2001 Tennis Masters Series Stuttgart
Date: 2001-10-15
Philippoussis def. Martin 6-3, 3-6, 6-3

Question How different was the court today from last week? How much did that make a difference to the result from the two matches?
Answer It was a big difference. I think last week the court was a little slower, not only that, the balls were just fluffed up and got so heavy after a few games. You know, last week I won the first set, serve and volleying, mixing it up. The second set I just seemed to change my routine, change the winning plan. I think I let him dictate the points too much. I got a little tired, too. That court felt very sticky. It was tough on my body. Today obviously I felt like I knew where he was going to go on the big points, on his serve. I know he loves that forehand, so I was waiting for that backhand. I felt like last week I chipped too many back. I felt this week, "I'm going to hit over it." If I'm going to miss, I prefer to miss by hitting over it. Not getting to dictate the points as much as last week. All I want to do is serve and volley. I just want to work on coming to the net and having that game where it's going to help me in the future. I'm not going to beat these guys from the baseline. I'm the type of guy, 6'5", I'm going to come to the net. If they pass me, too good. I think a majority of the time it's going to be tough to pass. You know, that's the kind of tennis that's going to get me top Top 5, Top 10, Top 3, who knows. But, you know, I've got to come in. That's what I do.

Question With the time off you've had, just a couple weeks back, what is it like? How does it feel to be amongst the guys again?
Answer It feels good. Sort of a couple years ago when I was playing, I sort of felt like I needed rest, like six months. The commitment wasn't there, the hunger wasn't there. Until something like this happens to you, when there's a chance -- you know, some doctors say that you're never going to play again, it makes you want it more. You know, I don't really realize how much I love the game and how much this game meant to me until I was out for that long. It made me realize this is my life, this is what I do, this is what I'm good at: tennis. I've been given a gift, I've been given a talent. I've been wasting it I felt like for all these years. You know, I think the results came through talent at tournaments here and there without the hard work. Since the surgery, I've done everything in my power to change myself as a person and my lifestyle, living. As soon as I had my surgery, I moved out of Miami. I thought that's the number one thing I had to do, get out of Miami (laughter). I bought a place in Delray, you know, five acres, have a couple horses, building a red clay and hard court which will be ready in three weeks. I'm doing everything I can to dedicate my next five, six years in tennis, put everything else aside, which I haven't done in the past.

Question Is there a feeling that the other players might have said, "He won't come back, no way he'll come back"?
Answer That's exactly the same thing people were saying of Agassi, the guy's playing challengers. With all respect, we definitely knew he was going to come back. He's Andre Agassi. But quite honestly if I'd asked you, "Do you think he'll ever be No. 1 in the world," you'd say no. "Did you think he would ever win those Grand Slams again," you'd say no. It's like I really have been given a second chance in my tennis career. I've said it before, but I honestly think it's true, I think I've got the best years ahead of me, definitely. I've definitely got some good years ahead of me. I think with just some hard work, you know, it's going to pay off. I know it will.

Question Was what happened to Agassi something which came to your mind when you were first off because of the surgery? You started to think, "Look, he did it. I can do it"? Is this something you thought of later?
Answer I thought especially after the second surgery -- sorry, the third surgery, when some doctors didn't think I'd be playing again at a professional level. You know, number one, people in my family have always fought against odds. My father had cancer three times. I think over three years ago, the head cancer doctor in Australia gave him six months to live. That was three years ago. Now he's got no trace of cancer in his system. Number one, that's what I look at, you know, the way my dad fought and came back from that. Number two, just seeing Andre come back. Not only that, but at his age, where he's playing some of the best tennis in his life, it's just quite incredible. It makes you realize that, you know, I've got a lot of years ahead of me. But this is the time where I've got to make it count.

Question Is there any feeling that the kind of strides that someone like Lleyton has made, fantastic strides, perhaps that's what whets your appetite as well, or not?
Answer You know what, everyone's a different case. I feel like Lleyton is one of those guys that matures very early, like Chang did. Everyone matures differently. He's one of the guys that matures early, the way he plays and everything. You know, obviously he fights for everything. He's like a tiger out there. If you're going to beat him, you're going to have to beat him. The things I've done off the court and everything, you know, I feel like I'm a late maturer. Obviously, I had too much fun off the court, you know, wasn't hungry enough. I was just happy enough to stay in the Top 20, maybe get inside the Top 10 here and there, drive some fast cars, go out. That's how my life has been for the past few years. You know, looking back now, I don't regret it. I'm a young guy, I only live once. I'm happy I felt like I've gotten that stuff out of the way. I'm still going to play, don't worry about that. I feel like I've just got to give it all. Number one, if I go out there, win a tournament, got a couple weeks off, go out with your friends or whatever. But like at tournaments, I went out a couple of times. You just don't do that. If you really want to become the best or be one of the best, you've really got to have tennis as a number one priority in your life. And tennis was number three in mine for the past few years.

Question Behind?
Answer Behind my family and friends. Of course, my family is always going to be up there. But, you know, tennis, I just -- I just said to myself, "See how good you can get." I don't want to become 33 and think, "God, I had so much talent. What if I worked harder, how good could I have become?" I don't want to do that. That's one of the things that scares me the most. I just don't want to do that.

Question Before the surgeries, did a few people give you the hard word, and you almost ignored it?
Answer Oh, sure, all the time. My coaches, my father. Yeah, you know, even Boris Becker a couple years ago or last year. It doesn't matter who says it to you and how many times you hear it. At the end of the day, if you don't want it, you're not going to do it. Doesn't matter, like I said, who tells you or how many times you hear it. I really, really want it now, you know.

Question Can you just explain what the third operation was exactly?
Answer What happened was -- what I think happened was in the second surgery, when I had my MRI, I had it in Australia. The MRI machines in Australia weren't as advanced as the one in Miami.

