AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 14, 2003

Andrew Ilie

MODERATOR: Questions, please.

ANDREW ILIE: I thought so. All in all, I was quite pleased with myself today. My third match in six months. Crabb played really well. Drape played pretty well. I was really disappointed. A few close points. All in all, I was quite pleased.

ANDREW ILIE: That and a few chances with another girl, you know, but you never get them back (smiling). It's all right, you know. That's why I didn't even get angry on the call. I mean, you make some, you miss some. I made a couple of close ones, I missed a couple of easy ones. Could have made a difference; couldn't have. You're right, two volleys there. All in all, as I said, played a couple good points. I was pretty pleased compared to when I stopped playing end of June. I thought I did quite well.

ANDREW ILIE: I was trying to hold it for the back straight, but sort of the back straight never came. You know, it was a good match. Jaymon was really match fit. That's what it showed. I mean, he played probably 30 matches, 40 matches, in the past six months. He played really, really solid. He was in there all the time. I just had sort of bits and pieces where I played well, and that's where it showed. You know, playing more matches, next six months, I can put together the good pieces, have less of those walkabout sort of things. I mean, as I said, things could have gone a little better: those two volleys, a few more backhands, a few more forehands. Yeah, it's pretty tough. People will look at the result and go, "He lost." As I said, I'm quite pleased.

ANDREW ILIE: I played two matches in qualifying in Sydney last week. You know, I was actually quite pleased last week as well in qualifying in Sydney. Improved a lot since last week. So, yeah, I mean, it's just been a bit tough coming back. The first few hits in October were quite average. Just been a long way, long way up the hill. You know, there's halfway to go - halfway to go.

ANDREW ILIE: Realistically (smiling)? Realistically, I look to get close to the Top 100, if I can. But my mini goal would be just to actually play good matches out there; doesn't matter win, lose, I just got to keep fighting out there. You know, just play matches, play matches, don't get frustrated. The worst thing you can do when you come back is go, "I played so good in the past, look, I'm not playing so well now." You can't really compare. I've been injured before. You know, when I came back, I played my best tennis. You know, just have a bit of patience and hopefully I can get, you know, 40, 50 matches in the next six months, seven months, you know, get my ranking up.

ANDREW ILIE: I'm going to go to America, play a few challengers, maybe a few qualifying for the tour events. They'll be indoors, pretty slow indoors. It will be pretty good. Yeah, we'll just see how things roll along. Might even play, there's a challenger in Tasmania a bit later on in the year. Might be playing that.

ANDREW ILIE: Yeah, some people, some people. Not the important people. You know, my friends stuck with me, you know, my coach, also Craig, Peter, my trainer. You know, just a special thanks to the Australian Institute of Sport. They really helped me a lot to come back for this Australian Open. Couldn't have done it without them. Richard Fromberg, MacCurdy, they've been really great. I'd just like to thank those guys. They put in a lot of time with me.

ANDREW ILIE: Yes, it is tough. But in a way it's pretty liberating. You know, you go out there. I don't have anything to lose. I mean, once you get up there, Top 50, you sort of sometimes protect what you have. You don't play as forward as you used to. In a way, it's liberating. Yeah, you change your values. I think it's good to be reminded once in a while that you are mortal. Most of the tennis players around, they have a different reality. Their feet don't really touch the ground. I'm thankful that I've been brought back a little bit. I was there, Top 50 for a couple years. I'm just really happy. You got to take difficulties as they come. I'm happy where I am at the moment. I'll be aiming to do better. Yeah, I mean, if you don't have anything to work forward for, it's not that much fun.

ANDREW ILIE: I'll be trying to play doubles. We'll see how that goes. And mixed also. We'll see tonight the sign-in for doubles, and mixed tomorrow. I'm looking to get as much tennis out here as I can.

ANDREW ILIE: It's been good, especially walking out there onto Court 1 today. It was terrific. The crowd was really, really supportive. You know, it just sent shivers down my spine when I went out there. A little bit disappointed I lost, but what can you do?

ANDREW ILIE: Craig Tyser (phonetic).

ANDREW ILIE: No. Peter McNamara, he actually led a training camp that we had.

ANDREW ILIE: Yes.

ANDREW ILIE: I would be playing better if I'd seen any (laughter). I don't know. I mean, it's tough to say. It's tough to say. I mean, there have been happenings everywhere. You hear this, you hear that. By the time something gets to you, it gets blown out of proportion. There have been a few people here and there, I guess, that have been under question and everything. I'm not going to comment on something I have no clue about. There's always been the question, "Is there? Isn't there? What can you do to test better?" But it's difficult. It's difficult for everybody. You know, whoever does it does it at their own risk. That's the end of that.

ANDREW ILIE: Joe Siriani. He won the wildcard from winning the satellite tour for the whole year.

ANDREW ILIE: I don't know yet. There's a lot of girls lining up, but... (Smiling). No, I'm joking. I've spoken with a few girls, and I'm waiting for the coach to chuck one down my way.

ANDREW ILIE: It could have been worse, could have been over a hundred. 75, no out. What can you do? I hit a couple of good shots. Usually what I do is I hit 75 unforced errors and about, you know, 50 winners. At the end it's only 20 unforced errors. Today it's just a bit off. You know, I'm not going to take even -- bother to read my stat. I don't want to upset myself anymore.