US OPEN

September 4, 2006

Robby Ginepri

THE MODERATOR: First question.

Q. You had so many break chances in that fifth set where you could have went ahead and really put the pressure on him. Never seemed to get over the hump there.
ROBBY GINEPRI: Yeah, he came up with some good serves at the right time. That was the difference. I mean, great match throughout the whole five sets and, you know, it's tough to walk away with that.
But, you know, I competed well out there, so I got to be happy about that.

Q. The eleventh game of the final set, long, grinding point. There was a shot that everyone is looking for you to play to sort of reestablish yourself. Then the tiebreak, just blew apart. Is there any explanation for that?
ROBBY GINEPRI: No, if I had one right now, I'd share it with you. But it's frustrating to play a match like that. Losing two tiebreaks, 7 1, I mean, that's devastating. I need to figure out what to do in the tiebreak. I didn't make enough first serves, I know that. Missed a couple easy shots that I shouldn't have missed. I guess I just need to buckle down a little bit harder and, you know, I'll learn from this match like all the other losses.

Q. Hand okay?
ROBBY GINEPRI: Yeah. Thumb was giving me some trouble last month a little bit, and kind of keep reinjuring it. When he hit at me, kind of jammed it.
But, that was the least of my worries out there.

Q. Your thumb?
ROBBY GINEPRI: Yeah, it was my left thumb.

Q. What is your mindset now leaving here?
ROBBY GINEPRI: I'm playing just as good or even better than I am last year, you know. Tommy and I, we went five sets. Could have went either way last year. So I'm just sitting in his shoes a year ago.
But it's rough to lose matches like that, but at the same time, I need to keep my head up. I'm getting the ball rolling again, feeling like I'm playing at the top of my game again. You know, even though I went down, I still competed, so that's all you can ask for.

Q. How is your health otherwise? There was an infection?
ROBBY GINEPRI: Yeah, I mean, there's been problems off and on, but felt all right today.

Q. You've spent a lot of time with Tommy the last few years on the court. Twice, five sets. Do you have a personal relationship with him?
ROBBY GINEPRI: Yeah, we're decent friends off the court. You know, we're always pretty amicable to one another. I think we bring out the best in each other when we're on the court. His game, you know, suits mine; mine suits him.
You know, lot of long rallies today, and he served extremely well at times when he needed to. Couldn't break him the first couple sets. He didn't get a breakpoint. But then third set kind of stepped it up a little bit and he missed a few first serves.
But, yeah, I like Tommy as a person. He's an unbelievable tennis player, as well.

Q. What's the plan now for the rest of the year?
ROBBY GINEPRI: Not exactly sure. I'll probably head over to Asia and hit the three tournaments in Europe.

Q. Will you be with Diego?
ROBBY GINEPRI: Yeah, I mean, at this point I think he's done a great job the last two weeks. Masters Series and US Open, those are two big tournaments to get thrown in the middle of. He's handled it extremely well. I'm sure we'll sit down and reassess things.

Q. Were you on the property at all yesterday for Agassi?
ROBBY GINEPRI: Yeah, I was I just walked into the locker room, and it was extremely touching, sad.

Q. You were here?
ROBBY GINEPRI: Yeah, everyone was applauding him. He came in the locker room, was just like, you know, The best standing ovation and applause is from your peers. You know, it's sad to see someone like that leave the game.

Q. For a younger player, is that inspirational, too?
ROBBY GINEPRI: Yeah, I mean, I thank him for everything he's done, and without even knowing. He's taught me so many things without even him trying to. He's just a great guy on and off the court. You know, I've listened to his interviews, and just, I mean, I looked up to the guy since I've been seven years old.

Q. How successful do you think you were with the instant replay? How did you enjoy using it? What are your thoughts on it?
ROBBY GINEPRI: I like it. I like it. I think it's good for the game. It's good on court, you know. You can there should be no disputes out there at all. If you have a question, you know, use it. Half the time, I kind of I know if the ball's in or out, but if I have a couple in a set, I'm gonna just use it so I don't walk away and have doubts that it could have been in or out.

Q. The chair umpires are overruling fewer times now because they figure the players have got the challenge and they don't bother making the call?
ROBBY GINEPRI: Yeah, it's tough to say. There was one in the match today where he kind of overruled it. I was gonna ask him, you know, why don't you let Tommy use the, you know his HawkEye if he wants to find out if the ball is in or out.
But they're still up there and they got to do their job. If they see a ball that they think is on the line, of course they should call it.

Q. That injury time out at the end, was that swaying things in terms of momentum?
ROBBY GINEPRI: Yeah, I didn't particularly like it. Gave me some time to think. I didn't even know what the problem was. I didn't want to look over there and think about if he was hurt or anything. So I don't even know what was bothering him.
But, yeah, took about five minutes. Lot of thoughts running through the mind at that time, so you just got to turn the chair a little bit to face the crowd and just try to, you know, zone everything out. I felt that I had the ball rolling, I still had the momentum coming back from the two sets down. It's frustrating to go down like that, but, you know, if he's hurt, he's got to do what he has to do.

Q. Is there a certain mindset to being a good player in a tiebreak situation?
ROBBY GINEPRI: Obviously, you know, you can't give any free points away, which I did in both tiebreaks. He played some good points and he put the pressure on at the right time. That was it.

Q. When he went down Love 40 and 3 4, that was really an important moment.
ROBBY GINEPRI: Yeah, it was maybe the match. I was serving extremely well last few sets and could have won one of those points, might have gone a little different.

Q. Just to clear up. Is there any question in your mind about the authenticity about the injury that he called, one game in the tiebreak to go?
ROBBY GINEPRI: I'm not gonna answer that. I mean, if someone's hurt and they need it, you know, who's to say to stop 'em?
I don't know.