An Interview With Jan-Michael Gambill
MIKI SINGH: Update on the rain delay, two hours and four minutes.
First question for Jan-Michael.
Q. I sensed a little gamesmanship on his part. Did you sense that, feel it, react to it at all, or am I wrong?
JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: No, you're not wrong. He did it. That's how he is. I mean, some guys do that. I guess it's not really good sportsmanship, but that's the way it is. It didn't really bother me. I thought it was funny. He went over to the sideline a whole lot of times. That's fine. I mean, he can do that if he wants to.
Q. How about the cartwheel?
JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: I don't know why he's doing that. Is he making fun of Korda? If he does that, that's kind of ridiculous, if he's making fun of Korda. Korda has a good heart, and he tries his hardest every single time. He loves playing the game. If he's doing it -- that's something he's started to do. That's another story all together.
Q. He was reluctant to play the tiebreak and you wanted to get it going.
JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: I thought we could have got a few points in before it started raining. Two it's also -- we started at zero-zero, so it really didn't matter.
Q. How hard was it to come back out after two plus hours of sitting?
JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: It was a little difficult. I was a little tired going out, when I first started today. When I came out, I felt better. I didn't play a very smart tiebreaker. I felt like I was at least more energetic.
Q. What are your emotions now that this great tournament run is over?
JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: I don't feel like I played a very good match today at all. I missed too many balls, made too many errors, gave him a lot of points. I feel like I let Agassi down a little. I don't think he would have played like that today.
I feel like I had a great run here, and I'm as happy as I could be, you know, with my performances. Been the biggest tournament of my career, and I'm very excited about it.
Q. I guess when he broke you in the second set, you had a floater, you kind of cranked it really than putting it away. Did you lose poise for a second there? Do you remember what I'm talking about?
JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: No. What happened?
Q. You had an overhead that you cranked out on breakpoint.
JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: I went for too much on that thing. I mean, I should have just taken it, hit it inside out the other way. Certainly should never have missed that ball.
Q. You said the other day that you feel that you're on a wave. Of course, there are all kinds of waves. What's your vision of your wave? How far do you think it can take you?
JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: Well, it came crashing down today. I hope that it can take me far. I feel like I'm playing pretty good tennis, hitting the ball well, serving well most of the time.
Didn't serve very well today. But I'm serving well most of my matches. I feel like I'm playing good tennis. I can stay out there with most people, you know.
I still stayed out there today, pretty well. Didn't play a horrible match, but it could have been better. He's a very good player, very good player. Gets to every ball, makes you hit tons and tons of shots. I missed too many. But got to give him credit for running down. He runs and gets everything.
Q. Would you consider this a breakthrough tournament for you?
JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: Yeah, I would definitely consider it a breakthrough tournament. It's gotten me to where I am now, with my ranking, I can get into most events, all the Grand Slams. That's huge. Now I'm going to have an opportunity to play a lot of big matches, hopefully have some good wins.
Q. It's been great having you, the fans have really appreciated you.
JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: Thank you. I've appreciated them. I love to play in the atmosphere here.
Q. What did you learn out there tonight?
JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: Oh, I learned that my footwork was really bad today. I feel like I'm going to need to work on that a little bit. It's fine for the first three or four balls, then I'm hitting without moving. You can't do that. No way you can do that in the top pro tennis.
I also learned how good of a player Rios is. He really plays good tennis. I need a little better strategy against him next time.
Q. In here, Rios made the point that it's very difficult the way tennis is played these days, as fast as it is, to play every shot with two hands. Would you dispute that point?
JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: Does he play with two hands on both sides?
Q. Just one.
JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: Then maybe he doesn't know. I think I play pretty good with two hands both sides. I don't feel like I need to switch to one-handed shots. I mean, it is a fast-paced game. When I'm moving well, I feel I can dictate the points most of the time. I did today, I dictated a lot of the points.
Q. Can you take a moment and talk about that elusive quality: confidence. How it's improved during your run, how it's changed your thinking maybe?
JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: During the matches, I know if I get down on my own serve, I know I have a chance of coming back. I also have a chance of breaking back after getting broken or whatever, just keeping the pressure on then, even if they're ahead. I feel like I'm doing that a lot better.
Q. A year from now when we're sitting in this room, what level would you be happy at, Top 50, Top 20, Top 10? What are your goals?
JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: My new goal would be Top 50 right now. I'd love to be in the Top 30, Top 20.
I think that I'm playing that kind of tennis right now, today, this tournament. So hopefully I'll continue it.
Q. Do you have a hard time understanding somebody who you're saying is not a very good sportsman out there when you're playing him?
JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: I'm not going to say he's not a very good sportsman. He did some things that weren't unsportsmanlike. Every sport has that. Tennis has very little of it. When somebody sees it, it amplifies it, makes it worse. He's doing a few things, but it's not that bad, not that big a deal. It's not something I would do. But to each their own.
Q. What specifically did he do?
JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: I mean, he was going over and getting a different racquet all the time, stopping me when I was serving. He did that a few times as I served. Just slowing the pace down a little bit.
I think he knows that I like to play at a fast pace, and I think he was trying to throw me off a little bit. Which is actually good tactics. Got to commend him on that a little bit. Worked for him.
MIKI SINGH: Any other questions?
Q. Who is the gang of people you've had making all the noise for you?
JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: That's the adidas family. That's my family and friends out there.
Q. As a relatively new face to so many people, if you were in a position and had to describe in a few words, who is this guy after all, how would you describe yourself?
JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: Many are saying I'm the new American hope. I love hearing that. Hopefully, maybe that.
Q. How is your game suited to clay? After Lipton, you're going to hit a lot of claycourt tournaments. Have you had a lot of experience on claycourt?
JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: I haven't had a lot; I've had some. I'm going to play a lot of the claycourt tournaments this year. I had kind of a full tour last year, but it will be my first real full tour on the clay.
I think my game is suited pretty well. My groundstrokes are pretty good when I'm moving well and I can stay out there with a lot of people. It's going to be a little bit slower, so I'll have to get used to that.
Q. Do you have an agent?
JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: Not at the moment.
Q. Have they kind of left you alone during the tournament, or are companies going after your services?
JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: I have been speaking to a few different companies.
MIKI SINGH: Anything else?
End of FastScripts....
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Jan-Michael Gambill
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