WIMBLEDON

June 27, 2002

Scott Draper

Q. What kind of experience was that for you today?

SCOTT DRAPER: Always a great experience going on Centre Court Wimbledon. It's my second time. First time against Pete Sampras was pretty ordinary. That was a better performance. I was just disappointed in my serve today. I said before the match it was going to be an important part of my strategy. I always struggle a little bit on big courts for depth perception. You don't get a chance to practice out there. Even when I did get it in, it wasn't a quality serve. Tim got the early break in every set -- in all sets. You know, I was always behind the eight ball. It makes it tough. He volleyed great in the last three sets. Hardly missed a volley. Made a lot of returns. It's my serve that let me down today.

SCOTT DRAPER: Possibly. You know, I was speaking to Fitzy. He said he struggled with, whatever it is, depth perception, whatever it is, on a bigger court. I have had that problem. But I think, you know, at the end of the day it probably does come down to lack of matches under that sort of pressure. You know, I've just started to practice my serve a lot recently, getting ready for the grass. I had to serve well coming up to that match. Today, whether it was pressure, it wasn't there. I was struggling for my rhythm. As a match, I was pretty happy. I played fairly solid. An important game was that 5-4, third set. Had a few break points. If I had won that game, I would have got a lot of confidence from that, might have been a different match. Tim got out of it, the crowd got behind him, the whirlwind went on.

SCOTT DRAPER: Look, at this stage -- I'm not being biased , but I'd probably pick Lleyton. Tim obviously has a great chance, he has every year. You know, there's been a lot of great players knocked out yesterday. I think that on that court, it seems to be a little slower than normal, for some reason, whether the grass is slightly longer, which I think obviously is going to help Lleyton get through. Tim, you know, has the weight of the nation, which isn't easy. I mean, sometimes on those points, I felt for him. He had a game point serving for the set, misses a first serve, everyone is saying "Oh, God." Tough. Must be hard to get rid of that. He's experienced at it. He's done it many years now. Maybe that's just feeling at home for him. I don't know. But I'll back Lleyton at this stage.

SCOTT DRAPER: Well, I think the last three sets, he was very solid. I thought I made a lot of returns, somewhat quite good quality. He didn't make any unforced errors. He moves great. He's underestimated for his quickness. He gets in very close after his first serve. It's very hard, unless you take the ball early, to get it down at his feet. I haven't got probably the strength of return of serve to do that. I like to block, and maybe that suited Tim, I'm not sure. I thought he played well. And I think he has got a good chance to get to the semis obviously.

SCOTT DRAPER: I mean, "deserve"? You take your chances when you get them. Every day is a different day. He was too good for me today.

SCOTT DRAPER: I actually -- you know, I thought he was pretty solid today. I can't comment if there was a big glaring weakness or difference in his game to other years. Probably one thing, I was surprised at how much he serve volleyed today. Normally he stays back on second serve. Maybe that was a strategy, because I would have liked more baseline rallies. I'm not sure. But that was a surprising part of his game. Whether he's going to continue to do that for the rest of the Championships is another thing. But, obviously, I think he may have had some early jitters. First set was a little bit shaky. But so was I. That's part of playing. You know, no glaring weaknesses or problems for him, I don't think.

SCOTT DRAPER: I've been working at it for some time. I'm not going to rush it. I've just got to keep going the way I'm going. One thing for me today was to be positive the whole match. I was going to have good body language and try my best. You know, I can only get better doing that. As I said, I was pretty happy with the performance. Just need to keep doing it, keep practicing. I think in time I will get there. My game is coming back.

SCOTT DRAPER: I'd say there's times, yeah. How could it not? You know, you've got to be human sometimes. He can feel the pressure. I felt -- I sometimes thought, "Glad I wasn't Tim Henman." Obviously it's great most of the time. When you're serving for a set, there's groans and moans when you miss the first serve. Obviously, no one is immune to that.

SCOTT DRAPER: Sure.

SCOTT DRAPER: I love being a part of any great atmosphere. I don't care if people are with me or against me. It's just a nice atmosphere. You know, the English crowd are not nasty, they just support their player. It's all fun and games to me. I think it's fantastic being out there. Gets the adrenaline going. So be it.

SCOTT DRAPER: You know, I suppose a factor, there's only four Grand Slams. You know, some of the countries that would go absolutely nuts for their players don't have a Grand Slam in that country. Pat, you know, is unbelievable in Australia. You know, some of the French players are obviously huge in the French. US Open, Americans obviously. But Pat and Tim are probably, you know, carrying the weight of a nation more than anyone, I've seen. Pat, whether he didn't handle it as well as Tim, I don't know. But maybe just a bit of bad timing, time of the year, starting off. It's interesting anyway to think about it.

SCOTT DRAPER: We both had the little talk, you know, before we went on the court. Had a bit of a chuckle we have the same racquets, same outfits. You can't help that (smiling). Maybe Tim should have a different line of clothing to me. I don't think people care.

SCOTT DRAPER: Going home, practice, and LA, I think, probably my first tournament back.