Norman longing for a rest after long tennis season

A 6-3, 6-2 round-robin loss to Andre Agassi completed a dismal 0-3 week in Lisbon for the French Open finalist and four-time tournament titleholder in 2000. Now Norman, who will celebrate his father's birthday with his family who are here in the Portugese capital, is ready for a rest prior to preparing for the resumption of tennis hostilities in Australia in less than a month. "It's going to be nice to have some Christmas holiday because my body really hurts," said the Swede. "I'll try to lead a normal life, meet with my friends and not think much about tennis. I'll try to relax, go to the beach (in Monte Carlo), go skiing."

The 24-year-old also has another, more immediate, personal objective. "I like to sleep in the morning. I think I'm going to sleep a lot in December." Despite his standing in the tennis Top 10 and his lead in the Champions points race for seven weeks this season, Norman admits he was outplayed in Portugal. "I played Kafelnikov, Kuerten and Agassi," Norman said. "I think I should have won the match against Kafelnikov. But against Guga (Kuerten) and against Agassi the standard was just from another planet. It was something I have never seen before. I've never met anybody so strong as Kuerten and Agassi before." Norman joked that perhaps a new Ferrari for Christmas might make up for his poor showing at the eight-man year-end event. But his focus is less on presents and more on trying to maintain his position among the elite next season.

He also praised the introduction of the straight points race to the season title, a change introduced at the start of the year. "I was skeptical at the start, but it's not a bad idea. At the start, we had so many (points) leaders, but after the French Open, it got more true." The Swede said that he may have over-played, especially in the spring when he won Rome and lost the final at Roland Garros to Kuerten. "I played 28 tournaments this year, it's four weeks to much, really."

(sda)