AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 21, 2006

Nathan Healey

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

NATHAN HEALEY: What did I learn tonight? Well, I mean, I learnt that I definitely can compete at the top level. I mean, he's 5 in the world, and I felt really comfortable out there. Yeah, I felt like it -- you know, when I broke back in the fourth, I felt it could go either way. So, yeah, it's a marvelous experience. Yeah, I mean, there are things that I can work on with my game, and I'll talk about those in more detail after I've had a few beers tonight and relaxed (smiling).

NATHAN HEALEY: I don't know. I suppose to get to that point, by playing aggressive, I did a lot better. I think I played a negative game when I got broken back. Yeah, I mean, that's something that I'll learn from. Yeah, I'll make it better in the future.

NATHAN HEALEY: For sure. For sure. Yeah, I mean, now that I believe it and actually feel it inside, yeah. I mean, I feel like I could go anywhere. I'm very happy.

NATHAN HEALEY: What next? I'm not sure. See, that's another thing. I'll have to look at my schedule. Yeah, I'll go through that with a few people. Yeah, I mean, I've had a lot of people helping me here. I really appreciate that. We'll sit down, discuss the next steps.

NATHAN HEALEY: Well, not really. Not at this stage. I mean, yeah, I've had help from Babolat racquets, which have been wonderful, and also Lonsdale clothes, this off-court gear, which is awesome stuff. Other than that, nothing's come about yet. It would be great. Flying around the world, it just adds up, really adds up. That prize money looks glamorous, I don't know what it is, 46,000 or something, but half of it's already gone to pay debts. Then you buy an around-the-world ticket, there's 5,000 Australian. It flies.

NATHAN HEALEY: Yeah, I mean, it's a huge help. You know, that could go in three months on tour. That could be gone. So, you know, I'll try and save some of it and put it away. But, yeah, it's a tough slog. I mean, it all helps.

NATHAN HEALEY: Unbelievable. At one point I thought the whole place was going to fall down. It reeked of a few beers. No, it was a buzz out there. Amazing atmosphere. I've never played in anything like it. I mean, I'm feeling more and more comfortable in those situations. That's all very positive.

NATHAN HEALEY: Yeah, for sure. I mean, it was pretty big last year on Show Court 3. It was similar sort of boisterous crowd. Yeah, this one takes the cake definitely.

NATHAN HEALEY: Just chill out. Yeah, take a couple of days off, then discuss my schedule, get back into the hard work, continue what I've been striving towards.

NATHAN HEALEY: I think it was pretty tough on him. I said to him after the match, "Congratulations. You dealt with that pretty well." Yeah, but you're at home. He's not at home, you know. Playing a hometown boy, he must have expected it to be something like that out there. And he's a disciplined player. I mean, he's 5 in the world, so he's been in those situations a lot more than I have. Yeah, but he dealt with it hell. He's an ice man.

NATHAN HEALEY: Well, it did for sure. Not that I played Davis Cup. Hopefully one day. But, yeah, I mean, it was loud. It was crazy. You have to try and block it out. If you get all caught up in the hype of it, then you're wasting a lot of energy. So I tried not to and tried to calm myself. It's difficult at times. Tried to put the towel over my head, just go into my own little world. I'm getting better at that.

NATHAN HEALEY: With a crowd like that, it tends to blend in, you know. Yeah, it's just like one big, like, happy party. But I find it worse when you get like one voice in a small match, like with 50 people watching. It's one voice over and over and over and over. When you got hundreds of voices, it tends to all blend in.

NATHAN HEALEY: Yeah, did they do that? He didn't have many double-faults, did he? I don't know.

NATHAN HEALEY: Really?

NATHAN HEALEY: Yeah, sure, I don't know. Actually, I was in the zone then, so I didn't realize it. I didn't know what was going on. I was just playing tennis.