If Pete Sampras wants to sit down and talk in Montreal this week, I'll be more than happy to accommodate him - and if he's upset about what I've said about him, I don't blame him.

My comments about Sampras have been blown out of proportion.  I don't hate the guy and I'm sure he doesn't  hate me, either.

My attitude towards him is simply that I love to beat him.

It's a competitive issue and certainly not personal.  I have no intention of going out there and verbablly attacking anybody, let alone Pete Sampras.

I stand by what I said about him not giving his opponents sufficient respect, because there are times when he loses and gives no credit to his fellow player.

That is an issue that irks me.  But I don't hate the guy.  Nor did I want to hurt him.

I have no problems with sitting down in Montreal and clearing up the whole issue.

I've read and re-read the transcript of the media conference and I can't believe the context in which the whole thing was interpreted.

It's not a war between Sampras and myself.  We both love to win.

That's what competition is all about, but it's not personal.  We're all out there busting our backsides every week and if I can find an edge to beat Pete, then I'll use it.

Just as he would gladly do the same to me.

Pete beat me eight or nine times in a row after I beat him the first time we played.  I've won the past three and that's obviously something that annoys Sampras.

He says that he'd be happy to talk to me about this and, if the opportunity arises I'll chat to him.  I won't be stepping back from anything I've said.

There have been times when I've been disappointed with what Pete has had to say. He's probably annoyed with some of the things I do and say.

The bottom line is that we're different, but we're competitors and we're in the same business.

The media has had a lot of fun with my comments and I presume the ATP Tour is happy that it's got a good rivalry going.

It certainly will make things interesting in the lead-in to the US Open.  Sampras will be desperate to win the US Open for the fifth time and break the Grand Slam record of 13 singles titles.  I'll be going for three in a row and, if the rankings hold up, we'll be playing in the final.  That's a long way off right now, but there's a pretty good chance I'll be bumping into Sampras over the next month.

The last thing I need is for him to have been hurt by things I've reputedly said.  I did not want for Sampras to feel badly about what I said.  The comments were misinterpreted.  They related purely to the way we go about our business as competitors.

And in that way alone, I do like to annoy Pete.