AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 30, 2005

Rennae Stubbs

THE MODERATOR: First question, please.

SAMANTHA STOSUR: Todd Reid.

SAMANTHA STOSUR: He didn't get into doubles and didn't want to stick around till Friday to play mixed, so he pulled out. We organized it like a month ago, so...

SAMANTHA STOSUR: The night before signing. So with less than 24 hours till we start.

SAMANTHA STOSUR: No, never.

SCOTT DRAPER: I warmed you up at --

SAMANTHA STOSUR: Yeah. Before my final, he came down and gave me a hit which was nice.

SCOTT DRAPER: Well, we actually -- I mean, I guess I'm definitely playing the Grand Slams with my protected ranking in singles. Sam and I have actually spoken. I'm sure we'd be probably happy to try and get wildcards. I mean, unless --

SAMANTHA STOSUR: Yeah.

SCOTT DRAPER: The thing is that, well, yeah, it's hard because Sam can get in with someone else. If we don't get wildcards, then she should go down that route. I'd love to probably play at the Grand Slams this year and see if we can get a couple more under our belt.

SCOTT DRAPER: Yeah, 7:50 in the morning I've got to play.

SCOTT DRAPER: Hmm.

SCOTT DRAPER: Tomorrow morning. Yeah, I've got to play at Kingston Heath, for the qualifying of the Heineken.

SCOTT DRAPER: No (smiling). I'm actually looking forward to go and watch Lleyton. I'll probably go home after his match and have a, you know, quiet celebratory drink with the fam and have a good time.

SCOTT DRAPER: What it means? I think that there's just something special about a Grand Slam. And it's -- it only comes around, you know, four times every year, and especially being your own national Grand Slam. I guess I've been a little naive as to how it would feel because you'd watch on TV either, you know, mixed finals, and you thought it was great but you didn't, you know, get into it too much. I look at it from a different perspective now because I thought that was absolutely fantastic. I was nervous, which I never thought I would get nervous in mixed. It's just, I guess -- it's a Grand Slam title, and no one can ever take it away from you. It's something that Sam and I will obviously look back on the rest of our lives and look upon it with fond memories. Yeah, I mean, it's just a great feeling. You know, for us -- for me, it might never happen again. For Sam, she's probably got a lot more opportunities to do it, and I'll always cherish today.

SAMANTHA STOSUR: I mean, I don't think I can really say any more than what Scott just said. I mean, I was down here last year for the men's final and I watched the mixed and never in my wildest dreams thought I'd be standing down there this year, that's for sure. I think, I mean, at the start of the week we were both pretty relaxed about it all and kind of went out there and thought it was going to be a bit of fun. As the rounds went on, it was like, Okay, maybe we can actually do this. Then it got a bit more serious. The whole time we just really enjoyed ourselves out there and gave it our best shot. And we came out with the winner's trophy. There was, I mean -- it's just fantastic. It's a Grand Slam title. Yeah, as Scott said, it doesn't come around too often. I mean, you hope they do, but for the first one being in Australia, it's certainly probably more special than any others.

SAMANTHA STOSUR: Oh, for sure. I mean, I've had a great four weeks. I can't complain at all. Four trophies out of the four weeks, yeah, it's a good feeling.

SCOTT DRAPER: Uhm, I mean, I don't think so. I mean, I guess the perception has been just a little bit out of whack, I guess, from an outsider's view with me and my career. And hopefully one day I'll have the opportunity of writing a bit of a story about what's been going on in my life, you know, 10 years - even longer. Yeah, I've had a real, real interesting decade. I guess just in the last, you know, year or two I've been in a real good state of mind for, you know, whatever I take on. And, you know, I'm looking forward to, you know, continued success in whatever I do. I've always enjoyed my sport. And, you know, it's just a case of trying to keep life as simple as possible, because sometimes it can get a little out of whack and through things that are out of your control, and that can affect your tennis. You know, you just got to enjoy it while you can 'cause, you know, you never know what's around the corner. You know, tennis is a great vehicle for your life, you know, for character-building stuff. As I said, today I will cherish forever, and I'm sure Sam will, too.

