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Top Playes Agassi, Roddick, Davenport Win at U.S. Open

Aired September 01, 2003 - 10:45   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick made it look easy yesterday in the third round of the U.S. Open Tournament but Lindsay Davenport had to struggle to win.
We're joined now from New York by Peter Voto, Senior Editor of "Tennis" magazine. Thanks for being with us Peter.

PETER VOTO, SENIOR EDITOR, "TENNIS" MAGAZINE: You're welcome, nice to be here Heidi.

COLLINS: I want to ask you a little bit about what is happening on the courts. Tell us about Lindsay Davenport.

VOTO: Well, Lindsay is actually coming on pretty well, you know. She's had a lot of problems with her left foot there. She's got some nerve-related injuries in her foot but, you know, she's pretty fresh and she's swinging from the heels clearly as you can see. And, when she's playing that way, you know, feeling really fresh, swinging hard, playing her game, imposing her will on a game she's awful tough to beat.

COLLINS: Yes, she had a tough second set but the first set 6-0 and the third set 6-2, so definitely hanging in there, all right.

VOTO: She did well.

COLLINS: I also want to ask you a little about the defending champs not being there this year. We're talking about Serena Williams, Venus Williams not there either, and Pete Sampras. Is this going to have any effect on the other players?

VOTO: Well, yes, it's opened everything up. I mean you couldn't really ask for -- as they say this is the point where the plot really thickens. You look on the men's side there you've got some really quality players, some newcomers, unknown factors in the Federers and the Ferraros both grand slam winners.

And, the two people who have won this tournament, Agassi and Hewitt, one of them Agassi is 33, the other one Hewitt is having a lousy year, so a lot of interesting things going on, Andy Roddick of course, the young American coming on well.

COLLINS: Got to talk about Andre Agassi, how do you think he's playing? VOTO: I think he's playing terrifically well and he really, you know, he's at that stage in his career when he can smell opportunity. You know, as he said the other day at the Open he said you know this is a time of year when there's a lot going on for the year. Then all of a sudden things kind of coalesce here and everybody knows where they stand and makes their final push.

And, you know, Andre's in a position to really exploit every advantage, both psychologically, physiologically, that he can at this stage of his career. He's a marvelously smart player.

COLLINS: And what about Andy Roddick, also a marvelously smart player do you think?

VOTO: Andy, well you know at this point Andy, I don't know about the brains but the brawn certainly is there. No, I mean he's actually -- he is a smart player and he's got one of the smartest coaches ever, you know, in Brad Gilbert (ph) who really is the fellow who really lit a fire under Andy and has kind of masterminded his great run. I mean Andy is playing terrifically well.

You only got to wonder with him is he's on such a run, he's played so many matches this summer, he's played so well, hopefully he's going to be able, you know, to bring that home. It's going to take a little push at the end there.

COLLINS: And, another woman to talk about here would have to be Jennifer Capriati.

VOTO: Yes, she's, you know, she was coming into the tournament, you could have picked her as the person ideally positioned to do really well here because, you know, she's an American. It's her home championships.

She's played well the past couple of years but she struggled really with Serena particularly. She's played some really, really close matches with Serena and just come up a little bit short, played some of the big point not quite the way she needed to.

And now, you know, you can almost see her take a breath of fresh air as the tournament opened and say look it's there for me to win. She's got the experience. She's got the home court advantages at work and, yes, she could really, she could really do well here.

COLLINS: It's going to make for an interesting U.S. Open that's for sure. Finally, I want to ask you, Peter, about Pete Sampras now being out of tennis. Who do you think could replace him if that's even possible?

VOTO: Well, you know, it's a difficult call. A fellow like, you know, Andy Roddick certainly is young enough to do that. Another fellow really is Juan Carlos Ferraro, the Spanish player who won the French Open who's got a lot of talent or Roger Federer. People keep talking about Federer as the next Sampras type because he's got such a smooth, silky, classic game. He's a little bit reminiscent of Pete that way. But you don't really know what happens with a guy or a woman after they get that first bit title or two under their belt, whether it kind of makes them hungry for more, whether they're willing to have the kind of long term commitment to winning major titles that really excludes almost everything else in their lives as Pete did.

You know he was a very, very special player. I don't think you can say there's going to be a next one any more than you can say there can be a next Michael Jordan.

COLLINS: All right, as we said it's going to be a great U.S. Open, fun to watch. Peter Voto, Senior Editor of "Tennis" magazine thanks for being here today.

