DAVIS CUP - SPAIN vs USA

April 5, 2002

Patrick McEnroe

CAPTAIN PATRICK McENROE: Certainly surprising to be up two sets and Pete playing as well as he was. But, you know, Corretja's a great competitor. He hung in there and slowly started to turn the match around. But, you know, we're still 1-all. I still like where we are. I'd like to be 2-0, I'd prefer to be 2-0. I can't say I'm not disappointed that we're 1-all. So I like where we are. Corretja had to work awfully hard today in the match. And, you know, we'll be ready for the doubles.

CAPTAIN PATRICK McENROE: Well, I think he was mixing it up. I wouldn't say he was serving more to his forehand. I think a lot of big points, he went to his backhand. Alex is a smart player. He mixed it up. You know, maybe Pete got a little bit defensive a little bit on the return, which could have been partly my fault because I wanted him to get more some more balls in play. I felt like he was missing a lot of returns on the first. So I got to take a little responsibility for that. Maybe he stopped being as aggressive as he likes to be even off the first serve. So that could have been my mistake as well.

CAPTAIN PATRICK McENROE: Well, he had a lot of opportunities to break. He had a lot of break points. Basically, I just kept telling him that, you know, "You're going to get the break. You just got to keep working. And if you keep giving yourself opportunities, you'll get a break." I mean, he had quite a few. I think he had one early at maybe 2-all, 1-2 I think he had another one to break back, and a little later in the set. So the opportunities were there. It's just he didn't come up with the big shot. Corretja, I think, played those points well. He didn't give anything away. And Pete just couldn't come up with that one big shot that he needed to get that break. Certainly, with his serve, you think that if he got the early break, he'd be able to win the match.

CAPTAIN PATRICK McENROE: No, I haven't. I couldn't figure out what that was all about, to be honest. I've never seen it ever happen to Pete.

CAPTAIN PATRICK McENROE: That's Davis Cup. I mean, you know, we've just seen an example of what Davis Cup is all about. You know, crazy things happen. And, you know, it's one match. It's not a course of a long two-week tournament. That's what makes Davis Cup unique and exciting - as exciting as it is - that things like this can happen. And it wasn't that Pete wasn't giving the effort; he was - he was giving as much as he could. It just didn't click, you know. And Alex came up with some great shots when he needed it, served well. I thought he served better as the match went on. And, you know, that's what makes this interesting.

CAPTAIN PATRICK McENROE: Well, I certainly tried, but I wasn't that successful. You know, I think that I felt like if he held serve and served well, that he would break. Unfortunately, Alex was a guy that got the break first. But Pete had, I think, the first couple opportunities to break. So that's just what happens. I mean, as Pete knows better than anyone, that's grass court tennis. It can come down to a couple of shots. You just, you know, you can't afford to hit double-faults at crucial times, and you can't afford to make a couple lapses like that, because that's all it takes, is one break like that. And, you know, I thought Pete would have more chances to break as the match went on. He did have a lot of chances, just didn't convert them.

CAPTAIN PATRICK McENROE: He seemed to double-fault quite a few times, so obviously it affected him. And it was just bizarre. I mean, I've never seen it happen before. I couldn't figure out, maybe he was touching the line when he started. I mean, he just lifts his toe before he serves, it's not even like he drags his foot or does anything like that. So...

CAPTAIN PATRICK McENROE: Oh, I don't know about that. I mean, I just don't know if -- you know, "bogus" is a wrong word. But it was certainly surprising to me.

CAPTAIN PATRICK McENROE: Well, obviously Pete's not going to dominate the way he did. But, you know, I've seen enough to see him in practice and even to see the way he played the first few sets that he can still be a major threat, and certainly at Wimbledon and at The Open. It's just a question of Pete's motivation, and he's been doing a lot of hard work off the court. And starting to do more on the court, on the practice court. It's just a case of doing that in the matches. I mean, I think today he did. You know, I don't read too much into one match. That's Davis Cup. Where, you know, different players get inspired. And, obviously, Corretja's got a great history. So I don't look, you know, read too much into that. I see Pete practice all the time. I see what he can do. To me, it's still there. But you have to work that much harder. The players are getting better. The younger players are eager, and they're fitter, they're stronger, they're faster. So you have to adjust. I think Pete knows that, and I think he's trying to do that.

CAPTAIN PATRICK McENROE: Obviously, he has a game, and I think he's worked a lot on his serve in the last few years. And obviously he's played a lot more doubles and his ability to volley was pretty evident today. So he's a good player. I think, to him, it's probably more of a question of, you know, not wanting to put all the time in and the practice and going over to England early and maybe missing some of the, you know, bigger clay court events in the beginning of the summer. So, I mean, look, obviously he can play on grass. I'm sure he doesn't think that he goes in as being a factor, as he could be at the French where he's gotten to the finals I guess twice now. So, but, look, the guy's got a lot of experience and he's played big matches and he's played big matches in Davis Cup. You know, we take our hat off to him. He competed hard. He was two sets down, Pete was dominating the match, but he worked his way back into it.

CAPTAIN PATRICK McENROE: No, not really. I think, you know, I think Robredo will be a good matchup for Pete. And I think that, you know, Pete's lost matches before in Davis Cup and come back and won another. So I have plenty of confidence in him. I have a lot of confidence in our doubles team. And certainly what I saw out of Roddick today was an impressive performance by him in his first match on grass in Davis Cup. So I feel good. As I said, I'd love to be up 2-0. But I certainly feel pretty good about the fact that we're 1-all. And Corretja's had to work hard and he's going to have to come back and play doubles right off the bat tomorrow, and then he's going to have to come back and play singles again first thing against Roddick. So, you know, it's not going to get any easier for him.

CAPTAIN PATRICK McENROE: I thought it was questionable.

CAPTAIN PATRICK McENROE: Sure, he has it in him. It's possible. Anything's possible. He's fit, he's strong, he's mentally tough. But we have it in us to win two more matches as well. So we got to go out and do it. We got to play well tomorrow. We have to come out with a lot of energy and we got to play aggressively and we got to take it to them. If we do that, I think we'll win. But certainly Alex will be a factor, but I like how our doubles teams looks. I like how Andy looks. I feel pretty good about what the schedule says for the next 36 hours or so.

CAPTAIN PATRICK McENROE: Yes, I do. I think it should definitely be changed. It should definitely be changed so you can't do it in the middle of the tiebreak, and pick these -- like the guy did at the Australian Open. So, you know, that shouldn't happen. My guess, just from what that caused down in Australia and probably what this will cause, is that the rule will be changed.

CAPTAIN PATRICK McENROE: Just whatever he wanted. If he wanted me to just hit a couple balls with him or just hit a couple serves, just to keep him loose. You know, didn't really have to say anything to him. He knew what he had to do.

CAPTAIN PATRICK McENROE: I don't have any -- any idea that I'm going to change it. Obviously it could happen. We'll talk about it a little bit tonight, but I feel real good about those two guys. And, you know, they'll be ready to go tomorrow. If we decide at the last minute to make a change, you'll be the first to know. But I'm not planning on it.