Canadian Open 2000
Post Match Interview
Pete SAMPRAS defeats Michael LLODRA
5-7, 6-2, 7-6 (4)
TOUR OFFICIAL: Okay. Today was Pete's first hard court match since April. In the second round, he plays Karim Alami of Morocco tomorrow. Our first question? Anyone, first question?
REPORTER: Case there today of you being less than a hundred per cent or less than your usual self or he playing to his maximum potential?
P. SAMPRAS: I thought the - well, I think it was - he, he was playing very well. He's qualified, won a couple of matches, comes in there confident, is used to the conditions and the surroundings. I don't think I played a bad first set, I just thought I played one loose game. But he's got a huge serve, first and second serve. And it's not an easy match, first one out. It's a match where I'm not going to get a lot of rhythm. I played two loose games the whole match. That's just maybe a sign of not having played in three weeks. But he - I give him credit. He came out, played great, really worked very hard on my service games and served great. I played him at Queen's and I knew his game was quite big, possessed a big, big weapon in his serve.
REPORTER: How important was it for you to actually win that match today?
P. SAMPRAS: Well, it's important, because matches are that I need, it helps the confidence, helps the conditioning, getting in match shape. I feel like I can hopefully grow from this win and play a little bit better tomorrow. Not an easy match to play, because all these young guys are coming out, nothing to lose, swinging away. But it was good to get through it, not having - I thought I played pretty well, honestly, to get through it. I mean, he was - he was playing about as well as he could, I thought.
REPORTER: Pete, how long a break have you had and how much time have you spent on courts since winning the 13th Grand Slam?
P. SAMPRAS: I took two weeks off after Wimbledon and picked up a racquet on Monday of last week and just hit lightly for a couple of days and by Wednesday, Thursday, I started playing a few sets. So I haven't practiced a lot, but getting through a match like this, I spent quite a lot of time out there and hopefully I can build from this win and go from here. I needed that time off to emotionally recover and physically recover and look forward to the summer circuit.
REPORTER: Do you think it will take a while yet to recover completely?
P. SAMPRAS: Well, I, you know, it was definitely the toughest major I have had, I have had to go through and it took a lot out of me emotionally, it really did, at the end. Dealing with my shin, it wasn't easy. And I don't think I'm feeling the effects of it out there playing today, but it is a time to kind of enjoy what happened but also to look forward to the circuit and to the U.S. Open coming up. It's a tough year, tough tennis year when you're playing a lot, you don't have a lot of time to recover after majors which definitely takes a lot out of you. But I'm looking forward to two good weeks and taking sometime off before the Open and getting ready for the Open.
REPORTER: Hi, Pete, Congratulations. I'm wondering if at any stage in a game like that or match like that, there's ever any fear of losing. Were you afraid to lose today?
P. SAMPRAS: It wasn't a fear of losing. It was just a match where I didn't feel I was in control, lost the first set and not until I got that second set break, you know, I went from there and started playing better. Got off to a great start in the third and let it slip away, again. I didn't feel like I was going to lose. In the tie-breaker anything can happen with the game that he has. But, you know, if I'm down a break in the third, that's a time to start panicking a little bit, but I never felt I was actually going to lose. I knew it was going to be a struggle.
REPORTER: Is it kind of a good feeling to be back out playing?
P. SAMPRAS: It's nice to go out and practice and warm up for a match and go out and feel comfortable, versus Wimbledon, I wasn't very confident. But it feels good to go out there and compete, again, in front of a good crowd and good atmosphere. It's definitely a time of year that I love to play, summer circuit and hard court is the surface that takes me two days to get back into. So it was nice to get back out there.
REPORTER: Pete, the tour is obviously kicking off a new market campaign sort of based around some of the younger players and making a lot of cosmetic changes to the game, and some structural changes and thinking about some of those. I'm curious as one of the veterans on the tour if you think that tennis needs a new attitude, it needs something new?
P. SAMPRAS: Well, I don't think it needs a new attitude. I think there definitely is some things they're throwing out with the new court and new marketing strategy that I think hopefully will promote the game and promote some of the younger guys that people in this country and the U.S. really don't know a lot about. You know, because when I'm done playing, or Andre, and some of the older guys, Pat Rafter, the future of the game are the younger guys, the Federers, the Ferreros, the Haases and the Kiefers. Then I know the tour is going to push hard to get them a little more recognition in the U.S. So, you know, I applaud them for making the effort financially and putting it all together.
REPORTER: Were you bothered by the plane flying around during your match at all?
P. SAMPRAS: Well, I thought it was going to fly away, but obviously it kept on circling, so I was a little bit just asking when is it going to leave, so. Yeah, it bothered me a little bit.
REPORTER: Not only because it was the new balls playing?
P. SAMPRAS: It felt like I was playing the Open, again, with the plane flying. It was fine. I'm just glad it left.
TOUR OFFICIAL: Thanks everyone.
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