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AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 14, 2008

Brydan Klein

MELBOURNE, VICTORIA

THE MODERATOR: First question, please.

Q. What did it feel like, first sort of chance into it?
BRYDAN KLEIN: Yeah, I thought I played a decent match. My opponent played, I thought, pretty well. Didn't give me much. So definitely had a good shot and gave it my all but couldn't get up.

Q. Was it a nervous time?
BRYDAN KLEIN: Yeah, I didn't really feel the nerves, but I think it was a bit of a nervous start. I just took a few games to sort of find my shots and that because I don't usually play on courts like that with the big crowd, so, yeah.

Q. How close did you feel to getting over the line, couple of break points there?
BRYDAN KLEIN: I definitely thought I could have got back in the first set. I had some break points to get back to 5-All in the first. The second set, I had some chances and let it slip a bit at 5-All in my serve. I definitely had a big chance in the third set to get up and take that set, but it fell his way. And I guess I could have played some better points under pressure.

Q. Is that part of the learning experience now?
BRYDAN KLEIN: Yeah, definitely. I guess all the good players play better under pressure.

Q. Had you ever seen him play or were you able to do some research on him?
BRYDAN KLEIN: I'd never seen him play. I didn't know who he was until today. But few guys, other Australian guys I know had played him before, so I got some information from them. And the coaches sort of scouted him a bit, so I had a bit of information, but I didn't really know him, so...

Q. He called the trainer in the first set. Seemed to be moving freely in the second set. Was it a distraction at all in the second set?
BRYDAN KLEIN: I'm not sure. I lost my serve first game in the second set, so maybe. But I guess it was my fault, I really lost serve. I probably lost a bit of concentration.
Yeah, I knew he was going to try and use some of those tactics, so, yeah.

Q. Did you have some problems with your knee or something?
BRYDAN KLEIN: I just dived around the court a few times for some reason and grazed my knee. So I just dabbed up the bit of blood so it didn't get on the court.

Q. Were the unforced errors a bit frustrating?
BRYDAN KLEIN: Yeah, he was getting a lot of balls in. He wasn't missing very much. Put pressure on me to go for a bit more. It was a but gusty down there, so I would definitely have liked to have a few less unforced errors and a few more winners. That could have definitely changed the match a little bit.

Q. The conditions, how tough was it down there? A bit blustery?
BRYDAN KLEIN: From one end the wind was sort of coming over the top, and the ball was shooting off pretty quick. And the other end, it was against the wind, so you had to hit the ball a bit harder. Sort of swirling a bit and the wind sort of changed in the middle of the match.

Q. You're obviously a very passionate player. Is it something you're trying to curb, or working on? How are you trying to keep the passion but not get to an explosive stage?
BRYDAN KLEIN: Yeah, I've been working a lot on that, and I'm getting better. And I used to really struggle trying to keep the concentration for a full even best-of-three-set match, and I thought I did a decent job today, even though I lost my temper a little bit. I thought I kept it together pretty well. Still working on that.

Q. Are you getting help with that or working yourself on that?
BRYDAN KLEIN: I'm getting a bit of help. I'm with the coaches, trying to keep my routines in place, make sure I focus on the ball instead of other things. Try to put the distractions out of the way.

Q. Did you get any warnings today?
BRYDAN KLEIN: I didn't get any today, no.

Q. Is there a way to channel it, keep the passion but a way to channel it? Is that something you're working on, trying to keep the passion but channel it differently?
BRYDAN KLEIN: Yeah, just mainly trying to -- sometimes when I get a bit angry, I don't focus properly for the next point and takes me a few points to get back. Even if I do throw the racquet a little bit by getting angry, I've got to -- even though I have got a bit angry, I still need to work on trying to snap straight back into the match.

Q. Have you ever played in front of a crowd like that?
BRYDAN KLEIN: I played last year in front of -- in the junior final, in front of a lot of people. And I got called in recently in the Hopman Cup to fill in. I played in a front of a big crowd. Recently got called into Kooyong as well to play some matches. So I've had a little bit of experience but not too much. Still a new thing for me.

Q. What are you doing for the rest of the year? What are your plans?
BRYDAN KLEIN: I haven't decided my schedule yet. After this tournament I'll try and work it out. Just trying my best to travel to the right tournaments and boost my ranking so I can come back this time next year and try hard on my ranking.

Q. Traveling abroad? Do you have any thoughts on where you might take the year?
BRYDAN KLEIN: I'm not sure. I just know I'm probably going to try to follow the summers. Summer here and then summer over in America or Europe somewhere, yeah.

Q. Will you Come back to Melbourne or stay in Perth?
BRYDAN KLEIN: I'm trying to get back to Perth as much as possible, but I've also been going to AIS in Canberra for training blocks because they have good facilities there. I haven't got one particular place I tend to go all the time, so...

Q. What was the main lesson from the match today?
BRYDAN KLEIN: Main lesson? I thought I played well enough to win, but I didn't play well enough in the big points and keeping it together in the most important games and early in the sets when they're also important to get off to a good start.
I thought I played well in patches but I sort of need to try to make them more consistent.

Q. What's the transition from juniors playing against top players? What's your early impression of those players?
BRYDAN KLEIN: Juniors definitely was a lot easier to win points. You got to work a lot harder to get points. These guys are just that much better. So it just comes with hard training. And when you do well, gives you confidence to try and do better and better each time.

Q. Pretty big two weeks in tennis. Fast tracked you. How do you look at what it's done for you the past couple of weeks?
BRYDAN KLEIN: I got a late call at Hopman Cup against Fish. It was good fun, a good experience. That was in front of a pretty big crowd. So I guess everything helps when you play in these top guys.

Q. Been a pretty whirlwind couple weeks for you since then.
BRYDAN KLEIN: Yeah, it has. I've been called up late to Kooyong, as well, and everything's been sort of all over the place. But I'm really grateful for opportunities I've got over the past two weeks. I'm happy, yeah.

Q. Are you looking forward in a way to not being the reigning Australian Open junior champion? A little less scrutiny this year.
BRYDAN KLEIN: Yeah, well, I'm hoping another Aussie wins it this year so they can take over the title and we can still hold it with an Australian. There's a few guys that have a good chance for that.

Q. What were the advantages and disadvantages of putting yourself out there that way?
BRYDAN KLEIN: Winning the juniors gave me a lot of confidence and gave me a lot of coverage from a lot of different place. It sometimes it was a bit too much. I just wanted to focus on playing tennis, but I guess it happened, and it was a great time, so...

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