WIMBLEDON

July 2, 2005

Stephen Huss

Wesley Moodie

THE MODERATOR: We welcome our men's doubles champions. Questions, please.

STEPHEN HUSS: It's a little like that, but it doesn't feel like that. You know, I know it's real with all the feelings that I'm having. I know it's not a dream (laughter).

STEPHEN HUSS: Sure, yeah. I mean, I'm definitely surprised to be Wimbledon champion, because it involves so many matches in a row against so many quality teams. But, you know, every time we walk on the court, we try and win that match. I'm not overly surprised that we win matches, but winning that many in succession and at a tournament like this is certainly special.

WESLEY MOODIE: I think we played pretty solid from the first match and we've just kind of taken it one match at a time and how far can we go. Turns out we went pretty far.

WESLEY MOODIE: No, I'm definitely going to keep playing singles. I mean, I've been working hard on my singles game. I'm actually playing the best tennis of my life actually in singles - although the results don't really reflect that. You know, I mean, I had one or two kind of minor injuries which kind of set me back a bit. But I'm really looking forward to getting out there and playing singles, as well. This is definitely going to take some pressure off that. You know, I still believe I've got the game -- to get inside the Top 50.

STEPHEN HUSS: Well, I've been here the last four years. I've qualified two years before this, and then the year before that I was in the main draw, as well. I've been playing and I've been trying. I've been perservering. I've been, you know, in and out of the challengers, back to tour events.

WESLEY MOODIE: He was just trying to find the right partner (laughter).

STEPHEN HUSS: That's right. So, you know, I've been here and I've been trying and I've been playing and hoping for something like this to happen.

STEPHEN HUSS: I think we complement each other very well. Wes is obviously a big hitter of the ball and a big server. That gives me opportunities around the net, which is my strength, sort of moving around the net, trying to cut off balls. Wes is a really, you know, big presence at the net to really help me out on my serve. We just kind of clicked.

WESLEY MOODIE: I think also a key for me is that Steve is quite relaxed on the courts. I don't feel much pressure playing with him. It's enjoyable. Yeah, I mean, we go out there, we have some fun. We end up winning, I guess, some of the time.

STEPHEN HUSS: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I mean, it comes to a stage -- I mean, I'll be 30 in December, I've been playing, you know, challengers, mainly challengers, for mainly the last two years. You know, my goal is always to play in the Grand Slams. That's, you know, the pinnacle of tennis, and that's what I enjoy the most. So for me, if I wasn't able to compete in Grand Slams and play Grand Slams, you know, continuing to play challenger events and win at that level or, you know, go up and down at that level, doesn't really inspire me. I was definitely looking at other options and what else I could do.

STEPHEN HUSS: No. I was always playing until the end of this year. And Wimbledon is something -- you know, a credit to Wimbledon itself, they have qualifying. All the other Grand Slams have got rid of it. I think that's really disappointing. If you have it in singles, why not have it in doubles? So we had an opportunity to play here.

WESLEY MOODIE: Yeah, for sure. I mean, up until I guess three weeks ago, I was concentrating on my singles. I lost last round qualifying here after having match point. I guess we qualified in the doubles, so it's a bit of a relief to at least make it through in one, one event, I guess. But, yeah, I mean, to come through, I mean, I always knew if I was able to get into some of these bigger tournaments, I'd have a chance of doing well. But certainly to come through the qualifying and beat the teams that we beat along the way...

WESLEY MOODIE: Pretty convincingly some of them, which I guess also is surprising in a way.

STEPHEN HUSS: Still got a way to go.

WESLEY MOODIE: I mean, I certainly hope so. I think we need like a top player, you know, where people can look up to or young people can look up to. But also more importantly having a top player who's also playing inside the country. So I think there are a lot of people working hard to get tournaments back on the calendar. So I think, yeah, the next step is to get the tournaments back, get top players there so the kids can watch them play and can get inspired.

STEPHEN HUSS: Hey, I don't know anything about this (laughter).

WESLEY MOODIE: I hurt my back in Queen's and I couldn't practice the whole of the previous week. But, fortunately, I mean, I thought it would be quite tough to play singles and doubles on the same day, on I think it was Monday, wasn't it? I mean, over the weekend, my back was getting much better. I wasn't too sure if it would be selfish to not tell him. I don't know. I decided not to tell him. Here we are.

WESLEY MOODIE: Yeah, for sure. I have been working with a coach, but I think also at the same time, I mean, I'm a big guy, if I play lots of tennis and do lots of training, the body kind of takes a bit of a beating. I think it's been important for me, I have been traveling at some stages with a trainer, which really helps. But I'm definitely going to be looking into that more in the future.

WESLEY MOODIE: Yeah, he's been a top player himself. We had some practice sessions, giving us advice. Yeah, I mean, with him around, it definitely helped us quite a bit.

STEPHEN HUSS: Well, I've been looking at what else I could do, and that would be -- I mean, I was in America and I got my degree there. I would certainly look at, you know, what I could use that to get. And things I'm interested in were, or are, still continue to be, I'm interested in personal training and working with elite athletes to improve their performance - I'm not talking about tennis specifically, it could be any sport. I find the improvements at the top level are the most challenging to get, those small little things. That's an area that I'd like to work in.

STEPHEN HUSS: My degree was exercise science with a minor in psychology. Along those lines.

WESLEY MOODIE: It's going to buy a new house, mate.

STEPHEN HUSS: I haven't really thought about it. I only found out after the match. I haven't been looking at the prize money the whole tournament. I didn't want to know about it. I just found out after we played. To win that amount of money, I haven't -- to be honest, I haven't thought about it. I don't know.

STEPHEN HUSS: Actually, I wouldn't say that, no. It hasn't been a struggle. It's been fine to stay on the tour and keep playing, competing and travel. I've been spending about as much as I've been earning. It's not like I'm getting ahead and got things tucked away anywhere, but I wouldn't say that I've been struggling either.

STEPHEN HUSS: Well, when I first came out of college, my parents gave me a certain amount of money and said, you know, "Here, let's see what you can do with that." I gave myself 18 months to play tennis. I was going to see where I was after that 18 months. By the time that 18 months was up, I was doing well enough to continue supporting myself and playing and traveling. Ever since then, I've been able to support myself doing it. It hasn't always been lucrative. I mean, occasionally I'll cash a check for a hundred-odd dollars or something like that in some weeks. But occasionally a good week comes along and you make a couple thousand. So it keeps rolling.

STEPHEN HUSS: I was told we split £220,000. Math isn't very good, but I believe that's about 110 each. If you convert that to Australian dollars, it's more than double.

WESLEY MOODIE: I was going to ask Steve if he wanted to play some more.

STEPHEN HUSS: I'll think about it (smiling). Oh, absolutely. I mean, I know Wes, his priority is singles and should continue to be. He's an amazing singles player, as well as doubles player. But we'll team up whenever we can, or I hope we can. I mean, we haven't really talked about it. The only time it's been brought up is when we're talking to you guys, which has only been over the last couple of days.

STEPHEN HUSS: Absolutely. It's not so much the ATP themselves that are trying to stop it. It's mainly the tournament directors of the tournaments who are saying that doubles players don't bring any revenue to their tournaments, and so they're trying to cut us out a lot. The ATP are fighting for us and they're trying to make some compromises. But, I mean, I think it's pretty -- it's very disappointing that kids now have to come up and they have to be good singles players and then become doubles players as opposed to letting them play singles and doubles like I did, and then seeing which one, you know, they're better at. So there's no real option for anyone starting a doubles career now, which is extremely disappointing. And I hope that things will turn around.