heroes. He's a great coach.

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: That's looking ahead again (laughter). That's looking way ahead. I had no idea who's on that side. I don't even know who's on my side of the draw. Like I said, I'm just looking at the first point tomorrow against Thomas Johansson. That's it. I mean, anything past that is just not relevant right now.

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: Can you repeat the question? I'm sorry.

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: Why do you think that court favored him so much?

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: I think the quick courts favor me just as much. I hit my groundstrokes just as hard as he does. He's hitting his serve maybe 5, 7, 10 miles an hour faster than me some of the time, but not most of the time. I'm hitting just as many aces as he is. I think the court just favoured me just as much as it did him. Like I said before my match against him, it was really going to be who is going to return better. For me, in the match today, it was me.

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: It's definitely a good surface for us both. You know, I was lucky to come out, I think, in straight sets. That's the first time it's happened that way in one of our matches.

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: I opted not to play the Olympics because of my recent injuries. I've been playing so many events, this is like the hardest decision I've ever made because it's one of the things that I want to do, it's one of the things I've always wanted to do, as well. All these things are happening so quickly for me. I'm having better results than I've had before, winning more matches, it's starting to take a toll on my body. I need to have a little time off after The Open here because I have a full schedule of seven tournaments in the fall. I really want to make a push for the Top 10, that's my goal. I think I have a shot at that or at least the Top 15 to truly make an effort. If I'm getting injured, I already sprained my ankle very badly, my knees are starting to hurt as well, I have tendonitis. I just need a little time off. If I played there, I would only have one week.

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: I absolutely knew there was ranking points available. That wasn't a concern of mine. I wanted to play the Olympics because I wanted to play the Olympics, not because there's points there. Unfortunately, it's just so much with the addition of Davis Cup, you know, all these events, that I just can't handle it. It was just a very hard decision for me to make. I hope that I made the right decision for me.

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: I'm pretty fired up. I'm pretty excited about it. I'm happy to be there. I think I knew coming into the event, if I did well, I'd have a lot of matches. I'm playing singles, doubles and mixed. I have a mixed doubles match today. Either way tomorrow I have a singles and doubles match tomorrow. It's a lot of tennis. I knew that this is my last event of the summer. I was excited to be here. I wanted to go all out and have as much fun at The Open as I could. I think this is the way I wanted to do it. I'm just excited to be out there tomorrow.

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: Well, I had actually asked Martina. I told Martina if she ever wanted to play some mixed doubles, I'd love to play with her. I left it open for her, whenever she wanted to play. She actually asked me to play here because she had the chance to do it. It was pretty much mutual. We had a good time on our first match. Hopefully we'll have a good time today.

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: There's a lot of things. We worked really hard on fundamentals, the fundamentals that are going to get you through the match in the tight points, doing the things the right way. I mean, easy things like keeping your racquet head down on returns to get that topspin, not flicking my wrist on the one-handed forehand. We work hard in practice, do a lot of drilling, that kind of thing, that reinforces the fundamentals. Hard to say one or a couple things. It's a culmination, once again, of all these things that comes together to make a player good. Hopefully it's working for me. You know, like I said, playing point by point, one point at a time, just a lot of lessons, a lot of life lessons come together to make me a better player.

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: I think it's going to take me playing like this continually, even to get better and to play better matches than this, to go out there with confidence in every match I play, you know, really want to win and keep having fun out there. I'm having a good time. I'm having a great year after the start. Also, you know, everybody talks about points to defend. I have nothing until -- I guess I have one tournament, Stockholm, and that's it, until Ericsson next year. I have a lot of events to really make a move, to get out there and work my ass off doing it.

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: Oh, I think that Martina, I could take from Martina definitely how much fun she has playing the game. You know, one of the other things, she's No. 1 in the world. You go out and watch her practice. She's working hard. I really appreciate that. She's out there day in, day out, when she has days off, doing drills, she's running. She's in great shape. She's really worked hard to get in great shape. I think just being out there with her, having a good time, is really important. I think that's important. We're so intense. It's good to have that less intense, more fun aspect of it, as well.