WIMBLEDON
Date: 2005-06-20

WIMBLEDON

June 20, 2005

Mark Philippoussis
WIMBLEDON, ENGLAND
The Moderator Mark Philippoussis. Who would like to ask the first question?

Question You must be pretty pleased with that.
Mark Philippoussis Yeah, I'm pretty pleased. Felt like as the match went on, I played better and better. So bit of kind of a slow start. I had a break, and then let him get back into it, let him serve for it at 5-3. But happy the way I got back and broke him.

Question In the first set, you were in a bit of the hole there late in the set, 4-5. You said it was a really tough hold. Did you feel things turn around for you after that?
Mark Philippoussis Yeah, because I didn't have some great rhythm out there at the start on my serve. Took me a good set to get the rhythm. But the good thing is every service game I felt like I was in with a chance. I didn't feel like he was overpowering me on his serve, in his service games. I knew if I just hung in there and made him play, I had a chance to break him.

Question It's Safin next. Obviously pretty early in the tournament for you for a match like that than normal. Are you looking forward to a match like that?
Mark Philippoussis Definitely looking forward to it. I was impressed the way he played today. I thought he played well. But I'm definitely looking forward to it on Wednesday.

Question What are the keys to that for you to be successful?
Mark Philippoussis I assume I'm going to have to play a very -- you know, just a consistent match. Mentally I've got to be strong. I can't allow myself to have any lows during the match. It's definitely something I feel like I'm going to be up for and definitely looking forward to it.

Question He's been talking a bit here about feeling more comfortable on grass, after he got to the final at Halle. Do you still feel on this surface where you've done so well you might still have the edge?
Mark Philippoussis I feel pretty comfortable on this surface. He definitely, after what I've seen, looks like he's getting more comfortable on the surface, you know, definitely finding his game a little more out there.

Question After the tough year you've had, but making good progress in the last week or so, are you ready for a match like you're going to have against Safin?
Mark Philippoussis Yeah. It's another match. I'm ready for it.

Question Physically, do you feel ready for five-set matches now, that you'll hold up over the full five?
Mark Philippoussis Definitely, definitely. I feel pretty strong out there. So, uhm, like I said, I've worked pretty hard off the court. I've been pulling up well last week, after those four matches. I'm feeling pretty good now, so...

Question Lleyton spoke today about Australian tennis being in crisis. What is your thought on the status of Australian tennis at the moment?
Mark Philippoussis To be quite honest, I don't really sit down and think too much or lose sleep about it too much, but I definitely agree with him.

Question What for you is the most concerning symptom of that?
Mark Philippoussis I honestly have no idea.

Question Not the cause, but when you say you agree, what strikes you?
Mark Philippoussis Why I agree, you've got to look at the players coming up. Unfortunately, we don't have too much. You know, there's no one stepping up, there's no one qualifying or in the top hundred, qualifying for these events, winning some good matches. You know, there's no one stepping up. That's definitely I'm sure what he's talking about.

Question What has been the most important day for you? Is there any day in particular where you walked out on court and you played, and you could really feel it coming back? Has it been a bit-by-bit thing?
Mark Philippoussis No, it wasn't any particular day where it clicked or anything like that. Like I said, I think if you train hard, it's going to eventually pay off. You know, your body's going to get stronger, you're going to feel a lot more comfortable, you're going to feel a lot more hungry out there. You know, you just feel comfortable. And most importantly, I'm happy to be out there and enjoying myself.

Question Was the decision to take up a wildcard for Halle instead of sitting out the week for practice, how important was that in your revival?
Mark Philippoussis Yeah, it's a decision I made. I don't normally play tournaments -- a tournament before the Grand Slam. But I thought I wanted to make a change. It's not like I've won a bunch of Grand Slams, so I'll keep the same thing going (smiling). You know, it ended up being a great week. It was a blessing. I went there. It was a good tournament. Got some points, got some match play in four matches, got some confidence back. Yeah, it definitely was a blessing.

Question On what you hope to achieve out of this tournament, at this stage are you happy to get out there and win whenever you can or is there a sense you really want to head deep into this tournament and use it as a bit of a springboard so you can get back up there?
Mark Philippoussis I'm just here like every other player. I'm just worrying about today. Today I went out there and took it a point at a time, a game at a time, a set at a same time, got through today. Tomorrow I'm going to warm up and practice, have a day off. Wednesday I'll go out there and do the same thing as I did today. Simple as that. Not going to look too far ahead, make things complicated, try to think too much in it.

Question You must have in your mind you're coming from way back, you've done here well previously, it's a great opportunity to really jump-start things.
Mark Philippoussis Uhm, well, obviously being, you know, such a good surface for me, it definitely is an opportunity for me to go out there and start this sort of comeback thing in a positive way, you know, hopefully to let it roll into the American summer. So see how it goes.

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