WIMBLEDON

June 27, 2000

Mark Philippoussis

MODERATOR: Ladies and Gentlemen, questions, please, to Mark.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: Yeah. It's great because I had no idea who the guy was. It's always tough playing someone like that. Also he's a lefty, which makes it a little difficult. You don't know where he's going to go on the big points. Pretty much just hanging in there, worrying about my own game. Happy to get through it.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: I was quite happy with the way I moved today. I thought I moved well. In some stages I volleyed well for most part of the match. Lost a bit of concentration there for a couple of games on my serve. All in all, like I said, the first match, I was extremely nervous. Started this morning with my practise session, couldn't eat lunch, but it was a good feeling, though.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: I think because I'm excited. I'm excited about the tournament. I've been training really hard the last couple weeks. I think probably why I'm so nervous is, you know, because I know that I've got a shot here. Maybe that's why.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: I'm sure I'll be nervous before each match, a little nervous. Once I'm on the court, the nerves are gone and I'm ready to play.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: Definitely. We've been talking. Obviously we talk every day. He sits me down just to tell me what he thinks I need to do. We've definitely talked about that. Pretty much what he said is, "If you want to be a champion, you have to be a champion 24 hours a day. You've got to live like a champion, think like a champion, talk like a champion in order to become one." Definitely with the lifestyle - not that I've been doing anything terribly bad, it's that I haven't been giving myself the opportunity to show my full potential. You know, he said obviously it's going to take time. It's not going to happen overnight. We're going to form I think a great relationship. I'm going to be very open with him. He's going to be very open with me, tell me what he thinks I should be doing. I have a lot of stuff in my head which he's trying to clear out. I think the most important thing he was telling me is to make my life simple, you know, just think about the tennis and give seven of your best years you can in tennis, and after that, you do whatever you want.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: Sure I can. I think that's a phase I was going through, like anything. When I was a young kid, I wanted the fast cars. I mean, I'm 23, and I could tell you I've had probably at least 16 cars. I've had everything that you could possibly have. Now I'm a little sick of it, which is good, which is a phase I went through. I got it out of my system. Obviously I still like the fast cars, but I've sold them all. I don't think I'll sell the bikes. I'll keep the bikes. I like my bikes. I think it's healthy to go through that phase. Sort of I've got that stuff out of my head, out of my system, and now I've just got to concentrate on my tennis.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: I have a car. I have a Ferrari still. I'm trying to bring myself to sell it, but I haven't yet. I love my four-wheel drives.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: 12 bikes.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: Yes.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: No, three. Mostly sports bikes. I like sports bikes.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: I don't think I'm a Commodore guy. Like I said, just try to make my life more simple, just so my head is in tennis. All I'm worried about is going home, have a bit of rest, do my training, then back at the tournaments to do well.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: You know, Long Boat isn't me. Miami was exciting for me as a 22-year-old when I first moved there, 21. Of course, I mean, the night life and the atmosphere is incredible. I'm actually moving.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: I'm going to go back to Australia. I want to be with my family and friends. Start concentrating.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: Uh-huh.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: No.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: I just want to do my dream, which is I want to buy like 20 acres and build a house. I want to do two indoor courts, two outdoor courts, all different surfaces, do all my training there, do everything there.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: I'm not sure yet. Look when I get home.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: When I'm in Australia, he'll come down. I think I would like to just have a small place somewhere, definitely not in Miami, somewhere where the weather is still great. Obviously when you are in America, it's just too hard to go back to Australia. When I have a week or two, go back to that place where I can do some training there. But my home is definitely going to be -- I would like to be Australia.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: I've had a couple conversations with him, a few times on the phone. Like I said, he flew down just before Queen's and had a meeting with me, watched my practise session, told me what he saw in that hour. Pretty much just talked to me. What do I want from him? What am I willing to do? What is he willing to do? Just pretty much get out in the clear exactly what our relationship is.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: Haven't spoken to him for a couple weeks, but he rings Mike regularly. I'm sure he'll be coming. He pretty much said to me, you know, he's going to keep in contact with Mike. They talk regularly on the phone. He told Mike to do exactly what they did when they were practising, to do it with me. He said whenever I'm playing my matches, somehow he'll be watching or find out what happens. I mean, he's a phone call away if I want to talk to him.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: I learned a lot, incredible. I was talking to him for probably an hour. Just the way the guy thinks. I mean, he's truly a champion, the way he said everything, the way he talked about practising, before practise, even some things on a practise court or before a practise court. He pretty much said to me, "If you want to become a champion, you have to start living like one day in and day out. You've got to be a role model. Obviously some kids look up to you and you've got to show them how excited you are about the tennis game and why they should look up to you." The most exciting thing he said was that he doesn't think I've reached 40% of my potential. He said one of his goals is for me to reach my full potential.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: He said whatever I would like him to do, he'll do. Just tell him.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: It was actually quite funny. St. Polten, I was with my father having lunch before the match. Out of the blue I said, "It would be great, just imagine having Boris helping me out on the grass, during the grass court season." With his years of experience and everything, I looked up to him when I was a kid. When I first started playing, I copied him with the strokes and everything, his volleys. The good thing about it is, it's great how my dad thinks. He had Mike in mind for a while now. I've known Mike for a few years. What he was thinking, he made a phone call and ended up calling Mike. Mike was keen to work with me. What he said to me was, "It's a good idea. If you would like, Mike is willing to be with you." Obviously I've spoken to Boris. "Boris can't be with you. He has a lot of other commitments in his life, but he'll be communicating with Mike, the odd phone call here and there, I'm sure a visit here and there for a week." That's what he said, just work closely with Mike. That's pretty much how it worked. I got the phone call straight after I lost, that next morning, in my hotel room from Boris, like 11 o'clock wake-up call. He said, "Did I wake you?" I was obviously scared to say, "Of course, "No, I was just doing some stretching," the true professional that I am, of course (laughter). He said he was going to fly down to see me, if that's okay with Mike. That's pretty much what happened. He flew down and it started from there. He asked what I wanted from him. We shook hands. He said, "Great, let's start."

