COMPAQ GRAND SLAM CUP

October 2, 1998

Andre Agassi

Q. 37 minutes for the first set, 47 for the second and the third. What does that mean? How could it change so quickly?

ANDRE AGASSI: I had a long wait. We had a long wait before we went out there, with the girls. I drank too much coffee. I was out on the court (indicating). I had too much energy. I just, you know -- I mean, he played very well the first set. To break me the first time, I got up 30-Love, he hit four great returns. So then he broke me. Then I managed to break back. Then at 4-5, I was serving 40-15. The game turned around there. All of a sudden I found myself down a set, not feeling like he was getting outplayed, but just feeling like, "Okay, things went his way." I stayed focused, was working the ball, he made some errors. I just got the momentum and I kept it.

ANDRE AGASSI: Seems that way. All his double-faults were long, you know. I would imagine he was trying to do a little bit more with it.

ANDRE AGASSI: I mean, we played a long point at Love-30, in the first game of the third. Then I hit a backhand winner up the line. At 40-Love, Love-40 he double-faulted. I felt a little bit like he was down. Then we switched sides. He stayed relatively positive. He was making the ball. He was waiting for his shot. You know, once I had the momentum, I kind of started taking a few more chances, coming up with the goods.

ANDRE AGASSI: No. There's not much left to say. Not much left to say, I'm sorry. Wish there was, but it would just be redundant.

ANDRE AGASSI: Well, you know, two entirely separate players. Korda hits the ball very flat, and Pioline hits with a lot of spin. He kind of waits - Pioline waits - to kind of see what happens. He uses his athleticism to win the point in a lot of cases. Korda likes to control the point. He hits the ball flat. So if he's hitting the ball well and he's hitting the ball big, it's tough to control it. If you really try to control it, you end up hitting conservative. He kind of picks up momentum. He's a difficult player to play against. I felt like in the second and third, it wasn't so much I was going through Korda as I was outplaying him in some of the long rallies, he was missing. It was a bit more I think unpredictable against Korda than it was Pioline. Pioline I just kept applying pressure, and the results were happening. With Korda, you know, I tried to apply pressure, but then he hits some good shots, he'd miss some. So it was a bit more unpredictable.

ANDRE AGASSI: I mean, you know, I'd like to play the winner. I guess if I had my say so, I probably would want to play Kucera again. A little disappointed that I lost the match. It's going to be very different. You know, now he's completely different than Pioline and Korda. He doesn't hit much pace on the ball, but he moves very quick. He doesn't make too many errors. You know, it's going to require me to be hitting the ball very aggressively, to not be making many mistakes, but to control the match. I'm going to have to control the points. If I play Kucera. If I play Goran, got to wear a neck brace when I look at his serve (laughter).

ANDRE AGASSI: All right, let me get this cleared up. I wasn't imitating him. It was direct strategy, based on the fact that when somebody tosses the ball and then catches it, you're ready, you go to move; then you have to stop, you have to regroup, and you come back again. One time is fine. Five times is fine. Eight times might be fine. You know, 20 times is not fine because it starts affecting you. You get ready and then if you're a little tired, it's very frustrating. So I didn't do it to imitate him. I did it to give him the same treatment because it's very difficult to do that. I wasn't making fun of him. That was misperception. I had no interest in making fun of him. I had interest in the match being fair. It was very difficult after 15, 20 times of me going to return, and having to deal with a toss coming down. Indoors, it's less variables, and his toss I'm sure is much more consistent.

ANDRE AGASSI: Yeah, I was. I felt like, you know, I did what I needed to do certainly today. But every match is so different, especially when the quality of players is as high as this event. Guys play very differently to win. What they do well, they do very well. What Korda does well is hits the ball very flat, very aggressive. You know, he really utilizes the lefty, you know, serve. He's a very difficult player to play against. Yeah, I was pleased.

ANDRE AGASSI: I didn't understand that.

ANDRE AGASSI: Oh, I didn't know that. That's very nice. Thank you.

ANDRE AGASSI: You know, if Philippoussis -- he's very unpredictable. I think every time he plays somebody, I say the same thing: I don't know. I don't know what's going to happen, you know. He's not easy to understand. I mean, you know, he could play great; he could play terrible. I've seen him do both. He's been playing much better lately, so I would assume being six foot four and a half and having a huge serve is an asset that gives him an advantage. But if he misses a few, and Rios returns well and moves well, I mean, if you want me to make a prediction, I think Philippoussis can go through. I think it's possible that his power will be too much. But if he misses, it's a problem. You're never quite sure what he's going to do. I mean, that's just the way it is.

ANDRE AGASSI: Day before yesterday.

ANDRE AGASSI: It was great. It was a lot of fun. A lot of fun.

ANDRE AGASSI: But it took a lot of energy from me. It didn't give me much power. And then everybody's telling me everybody is going to drink and the girls are going to get on the table and take their clothes off. I didn't see none of that (laughter). I mean, so I kept drinking, hoping that it would change, but it didn't change.