Q. Pete, to end the year like
this, does this overcome a lot of the
frustration? You had to suffer the injuries
and everything else the second half of the
year.
PETE SAMPRAS: Absolutely.
This is -- I finally got a break, really. If
Boris doesn't win his match on Friday, I am
at home, and he won his match; came back. And
that was the break I needed because I haven't
gotten so many bad breaks over the summer and
at the Open that, I guess, I was due. And I
played one of my best matches yesterday and
really was up against a tough opponent and a
tough crowd, and I came through. So this
really ends my year on a great, great note.
Kind of gives me a bit of satisfaction. It's
a win here because the fall hasn't been great
and so I am going to go home; enjoy this;
spend Thanksgiving with my folks and come
back for the Grand Slam Cup.
Q. Pete, what's the big
difference between Wednesday and today, of
course you won and Boris didn't, could you
expand a little bit more on what was the
difference between the two matches?
PETE SAMPRAS: The difference
today was I returned a lot better and when I
return a lot better and put a bit more
pressure on his serve, and as a result, he
hit a number of doublefaults. Not on the
account-- it seemed like he was hitting a lot
of them. And I knew if I didn't return well
that he was going to be hitting huge second
serves. He has got the biggest second serve I
have ever tried to return. One thing I talked
to Tim yesterday about was staying a little
further back; give me more time to make him
volley. He volleys good, but he is not like
an Edberg volleyer, so that was really a
huge, huge point in the match. And I just
hung in there after losing the first, and the
crowd was very loud. I just tried to block
that out. I tried to use that as a bit of
motivation, and got off to a bad break and
that kind of put the crowd out of it. That
was it. I played really well today. This is
one of my better matches of the fall.
Q. Are you saying that his doublefaults were
maybe as a result of the fact that you were
returning well?
PETE SAMPRAS: That is what I said, yeah.
Yeah, I mean, because I didn't really put any
pressure on his service games. He was
continuing to hit huge second serves and
today, I just stood back a little bit more,
tried to make him volley a little bit, keep
it low, then he kind of felt the pressure a
little bit and then doublefaulted quite a
number of times. That was a huge point of the
match.
Q. Pete, you started the last game by
doublefaulting, everybody screaming, what
kind of pressure did you feel at that point?
PETE SAMPRAS: Well, I just tried to take some
deep breaths, relax, not try to worry about
the situation, and try to get my first serve
in. If I don't get my first serve in against
Boris, he just cracks the second serve. He
could easily be up Love-30 against me. It
could have really changed the match. I hit
some big serves that was kind of the key in
the last game. Boris, he is so difficult to
play because he just takes a huge cut on the
second serve and comes in and you are always
under pressure, and that is possibly why he
doublefaulted that first point, and -- but I
needed that first service; was key to the
match.
Q. Were you feeling the heat from the crowd?
PETE SAMPRAS: I could definitely hear it. Oh
yeah, just try to shut that out and not worry
about it and understand that they are going
to be loud and accept that and not try to
worry about it.
Q. What did you tell him when you shook
hands?
PETE SAMPRAS: I thanked him for letting me
play. Over the week that was just a bit of
luck and that is something that I haven't
been getting the past four, five months and I
got a break this week.
Q. Pete, you won the tournament today, but
then also will you have been No. 1 for the
whole calendar year, first guy since Lendl
did it in 1987. How do you feel about that?
PETE SAMPRAS: It is great. Great
accomplishment. Just proves that I have been
really consistent even though I pulled out of
six events; I still maintained that No. 1
ranking by a pretty good margin and I hope to
continue that. I got Andre kind of right
behind me dying to be No. 1, so just need to
keep on working hard and I think that things
are going to happen.
Q. Pete, are you going to play Davis Cup next
year?
PETE SAMPRAS: I haven't made any definite
decisions as far as Davis Cup. I will wait
'til the year is over after the Grand Slam
Cup; then think about it. Then make my
decision before Australia if I am going to
play the first round.
Q. Are you going to change your schedule this
year?
PETE SAMPRAS: Next year, well, only thing I
am changing next year is I am playing a
little bit more on clay. Previous years I
have gone over to Asia and played on the hard
court where this year I am playing events in
Barcelona and Monte Carlo to try to get my
game better for the French, a tournament that
I would love to win and so that is really the
only difference.
Q. Pete, you had lost five time out of six on
carpet against Becker. What was really
different, just your return or you think you
probably -- he was also a little tired today?
PETE SAMPRAS: I don't think he was tired. I
thought with the crowd behind him I thought
he looked pretty fit to me. The difference
was my return. I returned a lot better; made
him hit a lot of volleys. Because if I didn't
return well, then I am always under pressure
with my service games. And, you know, Boris
is probably one of the best indoor players
that is on the Tour right now. And if you can
get his serve back; especially his second
serve which is just as big as his first, then
that is obviously much -- that is much
better.
Q. What is next, Pete, are you going to
Disneyworld?
PETE SAMPRAS: No. I am going to -- close,
Tampa is pretty close. I am going to go home
for a little bit; then I will see my folks
for Thanksgiving; then take a little time off
and get ready for Munich.
Q. Are there still parts of your game that
you work on or just keep going?
PETE SAMPRAS: Well, there is not really a lot
of off time to really change things in your
game and really work on things. There are
minor things that Tim sees that I can't see
in my game, but there is nothing really
specific that we are working on right now.
Q. What do you think about Boris comeback, in
general?
PETE SAMPRAS: I think he is obviously very
motivated. I think since Nick he has -- is
enjoying the game a lot more. He is settled
with his wife and his kid; seemed like he is
really happy out there. As far as his game is
concerned, he is moving a lot better than
what he was a year ago. He is more confident
and, you know, I have played him indoor and
he is really good indoors. You know, he is
working harder, I am sure, and he is playing
better.
Q. After losing the first set did you think
here we go again like last year, against a
German?
PETE SAMPRAS: Fortunately, it is three out of
five, and that I just told myself if he is
going to beat me, he is going to have to play
that type of tennis in the first set because
he was hitting -- he must have aced me
probably six times in the first set, and I
just told myself to not get down on myself,
and he's got two more sets to win and I just
need to start returning and once I did that,
then that kind of change the course of the
match. And then his serve really kind of
dropped there for the second and third a
little bit, and I took advantage of that.
Q. What have been the most and the least
satisfying moments of the year?
PETE SAMPRAS: Being injured right after
Wimbledon was very frustrating and the Open
experience was kind of the icing on the cake
because of not being in shape and losing the
match because I wasn't in shape was very
discouraging, and that was -- I wasn't
satisfied at all.
Q. Most satisfying?
PETE SAMPRAS: I have to say my two Majors and
then here. This definitely ends my year on a
great note. So I am going to go home and
enjoy it.
Q. Do you think you played better today or
yesterday?
PETE SAMPRAS: Well, it was a completely
different match. You know, Andre stays back
and Boris comes in. Two players that what
they do they do it very well. I think, you
know, yesterday I played at a level that I
really had to play to beat Andre and today I
think was the same because Boris hasn't lost
a match all week and I had to raise my level
compared to when I played him on Wednesday,
so I think it was tough to say because it was
a completely different match.
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