WIMBLEDON

June 26, 2001

Arvind Parmar

MODERATOR: Questions, please.

ARVIND PARMAR: Not the easiest one, but I managed to scrape through it somehow. I don't know how. Just managed to get myself through it.

ARVIND PARMAR: It crossed my mind actually because I started getting a little bit cramped at the end of the fourth. I just thought, "If I don't win this set, I could be in bad shape, but 2-All, 3-All." But it kind of hit a level where it wasn't getting any worse, but it was just there constantly. Yeah, it crossed my mind. I just thought, "Well, what's the point of pulling out? I've played four and a half sets. Might as well just finish it off, win or lose." I just started totally relaxed, and that was it. Just started swinging about.

ARVIND PARMAR: Very strange. Everyone's got big names in the second round. It was quite strange. I think it's just the way the draw goes, I suppose. But I'm just happy to get through my first one. You know, I've got nothing to lose now in the second match. Just go out there and try my hardest again.

ARVIND PARMAR: Yeah.

ARVIND PARMAR: I mean, that was the main problem. I couldn't land on my legs, and I couldn't bend them. As soon as I bent them, I'd get a cramp in my hamstrings and my quads. Tried just to deal with it as best I could. I got quite lucky actually. Match point down, hit a second serve ace. Thought, "Just do it, get off the court." It actually went in. Quite a lot of luck in that serve. I couldn't believe my luck when I found myself match points up. I think I used all my luck up for the year.

ARVIND PARMAR: I think I played El Aynaoui in Australia two years ago. That was a good four hours, I think. I think this is the longest. I think that was four hours, as well.

ARVIND PARMAR: Well, it was strange. Yeah, he did say I couldn't last five sets. Then I beat Andre Sa last year Wimbledon coming back two sets to one down. I've won there. I've done it again. I think cramping isn't a sign of fitness. I think everyone cramps. Take Rafter, for instance, he's a great athlete, but he still cramps. So I think that was a little unfair because cramping is not a sign of fitness.

ARVIND PARMAR: Yeah, yeah, obviously losing in five sets, disastrous. It was a disaster, you know, the result, the whole thing. Me losing that match two sets to love up. To be honest, when I came back here, I didn't really have the same feeling as when I played Davis Cup. It's a totally different feeling. I was, you know, just concentrated on the match. The last, you know, few months, year, whatever, from the Davis Cup result, it hasn't really affected me, to be honest. Sure, I lost, but I gave it my best effort. You know, I'm trying to improve my game. That's all you can ask from any player.

ARVIND PARMAR: Yeah, definitely. I mean, it was in the past going into this tournament, going into the grass court season. It never really bugged me. Sure, I was disappointed for a week afterwards, a few days. I just thought, "That's tennis." That's why I'm playing tennis, why people watch sport, because of that, the excitement. Just got my head down and got on with it.

ARVIND PARMAR: Sampras.

ARVIND PARMAR: As far as grass court specialists go, you know, Tim and Pete are, on paper, the worst draws. You can say I've got, you know, the best chance to win the match. Kafelnikov isn't a grass court player. Don't get me wrong, he plays very well on the surface. I suppose if you just look down at each player on grass, I suppose Kafelnikov is in third place. But he can still play. You know, it's going to be a very tough match.

ARVIND PARMAR: Yeah, a little bit. I'm quite sore at the moment. I've got a day off tomorrow. Hopefully I can recover pretty well. Never know, might get a late match on Thursday. But, you know, I've got doubles, as well. You know, I'll just deal with it best I can. They've got great trainers here. Massage, all sorts of supplements you can take that can hydrate you, get you back into the best shape possible.

ARVIND PARMAR: Yeah, yeah. I mean, I think after five sets, you're going to feel a little bit stiff. If I do the right things, hopefully, you know, I can keep that to a limit where, you know, it's not painful like it was today.

ARVIND PARMAR: Yeah, I suppose so. I'm not bothered. I'm really not bothered, whether it's on 1, 5 or whatever. It hasn't affected me, that Davis Cup. Obviously, it's a nice court to play on, because it's Court 1, it's a show court. But I'm not thinking that I don't want to play on it because what happened last time.

ARVIND PARMAR: I've got singles on Thursday and doubles would be after that.

ARVIND PARMAR: It depends what shape I am in. If I'm fit enough to play, I'll play. If I'm not, well, that's life, I can't. If I can play, I'll play, definitely.

ARVIND PARMAR: Obviously, every player has weaknesses. Sometimes Yevgeny drops his head a little bit. But he's a great competitor. That's been him for years and years. I'm sure he'll still be fighting and trying as hard as he can. I mean, if I see a weakness like that, maybe I'll try to exploit it or whatever. You know, I'm not going to go in there thinking he's going to just wipe me off the court or anything because, you know, I can hold my own.