TMS - INDIAN WELLS
Date: 2000-03-18

TMS - INDIAN WELLS

March 18, 2000

Mark Philippoussis
INDIAN WELLS, CALIFORNIA
GREG SHARKO: Questions.


Question Can you appreciate the excitement and the magnitude of that match or is it just a
loss to you at this stage?


Mark Philippoussis Well, obviously I can appreciate it, but I'm disappointed as well.
Coming back from the second set, 6-1 in the tiebreaker, having a couple of breakpoints,
like four breakpoints at 5-All, a couple of match points. Obviously, I'm disappointed. But
I learned something today, so some positive things I can take away from it.


Question What were you thinking at 6-1 in the tiebreaker of the second set?


Mark Philippoussis What is there to think? I mean, you know, you never want to give
up, no matter what. You're down. I just thought, "Win this point, win the next
point." All of a sudden 6-3, 6-4, 6-5. It gets tighter and tighter. I was just
playing out the match.


Question When you come back and win like that, did you think that that might take a lot of
air out of Thomas and you can roll?


Mark Philippoussis I'm sure he's disappointed, but he's not going to just throw away
the match. It's one set all and there's a long way to go.


Question You were the defending champion in this tournament. It seems that with Agassi
losing, Sampras losing, you're almost a forgotten figure. Do you feel that way?


Mark Philippoussis No, not at all. I mean, I don't think about any stuff like that. I
just come to the tournament, I give it my best, you know, that's all I can ask from
myself, 100 percent on the court, fight for each match.


Question Can you talk about your thoughts about tomorrow's final?


Mark Philippoussis I'm sure it will be a good match. I mean, Alex is playing better
now, a lot better than he has. I think Enqvist hits the ball big and clean. I think if
Enqvist is on, he's going to be tough to beat.


Question If you are able to put the loss to one side, where would you rate this match among
some of the titanic struggles that you've played in your career?


Mark Philippoussis You know, I've had a few battles, 7-6 in the third, a couple with
Johansson, 7-6 in the fifth, 7-6 in the third when I played him in Stockholm. I've played
a lot of tough matches. This is definitely one of the toughest ones I've played.
Excitement-wise, one of the better ones, as well.


Question Were you a little tired by the end or not?


Mark Philippoussis No. I mean, you're used to playing five sets. You got the
adrenaline pumping, the crowd is getting into it. No, I think I was feeling quite good.


Question How do you rate the game of Thomas Enqvist today? Do you think he played at a high
level from the beginning to the end?


Mark Philippoussis You know, he pretty much -- yeah, from the start he played some
good tennis. When I was down, I just made him play. He made a couple of unforced errors to
give me the break back. All in all, I think he played some good tennis, tough tennis, from
the start.


Question You threw yourself around quite a bit on the court, falling or diving for shots. How
has your leg shaped up after that?


Mark Philippoussis It's a little stiff. You know, I'll just look after it with icing,
massaging, stretching. This has definitely tested it out today. See how I'll pull up
tomorrow.


Question Obviously, match point was very big. I believe the first point that went against the
serve in the entire tiebreaker. Could you describe it to us? Looks like Thomas made a
great return that kind of surprised you.


Mark Philippoussis Made a good serve, stretched for it, hit it clean, came back hard
at my feet, didn't have much time to recover.


Question Were you surprised as how well he returned some of your first serves, over 130?


Mark Philippoussis Thomas has got good returns. He might miss a couple, but then he'll
get some tough ones back. Like I said, he's a very clean hitter of the ball. He's going to
hit some good returns; he's going to miss some.


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