WIMBLEDON
Date: 2000-06-27

WIMBLEDON

June 27, 2000

Mark Philippoussis
WIMBLEDON
MODERATOR: Ladies and Gentlemen, questions, please, to Mark.


Question Good to get the first one out of the way?


Mark Philippoussis Yeah. It's great because I had no idea who the guy was. It's always
tough playing someone like that. Also he's a lefty, which makes it a little difficult. You
don't know where he's going to go on the big points. Pretty much just hanging in there,
worrying about my own game. Happy to get through it.


Question How do you rate your own game?


Mark Philippoussis I was quite happy with the way I moved today. I thought I moved
well. In some stages I volleyed well for most part of the match. Lost a bit of
concentration there for a couple of games on my serve. All in all, like I said, the first
match, I was extremely nervous. Started this morning with my practise session, couldn't
eat lunch, but it was a good feeling, though.


Question Why do you think you were so nervous today?


Mark Philippoussis I think because I'm excited. I'm excited about the tournament. I've
been training really hard the last couple weeks. I think probably why I'm so nervous is,
you know, because I know that I've got a shot here. Maybe that's why.


Question Do you think now that that game is out of the way, the nerves will be done with?


Mark Philippoussis I'm sure I'll be nervous before each match, a little nervous. Once
I'm on the court, the nerves are gone and I'm ready to play.


Question Your association with Mike DePalmer could signal a new chapter in your career. Have
you discussed with Mike whether or not you need to change your lifestyle a little bit in
terms of how much time you're going to devote to tennis as opposed to indulging yourself
in Miami Beach, wave running, whatever?


Mark Philippoussis Definitely. We've been talking. Obviously we talk every day. He
sits me down just to tell me what he thinks I need to do. We've definitely talked about
that. Pretty much what he said is, "If you want to be a champion, you have to be a
champion 24 hours a day. You've got to live like a champion, think like a champion, talk
like a champion in order to become one." Definitely with the lifestyle - not that
I've been doing anything terribly bad, it's that I haven't been giving myself the
opportunity to show my full potential. You know, he said obviously it's going to take
time. It's not going to happen overnight. We're going to form I think a great
relationship. I'm going to be very open with him. He's going to be very open with me, tell
me what he thinks I should be doing. I have a lot of stuff in my head which he's trying to
clear out. I think the most important thing he was telling me is to make my life simple,
you know, just think about the tennis and give seven of your best years you can in tennis,
and after that, you do whatever you want.


Question Do you think you can back off the race car pedal a little bit?


Mark Philippoussis Sure I can. I think that's a phase I was going through, like
anything. When I was a young kid, I wanted the fast cars. I mean, I'm 23, and I could tell
you I've had probably at least 16 cars. I've had everything that you could possibly have.
Now I'm a little sick of it, which is good, which is a phase I went through. I got it out
of my system. Obviously I still like the fast cars, but I've sold them all. I don't think
I'll sell the bikes. I'll keep the bikes. I like my bikes. I think it's healthy to go
through that phase. Sort of I've got that stuff out of my head, out of my system, and now
I've just got to concentrate on my tennis.


Question Do you have a car at all now?


Mark Philippoussis I have a car. I have a Ferrari still. I'm trying to bring myself to
sell it, but I haven't yet. I love my four-wheel drives.


Question How many bikes?


Mark Philippoussis 12 bikes.


Question 12 motor bikes?


Mark Philippoussis Yes.


Question Harley Davidsons all of them?


Mark Philippoussis No, three. Mostly sports bikes. I like sports bikes.


Question Are you going to calm down and buy yourself a Commodore?


Mark Philippoussis I don't think I'm a Commodore guy. Like I said, just try to make my
life more simple, just so my head is in tennis. All I'm worried about is going home, have
a bit of rest, do my training, then back at the tournaments to do well.


Question Would your life be simpler if you went back to Long Boat as opposed to staying in
South Florida?


Mark Philippoussis You know, Long Boat isn't me. Miami was exciting for me as a
22-year-old when I first moved there, 21. Of course, I mean, the night life and the
atmosphere is incredible. I'm actually moving.


