AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 17, 2005

Scott Draper

Q. Do you remember when you last actually beat a world No. 13?

SCOTT DRAPER: Good question. Don't know. It's been a while since I played (smiling). I really couldn't answer that question. I know I've beaten quite a few people inside the top 13, but when I don't know. I don't know. You got me.

SCOTT DRAPER: Look, I'm sure it was -- for me, I had nothing to lose. I think Tommy probably didn't know what to expect. I mean, he would have done his homework and realized that I hadn't played since October of 2003. You know, he probably heard about the golf thing. I guess he was like, "Well, what's going to happen out there?" And I played great in the first set. As the match went on, I just ran out of steam. My legs, you know, had no miles in them. I knew I had to keep the points short. And unfortunately to hit big shots, you need strong legs, and my legs were not feeling too strong after a while. It was hard, but I had a ball out there. I was happy the way I competed. Just, as I said, he was just too fit and strong for me.

SCOTT DRAPER: Surprised how well I played?

SCOTT DRAPER: Yeah. I guess I was never frightened of how I was going to hit the ball. Hitting the ball has never been my real weakness. It's been I guess the consistency of training and what's been going on in my life over the years. I mean, my sort of career's been such a roller coaster ride. Hitting the ball was the easiest thing for me to do. It was just a question of how well I could train over a period of time and that would sort of be the difference when I played matches. So to play that well in the first set, I was expecting to play well, but I knew I would have to keep the points short because I knew I wasn't going to last like three hours against Tommy Robredo. I mean, it's going to be a tough match for me. I would have liked to play a guy that made a few more errors and wasn't such a consistent big hitter, you know, logged a lot of miles.

SCOTT DRAPER: Not really. I still love competing out there. I still would like to play tennis. The frustrating thing is just I'm not quite as, you know, fast as I used to be. That's frustrating. It's frustrating when you see balls you used to be able to get and you can't get them. I know that you can put the work in to get better at that, but I don't know if my body would take it. I really don't know. I don't know if I want to find out. I'm enjoying my golf. So this year is really, I guess, a year to really decide which way I'm going to go. You know, obviously tennis isn't going to happen forever. And if my golf continues to go the way it's going, then I probably will keep playing. But if it seems to be something out of my league, then I will look at the normal part of life, and that's family and being home and kids and all that sort of stuff. It will be a great 2005. But I'm looking forward to the challenge of golf. It's been great to me so far. I look forward to the future with it.

SCOTT DRAPER: Yeah, no, I've got nine weeks in a row of golf after this starting in the Vic Open next week, then I'm probably playing pre Qs for the Heineken, I got pre Qs for New Zealand, Adelaide, New Zealand again, then about another five weeks in Australia, playing Norman Van Adder events. Then I got a month off, then it's back into the tennis for Roland Garros through Wimbledon, hopefully play some Nationwide events in the States, and US Open tennis, and then obviously our golf season starts again sort of October-ish. Yeah, I'll be swapping and changing and all that sort of stuff. Yeah, it's going to be a difficult year, but I'm looking forward to it.

SCOTT DRAPER: That's at Woodlands. Vic Open is next week. Vic PGA is --

SCOTT DRAPER: I thought it was the first week in March. Could be wrong. I don't know.

SCOTT DRAPER: Yes, I believe so.

SCOTT DRAPER: Yeah, I mean, unless something unforeseen happened, you know, whether I get a wildcard in doubles. I'm going to sign up with Luke Bourgeois. Obviously, if we're still going in the tournament, I wouldn't play the Vic Open. If I was a gambling man, I'd say I'll be fine.

SCOTT DRAPER: Well, I'd love to play. And I think the tournament director and the promoters would like me to play. It's just a question of spots. In golf, it's a little bit different than tennis. I think they give their spots a little earlier than they do in tennis. They were committed before Q School ever happened. They were hoping for a couple of guys to get in on their own accord, some guys to pull out, then I'd get in. At this stage it's not looking great.

SCOTT DRAPER: Look, I think I can compete in them. I don't expect to be winning them or something. But I think I'm good enough to compete in those tournaments. And I need to play those sort of events to learn the ropes because I'm so green and inexperienced in the golfing world. That's just going to be invaluable for me. I really need to do it.

SCOTT DRAPER: Yeah.