SCOTT DRAPER: On your whole body, tennis is harder than golf. But, you know, golf probably pinpoints some certain areas a little more than tennis, and that's your lower back. You need to really watch out for it. But, you know, core stability is a big thing in golf. But a lot of the stuff that I've done in tennis is going to put me in good stead for golf. I think that the physical side of things is going to be the easiest part of it for me. Playing tennis, it's, I guess, understanding how to control your ball around a golf course and learn the ropes. Because I haven't got the experience in golf that I have in tennis. I'm trying to fast track myself as best as possible.

SCOTT DRAPER: 74, yeah.

SCOTT DRAPER: Yeah, 74. Yesterday I played okay. I mean, I'm just glad that it worked out the way it did. I was, you know, very excited about the possibility of winning today. And, yeah, I'm glad I wasn't -- I would say if I had a great round yesterday, I would have pulled out. I just couldn't see myself going to play a round today and then trying to play the mixed final. This was what was on my mind, and this is what I wanted of this week.

SCOTT DRAPER: You know, I never -- you know, I don't know if I'm giving anything away. It's just I really don't know what the future holds for me. It's going to be an interesting year. As I've always said, that if my body gets to a point where it can do what I want it to do, then it's a possibility I'll keep playing, you know. But it's just frustrating when you can't do the things you know you normally can. And golf is a sport that has a lot more longevity than tennis and, you know, I'm passionate about it. I always want to do something competitive, because without competition, I might as well be six foot under. So that's the choice I'm making at the moment.

SAMANTHA STOSUR: Yeah, I guess maybe a little bit. But I guess it kind of -- the main thing that it does is just makes me believe that I can keep doing it and have a good rest of the year. And hopefully the rest of my career, it will kind of just keep going from here. But, yeah, I think it just shows you that I can do this. I mean, hopefully it will keep going for a little bit longer.

SCOTT DRAPER: I was thinking today, too, it probably is a good thing to get in a mixed final and just sort of soak up the atmosphere a little bit. I was thinking this would be good preparation for a singles final. It's probably, you know, good for you because that's certainly something on your mind probably, you know, being in a singles final and all that. It's good.

SAMANTHA STOSUR: Yeah, good way to start.

SCOTT DRAPER: It's really up to Sam. I mean, because, you know, I've got no ranking and we need wildcards. As I said, I'd -- even here, I went to check that we would be in because she could get in with someone else, with her ranking in dubs. Yeah, totally up to Sam. If she wants to do it and we can get a wildcard, you know, I'm happy to do it.

SAMANTHA STOSUR: If we're going to get a wildcard, I think it would be pretty stupid not to play with Scotty now. No, I'd love to, for sure (laughing).

SAMANTHA STOSUR: Might send him a bit of a cheeky text.

SCOTT DRAPER: It's good. Good week.

SAMANTHA STOSUR: I mean, I never thought about actually winning the tournament. For me, I mean, I was a bit unsure whether I was even going to play as well for a couple of days there beforehand. It was really just to go out there, play a few more matches. And, I mean, everyone wants to keep playing when you're at a Grand Slam - especially the Aussie Open when you're Australian. So it was just really to go out there and have some fun. Then as the week went on and we won a few more matches, it was like, "Well, this could be something pretty good here." Then obviously maybe got a bit more serious. But we always -- really the main thing was to go out there and have fun and just try and play well and just see what happened.

SCOTT DRAPER: I was a little bit different. I actually wouldn't have played if it wasn't someone of Sam's quality. I mean, yeah, I wouldn't have been interested. Just, yeah, too much on my plate. When she called, I was actually excited. I actually thought we had a good shot. Yeah, basically, in my opinion, in mixed it's normally the best woman wins, and it was pretty obvious today.