WIMBLEDON

July 3, 2000

Patrick Rafter

MODERATOR: First question, please, for Pat.

PATRICK RAFTER: Yeah. But I don't think I could do what Mark has done right now. I'm not that fit and strong. At this stage, I'm very happy the way things are going.

PATRICK RAFTER: He's big. Seemed to me he served pretty well. Even today - I think I saw a little bit - he passed well and returned well. He doesn't look like he's going to serve-volley, though. But if I can serve as well as I am, I'm sure there will be opportunities on his serve.

PATRICK RAFTER: Yeah, I guess I haven't run into anyone like Tim has. He's had a pretty good -- pretty tough draw. Yeah, so, you know, I guess only time will tell. At this stage, I'm gaining confidence, believing I can win again. I think that's pretty important when you're going against those guys, big guys. I don't really know until I get to play them how I'll go. I'll be a lot more confident than what I have been in the past, that's for sure.

PATRICK RAFTER: Well, if I serve well, it will come off. You know, yeah, I think so. I guess only time will tell, though. I don't really know. And I've got to win my next match.

PATRICK RAFTER: Well, today I felt like I just wanted to get the ball back over. Thomas is not playing as well as he was a year ago, so I was just thinking about getting the ball back and getting into play. Like today, I just wasn't really that aggressive with my returns. And if I feel I have to be, then I will go for my returns a little bit more. At this stage, I'm getting the ball back and getting it into play, so I'm doing what I have to do to win.

PATRICK RAFTER: Yeah, it was tough. I had a lot of opportunities. I was serving very well. He didn't have one opportunity on my serve. Quite often that sort of thing happens when you come to a tiebreaker. It's a little bit frustrating. But I kept it together, and I think that was an important part. I knew I would have another opportunity to break him in the fourth set. You know, when you put that sort of pressure on someone all the time, they've got to break sooner or later.

PATRICK RAFTER: No. The last few matches I've been pretty pumped up, pretty excited. Just good to be out there feeling good again, playing good tennis. And I want to do very well.

PATRICK RAFTER: It was a strange one (referring to the rain delay). I think everyone was in the locker room shaking their heads, "What's going on?" We're watching Court 1. I guess they thought something more was coming. That's Wimbledon.

PATRICK RAFTER: No. He came out, started serving very well. He actually served well in the second set, I think, as well. Then his serve went out a little bit. In the third and fourth, I was on his games. I could return his serve. He came out on fire and I knew I had to hold that off.

PATRICK RAFTER: What did Jonas say here in the press?

PATRICK RAFTER: Well, I played Pete in '98 at the US Open. He had a thigh injury. It was frustrating because he was out there, he was sort of complaining. He'd come out and serve some big serves. Someone like Pete, when he's injured, he's very capable of playing good tennis still because he has such a great serve. He can hold his serve and have a crack every now and then. He runs only when he needs to run. He saves himself. I've seen him do that at the US when I played him. I guess he's doing that again here. There's been comments passed in the locker room about it. But I think all in all, Pete's pretty genuine. It is funny in the locker room. There's a few comments that fly by. At the end of the day, you've got to trust the guy and how he's feeling.

PATRICK RAFTER: No. No, that's not the way I'd see it. You don't want to rattle someone like Pete, it just gives him more ammunition.

PATRICK RAFTER: It's just sometimes you see him run for balls. You think, "Is he injured or not?" I guess everyone is thinking, "What's he doing? Is he injured? Is he not injured?" I think Pete probably saves himself and runs only when he needs to, on the big points. Someone who serves as well as Pete does, you don't need to move too far to get a good first volley.

PATRICK RAFTER: You guys are hammering me. I don't really know the ins-and-outs of it. If you want to speak to him, you speak to Rochey about it.

PATRICK RAFTER: I find him not just a great mate, but an excellent coach. He's very good mentally, as well, in his own little way. He doesn't say much. He only says something when he needs to say something. Rochey, he's great. I think he's the best in the world. But I haven't used anyone else really.

PATRICK RAFTER: Toying?

PATRICK RAFTER: No. No. I wasn't trying to send anyone up out there. I was just trying to do my job and win.

PATRICK RAFTER: Mark is naturally very strong. I've found Mark to be -- in the past, I don't think he did much off-court work. He might do some gym work, that sort of thing. The amount of work I've seen him do, go out there and play a big five-setter, he is naturally a very strong boy. Matches like he had with Schalken, he just always seems to be very strong and gets through it. I think a lot of it's very natural.

PATRICK RAFTER: I'm feeling better, but I need to work a lot harder. I feel I need to work very harder than I did.

PATRICK RAFTER: The only one that can do it -- no, it's got to come from yourself. If you're not ready, no one can push you. I can't listen to anyone because if I don't want to go out there and do it, I'm not going to do it.

PATRICK RAFTER: It was frustrating times out there. Hard to put in one a hundred percent. At the end, I got through it. That's by doing the right correct work for the shoulder. Makes it so you can do it. When you're out there struggling, you've got to do it yourself. No one can tell you. No one can tell me, I'm too bloody stubborn.

PATRICK RAFTER: Wimbledon?

PATRICK RAFTER: I think it started last week even in Rosmalen when I started winning some matches again. And again here, because I think people in the locker room probably think that now I'm probably coming back to somewhere where I was before.

PATRICK RAFTER: I started slicing, he returned it well. I went back to the kick serve, which he was struggling with. The courts are very hard.

PATRICK RAFTER: A lot more than I can ever remember at Wimbledon.

PATRICK RAFTER: No, no. The guys in there are always pretty friendly. I'm pretty sure in the past, the last few weeks, "Pat, not a bad draw." That's fine with me. I've been pretty happy to have that going into the matches. Within myself, I've been feeling, "How am I going to go today?" I had no idea. Today I feel like I can win this. It's a whole different feeling - not just within myself, but within the other guys, as well.