AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 17, 2006

Peter Luczak

THE MODERATOR: First question, please.

PETER LUCZAK: I did feel a little bit of pressure. But I didn't know about yesterday. I didn't know that no Aussies got through. I was just trying to focus on my match. I was a little bit tight because I knew I had a decent enough draw. He's a good player, but he's not seeded. I've been playing well lately, so there's no reason I couldn't win. Put a little bit of extra pressure on myself.

PETER LUCZAK: They were, yeah. They were all going pretty bananas. But I like that, you know, just gets me fired up. You know, a few extra nerves, but that's probably a good thing.

PETER LUCZAK: No, no. I love it. No. I played college tennis for four years. We had some lunatic supporters where I played. I love when they get a bit boisterous.

PETER LUCZAK: I was just thinking, hang in there, it's just one break. You never know what's going to happen. I feel pretty fit, so if I just gave away that first set 6-2, and he got his confidence, you know, I just said just make him play every point. Even if I get back to maybe 5-4 or 5-All and still end up losing the set, he's going to have to do more work. That's all I was thinking.

PETER LUCZAK: Yeah, I think so. I think last week I played five sets in Sydney and all of them were tiebreaks. I learned a little bit from them. You just got to try to stay positive and stay aggressive when you're playing those tiebreaks. You know, it's a huge advantage if you can obviously win one.

PETER LUCZAK: Yeah, obviously if I can get a good start here, it would be awesome. I'm defending a few points coming up. I made the semis last year of a tournament where I'm defending most of my points. If I can just defend them here hopefully and then I got the rest of the year where I'm not defending many points. I'm looking to hopefully get in the top 100.

PETER LUCZAK: Yeah, I don't really think about my age too much. Like, you know, I'm still enjoying it. Still working hard. That's the main thing. For some reason, I don't feel 26. I still feel young. It doesn't really concern me as long as I'm still loving it.

PETER LUCZAK: Yeah, I was actually trying to visualize this morning, you know, all the running and training and things I've been doing. It just comes to this time of year. You know, it's only a few days or a week or whatever but, you know, it's all worth it like out there on the sand dunes or in the gym. I mean, there's no more fun than playing here in Melbourne with all my family and friends. It's just fantastic.

PETER LUCZAK: Yeah, it's awesome. My parents, they both love tennis. Both my sisters as well. My girlfriend. They don't get to see -- my girlfriend gets to see me play a bit. My parents and sisters, they don't get to see me play too much. I always try to put in an extra effort to try to do well when they're around.

PETER LUCZAK: No. It's great. We sort of joke around about it. They always sort of give me a hard time. Probably takes a bit of pressure off me.

PETER LUCZAK: Previous years I stayed with mum and dad. This year I'm staying just down the road in Richmond. I've got an apartment with another guy who's playing here, Stephen Huss and just close for us, down the road.

PETER LUCZAK: No. Mum was a little bit worried. She loves cooking for me. No, they're fine, yeah.

PETER LUCZAK: Yeah, like November/December, I was trying to work pretty hard. But still with the nerves, doesn't matter how fit you are, it's the nerves I've sort of got to get used to. Obviously, I don't play week in and week out in that sort of environment. I feel like I'm as fit as I can almost be, but still I can feel like my muscles get tight or I get a bit tight just because I'm not used to that environment. Hopefully if I can put myself in that sort of situation every week, should get used to it.

PETER LUCZAK: I try to block it out. I think that was my mistake last week, when I was playing Igor Andreev. I was thinking about all sorts of stuff. What am I going to say to my girlfriend when I win, just all sorts of stupid stuff, what I'm going to say to the guy when I shake hands after I won. You just got to think about the next point.

PETER LUCZAK: I mean, it's probably -- Scott Draper gave me some good advice. He said, Mate, nerves are a good thing. You just got to challenge yourself. Oh, you're feeling nervous, that's awesome. See what you can do with it.

PETER LUCZAK: Yeah, I mean, I'm sure they'll be there in big situations, like 6-All in a tiebreak. I'm sure I'm going to get a little bit nervous. I'm going to try to take advantage of that. I feel good, I'm nervous, this is what I'm meant to feel. If you don't feel nervous, you probably shouldn't be out there. Yeah, I think I'll be a little bit looser the next round because I don't know who won out of Llodra and Rochus.

PETER LUCZAK: Rochus won, yeah, so he's a seeded player. He'll be definitely a favorite. I've got nothing to lose.

PETER LUCZAK: I've seen him around. Little fella. But he's a bloody good player, yeah. Seen him play a couple of matches. He's very impressive.

PETER LUCZAK: I haven't, no.

PETER LUCZAK: Yeah, my old coach, friends I used to play tennis with, a couple high school buddies. I'm not sure. Probably, I don't know, 30, 40.

PETER LUCZAK: Yeah, for sure. I'm sure Lleyton will be around for a few weeks. You know, obviously I want Aussies to win. But if they do fall out, I mean, there will be probably more in my court. I wasn't really expecting to play on a show court today. I was just shocked when the schedule came out. Maybe because some of the Aussies did fall out, just give the crowd something to cheer about.