US OPEN

September 5, 1999

Magnus Larsson

MAGNUS LARSSON: Just have some tendonitis in my knee for the last four or five days. Painful as soon as I put the weight on my left foot. It goes up to the knee, just under the knee. Painful and hard to put the balance on the foot. Just doesn't feel good. It's real tender on one spot.

MAGNUS LARSSON: Started off in the middle of the week. I had it a long time ago, 1991, 1992. Since then, it hasn't been a problem. Playing on hard courts now for six weeks, I've been practicing really much. Maybe that's what caused it. I don't know.

MAGNUS LARSSON: No. I didn't have a fall or twist it or anything like that. Just came sneaking up on me, basically. After the last match I won, didn't feel good. Yesterday, I was in the trainer's room all day, basically. Tried to do as much as possible to get it better. Maybe it got a little bit better, but still not enough. I haven't been able to practice between the matches. Just doesn't feel good.

MAGNUS LARSSON: Yes. It's a month. The doctor said probably between one and two weeks' rest. Maybe it's a bone spur. We don't know. I'll go home and take an x-ray and see what it is. If it's only tendonitis, it shouldn't be a problem.

MAGNUS LARSSON: If I'm healthy, I'm fit, I can practice a few weeks prior to the tournament, I still expect to play well. It's a tough tournament; good players. I have to approach it as any other tournament.

MAGNUS LARSSON: You never know. Today I didn't play well the set I played. I haven't practiced in a few days. I haven't been able to do any practicing. It's hard to say. I look forward to this tournament. I've beaten Todd Martin a couple times before. We usually have good matches. You never really know what happened.

MAGNUS LARSSON: I wanted to start the match and see what would happen. I felt it in the warm-up. I had some pain. But the weather looked pretty good for me. I hoped it would rain for a few days, maybe be able to treat the knee a little bit better. Unfortunately, it cleared up. When I was out there, it's a best-of-five set match. He's a solid player. To beat him in a best-of-five sets with a bad knee, it's not easy.

MAGNUS LARSSON: When I lost the first set, I know Todd didn't play well the first set, still beat me pretty easy. I wasn't feeling better. Just didn't see a point to play with pain for another hour and a half. I didn't hit the ball well. I couldn't really move well. I decided it was better to stop and maybe think a few weeks.