Question Where?


Mark Philippoussis I'm going to go back to Australia. I want to be with my family and
friends. Start concentrating.


Question Are you selling your house in Miami?


Mark Philippoussis Uh-huh.


Question Do you have a timetable on that?


Mark Philippoussis No.


Question Back to Williamstown or somewhere else?


Mark Philippoussis I just want to do my dream, which is I want to buy like 20 acres
and build a house. I want to do two indoor courts, two outdoor courts, all different
surfaces, do all my training there, do everything there.


Question What area?


Mark Philippoussis I'm not sure yet. Look when I get home.


Question Is Mike going to go to Australia to train you there?


Mark Philippoussis When I'm in Australia, he'll come down. I think I would like to
just have a small place somewhere, definitely not in Miami, somewhere where the weather is
still great. Obviously when you are in America, it's just too hard to go back to
Australia. When I have a week or two, go back to that place where I can do some training
there. But my home is definitely going to be -- I would like to be Australia.


Question Can you elaborate a bit on your relationship to Boris Becker?


Mark Philippoussis I've had a couple conversations with him, a few times on the phone.
Like I said, he flew down just before Queen's and had a meeting with me, watched my
practise session, told me what he saw in that hour. Pretty much just talked to me. What do
I want from him? What am I willing to do? What is he willing to do? Just pretty much get
out in the clear exactly what our relationship is.


Question Are you in contact these days here?


Mark Philippoussis Haven't spoken to him for a couple weeks, but he rings Mike
regularly. I'm sure he'll be coming. He pretty much said to me, you know, he's going to
keep in contact with Mike. They talk regularly on the phone. He told Mike to do exactly
what they did when they were practising, to do it with me. He said whenever I'm playing my
matches, somehow he'll be watching or find out what happens. I mean, he's a phone call
away if I want to talk to him.


Question What especially did you gain up to now from the conversations and contact?


Mark Philippoussis I learned a lot, incredible. I was talking to him for probably an
hour. Just the way the guy thinks. I mean, he's truly a champion, the way he said
everything, the way he talked about practising, before practise, even some things on a
practise court or before a practise court. He pretty much said to me, "If you want to
become a champion, you have to start living like one day in and day out. You've got to be
a role model. Obviously some kids look up to you and you've got to show them how excited
you are about the tennis game and why they should look up to you." The most exciting
thing he said was that he doesn't think I've reached 40% of my potential. He said one of
his goals is for me to reach my full potential.


Question How is he going to help you in that?


Mark Philippoussis He said whatever I would like him to do, he'll do. Just tell him.


Question There have been various rumors about how it got started. Can you walk us through it?


Mark Philippoussis It was actually quite funny. St. Polten, I was with my father
having lunch before the match. Out of the blue I said, "It would be great, just
imagine having Boris helping me out on the grass, during the grass court season."
With his years of experience and everything, I looked up to him when I was a kid. When I
first started playing, I copied him with the strokes and everything, his volleys. The good
thing about it is, it's great how my dad thinks. He had Mike in mind for a while now. I've
known Mike for a few years. What he was thinking, he made a phone call and ended up
calling Mike. Mike was keen to work with me. What he said to me was, "It's a good
idea. If you would like, Mike is willing to be with you." Obviously I've spoken to
Boris. "Boris can't be with you. He has a lot of other commitments in his life, but
he'll be communicating with Mike, the odd phone call here and there, I'm sure a visit here
and there for a week." That's what he said, just work closely with Mike. That's
pretty much how it worked. I got the phone call straight after I lost, that next morning,
in my hotel room from Boris, like 11 o'clock wake-up call. He said, "Did I wake
you?" I was obviously scared to say, "Of course, "No, I was just doing some
stretching," the true professional that I am, of course (laughter). He said he was
going to fly down to see me, if that's okay with Mike. That's pretty much what happened.
He flew down and it started from there. He asked what I wanted from him. We shook hands.
He said, "Great, let's start."


Question Do you consult him on decisions like moving from Miami to Australia?


