2004 adidas International
Date: 2004-01-12

Question How are you feeling? You haven't played much competitive tennis the last month since Davis Cup.
Answer Yeah, I've actually had a month off , close to a month off. Unfortunately, didn't have the great preparation for Doha. But since then, I came back and have been putting the hours in that I needed on the court, two hours a day. I'm feeling pretty good, feeling very good. I've been training well here and hitting the ball well, so I'm looking forward to playing tomorrow.

Question A little bit of unfitness?
Answer Well, I was, I was. It's just tough because Doha started on the Monday, and I only practiced the Monday before. It was like an hour a day, an hour a day for like four days before that. So I wasn't hitting the ball too bad. (Inaudible) It was pretty humid there. Physically, wasn't feeling great. But since then, like I said, I've been putting in the hours, doing a lot of movement drills with Todd on the court. I'm feeling good, feeling very good. I had a good practice session today, so I'm happy.

Question Are we just talking about match fitness or specifically there's...
Answer Just match fitness. That happens. You need to put the hours on the court to feel good in the matches, it's as simple as that. You can't expect to, you know, just put four hours on the court in one week and go to play a tournament after having a month off; it's not gonna happen, doesn't matter how good you are, how good you feel. As I said, that wasn't the best preparation, but now I have, you know, a good tournament in front of me this week to get prepared for Australia.

Question The actual injury is fine?
Answer Oh, it's fine. Not a problem at all.

Question How does it feel to be back on Australian soil after Davis Cup?
Answer It feels good. I'm definitely excited. Looking forward to tomorrow, looking forward to going out there. I've always loved playing in Australia - especially after, you know, December, end of November, December, after winning Davis Cup. I'm sure we're all excited to be getting out here, playing.

Question Whose idea was it to use Todd as a bit of a...
Answer I've always liked hitting with Todd. We hit a couple of days before -- we hit for a couple of days before my match in Doha. And, obviously, he lost early. When I came back, you know, I said to my dad, "It's perfect, just ring up Todd and we'll get on a hitting court." Todd's such a nice guy. Of course we'd hit and do our own thing. Obviously, he's got to work on what he wants to work on. But at the same time, if he does see something, obviously, with the years behind me, I realize what I do wrong, but sometimes I don't see what I'm doing wrong at the same time. It's so much easier for someone else to say, "Oh, you just planted your foot on that one. Instead of taking two little steps, you took one big step." Little things like that, that definitely helps.

Question How much time do you actually spend in Australia now through the year?
Answer Unfortunately, not that much time besides coming back from Davis Cup when we play in Australia. Not too much time, unfortunately. It's very difficult to get back.

Question A couple months a year, something like that?
Answer If we're playing Davis Cup, yeah, maybe a couple months a year, yeah - if that. When I don't play Davis Cup, like I said, it's very difficult, very difficult, so...

Question Your thoughts on the draw.
Answer Sorry?

Question Just on the draw you've got here.
Answer I haven't seen the draw. All I know is my first round, and that's the only thing I'm focusing on. I don't like to look too far ahead. Men's tennis is tough enough to worry about that one person, looking too far ahead.

Question It's our job to look ahead.
Answer Yeah, but don't tell me. Don't tell me (laughing).

Question Do you know anything of your first-round opponent?
Answer I'm not good with names. I'm sure if I saw the guy, I would know him. But did look at that name, doesn't seem familiar, so... Where is he from?

Question Spain.
Answer Spain, yeah. I mean, every year on the tour there's at least two or three new Spanish guys, young guys, that come up. So, you know, I'm sure it's going to be a tough match.

Question Based on last week, how far off your best are you at the moment?
Answer I tell you what, I'm hitting the ball pretty good in practice. I had a good practice session today, as I said. I feel like I'm pretty much hitting the ball as good as I can. Obviously, there's little things in certain points. But I'm very happy with the way I'm hitting the ball.

Question There is a big story going around in tennis at the moment which we're all kind of consumed with, which is Rusedski's positive test. Have you got any thoughts on that? He says he's had a lot of sympathy and support inside the locker room.
Answer No, I don't... No, I'll worry about myself. I don't like to comment on other people. I've got enough things to worry about in my life to look at anybody else.

Question Greg claimed 43 or 47 players tested positive in the last year or so.
Answer Yeah.

Question Would you like to make a statement?
Answer No, I don't want to make a statement. You know, people obviously have the right to say what they'd like to say. It's unfortunate for someone to say that kind of thing. It does put a negative look on tennis, and it is a little disappointing. But, you know, that's all I'm going to say on that.

Question Can you say you weren't one of them?
Answer (Smiling). I can honestly say I'm not one of them, yeah. Unless ice cream is a steroid. If ice cream is a steroid, I'm definitely positive for that then.