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: No. I've thought about it. I spoke to Mike. I was talking with Mike. I told him that sometimes when I'm playing my matches, there are games where my mind will be wandering about things, just stupid things, not even about matches, but about problems -- not problems, but just some stuff at home. It's just frustrating when my mind wouldn't be in the match. Like I said, I just have too many things outside of the court to worry about. Just got to make my life simple. If I know I have a place in Australia, I'm going to train, all my courts there, be with my family and friends, I know once I get to the matches, to the tournament, I'm going to concentrate and look forward to going home.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: Obviously he can't force me. He's going to tell me what he thinks. Like I said, I've always said things happen for a reason. I was just thinking maybe that phone call at the French could start something big for me, like I said, open a new door for me. I've been kicked hard up the rear the last couple weeks to train hard. I've never trained as hard as I have in the last two weeks. I've woken up in the morning. Mike has come to the house, told me to hurry up, get dressed, get to the practise courts. For the last ten years, Boris has some private courts, three private courts they keep on rotating so it can be pretty good every day for hitting. We've been training there every single day, private courts. An hour and a half to two hours of hitting, plus fitness 20 minutes, then do it all over again in the afternoon. I'm doing like four hours of work, when I normally did an hour on the court, then 15, 20 minutes of fitness.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: Gavin is still very much with me. He's still in the team. You know, he's on the court there. Obviously he's concentrating on the fitness side. He's on the court there. He's been with me for a few years now. He knows me a lot as a person, which is important.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: Yeah.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: I would say more fitness.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: Well, I mean, that's what he does. Of course he's been on the tour for a long time. He knows about tennis definitely. The amount of experience Mike has, being with Boris for five years, he's learned a lot himself. It's great.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: I think probably three and a half years, three years probably in Florida.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: It has, you know. Like I said before, I finished my practise session, I'd have enough energy to go motorbike riding with friends, wake boarding for three hours. Now I just go back to the home, sunk on the couch, ask for my mom to bring up food because I couldn't go down and get it, too lazy. The thing is, I know I'm putting in the work. When you do get out there in those tough situations, you know that you've done the work and you believe in yourself. That's the difference.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: Like I said, I won a Davis Cup. That's a feeling I couldn't possibly try and explain. It was an incredible feeling. I was having a good time.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: There's nothing to say about like that. Like I said, we're concentrating at the moment.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: Yes.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: He called me straight after I finished the French Open.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: Yes.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: No. My dad did.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: I definitely knew it would be dangerous for Lleyton. Gambill is such a tough player. When he serves, he's got double fists off both sides, he just swings. When he's having his day, he's going to be tough to beat. I would think that he was serving big today, hitting some big groundies. It's a bit of a surprise to be straight sets, but I knew it was going to be tough.