WIMBLEDON

June 28, 2003

Alexander Popp

THE MODERATOR: Okay, good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, Alexander Popp. Who would like to ask the first question?

ALEXANDER POPP: Well, it's up to you, but obviously I've been playing for Germany the last 26 years and it doesn't look like it's going to change.

ALEXANDER POPP: Well, I have very good memories concerning the tournament, but everything else isn't really what I'm playing for. Obviously press and media belongs to tennis if you play well, but that's not the part that I enjoy.

ALEXANDER POPP: Well, I feel English a little, of course, because my mom's English and we speak English at home sometimes, and I have a lot of relatives here. So a part of me is English, that's for sure. But I grew up in Germany.

ALEXANDER POPP: Well, I feel at home when I'm here. I really like playing in England. I've always played well, even in the smaller tournaments when I was younger. So it must be something about it. But as I already said, I grew up in Germany and it's pretty well sure, for me, that I play for Germany.

ALEXANDER POPP: Well, last two and a half years ago I almost, well, didn't play for like 12 to 14 months, didn't play at all. I guess that's enough to pull every player of the world out, and it's impossible to play well in between because you haven't really got the time to practice and work on your tennis.

ALEXANDER POPP: So far. Today, everything is perfect for me.

ALEXANDER POPP: Yeah (laughter).

ALEXANDER POPP: Short answer (smiling).

ALEXANDER POPP: Yeah.

ALEXANDER POPP: Well, I was a little nervous, but not as nervous as you are when you serve three double-faults in a row. The first two, I just didn't see the ball because it was right going into the sun and I didn't see it. So I had to just try and serve and be happy to get it and get it in. After the second double-fault, of course I thought, "Oh, better not serve a third one," and that's what happened. So it's just bad luck. Things like that happen in tennis. But if I would have been really nervous, I think I wouldn't have won the tiebreaker. And I kept on playing well, so it didn't affect my game, I think.

ALEXANDER POPP: Well, it's a virus. You really feel tired, you have no power left. You feel like you could sleep all day. Well, in the beginning when I didn't know what it was, I played matches, I played well, won the first set, then I just lost Love and 1 because I couldn't move anymore; I was dead. I could just go back and sleep. I couldn't practice more than an hour, and after that, I didn't know why, but I just couldn't do anything anymore.

ALEXANDER POPP: Well, I just didn't practice for like four months. Just have to rest and wait, because it's a virus, you can't do anything about it. So you just have to wait and see. Luckily, it just took four months. I know other sport people that had a lot longer time to recover from that.

ALEXANDER POPP: No.

ALEXANDER POPP: Well, I played Nottingham last week, so... (Laughter).

ALEXANDER POPP: Yeah, sometimes we come over and see my family in London, maybe for Christmas, that kind of stuff. It's not like I'm here for months, it's just more a matter of weeks.