Question This is Christmas?
Answer The one I had in December, yes. I think with what they saw, they did as well as they could with all the parts they saw. It's sort of like they saw maybe 16 stages of my knee. This MRI machine in Miami saw likes 36, 32. Number one, my collagen was so worn out that bone and bone was rubbing together the whole time I was playing for two months caused an effusion in the bone, which had a little hole, sort of a beginning of a little hole. What they had to do was drill a hole in the bone, make it bleed. That's why I was in a wheelchair for two months. I was in bed, couldn't walk. I was on crutches for a couple, few weeks. Then they injected synthetic cartilage into my knee, which hopefully it would spread, you know, set itself where my other cartilage is. You know, I think like I got 55% cartilage in my left knee. Hopefully it's set where it's supposed to set. The reason I couldn't walk is I had to let the bone heal, had to let it bleed, had to let it heal up. Knock on wood, hope to God everything's fine. I've done all that I can. You know, when he said I could walk, I gave it another week, I didn't want to rush. Last time, after my second surgery, I was on the court ten days later, won the first tournament, but second tournament I was gone. I knew there was something wrong. They said, "No problem, normal pain." Eventually tore the cartilage, and made it worse. I've done everything that I can. Number one, I've been doing Yoga five times a week, pilates, I was doing Tai Chi when I was in the wheelchair just to do something. I weighed 213 pounds. Now I weigh 198. I'm trying to take away as much pressure off my knee as possible by losing as much fat as I can, building up my legs. I have a long way to go on that. I just have to build up those muscles around my knee to take that pressure off the cartilage. I'm doing everything I can. I've stopped the dirt bike riding. I stopped my sports bikes. I've stopped snowboarding. I've stopped a lot of things that I've loved doing, which is always a risk of getting injured again.

Question You couldn't have stopped yourself being a big guy?
Answer Yeah, you know.

Question You had to choose a different lifestyle to suit your frame almost.
Answer Exactly. I mean, since I was five years old, my dream was to have a horse. I have two horses now. I go horseback riding. Although it's a little dangerous, it's better than being under something with 150 horsepower than one horsepower, like a motorbike. It's okay.

Question When did you actually start running again, hitting on the tennis ball?
Answer To be quite honest, I was on the tennis court three weeks after my surgery in a wheelchair with my dad. I was in the wheelchair. We started off with like a long table where I could sit and rest my left leg out wide and just hit forehands. I snapped the armrests off my wheelchair. I was on the court playing my dad. I had two bounces, he had one bounce. That's probably the time where I knew I loved tennis. I got on the court, I was miserable for three weeks, taking painkillers, in a lot of pain. Then I went on the court. My dad filmed it. Had a smile from ear to ear. I loved it. I knew it. This is what I do. This is what I do in my life. I was so happy. I just couldn't wait to get back.

Question Thoughts on Ivanisevic in the next round?
Answer Goran's a tough player. You don't know who is going to end up coming on the court. It's going to be a tough match. I mean, the guy is obviously playing with a lot of confidence with his Wimbledon win. It's going to be a tough match. It's going -- there's going to be a lot of rallies out there (laughter). You know, it's going to be fun. I'm going to go out there, give it my best. I'm just happy to be back. I just love playing the game. I'm going to fight every time, every point I can. I'm sure he's going to want to win. He's going to try and get in that top eight at the end of the year. I want to try to win also. Go out there, give it my best. That's all I can do.

Question You talk about making up for lost time, maybe righting wrongs you've done in the past. Does that mean you might be going back into the Australian Davis Cup fold?
Answer To be quite honest, that's always been a priority in my life. But the thing is, people didn't think so because they thought -- when I told them my knee was hurting, they didn't believe me. I really hope that after three surgeries people can honestly open their eyes and realize that there was something wrong with me. The thing is now, I really have to concentrate on myself. To be quite honest, myself and my knee is the number one priority in my life. After some tournaments, you know, we have time off. That's when the Davis Cup is on. To be quite honest, I really have to rest up, you know, get my knee on the machine, try and ice it, try and get stim on it, do what I can. Sometimes if I have to miss a Davis Cup, I have to do it. Again, I've always loved Davis Cup. The number one commitment -- sorry, the biggest thing in my tennis career so far was winning that Davis Cup in 1999. That's been my biggest high. I'm never going to forget that. I hope people realize that.

Question There's a fair chance you'll be in Melbourne over Christmas, New Year's time.
Answer No, I will be in Florida. Built my tennis court. I'm going to be doing my training, my Yoga, weights on my leg. I'm going to be doing everything possible to try and get fit for the Australian Open because that's what I'm focusing on, starting strong next year.

Question Are your horses racehorses?
Answer No. It's a quarter horse and an Arabian horse. They're pleasure, show horses.

Question You said when you got back on the court, albeit in a wheelchair, you were so happy you were grinning from ear to ear. You weren't exactly grinning today. When you got a last breakpoint, there was a great deal of relief?
Answer I had 15-40. Four breakpoints 1-Love, two breakpoints in the other one. I was like, "Finally." I was more relieved than anything, yeah.

Question Where do you think your game is at the moment? How far have you come back so far?
Answer You know, I'm hitting the ball well. The thing is, I'm a step slow to some shots, especially the volley. Moving around the court, I'm going to net every time I can to work on my volleys. Even if I lose today or tomorrow, it doesn't matter, because it's going to benefit me in the future. Like I said, that's the game it's going to take for me to get as good as I can, at the net. It's not going to be running around side to side with my 6'5" frame putting pressure on my body. That's not what I do. I'm going to come to the net, especially on these courts.

Question Did you happen to notice a ball boy almost as tall as you in the corner?
Answer No, not at all.