AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 13, 2003

Nicolas Lapentti

NICOLAS LAPENTTI: I'm happy. It's always difficult to win a first round match, especially being only my second match for the year. So I think it was very important to get a good start. I was ahead very quick in the match, and that kind of gave me a lot of confidence. Then in the second set he kind of went a little bit more for the shots. After being 4-2 down and winning 6-4, I think mentally was very tough for him. I, again, went on top of him.

NICOLAS LAPENTTI: Yeah, the wind, the conditions are tough. I think in a way it was better to play at 10, very early, because it's supposed to get hotter later today. But I didn't feel any heat at all. I think maybe the wind helped in a way. On the other hand, it's very complicated when you play with that wind. There's a lot of silly mistakes that you can make because of the wind, the ball moves a lot. It's not easy. But it seems like I handled the situation better than him.

NICOLAS LAPENTTI: I remember it two years ago, it was very windy. It's always been windy. I mean, Sydney and Melbourne, it's always windy, but not as windy as two years ago and this year.