GREAT AMERICAN INSURANCE ATP CHAMPIONSHIP

August 15, 1998

Magnus Larsson

MAGNUS LARSSON: Yeah, I agree. The first set I gave him very cheap that last game. 5-6, 30-Love up to go to breaker. I have a good record against Pete in the tiebreakers. I knew if I could make it 6-All, I had a big chance to win it. Second set, I was dominating from the start. Just made a loose game, my first service game in the final set. I can't do that against Pete. From there on, it's tough. But I had a break to go back to 2-1. Made an unforced error there on the return. From there on, it was over basically. Not over, but from then on he got confident. He could play looser. I played good except two service games I did bad. That's enough.

MAGNUS LARSSON: Every time you get a break down or break up, the momentum goes with you or against you. So, I had a momentum until he broke that, then all of a sudden the change. Pete has such a good serve. When he's confident, it's tough to catch up with.

MAGNUS LARSSON: If I play every week, I could maybe be a little tired. I made a few bad games, service games, today. I lost some of them. It's okay, only two games, but sometimes I play bad for two months. That's much more difficult to win the matches. I'm hitting the ball well here. I like the night matches. I like the crowd here. So, you know, it's always challenging. Maybe it's not challenging to play the No. 2 player in the world as when he's No. 1. Still feels pretty good to play against him. I have a good record. I feel confident when I play him. I'm not afraid to challenge him with serve and play a play some forehands. I'm playing better today than I did for the last two months, so I'm happy with the play, not with the results.

MAGNUS LARSSON: I always play good against him, except when we played last year in Key Biscayne when I got two games. I played well. I was hitting the ball well. When I reached his serve, I was returning well. Made a lot of aces. Sometimes you just have to pick a corner and hopefully it come there. But I was hitting the ball as well as I can. Didn't win important points.

MAGNUS LARSSON: Be lucky, guess the corner, close your eyes and hope there's a God, you know. Have to be a little religious to break his serve. But I don't know. I was going for winners on my forehand when he served to my forehand. He has such a good volley, you can't just put a ball in the court and wait for him to make mistakes.

MAGNUS LARSSON: It was a good kick.

MAGNUS LARSSON: I just had to do it. Sometimes you do. It's better to do that than smack a racquet. It was a ball change in a few games. Didn't matter that much. The ball came back. See if I get fined. We'll see. I don't think so. Rudy is a nice umpire, (inaudible). I was a bit frustrated. I lost serve. I had a breakpoint. Missed on his forehand return. Made an ace on the next one. You know, you don't get too much chances against him. When you blow it, you don't even make him play the breakpoint, then you get pretty upset with yourself.