VOTO: You're welcome, adios.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired September 1, 2003 - 10:45   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick made it look easy yesterday in the third round of the U.S. Open Tournament but Lindsay Davenport had to struggle to win.
We're joined now from New York by Peter Voto, Senior Editor of "Tennis" magazine. Thanks for being with us Peter.

PETER VOTO, SENIOR EDITOR, "TENNIS" MAGAZINE: You're welcome, nice to be here Heidi.

COLLINS: I want to ask you a little bit about what is happening on the courts. Tell us about Lindsay Davenport.

VOTO: Well, Lindsay is actually coming on pretty well, you know. She's had a lot of problems with her left foot there. She's got some nerve-related injuries in her foot but, you know, she's pretty fresh and she's swinging from the heels clearly as you can see. And, when she's playing that way, you know, feeling really fresh, swinging hard, playing her game, imposing her will on a game she's awful tough to beat.

COLLINS: Yes, she had a tough second set but the first set 6-0 and the third set 6-2, so definitely hanging in there, all right.

VOTO: She did well.

COLLINS: I also want to ask you a little about the defending champs not being there this year. We're talking about Serena Williams, Venus Williams not there either, and Pete Sampras. Is this going to have any effect on the other players?

VOTO: Well, yes, it's opened everything up. I mean you couldn't really ask for -- as they say this is the point where the plot really thickens. You look on the men's side there you've got some really quality players, some newcomers, unknown factors in the Federers and the Ferraros both grand slam winners.

And, the two people who have won this tournament, Agassi and Hewitt, one of them Agassi is 33, the other one Hewitt is having a lousy year, so a lot of interesting things going on, Andy Roddick of course, the young American coming on well.

COLLINS: Got to talk about Andre Agassi, how do you think he's playing? VOTO: I think he's playing terrifically well and he really, you know, he's at that stage in his career when he can smell opportunity. You know, as he said the other day at the Open he said you know this is a time of year when there's a lot going on for the year. Then all of a sudden things kind of coalesce here and everybody knows where they stand and makes their final push.

And, you know, Andre's in a position to really exploit every advantage, both psychologically, physiologically, that he can at this stage of his career. He's a marvelously smart player.

COLLINS: And what about Andy Roddick, also a marvelously smart player do you think?

VOTO: Andy, well you know at this point Andy, I don't know about the brains but the brawn certainly is there. No, I mean he's actually -- he is a smart player and he's got one of the smartest coaches ever, you know, in Brad Gilbert (ph) who really is the fellow who really lit a fire under Andy and has kind of masterminded his great run. I mean Andy is playing terrifically well.

You only got to wonder with him is he's on such a run, he's played so many matches this summer, he's played so well, hopefully he's going to be able, you know, to bring that home. It's going to take a little push at the end there.

COLLINS: And, another woman to talk about here would have to be Jennifer Capriati.

VOTO: Yes, she's, you know, she was coming into the tournament, you could have picked her as the person ideally positioned to do really well here because, you know, she's an American. It's her home championships.

She's played well the past couple of years but she struggled really with Serena particularly. She's played some really, really close matches with Serena and just come up a little bit short, played some of the big point not quite the way she needed to.

And now, you know, you can almost see her take a breath of fresh air as the tournament opened and say look it's there for me to win. She's got the experience. She's got the home court advantages at work and, yes, she could really, she could really do well here.

COLLINS: It's going to make for an interesting U.S. Open that's for sure. Finally, I want to ask you, Peter, about Pete Sampras now being out of tennis. Who do you think could replace him if that's even possible?

VOTO: Well, you know, it's a difficult call. A fellow like, you know, Andy Roddick certainly is young enough to do that. Another fellow really is Juan Carlos Ferraro, the Spanish player who won the French Open who's got a lot of talent or Roger Federer. People keep talking about Federer as the next Sampras type because he's got such a smooth, silky, classic game. He's a little bit reminiscent of Pete that way. But you don't really know what happens with a guy or a woman after they get that first bit title or two under their belt, whether it kind of makes them hungry for more, whether they're willing to have the kind of long term commitment to winning major titles that really excludes almost everything else in their lives as Pete did.

You know he was a very, very special player. I don't think you can say there's going to be a next one any more than you can say there can be a next Michael Jordan.

COLLINS: All right, as we said it's going to be a great U.S. Open, fun to watch. Peter Voto, Senior Editor of "Tennis" magazine thanks for being here today.

VOTO: You're welcome, adios.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com