WIMBLEDON

June 28, 2002

Xavier Malisse

XAVIER MALISSE: Well, I knew I had a chance obviously. On paper he has to win. But there's been so many upset, which means anybody can beat anybody these days. And, you know, I knew it was going to be very tough but I definitely gave myself a chance. And, you know, winning the first set definitely made me a lot more confident of going, you know, keep going for it. You know, as soon as you walk on the court, you have your chance. You know, that's with every match I think.

XAVIER MALISSE: I think we played a lot of rallies and I think he just made always one more mistake than I did. We had some tight games and I always got out of it good. I think we both played a little bit the same the first two sets. There wasn't really too much difference. I had some good passing shots which kept me in there, and I think from the third set on it was just -- only needed one break. Then I felt pretty confident of going through because he wasn't going to try as hard anymore probably.

XAVIER MALISSE: I think so. I think overall I knew it was going to be a mental battle to not break, you know, in the head. And I think that's what it was. There wasn't much patience. Sometimes I think he went for too much maybe. But overall, I think it was just the same game a little bit. Just every chance, make two or three points more than he did, and that made a difference.

XAVIER MALISSE: Yeah, it's totally different. In Paris it's huge and there's so much space around the court. Here it's more -- the people are more involved, they're closer to the court and it's really nice. They're just so close. Centre Court, it's big stadium, but the court doesn't feel as huge. And it was a great feeling. Also we warmed up and it was noisy. As soon as you hit the first ball, everybody gets really quiet, which was an unbelievable feeling. And I think, you know, it's easy to play here. There's less noise and more concentration on the game.

XAVIER MALISSE: Yeah, you hear it better. In the French it's so big, it's all the way upstairs, you know, can't even see the people upstairs I think. Here it's more intimate, the players and the fans are closer to each other, less noise. And I think, you know, this is, yeah, definitely an unbelievable Centre Court.

XAVIER MALISSE: Yeah. When I walked on, I was impressed, that's for sure. And it's just -- you're really into it, together with the fans, you know. And it's different than other centre courts, I think - French, US Open, Australian Open is also big, it's also big but a little smaller in one way. It is a different feeling. I had the luck to have that feeling, and, you know, it doesn't happen very much and, you know, it's definitely a really good experience.

XAVIER MALISSE: Well, for me myself, it's probably nicer, you know, when the crowd is maybe neutral. But then again, you know, if it's against Greg, then there will be a lot of people, they'll go crazy, which is a good feeling too. It's just nice to be out there and to sense that great feeling. But it doesn't really matter, you know, somebody has to win, and it doesn't have -- how the outcome is. Just I'll be playing my own game and see how that goes, take two days of rest, practice a little bit and, you know, just try to do my best on Monday.

XAVIER MALISSE: Yeah. I think, well, the draw's opened up really a lot. Not now, not for me in the next round, but maybe after, if I do, if I can get a win out of it, then it opens up. And, you know, this is basically anybody's tournament. You know, all the favorites before the tournament, they're probably all out almost. So it's just, you know, this is anybody's game. And this is -- you know, if somebody wants to win it from the outside, this is the year to do it. And I think, you know, I got my confidence. Everything's going well. But I have to take it one match at a time. And we'll just see how that goes. We'll just -- I'll just do my best on Monday and see how far that brings me.