But if Federer is going to play more serve and volley, he has to do it in every match, you can’t just play one game and then switch it on; and to do it against Nadal, he has to serve and volley right from the beginning so he gets into a rhythm. It’s pretty tiring to play serve and volley, you have to be extremely fit. I believe you need to be even more fit to play serve and volley at times because the movements are so much quicker and you need to be so sharp, so it’s something you need to do for a year or two.
You have to be prepared to lose many points before you start winning most of them; you’re going to make mistakes, it takes a few years before you get fully developed because it’s just a more difficult game to play and requires more experience.
What was tougher, near the end of your career – playing against that first generation of Luxilon-using returners, or your motivation?*
I think it was mostly the motivation. In order to stay in the game I would have had to work more than I ever had in my life. In the last years, I probably would have to do a bit more gym-work, more upper body work, and also change a few things. But I was a bit burned out and didn’t have the motivation. If I could go back, I would change a little bit the way I was training to face that new generation coming up, because I kept training the same way.
You played against several generations of great players – who would you single out as your biggest rival?
**
Boris Becker was one of the toughest ones to play against. He could always raise his game on big occasions, and he did beat me more times than I did beat him, 25 to 10. But I managed to win more in Grand Slams against him, and beat him in two out of three Wimbledon finals.
You beat Chang in that great US Open semifinal in 1992 when you went to the net around 250 times in five sets lasting well over five hours. . .**
The 1991 US Open final against Jim Courier was the perfect match, and that year I played so well the second week - I was like on a track. But the 1992 title is probably the one I can be the most proud of because of the way I won it. Remember, I finished the match against Ivan Lendl on Friday in the quarterfinals, played the semifinal against Michael Chang on Saturday - it lasted five hours and twenty minutes – and won the final over Pete Sampras on Sunday.
It was one of the biggest accomplishments in tennis in a long time, because it’s very unusual someone winning three five-set matches in a row in a second week - especially being down a break in the fifth in each of those matches. It’s something to be proud of.
Did you feel that you proved something with that second US Open win, because people would say you were not such a fighter because of your calm demeanour?**
Yes, I think so. A few key matches can make a difference. Winning the Davis Cup campaign in 1988 sort of changed things a little bit, winning the US Open in 1992 as well. In order to get to Number One you need to be a fighter, there’s no question about it. But then, it’s how you communicate with the crowds and the television, and people do it in different ways. It’s a personality thing, some can really show what fighters they are. I always did it in a different, quieter way.
The US Open used to be such a tough tournament for most European. Why was that?**
It takes time to adapt to the US Open. There are all sorts of distractions. Before, we had the airplanes coming straight over, the noise, the smell of the hot-dog stands, the heat was very hot, then sometimes it was very cold. But the most difficult part was playing at night because the lights were not very good – not good at all – and some nights it would be very nice and the following nights would be very cold and windy, so the conditions always kept on changing. And the crowds were obviously always very patriotic when we played against the US players. Quite a few distractions…
With the US Open around the corner, will you miss being there and all the action at Flushing Meadows?**
I don’t miss it too much, I had my time, I had a lot of years at the US Open and it requires a lot of work to be there – but at the same time you miss part of it, because there was a lot of fun playing at the Open. It was the most difficult place to get used to, but at the same time it was fascinating playing there, especially the night matches when you were playing some American players and the place could get really loud with a lot of excitement. That’s the part you really miss.