SCOTT DRAPER: It was actually unfortunate. As soon as I finished Q School, I had this two weeks where my back - I don't know what it was. I wasn't really looking after myself when I was playing golf, and that's a mistake. Lower back got me. I was out for two weeks. I was hoping to spend from Q School right through to the Australian Open of mainly tennis, you know, really getting ready so I was a little fitter than I was today. That didn't work out. So to answer your question, I've only played probably about seven or eight rounds of golf in the last, you know, month, I guess.

SCOTT DRAPER: Probably about seven or eight. Not too often. But I've got that month. You know, I mean, it's very hard to be good at something and not be committed to it. In the next nine weeks, I've got to be committed to my golf, and then when I've finished the golf, then I've got that month, month and a half to get ready for, you know, the French season. I'll be hopefully doing a lot of miles again, in the gym. I've got to keep my gym work up while I'm on the golfing road because strength is a big part of, you know, your fitness. As long as I've got that there, I'll be okay. But it's not easy. I mean, it's not ideal. I haven't got a lot of other choices at the moment.

SCOTT DRAPER: I can run between shots (smiling). Look, I can definitely run. You've got to train smart, as well. For me, grinding 40-minute runs and stuff is a bit crazy. I need something specific. You know, by the time you get to the range and you hit balls and you play your round, you hit balls after the game, takes a lot out of your day, you know. You're thinking about the next day to compete well for that. It's just hard to have the mental capacity or the energy to be doing both things. It's just difficult.

SCOTT DRAPER: Well, I guess now that I'm a pro, yeah. There's no handicaps. I was pretty much plus one all last year in my golf. At the moment, I think I'm about a one or something. I think handicaps don't apply any more.

SCOTT DRAPER: Australasian Tour.

SCOTT DRAPER: It got a little frustrating towards the end only because I'm a competitor and I want to win and I couldn't do the things. My mind was telling me to do one thing, my body was telling me another. You know, I can't expect any more. But it's just, at the end of the day, still frustrating. I had a game plan, I knew what I had to do. I did it for a while. But then, as I said, my legs just didn't have that spark in them in the end (snapping fingers). I couldn't hit the shots I was trying to hit, move to the ball the way I wanted to move to the ball. Tommy is a seasoned competitor, Top 50 in the world. He's a pretty good player.

SCOTT DRAPER: It just evolved. I mean, I didn't plan it. All last year, because I played great tennis up until I got injured in 2003. I was starting to get back to where I wanted to be. I was in the top hundred, I was improving all the time. I was hoping for a great 2004. I had this knee injury. I was in the gym; I was not doing golf hardly at all. I was just training up a storm. I tried to get ready for Wimbledon. Wasn't ready. Tried to get ready for the US Open. I wasn't ready. Then I actually started to think about not playing tennis at all. I sort of mentally retired a little bit from sport. I thought Tour School is down in Melbourne. I'll go down there, get some experience, because 2005 might be my last year in tennis. And then, as it turned out, I got the card. It wasn't a plan. I got myself into the situation, and I'm enjoying it. But it doesn't make it easy (smiling).

SCOTT DRAPER: I'm a professional sportsman (smiling). I don't know. Most people ask me, "How is your golf going, Scotty?" No one really asks me about my tennis game any more. How is it going? I'm hitting the golf ball. I still feel like a tennis player at heart. When I go to a golf tournament, I still feel like a tennis player. I still haven't made that transition yet.

SCOTT DRAPER: Yeah look, actually, it's funny. Some of the people I play golf with that have nothing to do with tennis, have said, How have the tennis players reacted to me being a professional golfer? Are you getting, you know, they taking the mickey out of you, that sort of thing? I say, no, it's been the opposite. They have been really supportive. Some have been supportive. Some have been blown away by it. Some run around and say, You are my sporting idol. Some guys are really pumped about it. It's been good. And I think that it might put some ideas in the back of a few guys' minds because there's a couple good golfers in that locker room there. They might try it one day.

SCOTT DRAPER: Look, Lleyton and I are just happy for each other that our lives are going in a good direction. You know, he's obviously been through some tough times recently. And my last, you know, five years has been nuts. We're just both happy for each other that things are working out. He's happy as Larry. I've never seen him happier. He probably sees the same thing in me.