U.S. OPEN

August 30, 1996

Mark Philippoussis

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: Yeah. I mean, it was a lot easier than I thought it would be. I'm sure he didn't play very well today, didn't get a lot of first serves in, maybe looped a lot of second serves.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: Yeah, definitely, getting to play a third match, third round. Taking it match by match. I'll just keep going with the game plan, keep playing my game.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: Sorry?

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: I'm playing well at the moment. Today I was a bit awkward really, because it was like he wasn't there for his match. It was a bit awkward for me to get myself going. Happy to get a break and hold on to my serve to win sets. That's all I was looking for.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: Yes. A lot of glare coming off the court. I was having a lot of trouble looking at his serve, even when he served hard, very difficult, very hard to see the ball.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: Yeah, I saw that. I have to win another match. He's got to win one. I don't know. I'll just play it match by match. If I do end up meeting him, see what happens.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: Yeah, sure. Doesn't worry me who I play. I like playing the top players because there's no reason why I can't beat them, I have already. I just go out there and enjoy myself, play a good game.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: It's not just another Grand Slam. Wimbledon is its own tournament, I'm home at the US Open, I live there, that's pretty special to me. The US Open is also great because I've got some good support here, very happy for that. The New York crowd, they enjoy their tennis a lot more. They know how to make the match good to watch, interesting.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: Well, I mean, I'm playing some good, smart tennis. If I go with my game plan and stick to it, no reason why not.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: My coach, well, I've known Peter McNamara for maybe six years now, back in Melbourne, grew up with him there. Nice guy, knows a lot about the game. Obviously he's been there, No. 7 in the world in singles, good in doubles. He's taught me a lot. Main thing he's focusing on is myself to have a game plan before I go into the court. Before I was just going into the court to play my own game, that was it, didn't really have a game plan, sort of hit or miss. This time I'm playing a lot smarter, generally with a game plan. Just playing some solid tennis to win, nothing special.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: Well, then I'll change the game plan, try something else. I think a good thing for me is I've worked on my game to have an all-around game. If I'm serving and volleying, he's passing me, that's not working, I'll stay back. I feel comfortable staying back. The good thing is I feel I can change my game plan, if needed.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: That's the other thing Peter was telling me, "Never think your serve is not going to come back." Sometimes I was. I used to hit it and not think it's coming back, take maybe a few steps, surprised when it came back. I think a lot of things I'm doing better is just finishing my serve. Even if I think it's not going to come back, I'll go back to the service line and finish off the serve. That's improving a lot more.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: With my technique?

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: No, I haven't changed anything technique-wise.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: Well, I mean, to tell you the truth, no. If my serve is not working, I feel comfortable with my groundstrokes, too. I've become a lot more consistent with my groundstrokes. The one thing I wanted to work on is not to always rely on my serve because I know in matches it's not always going to be there. The good thing for me is to win matches when my serve isn't working. I think that's extremely important for me. When it's working, it's completely different. When it's not working, I would like to win some matches. I feel confident hitting my groundies volley more.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: My goal for this year was to be inside of the Top 20. Before every year, I'll make a goal for myself. Pretty much my goal every year, don't really look too far ahead.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: Well, I used to serve like an hour to an hour and a half a day when I was younger, recently, too. Whatever -- if my groundstrokes are bad, I'll work on my groundstrokes. If I wasn't volleying well, I'll do that. Even if I'm serving well, I still like to go out every day and do some serving, too.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: Well, yeah, maybe. Probably a bit more than that. If I'm just doing serves, then I'd serve for an hour and a half. I have no idea I serve. Probably double that.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: Well, like I was saying before, really I don't expect myself to serve huge all the time, especially in a Grand Slam for two weeks. The thing is, if I take my time, do the same routine every time, I'll still serve big, maybe not a high percentage, but when I need it, I'm confident that it will be there for me. If it's not there, then I'm confident where I can rely on other stuff, too. I don't want people to think I've just got a serve and if that's not working then I haven't got anything else, I've lost. I don't think that's true. I've worked on my all-around game since I was young. Coming across really strong.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: Definitely. When I get out on the court, I like to intimidate my opponent, even if I'm warming up. I like to hit the ball as hard as I can, let him know what's going to happen during the match. I mean, especially in that first game of my serve, some people maybe start off slow. First game serve, I hit as hard as I can to let them know how it's going to be the rest of the match.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: No. The guy been around the Tour long enough, they already know these things already. I still like to try to do that, so.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: Sorry?

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: The only thing that's missing, I think, is the mental side, maturity. I think I have everything else. I think I've got to mature a lot more, get a lot tougher on the court.