Q. A pretty slow start, then you started serving better and moving better on the court. How did you feel out there?
PATRICK RAFTER: I was a little bit nervous at the beginning. I don't know his game very well. I was just having a look at it. He came out playing very well. He scared me a little bit. He played very well when he was in front. I knew I had to get off to a good start in the second set. I felt if I got off to a bad start, I felt he would have kept on his roll and it would have been very difficult to come back.

Q. Are the conditions very different from the previous weeks you played on clay?
PATRICK RAFTER: No. It was very heavy this morning. Actually, it was around about 12 o'clock, 12:30 when we went out, or even later. When the sun came out, it's very, very different conditions. It would have been very difficult for me if the conditions stayed as heavy as they were. It would have been a very tough match. But I just found finally some form on my serve. And when I serve well, I seem to play a lot better.

Q. What did you think about his game?
PATRICK RAFTER: Oh, he's very talented. You know, he can do everything. He's got a good serve. He can volley. He returns. He slaps some returns. He's dangerous off that. Got quite a good forehand and a good backhand. I think, you know, he's only very young. He's got to start working hard. I think if he can work hard and have some really good commitment, he'll be an excellent player. I was very impressed with him.

Q. There are certainly differences between your game and Pete Sampras' game, but there is the similarity that you both play serve-and-volley tennis. Pete always had trouble coming in here and finding the right solution for clay. How do you come into a clay court tournament? What's your attitude coming in? Do you change your serve-and-volley game in any way to adjust to the clay conditions?
PATRICK RAFTER: Not really. I serve generally pretty heavy, whether it's hard court or whether it's clay. I like to do the heavy kickers and get to the net, similar style. Obviously, the movement is a little different. You've got to guess a lot more on the clay because you can't react. When the guys have got time, you've just got to go. On the hard court, you seem to stay and push
off. My attitude is that the guys don't like you coming to the net so I'll chip-charge their serve, I'll try to hustle them, rush them, give them no rhythm. They'll want to sit back and hit baseline points. So I try to, obviously, play my game as much as I can. I'm very surprised Pete doesn't do more of it.

Q. Given the success that you're enjoying on the clay at the moment, what do you feel are your chances here over the fortnight?
PATRICK RAFTER: Well, I'll just try and take each match, you know, one at a time. I felt like today if I got off to a bad start in the second set. I could have been in a lot of trouble. I could have been out very early here. You know, maybe, maybe not, who knows. But, you know, I just go out there every match, you know, thinking, you know, knowing that I've got a good chance of winning, but also realizing that I can lose. So I really don't know how I'm going to go.

Q. Is it fair to say that you're brim full of confidence given what you have already achieved?
PATRICK RAFTER: Yeah, I think so, yeah. I mean, as confident as I'm ever going to be on clay. Whether or not that makes for a very successful week or not, I don't know. But I feel like I'm hitting the ball well. If I can serve like I did today and the weather stays as nice and hot as it is, then there's no reason why I can't have a good week.

Q. Does the clay give you a little more penetration at the net for your first volley?
PATRICK RAFTER: There are some advantages of coming to the net on clay; obviously a lot of disadvantages. But the one advantage is that you do get time to hit the approach, or on the serve you do get the extra step in further because it comes through a little bit slower. But you can also get a lot of bounce, as well. I try to use the court to my advantage as much as I
can with my kick serve. The flat serve doesn't seem to work as well. That's another reason why Pete might not do as well.

Q. When you've reflected on the match with Kuerten in the final in Rome - I know what you said afterwards, he was just too good, he played his game very well - have you thought about that since and thought, "Well, maybe there were one or two things that I could have done that I didn't do that day"?
PATRICK RAFTER: No. I sort of still felt very lost after that match. I just put it down to his great form. You know, it was one of those things that I think if I tried something else, he just would have been able to counteract. But I couldn't think of too many other things. I really couldn't make an impact on his serve. He was serving quite well. From the baseline I couldn't hurt him. I felt like, you know, in a lot of trouble. I still haven't really thought about it. I just hope he won't play as well next time.

Q. How do you prepare a match like that against a player you don't know anything about? Did you talk with other players?
PATRICK RAFTER: I did try to talk to some other guys that knew a little bit about him. But still you don't know how he's going to handle your serve and
how he's going to play
against you when you serve-volley. Obviously, he's going to be looser. He's
playing someone who he's not expected to beat, so he can be loose. He goes
for some different shots. So you never know. I just felt like I didn't want
him to get ahead too much because he's very strong when he gets ahead. He
loves the confidence, he loves playing when he's winning. So I felt like I
had to try and knock him down a little bit, then some errors will start
opening up in his game, and it did.

Q. And how did you feel physically?

PATRICK RAFTER: A little flat for the first couple of sets, a little tired.
But I feel all right now. I just needed that match to get through now and I
should be all right now for the tournament.