WIMBLEDON

June 24, 2002

Barry Cowan

BARRY COWAN: Second one. It was funny, because five minutes before my match last year, I was reminded in the dressing room, that was 0 for 5. Good to get another win.

BARRY COWAN: I guess it's a cliche, but I feel it's better. But it's confidence. I've again, this time, this year, had a pretty horrendous year. But it's always nice to get a win. I think Wimbledon seems to bring the best out of me (smiling).

BARRY COWAN: Yeah, really pleasing. And obviously I think hardly dropped a point on my serve till I got to the tiebreak. I think he got three points, three mini breaks, then down a set. But I thought mentally I was really good because I just hung in. I sense when he dropped off the pace. I think his first serve percentage dropped. He started to go for a bit more on his second serve, a few double-faults started to creep in. I really upped him when it mattered.

BARRY COWAN: I think that was a sign of picking up from what he was doing. I guess that's experience. But, you know, hot day. I didn't struggle with fatigue or anything today. You know, once I got up a break in the fourth, it was just make sure that I kept my composure, which is what I did.

BARRY COWAN: It wasn't my decision. It's the rule for the ATP and the ITF. They told me about it the second week of Wimbledon. They said they would have trouble with it. Obviously, it can be a form of coaching. It worked well last year.

BARRY COWAN: I mean, that's a rule. Obviously, the rules are there and you have to abide by them, sort of get on. Obviously, I listen to it before my match.

BARRY COWAN: Yeah. The song doesn't change (laughter).

BARRY COWAN: I haven't seen a whole lot of Gloria this year. She's been busy and I've been busy. A lot of the work we did, I still do. You know, it's unfortunate, I haven't had a good year. As I said, you know, the grass does suit my game. Let's see what can happen in my next match.

BARRY COWAN: Yes. I mean, John McEnroe said when he sort of sat next to me, "You know, it will be interesting to see how Barry does now, does he capitalize on it?" I won my first challenger in July last year in Brazil. But, you know, I haven't been able to build on that. You know, when you lose a lot of close matches, as I've done this year, when I went a set down, could have been easy to think, "Here we go again." But I thought really positive. Really pleased to get a win and look forward to Wednesday.

BARRY COWAN: Well, I think second round of Wimbledon, you've just got to concentrate on yourself. Jamie is a very good player, as is Nicolas Lapentti. I just take care of myself, all you can do. Like when I was asked last year playing Pete Sampras, all you can do is take care of yourself. On the day, if it's good enough, great. If it's not, just come back another day.

BARRY COWAN: There are certain reasons, for sure. But really I just want to concentrate on my tennis this week and really look forward to Wednesday. You know, as I said, I haven't won many matches. It's just nice to win. First win in six months, so nice to be sitting here with a winning feeling again.

BARRY COWAN: This time of year is very lucrative. I know the British guys, we get a hard time about getting the wildcard, obviously the money is involved. But certainly the first couple years I received my wildcard, there's no way I'd be playing now if I hadn't got that. I know it's the same for a couple of the other younger British guys. When you go and play in Brazil, I think I received maybe two and a half thousand dollars, which sounds a lot. But when you have to pay for your flight, your food and everything, it soon adds up.

BARRY COWAN: Well, yes. I mean, certainly the first couple years. The last couple years, I've obviously started to do a lot better in other tournaments. Obviously, that's when the money comes in. But, you know, the first couple years was a big relief because I was able to travel the world. I think that's really important as a tennis player. If you want to go to Australia or you want to go to South America, you can do it. I don't think you should think in the back of your mind, "Well, I can't do it because I can't afford it." I've been lucky in that way.

BARRY COWAN: I'll get a massage. Have a relaxing meal. Tomorrow I'll work on a few errors with my coach. Just a light hit. Take it easy really, get ready for Wednesday.

BARRY COWAN: I don't know. I don't like to add them up (laughter). But it's a few. My last win was in February.

BARRY COWAN: That was in Germany. I beat a guy called Mario Ancic, who is a rising star. He qualified here.

BARRY COWAN: Indoors. But, obviously, concentrating on Wednesday.

BARRY COWAN: What do you mean, the ATP Tour?

BARRY COWAN: I don't know offhand.

BARRY COWAN: No. Not many. Obviously, my ranking hasn't been able to get into those tournaments.

BARRY COWAN: I think I've been playing for 10 years. You've got to be able to pick yourself up when you've had a loss. You've got to be able to self-motivate. That's what I've been able to do. You know, there's nothing better than -- after a bad loss, you're sitting in your hotel room, you're really depressed on your own, you've got to think about the next week. You know, I feel great now sitting down here having had a win. I'm sure the other players will tell you, there's nothing better than when you win.

BARRY COWAN: No doubt the country was on a huge high, obviously starting with the Golden Jubilee. Then you have Lennox Lewis. The spirit of the country with football was magnificent. Obviously, we all thought that it was going to continue on to the final. But they came up against a team that played well on the day. Unfortunately, our team wasn't able to play how obviously we all know they can in the second half. But I think people shouldn't forget that it's such a young team. I don't know what the average age is, maybe 23, 24. I think two years, four years, it will be real exciting.

BARRY COWAN: I mean, I don't want to put pressure on Tim or Greg, though Tim seems to handle it every year. You've got to look at grass court pedigree. Those two players are definitely in the Top 5 or 6. You've got obviously Tim, Greg, Federer, can't rule out Roger Federer. He's a great, great player. Then you've got obviously the baseliners, Agassi and Hewitt. I don't think you should write out Sampras. I don't know how Philippoussis -- did he win today?

BARRY COWAN: I mean, he's also a dangerous floater.