Question Sometimes you've been criticized for mentally slacking off in matches. Do you think as you mature still, you're overcoming that side of your shortfall?
Answer Definitely. You've got to realize, the mental thing on the court is a lot of things together. Obviously, if someone's fit and feeling great, mentally they're gonna be feeling good because they know they can stay on the court all day, they can run all day. If you go on the court knowing that you can't win a match by running all day, you're going to have to hit the ball, you're going to have to go for winners because you don't want to run and you can't because you're sort of not feeling great, a little injured. It's tough to go out there and say, "Right, I'm not gonna miss a ball." You're gonna have to go for shots that aren't there, and you do get a little down and definitely losing mentally sometimes because you know you can't play the game you want to play. I have been in that frame of mind for the past couple years, coming back from injuries all the time, trying to recover and get back. It has been very difficult. Last year was the first year for a while where I've been injury-free. For me, that's felt great. There's been no negative feeling that when I'm out on the court I'm going to have to keep the points short not only to win the match, but to try to get through the tournament and to do well. Because there's so many matches you've got to win. Obviously, the shorter my matches were, the better it was for me. Now I don't have to think like that. I'm feeling physically I'm fine. I've been working on my fitness. Knock on wood, I feel great. I'm healthy. So, you know, if I have to stay all day to win a match, I'm going to do it. I feel good enough to recover and come back the next day. That's where the mental side comes into it. Obviously, the more matches I play, the longer I'm on the tour, you know, I think mentally the tougher I'm going to be, too.

Question How much does what happened in Melbourne in the Davis Cup help you when you go to the Aussie Open, just the experience of having that match situation?
Answer That's going to help me a lot because there's been, as I said, after the past few years there are really few matches I've gone feeling 100 percent on the court. There's always been some niggling problem. But I've never felt pain like I did that day. So for me to come out and win that match like I did has definitely been a huge confidence boost for me. And knowing if there's anything happens in the future, I'm strong enough to get through it, get through the match. So that's a very positive thing.

Question The pressure situation, playing in a final, playing in your hometown?
Answer There's always pressure in Davis Cup, especially the final, being in Melbourne. My last two matches, me losing my last two matches. For me, that Sunday was very important for me to win that match in many different ways, for me personally. And it did take a lot out of me. For a couple weeks, I was -- three weeks, I had three and a half weeks off, I went surfing, went to Hawaii, 10 days in San Diego. I was still drained. Walking around like, you know, sometimes expressionless, just still sort of relieved that the year was over and that Davis Cup was over because we it did take a lot out of me. I just wanted to recharge my batteries and come back for another year.

Question You got a lot of praise, obviously, for what happened in the Davis Cup final the last day. Do you care about what others are saying, or do you just sort of care what you think?
Answer I've always been the kind of person to worry about myself. You know, I've obviously made decisions in the past that I'm learning, I'm young, that maybe were right, maybe were wrong, but I've learned from them. So I've never really been worried what people think. I've done my own thing. But the good thing about in Davis Cup was I think it made people understand how much I do love Davis Cup and how important it is for me. There has been doubt there in the past, and I think I have put that doubt to rest. That's where I've mainly been very proud of, just from that match. I think people have always been very supportive of me, the crowd, the public has been very supportive, but especially after Davis Cup. A lot of people were coming up to me and just congratulate me in a really nice way and just showing their appreciation, which is a really nice feeling.

Question Fitzy said you're a national hero now.
Answer I don't know. We're definitely all national heroes, I think. Just, you know, he's a Davis Cup captain, just won the Davis Cup (laughing). He was loving everyone at that stage. So it was definitely easy to have some nice things said to you on that day.

Question Obviously, Wimbledon final last year, Davis Cup win, Top 10 in the world, first full season back. So you firmly believe 2004 can be better?
Answer I definitely think I can be better. When you look at last year, yes, I did make the final of Wimbledon and I won a title, runner-up. Pretty much my No. 9 ranking was set on six tournaments, pretty much the tournaments I had. There's like 33, you know, 30-something tournaments a year. So when you think about that, my ranking, six tournaments made my ranking, it just shows you how many chances are out there that I didn't take. And I could have played better, too. So definitely could have done a lot more than I did. I still finished in the Top 10. So for me, that's a good feeling, good motivation.

Question How aware were your surfing mates of Davis Cup?
Answer Actually, when I went to Hawaii, they told me the Globe House where they were staying at, they had a satellite there. There was like 30 Aussies with flags around. They said they were all drunk and drinking beer and going nuts. I got there, and it was awesome. I mean, I didn't realize how huge tennis fans surfers are. They all got their racquets after they surf, they're on the tennis court in the afternoon, playing doubles. I was out on the court with them just watching them play. They're all great. The great thing about the Sunset Rip Curl, actually, an Aussie won it, Jake Patterson, so... and I think when he had his speech, he said he got a lot of inspiration from the Davis Cup tie the week before. That's a great thing to hear. I didn't realize how important it was to a lot of people.

Question What's the Globe House? Where is that?
Answer The Globe House. Globe, there's a shoe company called Globe. In Hawaii, like all the surfing companies have houses where all the sponsors play -- surfers stay. The Globe House happened to have a satellite dish, so they were all over there, so...