U.S. OPEN

August 28, 1995

Andrei Medvedev

ANDREI MEDVEDEV: You mean -- so many aspects. Which one are you interested in?

ANDREI MEDVEDEV: Oh, this year, I must say, the USTA made a lot of improvements. I don't know who, me, or we have to thank the tournament director of USTA; Flushing Meadow Organization, but the conditions have been improved, definitely. I mean, the lockerrooms are larger, and the food is much better. The food was better than last year. It seems like the atmosphere is a lot friendlier than it used to be. And it makes, for instance, it makes me feel more comfortable. It makes me feel relaxed before my matches, and it makes me feel, like, good. Perhaps the specialty of this Grand Slam, it is loud and that it is fast; that's it, little bit crazy Grand Slam. But with this year, it makes me feel like I am here, I am here to play; I am here to do my job, and I think I have a chance -- I have possibilities here. It is a lot easier to play this year than the year before.

ANDREI MEDVEDEV: I didn't have a problem. I just couldn't understand how was it working when USTA makes huge money and last people they care about are players. We are here to play. Basically, without players, there wouldn't be any sponsors and without players, USTA wouldn't get this huge money. And I think we are the ones who deserve to get paid back by having the conditions to be at the tournaments; by having good lockerroom and good food. I think that is what they did this year. In the years before, it needed to be improved, but it is all history. In the past, I don't think we even should talk about it.

ANDREI MEDVEDEV: I am not talking about courts. I am talking about freedom of life here in New York. At the U.S. Open so many people, so many players, I mean, just a little bit crazy. You really have to be focused to play. And, I mean, if you want to win and I think this year it is a bit more quiet. It is nice. It is more relaxed. You have your privacy where you have the players lounge where only players can go and you can be in a huge city by yourself, which is great. Flushing Meadows is like a huge big city with many people living in a small area. In this area, with the bigger lockerrooms, you can find the privacy.

ANDREI MEDVEDEV: Well, physically I feel okay. I haven't been bothered by injuries for the last few months and -- I wish I won more matches before coming here, but I didn't you know, I feel good. My game is getting better. It is just a matter of me taking the match, after the match, just one match at a time. And mentally I am ready. I don't have a huge confidence coming here, but I am ready to play. I am ready to fight. And if I be lucky, I can pass some rounds, then you never know what happens.

ANDREI MEDVEDEV: I tried to stay focused. I tried not to let my nerves control the game. I was trying to control the game with my brain, and I felt that I have advantage. I had advantage in the first set. I just couldn't -- I couldn't convert, I think like 8 breakpoints in the first set, not one, and I felt that the time is coming when I start breaking him, and it was early in the second set and then I took the lead. I didn't look back since then.

ANDREI MEDVEDEV: He played well. Not only the first set, he played well the whole match. And, you know, I don't like to play against a player that I don't know. I only knew him from looking at him in the player's lounge, something like this, but I never saw him play. And when the guy wins three qualifying matches; not dropping one set; he is lefty and keeps the ball in play; has a good serve, he is the kind of guy you don't want to meet in the first round. But I was lucky that I had stayed focused. I mean, as I said, I didn't let my nerves control the game. The guy played very good. I am happy that I passed this first round.

ANDREI MEDVEDEV: I was a child then. I was 18, 19 years old and this was the time when I had the success so quickly and I couldn't even appreciate it. I was just winning tournaments -- I mean, not every tournament, but I was winning tournaments. I was in the finals, semifinals, and for me this match was just like another match. Quarterfinal U.S. Open, didn't perhaps realize how important it was. And I think if I have the same match this year, you know, I would prepare myself differently. I would understand where I am. I wouldn't just take this match as a given, and yes, it is a big difference for sure.

ANDREI MEDVEDEV: No, basically because I didn't defend my points from last year and I haven't been playing so well. But the reason to that, you know, it is very hard to give objective reason. I mean, I cannot even give you the honest reason. I don't know the reason. I mean, the reason is basically that I am not playing so well and that is why I dropped my ranking. Why I am not playing so well, I don't want to make any excuses, but, you know, I wasn't practicing enough. I wasn't concentrated on tennis enough. I was -- why I wasn't concentrating on tennis? I had injuries, but once again, it is not excuse. It is just a combination of things where it all turned out to be when I cannot play on the court; when I cannot play in the tournaments and now, with help from my new coach, and my friends, it is just -- I started to be more focused in the game. I like tennis, and I think I cannot live without tennis and I realized that I waste a lot of time, just one year, and I just don't want to make the same mistake. I am 20 years old, will be 21, and I have plenty of time, but I don't want to lose it. I don't want to be 30 and say, I wish I could have done that. .

ANDREI MEDVEDEV: Yeah, of course, my main goals are Grand Slams. I want to be as well prepared as I can for the Grand Slams and to take a chance and everyone of them and maybe win one of them some day. But the last year I have been troubled by injuries and every time I was trying to prepare properly for a Grand Slam I would have a week or two which I had to take off because of some injury. And, you know, since my health stabilized last couple of months, I think I have been doing better next year, hopefully doing better next year and I start from then. This year, I will play 'til the end. I will take match after match. I don't have goals this year, I just want to get back where I was -- at where I was last year and if I make it by the end of the year, fine; if not, my main goal is to ask it next year; to stay healthy; to play fully and not to have excuses.

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