WIMBLEDON
Date: 2004-06-28

WIMBLEDON

June 28, 2004

Mark Philippoussis
WIMBLEDON, ENGLAND
The Moderator Good evening. Questions for Mark Philippoussis, please.

Question Obviously a fairly wrenching loss, but you've got to take something good away from it. 2-5 down in the fourth, you fight back, you get to the tiebreaker. Some positives, I suppose?
Mark Philippoussis Yeah. I had trouble picking up the ball at the start. And Tim, you know, came out firing, played a great first game to break me, and went from there. You know, down two sets to love, I thought, you know, towards the end I started picking up the ball and getting on his serve a little more. As the match went on, I felt like pretty much every service game I was making him play, whereas at the start I wasn't. Coming down to the fourth tiebreaker at the end -- fourth set, sorry, you know, anything can happen. So, up a mini break, double-fault. So I can't say, you know, it could have been close to maybe going to five and coming back tomorrow. But, you know, I guess he deserved it at the end.

Question You talked last night about the Centre Court crowd. Very knowledgeable about the fact they clap points. You found them very much against you today, didn't you?
Mark Philippoussis Oh, well, I knew that was going to happen. It definitely wasn't a surprise. You know, of course, definitely have to be wrong if they weren't doing what we were today. So I accepted that, I just went out there and played my game, you know, just blocked that out, just tried to do what I had to do.

Question Can you talk us to the incident where you got angry with the umpire?
Mark Philippoussis I just, you know, got upset at a couple of calls. One at the start, and then, obviously, in some crucial situations, so...

Question I thought you got clean out robbed by that call on your last service game in the second set that gave Tim the break to go up and serve for the set. Then you got robbed on at least one other call. It surprised me that you shook the umpire's hand after that.
Mark Philippoussis I'm definitely going to shake his hand. You know, I'm upset at the time. But I'm going to hold my head up high. Tim played a great match at the end. That's a tough situation. You know, at the end, my friend came and said, you know, he got text messages from Australia. Showed it in slow motion, showed it was out. But what can you do?

Question Do you have any suggestions for improving line calling?
Mark Philippoussis It's tough. We're hitting the ball pretty hard. I understand it's tough. But, you know, what can you do? Sometimes, you know, they've had that Mac Cam in America. I think that's great. Sometimes you'd like to wish that if it's possible, maybe in the future, where the center umpire can maybe have a little screen in front of him. But, you know, there's so many things that can happen. You know, I can't really say that that made the match different.

Question What you said was quite clearly heard on the TV, a lot of people watching. The BBC had to issue an apology. Do you think maybe with hindsight, you maybe shouldn't have sworn?
Mark Philippoussis Excuse me?

Question Maybe shouldn't have sworn. You used the F word on BBC TV.
Mark Philippoussis Well, a lot of people swear, you know. What can you do? Obviously, I was clearly upset. I showed it. Simple as that. I'm not the type of guy that shows a lot of emotion out there on the court. Everyone knows that. And if I do argue something, there's going to be some clear-case for me to argue. I'm not going to argue over something where I think there's nothing there. If I have something positive, I'm going to argue. I'm not the kind of person that's going to do that for nothing. So there's no apologies.

Question It was broadcast at a family time for the BBC. That's why they apologized.
Mark Philippoussis Well, of course. I mean, you know, well, of course that's not a good situation to be in when the kids can, you know, hear something like that. So for that, I do apologize. But spur of the moment, you know, it's definitely...

Question Considering where you've come from in the last few months, do you feel like you sort of really turned the corner maybe at this tournament? Do you feel like this is a bit of a victory to get this far and play so well?
Mark Philippoussis I wouldn't say it's a victory. But I would say it's a step in the right direction. There's definitely some positive things that have come away. You know, from clearly not winning a lot of matches in the first few months to coming out, you know, winning three matches and playing a tough match. You know, I'm happy the way I fought out there. Obviously, I wasn't playing my best tennis at the start. I tried to come back, and I did that. I got a little better as the match went on. So, you know, I got to hold my head up high. I'm proud of the way I fought. Tim definitely was too good on the day. He played a great match.

Question Given all that, you said that you also feel you'll win here one day. Is each loss here more painful than the one before?
Mark Philippoussis Every loss is painful, definitely. I must say it's not as painful as it was last year, getting to the final. But it definitely isn't easy. Like I said, I love this tournament. An exit here is tough.

Question Do you think Tim can now go on and win it?
Mark Philippoussis Tim has the game. You know, there's no doubt he's got the game to do well. His game's definitely improved. You know, I don't know who he plays now.

Question Ancic.
Mark Philippoussis Ancic. Okay, there's a match you would think he should win. But Ancic, he's a dangerous player, and he's got nothing to lose. He's had some, you know, good wins here in the past. Obviously, he's playing some good tennis. You would think he'd get through. I mean, he definitely has the game to win it. But depending on how he plays, how it comes up for the next match.

Question Where do you go from here? Can you now start looking back and building the career back up and looking at a Top 10 or wherever you want to go?
Mark Philippoussis Oh, definitely. I've got years ahead of me. You know, it's just something I can walk away obviously disappointed, but positive. And definitely I have so many positives to take away from it. As I was saying, I can go back, and with the memory of what happened today, it will definitely make me work harder on the court and off the court. I'm looking forward to just getting back, having maybe a few days off, but then working hard and trying to get into the summer and try and play some good tennis, where I left off here.

Question Are you looking forward to the US Open?
Mark Philippoussis I'm looking forward to the summer circuit leading up, and the Olympics, the US Open, definitely.

Question Are you still living in the San Diego area and practicing at the Fairbanks Ranch?
Mark Philippoussis No, my ranch in Florida. But I got friends up there. I go occasionally.

Question How much are you looking forward to the Olympics now? A couple months to go.
Mark Philippoussis It's a little ways away, but I'm excited, the aspect of playing in Greece. I've always wanted to play there. It's definitely going to be exciting. You know, I just got to maybe learn how to swear in another language now (smiling).

Question Do you have much family left in Greece?
Mark Philippoussis I do, I have family in Greece.

Question They'll be coming to the Games?
Mark Philippoussis I hope so. It's definitely going to be chaos there. I'm sure they'll try and get across, if they can.

Question You definitely don't think that the line calls that went against you cost you the match?
Mark Philippoussis No, not at all. I mean, obviously it happens in every match. There's line calls in every match. Definitely it didn't cost me the match, no.

Question Have you ever been that frustrated or upset in a match like that before over line calls?
Mark Philippoussis I have. I definitely have. There's definitely matches where I have been frustrated. So, yeah. I mean, I was kind of a little more frustrated because there was like one, but there were a couple others, too. That's tennis for you.

Question Did you think Tim got some bad calls, too?
Mark Philippoussis Do I think Tim got bad calls?

Question Yes.
Mark Philippoussis I don't know. I'll have to wait -- I'll have to ask the people behind the TV. They definitely have a chance to see it with the slow motion. I don't know.

Question Who is your tip for Wimbledon, in a word?
Mark Philippoussis I'm pretty impressed with Roger. He's been winning comfortably his matches, hasn't lost a set. Lleyton played a great match today. I think he plays Roger. That will be very interesting. I would honestly probably have to say he would be my tip.

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