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 They said it ... Quotable quotes from Thursday play at Flushing Meadows
Posted: Thursday September 10, 1998 08:35 PM
FLUSHING, New York (Ticker) -- Below is a sampling of some of the best quotes to come out of the U.S. Open. Spain's Carlos Moya on if he thought coming into this tournament that he could win it: "If you would have told me at the beginning of the week that I am going to be in the semifinals, I would say, 'You're crazy.' I had no confidence at all. I thought I cannot beat anyone the way I am playing." Moya on if he fears facing Australian Mark Philippoussis in the semifinals: "The people are always expecting something great from Philippoussis. And so far he has not done well. He's 20 something in the rankings, but he has really big potential. He can win any tournament. But I won the French Open, I won Monte Carlo and I'm in the semifinals right now. I don't think I have to be afraid of anyone." Moya on if the French Open champion gets enough respect in contrast to other Grand Slam winners: "Well, it depends where. In Europe maybe the people think Roland Garros is more important than U.S. Open. Here I don't think they care at all about who won the French Open. I'm not saying they just care about their players, you know which is normal. But what happens in Europe, I don't think they really care. But I won a Grand Slam, which is the same as Wimbledon, Australia or this one. So, I think they should have a lot of respect for a Grand Slam winner, even if for them it is the French Open, which they don't know so much." Sweden's Magnus Larsson on if it's an advantage that the Spanish players are close and practice together: "We have quite a few Swedish [who practice together] too. I think it's an advantage for us and them to be in a big group and compete with each other." Belarussian' Max Mirnyi on why his father Nikolai got him to play mixed doubles with partner Serena Williams of the United States: "I'm too shy of a guy to come up and speak to Serena. He did that for me at Wimbledon. Before the deadline to sign up he came up to Serena and asked her if she wanted to play. I was definitely ready for that. It was just a matter of her saying yes." Serena Williams on her and big sister Venus having won all four mixed doubles titles at the Grand Slams this year: "It was very exciting for the Williams family. We have been talking about it ever since Wimbledon. We were working really hard." Serena Williams on if she will share her U.S. Open mixed doubles trophy with her sister Venus: "She won the Australia and the French. We won Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. So, I don't think there is a need to share. Even though she beat me in the finals of the French, that's okay." United States Davis Cup Captain Tom Gullikson on the controversy surrounding the selection of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the site for the Davis Cup semifinal versus Italy: "Regarding Milwaukee, it's my home state. It's going to be nice for me to get back to my home state, and really bring Davis Cup to that part of the country for the first time ever.
"That's certainly one of the goals of the USTA, to use Davis Cup as a vehicle to promote tennis. The best way we can promote tennis in the USA is to spread Davis Cup around, put it in different parts of the country. If you ask all the players they'd probably want to play every tie in San Diego because the weather's great and the beaches are great." On the defections of top U.S. players Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi and Michael Chang from the Davis Cup team: "I would be less than honest if I said I wasn't disappointed because the goal is to get the top Americans, the best Americans to play. That's my job as captain to get the best field out there. But, you know you have to go forward. These four players [Jim Courier, Todd Martin, Jan-Michael Gambill and Justin Gimelstob] are committed to being there, and I'm happy to lead them." Gullikson on Andre Agassi' contention that the players should have more input on picking the site of the Davis Cup: "I think they should certainly have input. I don't think the USTA should give all the power to players to choose the site." Former USTA President Bumpy Frazier on why he chose Gullikson to captain the U.S. Davis Cup team: "At the time when we selecting a Davis Cup captain, I spoke personally and privately with every one of our leading players. I'm happy to say -- I don't think it was unanimous, but it was very close to unanimous. Tom was a great choice." Frazier, On the contention that the players should have input into choosing the captain: "We [USTA] do consult with the players. Their input is very important. But the input truly has to be based on a number of factors." Defending champion Patrick Rafter on the umpire's overrule on match point, giving him an ace and the ATP Championship in Cincinnati last month against U.S. Open semifinal foe Pete Sampras: "I thought the ball was in. I think the replay, some people have shown replays for the ball to be in. You know I think the whole situation with the media just took that thing right out of proportion." Rafter on if he thought Sampras' angry reaction to the call was out of line: "Yeah I think so. He knows I think that way as well." Sampras commenting on Rafter's assertions that the serve was in: "He did [think it was in], did he? He's smoking something that isn't legal." Sampras on Rafter's style of play: "His game reminds me a little bit like [Stefan] Edberg, he's always coming in. He's not easy to play. He's got that kick serve that gives me problems and he mixes it up very well. I kind of know what to expect and so does he. It's just a matter of who does it better."
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