WIMBLEDON

June 30, 2003

Mark Philippoussis

THE MODERATOR: Good evening. Mark Philippoussis for you.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: I wouldn't say it was the match of my career. I'm extremely happy the way I concentrated throughout the match. You know, I hung in there and I just fought hard. It was another one where I just had to fight and just give it all, you know, give it my all.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: It's definitely up there. It was extremely important for me. I mean, he's beaten me twice this year. I think the last seven times in a row, something like that. So, you know, to finally get him, the way it happened, you know, I'm just very pleased.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: There were a lot of things actually I could have done a little better (smiling). The first one I played in San Jose, he beat me comfortably, like 6-4, 6-1. Miami was three sets. I felt like I had a chance there. You know, coming into this match, I felt, you know, confident. Again, like I said, I had nothing to lose. Everyone was expecting him to win. That's a great position to be in.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: No, I mean, coming up against a guy like Richard, you can't do much. You know, a huge serve and volleyer. I had some chances there. You know, I can't put my head down when I lose to a guy like that. I kept on working hard. The exhibition was huge for me to get three matches there. I played well there. You know, every match here, I played better and better. I felt like my concentration's been better. You know, my self-belief is going up.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: Yeah, there's nothing much you can do about that. You know, had a huge, long game to break him in the fifth service game of the fourth. That was very important. I think I was down like Love-40 at 4-2, which was also big to get out of. You know, I was down a lot of breakpoints. I fought back with some first serves. You know, when the first serve goes in, it definitely makes life a lot easier.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: You know what, I honestly don't listen to that because that's just so silly. I mean, I've been with my dad since I was six years old. He's the one that taught me to play tennis. It's just a lot of negative stuff that I don't listen to. Just like Lleyton, you know, the guy's No. 1 in the world two years in a row, he loses a match, everyone is on his case like he should drop his parents. I felt bad for him. I just want him to keep his head up . Everyone loves you when you're winning. You lose a match, no one jumps on the bandwagon.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: We've done the same thing. I've just been working hard. Like I said, things have paid off. We've been working hard all year, hard on my fitness. It's just starting to pay off. It's as sample as that.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: Big serve and volleyer. It's the first time I'm going to be playing a serve and volleyer. All the matches I played, the guys mostly stayed back. You know, at least I know he's going to be coming in on me. I'm going to have to work on my passing shots, make him play. Always tough when you play against someone you've never played against. Again, I want to concentrate on my game, just think about what I have to do.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: I don't know. I don't know. I'm not sure. All I was telling myself was I've been working really hard, with my fitness trainer, Marcus in San Diego. We've done some crazy drills where he's nearly made me cry. I just thought back and said, "Think about what you've done to get here. Stay strong. All that work was for this."

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: Stuff on staircases, really long staircases, going down with my hands and legs, going down with my hands first.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: No. I mean, it was a big shock that he lost, and I felt bad. But, you know, when you're in the same draw as him or something like that, you know, maybe it changes little things. But I was in a complete opposite draw. So for me it didn't make a difference at all.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: Yes, of course. You definitely have to look at the guy. Like I said, his work ethic, he's great on the court. His intensity is awesome. We have fun on the doubles court, practice court. Definitely a lot of things can you take away from him.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: I think, you know, the great thing about the serve, you've got the ball in your hands. You can take your time, no one can rush you. You know, you're in control. Today I had great rhythm out there, made life a lot easier for me. Even on the second serves, I went for them. Against a guy like Andre, you have to. You can't kick the ball in and expect to run in and serve and volley. Like you say, he's one of the best returners in the world, if not the best returner. You have to take some chances, I took some chances and it paid off.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: I wouldn't say that. If anything, it probably would have helped my mind more than anything. But, you know, I was born in Australia. I'm an Australian all the way through. But I do love living in San Diego.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: Well, you got to understand, my dad's always been there. In the past he hasn't been well enough to travel with me. We went back to basics, as simple as that. When things aren't going your way, you're struggling, I think the best thing to do is to go back to basics. That's the way I've been training. That's my thought process on the court. Just think about what I used to do when I was younger. When I was 18, 19, you're on the tour, you just get on tour, you're so hungry, you have no fear. You just swing and go for second serve aces. But that's my game. I am the kind of guy that's going to go for risks. That's just the way I play. I'm not the kind of guy who is going to think about, "Kick it here, make him run." I don't play that way. I play with instinct. That's the way I've been practicing.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: I've been practice -- I played at La Costa, Bobby Riggs a little bit. Lately I've been training at Fairbanks Ranch Country Club.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: No, I just got like 12 messages from them. But probably in the water 7:30 every morning.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: I surf, I don't know, at least three, four hours a day. Training two hours on the court, two hours of fitness in the gym.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: Yeah, I mean, I'm extremely pleased with the outcome today. There's nothing to get too excited about. It's quarterfinals. I have a match to concentrate on. That match is behind me now. I've got to try and obviously take the pluses from that match, you know, take the confidence from that and just put it into my next match. You know, have a nice easy day tomorrow, think about the match on Wednesday.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: Not at all. The good thing is I've been in the quarterfinals a few times. That definitely helps with experience. It's just something I'm just looking forward to.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: The great thing is I don't have any knee pain at all. There's no niggling pains, nothing that's sore. It feels great.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: It's nothing to take easy. I mean, the guy's obviously playing some great tennis or else he wouldn't be in the quarterfinals. He's a dangerous player. He's got some weapons. He's got a big serve, great groundstrokes. You know, it's just something that, again, I'm not going to think about who's on the other side or anything like that. I'm just looking forward to playing my game.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: No. I mean, we're totally different. He's intense. I'm pretty relaxed, laid back, although I'm still a little intense. We're totally different guys on the court, so...

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: It's not like, you know, I have to think about going out there and saying I've got to hit 50 aces or this. I'm going to go out there, play my game. It's another match. Nothing to think about. I've got to try and match it or do anything better. All I've got to do is try to do whatever I can to win that match. Simple as that.