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SONY ERICSSON OPEN

March 26, 2008

Jesse Levine

MIAMI, FLORIDA

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Can you just sort of go through the match? You spoke yesterday, and you said you were all pumped and worked really hard, what do you think happened there?
JESSE LEVINE: Definitely came out to a good start. Little bit of nerves, and I had them work to my advantage today. But they kind of caught the best of me there a little bit in the first set. I was up a break and let it slide a little bit.
But he played well. Second set he kind of came out on top right away, and kind of threw in some bigger shots than I was expecting. He was rolling and had the confidence going, so he obviously played really well.
I felt like I could have definitely come to the net a little bit more. I felt like I was winning a lot of points when I was coming in, but just couldn't get the groove going on my groundstrokes to get a good enough ball to get in the net.

Q. What was it like, just the experience of being on Stadium Court and all that?
JESSE LEVINE: Obviously, it was really cool. It was like Gator fans out there, and they were saying, Go Gators a lot of the time. I had a bunch of friends from the University of Florida in the crowd, so that is always fun to play in front of them.
It is a very good experience. I felt like there were a lot of people supporting me out there. It was a good time.

Q. He said you looked a little bit tired and he took advantage. Was that the case at all?
JESSE LEVINE: No, I don't think I was tired. I definitely don't feel like I was tired. Maybe I showed a little bit of frustration. Maybe a little bit. Maybe that showed that I was tired a little bit. But definitely was making too many errors on my forehand side and was getting frustrated with that, that's for sure.

Q. Where do you go from here? What's up next?
JESSE LEVINE: I'm going to hopefully get a doubles wild card with Kei Nishikori. We'll see and find out later today. Then I will go back to Bradenton and start playing hard again, and play a challenger in Tallahassee next.

Q. Can you talk about Kei? He's had a good run at Del Rey, and people are looking at him now. You probably train with him?
JESSE LEVINE: Yeah, we're pretty good friends, actually. I like Kei a lot, he works hard and he's had a lot of success lately, so I'm really happy for him. It's really good that we trained together at the academy, because we really pushed each other. Our rankings have kind of flip-flopped a lot, and now he's ahead of me after winning Del Rey Beach. So it's amazing.
It's definitely really good to train with someone like that, because you keep pushing each other, so it's good.

Q. Were you there at that impromptu party when he came back from Del Rey that some guys had a keg for him or something?
JESSE LEVINE: I wasn't there, I was at a tournament. I don't know where I was. I might have been in San Jose already.

Q. How has the experience with Miami felt so far with some friends coming down and all that?
JESSE LEVINE: It's great. It's great having people out there supporting you wherever you are. It's always nice playing in front your family, because you don't get to do that a lot. You can't look over at the box and see your mom, dad and brother sitting there, cheering you on. That's always a good feeling to have.

Q. You may have had a lot of Israeli supporters. Last night we had a reception. I know you couldn't make it. But a lot of people wanted to watch you play, and your parents would have been a hit at the reception last night.
JESSE LEVINE: I was trying to make it out there, but unfortunately I had to play second match on. So I had to do what I felt was the right decision. But, obviously, wish I could have been there. Yeah, it's always nice to have some supporters out there. See what happens in the future.

Q. How is it different from playing college when you're out there on center court in a tournament like this, even a big Gator match?
JESSE LEVINE: Obviously, it's a big difference. I've been asked that question a lot. The biggest factor is I've been -- definitely it's mentally it's a lot different. The guys in college can hit the ball. Look at Isner, look at all these guys coming out of college. We're all doing okay right now.
But definitely it's mentally a difference because there are no lapses. You have one little slip, and that's it in the pros. That's it in the big time. But in college you have a little slip, you can get back and get back in the match. That's not happening out there on Stadium Court, I tell you that.

Q. You had played him before you said at 14s or something.
JESSE LEVINE: That is a long time ago in 14s, and winds were gusting and we had a battle out there.

Q. He's changed as a player too, I'm sure.
JESSE LEVINE: Yeah, a lots happened in six, seven years. He's grown about two feet, and me, I've stayed the same height.

Q. How do you feel you held his serve?
JESSE LEVINE: I didn't feel like he overpowered me with his serve. I felt like his groundstrokes were really very deep in the court. But I really didn't feel like he overpowered me with his serve. I felt like I was making a lot of returns, especially in the first set.
And the second set, obviously, once he got his confidence going and he was up a break, he really could crack his serve a little bit harder. But I rally didn't feel like I got overpowered by it.

End of FastScripts

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