AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 15, 2003

Scott Draper

SCOTT DRAPER: Yeah, I struggled at the start. You know, I lost the first 6-4, got down a break in the second. I clawed my way out of that set. I played well in the tiebreaker, got it level at one set all. I lost a serve from the tough end, was down a break, but he started to struggle with his hip. I saw it. I sensed it. I wasn't too worried at that stage. He took a long break. When he came out, I don't know, he seemed to relax or something, started hitting the ball harder than he normally does, flattened them out, dropshotted me a lot. He looked composed and relaxed. In the end, he overpowered me. I struggled from one end on serve, lost serve a couple important times. I did a lot of running. I felt I was in there with a chance. I wanted to keep the match going as long as possible. I felt if it went to a fifth, I could probably grind him down. In the end, I just got overpowered.

SCOTT DRAPER: Look, I didn't try and do a lot differently. I was trying to keep my slice fairly low to his forehand, try to open the court to get a crack at a down-the-line shot. One thing I tried to do, which I didn't do, was get a high percentage of first serves. I felt like my serve percentage was down. I tried to be aggressive at the right time and use my legs to get myself in a position to get that shot. But he seemed to just hit a hell of a lot of good shots off that first ball. I mean, bang, then I was on the run, the ball dropped short. Against that guy, you can't let that happen. You know, I felt for the last sort of 45 minutes of the match, he just overpowered me. I was always on the defense. I like to be on the baseline controlling the point. I was the one doing all the scrambling. It wasn't to be.

SCOTT DRAPER: Look, he just played about 20 dropshots. I got to every one. I lost I think about 18 of them. I was sort of saying, "Can I win one?" It was frustrating the hell out of me. Normally I'm good when people move me forward because I could move to the net. I just couldn't seem to win a point. It was frustrating the hell out of me. I was saying, "Please, one."

SCOTT DRAPER: I'm pretty frustrated at the moment. I'm not a happy camper at the moment. I just don't feel a hundred percent comfortable. I'm trying to make it happen, and it's just not happening. It's bothering me. I'm showing my frustration too much. Some of the things I'm thinking are not very pleasant. I've just got to keep hanging in there, keep practicing. I've got Davis Cup coming up in a couple weeks. I got doubles and hopefully mixed this week. That's more practice. Just keep plugging away.

SCOTT DRAPER: Yeah, look, you know, I certainly -- I guess I lost the plot there. Back in '99, wife passed away, not really wanting to play tennis a whole bit. Now I'm grinding my way back. I'm getting these wildcards. I feel pressure from that. I'd love to be on my own accord, be able to play my own tennis. But then again, I do need the wildcards. I want to be in the tournaments, doing it. Look, you know, my flair, it's always been talked about. At the end of the day, it doesn't mean anything unless you can have the conviction to play the shots you need to play at the right time. It's something that I'm probably struggling with a little bit at the moment. At the end of the day, I think it's hundreds of balls in practice, playing more matches. The guys I'm playing have played oodles more matches than me under pressure. I'm probably making the wrong options at the wrong time. I really need to just keep grinding and keep practicing. Hopefully persistence will pay off.

SCOTT DRAPER: I haven't.

SCOTT DRAPER: I've never -- I'm sure it's out there, but I've never -- I've never felt like I've lost a match because a guy was, I don't know, too fast, too strong or too fit. I mean, you know, I consider myself one of the fitter players. I never really worry about playing a five-set match. You know, if it's out there, hopefully there's a system that stops the cheats. But I'm not thinking about it. I go out on the court, I've got my own problems, I'm trying to win a match regardless if I'm playing a drugger or whatever. You know, doesn't really matter (laughter). If they get caught, they get caught. If they don't, can't do much about it. We have to play under the rules. I'm glad the EPO is coming, the blood testing. Hopefully that will catch a few more drugs that are undetectable in normal situations. It obviously would be great to see a sport drug-free.

SCOTT DRAPER: My role, gee. Look, I'm a backup sort of player at the moment. I'd love to be ranked higher and playing great tennis to be selected on my own merit. You know, obviously if Hewitt and Philippoussis are fit, it's hard. Hewitt speaks for himself. Philippoussis is a frighteningly good tennis player. It would be great to see him achieve what I think he can achieve. Wayne Arthurs is coming back from injury, but he's always dangerous with his serve. We got a lot of good Juniors coming through. I've got experience, I've been around a while, but I've never been that sort of No. 1 or 2 definite player. Something I'm trying to rectify, because Davis Cup is very important to me. I'm going to go to Sydney hopefully and train my butt off, somehow get selected.

SCOTT DRAPER: No, it's pretty hard to map things out when you're ranked where I am. I try to get in as many events as I can, play quallies as much as I can. It's a bit of a fly by the seat of your pants type of deal. Look, I'm probably about 120 at least after this tournament. Take just a couple good events to get myself into that top 80 section. Once you're there, it's a lot easier to stay there. Where I am, it's a bit of a grind. I'm just trying to rectify that.

SCOTT DRAPER: I leave it up to the selectors. I think as it turned out this year, I think I was the highest ranked Aussie outside the main draw. I'm a reasonable part of the Davis Cup team. I'm sure that time will come if I'm not performing, I'm sort of stagnant, not improving. Don't worry, I'll be getting the hammer and nail out, hanging them up. At the moment I feel like I'm still improving. 2002 was a pretty good year, hell of a lot better than what was 2001. I think tennis is a game -- it's a patience game, you can't expect things to happen overnight. You have to be persistent. I'm trying my best to do that. Yeah, look, I'm all for young kids coming through, taking welcomes, taking advantage of it. I'm happy to take a backseat if that happens. I'm certainly not going to let it happen easily.

SCOTT DRAPER: No, look, bottom line, he just seemed to relax. He felt, "There's no chance I'm going to be out here grinding away because my hip is not going to take it" he thought, "Okay, I'm going to swing away." He seemed relaxed about it, hit the ball great. In the end, I wished he was feeling a hundred percent. I was doing better then. That's the game of tennis. You take your chances. That was the high percentage thing for him to do. He was great.

SCOTT DRAPER: Look, I haven't got a problem with it, no. If you've got an injury, you've got to get some treatment. Cramping is another situation. Look, I don't know what the best thing to do all the time is. At the end of the day, we go out there, we know what rules we're playing under. It's a one-on-one battle. Winner comes up trumps.

SCOTT DRAPER: Look, I'd kill right now to feel really good about my game. You know, it's just not quite there. I don't have the confidence to swing at the moment. My feet sometimes are out of position. I get a bit tight on big points at the moment. I guess that's coming from lack of match play under those conditions. You're dead right, I should be a guy that should be on the baseline swinging away, you know, controlling the point. As soon as I get behind the baseline, I'm the one running, I get in trouble. Yeah, a lot of lessons to be learned. I'm trying to figure them out. I think it comes down to hard work.

SCOTT DRAPER: No. Look, I haven't put myself in a position to win a Grand Slam. It's something that I would love to do. But, look, it's been documented many times that I've got the talent, had the talent, whatever. But at the end of the day, there's different types of talent. His talent is his solidness. He plays a tough point every time. He's nicknamed The Bull. He's very fit and strong. Yeah, I think for me it's about consistency. I mean, I'm a pretty - what would you say - free spirit. I don't like to be tied down. It probably shows on the tennis court occasionally. I need to learn how to be a little more patient and not get bored with certain things, knuckle down for the whole three, four hours you're out there. But I think at the end of the day, you can't have excuses. You just have to put the hours on the practice court, which I'm trying to do, get better that way.