Mark Philippoussis No. I've thought about it. I spoke to Mike. I was talking with
Mike. I told him that sometimes when I'm playing my matches, there are games where my mind
will be wandering about things, just stupid things, not even about matches, but about
problems -- not problems, but just some stuff at home. It's just frustrating when my mind
wouldn't be in the match. Like I said, I just have too many things outside of the court to
worry about. Just got to make my life simple. If I know I have a place in Australia, I'm
going to train, all my courts there, be with my family and friends, I know once I get to
the matches, to the tournament, I'm going to concentrate and look forward to going home.


Question Do you think you were in some unconscious way waiting for someone like Boris to grab
you by the scruff of the neck and say, "This is the way you should be living your
life"?


Mark Philippoussis Obviously he can't force me. He's going to tell me what he thinks.
Like I said, I've always said things happen for a reason. I was just thinking maybe that
phone call at the French could start something big for me, like I said, open a new door
for me. I've been kicked hard up the rear the last couple weeks to train hard. I've never
trained as hard as I have in the last two weeks. I've woken up in the morning. Mike has
come to the house, told me to hurry up, get dressed, get to the practise courts. For the
last ten years, Boris has some private courts, three private courts they keep on rotating
so it can be pretty good every day for hitting. We've been training there every single
day, private courts. An hour and a half to two hours of hitting, plus fitness 20 minutes,
then do it all over again in the afternoon. I'm doing like four hours of work, when I
normally did an hour on the court, then 15, 20 minutes of fitness.


Question Where does Gavin Hopper fit into the long-range scheme here?


Mark Philippoussis Gavin is still very much with me. He's still in the team. You know,
he's on the court there. Obviously he's concentrating on the fitness side. He's on the
court there. He's been with me for a few years now. He knows me a lot as a person, which
is important.


Question But he was the coach and fitness trainer.


Mark Philippoussis Yeah.


Question Now he's not the coach.


Mark Philippoussis I would say more fitness.


Question Is he okay with that?


Mark Philippoussis Well, I mean, that's what he does. Of course he's been on the tour
for a long time. He knows about tennis definitely. The amount of experience Mike has,
being with Boris for five years, he's learned a lot himself. It's great.


Question How long ago did you buy a house in the States?


Mark Philippoussis I think probably three and a half years, three years probably in
Florida.


Question Has the training been a bit of a shock to the system for you?


Mark Philippoussis It has, you know. Like I said before, I finished my practise
session, I'd have enough energy to go motorbike riding with friends, wake boarding for
three hours. Now I just go back to the home, sunk on the couch, ask for my mom to bring up
food because I couldn't go down and get it, too lazy. The thing is, I know I'm putting in
the work. When you do get out there in those tough situations, you know that you've done
the work and you believe in yourself. That's the difference.


Question You talk about being a role model, on and off the court. Does that mean we won't see
any more of what happened after winning the Davis Cup in Nice? Are you talking about that
sort of behaviour?


Mark Philippoussis Like I said, I won a Davis Cup. That's a feeling I couldn't
possibly try and explain. It was an incredible feeling. I was having a good time.


Question Boris has two marketing firms. Is it in discussion he's going to take over some
marketing for you as well?


Mark Philippoussis There's nothing to say about like that. Like I said, we're
concentrating at the moment.


Question You mentioned a couple minutes ago the phone call in Paris.


Mark Philippoussis Yes.


Question Is that different from the St. Polten phone call? What was the phone call in Paris?


Mark Philippoussis He called me straight after I finished the French Open.


Question Boris, you mean?


Mark Philippoussis Yes.


Question Then you called Mike from St. Polten?


Mark Philippoussis No. My dad did.


Question Lleyton was defeated today. Was that a shock to you?


Mark Philippoussis I definitely knew it would be dangerous for Lleyton. Gambill is
such a tough player. When he serves, he's got double fists off both sides, he just swings.
When he's having his day, he's going to be tough to beat. I would think that he was
serving big today, hitting some big groundies. It's a bit of a surprise to be straight
sets, but I knew it was going to be tough.


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