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2001 TENNIS MASTERS
SERIES STUTTGART An interview with:
MAX MIRNYI
Q. Why do you do so well against Guga usually? MAX MIRNYI: What do I do so well? Q. Why have you been playing so well against him the
last three matches? MAX MIRNYI: I'm not sure. I think the styles match that
way where he doesn't really hurt me as much. It's up to me almost whether
I win or lose the match, to the amount of errors that I make. I feel that
if I am in control of what I do with my serve, with my return, with my
coming forward, then the odds are with me. You know, the three times I've
played this year, it seemed to be the case. Q. How lucky do you feel you are being here, especially
him having two match points? MAX MIRNYI: Oh, I feel very lucky considering the fact
that I was two match points down in the first round of qualifying, so...
This is second life to me. Q. Third now with two match points against you today.
MAX MIRNYI: Yeah. I felt like I had my chances early
in the tiebreaker, being up 4-1, then not really utilizing there, committing
a few errors. You know, I guess that's the way it came back to me with
him missing that on top of the net. Q. How do you like the conditions overall here? MAX MIRNYI: I think it produces good tennis because it's
fairly medium, probably closer to a slower-paced surface. It's kind of
medium bounce. As we see, there are a lot of long matches, good rallies.
Even myself, you know, I've been forced to stay back. I'm actually hitting
a few balls in. I'm pretty surprised. Q. Tennis-wise, how would you compare the quality
of the tennis today to the other two matches which you played against
Guga this year? MAX MIRNYI: I think it was a little bit different today.
Like I said, I felt I was dictating actually quite a few points from the
back. I was mixing up my serve a little more, staying back with the second
serve, coming forward with my groundies. You know, having done that, it
gives me a lot of confidence going into my upcoming matches because I
know, you know, I'm able to do that. I was winning a lot of baseline points
against Guga today. You know, he's one of the better guys from the back
of the court. You know, I felt comfortable moving around the baseline
today, bringing my game forward, rather than the other two matches where
I was moving more up and down rather than laterally. |