AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 17, 2003

Peter Luczak

PETER LUCZAK: Yeah, I'm disappointed. It's much different after you lose than when you win. It was all smiles before, but now... I played a pretty good first set. I think Mario wasn't serving as well. All credit to him, he started serving better in the second, third and fourth. I don't think I had a breakpoint in the last three sets. I'm happy that I got this far, but I'm also disappointed. I really think I could have won that one.

PETER LUCZAK: I know he had a long five-setter. I was just telling myself to make him move, make him run, get as many balls back as I possibly could. It just wasn't working out. I was making easy mistakes for no reason. The crowd were behind me, but didn't seem like I could focus, concentrate. I don't know why. Hopefully, more matches like that and I'll be able to learn from it.

PETER LUCZAK: Yeah, I played a great first point. We had a long first one. He was serving. I got the mini break straightaway. Second point, I got little bit unlucky. He hit a pretty good return off my first serve. I don't know what happened after that, but it all went downhill.

PETER LUCZAK: Yeah, I think I did. I think I got a little tight. I was hitting the ball shorter and shorter. Hit a few in the net. I don't know.

PETER LUCZAK: Yeah, I'm sure. When I watch the tape, I'll be kicking myself I didn't come in more often. A lot of times I had him spread wide, and, I don't know, just stood back there like a goon.

PETER LUCZAK: Bit of both. I was nervous. I prefer staying at the back. I said, "Okay, I'll stay back and just keep rallying." But I had him spread wide. Just sliced it back. Would have had an easy volley. Instead, I just let him back in the rally.

PETER LUCZAK: Haven't really thought about that yet. I'm sure I'll learn something - I better.

PETER LUCZAK: I think I'll probably -- I've got actually mixed tomorrow. After the mixed, after I'm done with that, I'll probably take three, four days off, maybe a week, then get back at it. I think I'm going to be going to the US, play some challengers over there, some qualifying of ATP events, just see how I go there.

PETER LUCZAK: I'm sure I could, yes.

PETER LUCZAK: No, I'd like to go back. I still have a semester, maybe two semesters to go before I finish my business finance degree in Fresno.

PETER LUCZAK: No. You can only play tennis a certain amount of time. I used up my eligibility for tennis. If I go back there, I can just study. I can practice, but I'm not allowed to play matches in terms of giving it a crack on the professional circuit.

PETER LUCZAK: Yeah, if I won today, it would have been an unbelievable springboard, would have been 150 points instead of 75. I think about 140, 150 instead of 110, 105. You know, should get me into most of the qualifying events of the ATP. So I don't know.

PETER LUCZAK: Yeah, yeah, it feels like -- even when I was practicing with some of the better guys, it felt like I was staying with them from the back. It does give me confidence, definitely. Hopefully I get more opportunities to play guys like this and practice with guys like this. Hopefully I'll be there one day.

PETER LUCZAK: About getting back my serve?

PETER LUCZAK: I don't know. He serves, you know, pretty big. I think he was consistently 190, 193. I tried to block it back, especially off my forehand. Started hitting it, I don't know, should have started hitting it again at the end. Started slicing it. He started serve-volleying toward the end because I was just blocking it back. He's a big kid, big, tall kid. Anyone that height is going to have a pretty decent serve, hard to return.

PETER LUCZAK: No, his first one, he's got a good flat one down the middle, also a pretty good one out wide. Hard to read as well. His ball toss stays consistent.

PETER LUCZAK: Pretty much, yeah. Maybe a star and a half (smiling). I don't know. Yeah, it helps a lot. Not so much the last six months, but the first year when I was traveling, I was staying in shocking places, you know, always had to travel -- less than six hours, it was never a flight, it was always a bus, Greyhound. The last six months I've been breaking even pretty much. With this money now, I'll be able to definitely travel a bit more like the pros.

PETER LUCZAK: I've had some beauties. I think I did a 12-hour one somewhere. I think it was like from San Diego to like somewhere up north in California, yeah.

PETER LUCZAK: Definitely called the Nash (ph) Hotel in Berkeley, California. It was a shocker (laughter). One community shower. Like four of us in a hotel room. One guy got the bed. The guy who won, the shak-sham-bow (ph). The other three on the floor, a stained floor.

PETER LUCZAK: Last week I had a good week as well. First time I qualified with the ATP. Before I qualified, I was thinking, "Oh, man, so many good guys out there, it's so tough to qualify. You have to play three unbelievable matches." If you've done it once, I have confidence, I'll probably be able to do it again. This week I had a couple good wins. I don't know, hopefully me and Jaymon can build from that and go a little further next year.