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Lleyton defeats Alami 6-1, 6-4,
4-6, 6-4
Thursday 24th June
Official Intervew
Q. Lleyton, you were pretty pumped up out there and carrying on a bit when you won. What
are you going to do if you win in the third round?
A. I don't know, I haven't really thought about it yet, you know. The match was just
getting tougher and tougher as it went on and I knew if it went to 5 it was a bit of a
dog-fight then. So I knew I had to try to finish it early. I was a little bit, I suppose,
unlucky, I suppose, in the end of the third set. He got a net cord, I think, at 30-30 when
I was serving at 5-4. So, you know, things were starting to build up, I suppose, inside me
as well and, you know, I played too good games, I broke him early in the fourth set and
then broke him again at 4-4. So, you know, I'm just happy to get out of it.
Q. I suppose you have heard that you are playing Boris. How do you feel about that?
A. Yes, it's going to be great. I suppose I'll get one of the big Show Courts now, and you
know he's obviously playing great tennis to beat Kiefer in straight sets today and, you
know, it's just a bill thrill for me, I suppose,
to be out there on Wimbledon Centre or Court 1, or something like that, against Boris
Becker. He's been there and won it three times as well.
Q. You must feel you have a real chance, he's only a part-timer now and hasn't played
much.
A. You're making it sound like I should go out and kill him.
Q. Obviously you've got more of a chance than, you know, a few years ago?
A. For sure, this is maybe going to be his last tournament he'll ever play, you know, but
he wants to go out with a bang as well, and he's got nothing to lose, the same as me out
there as well. So he was lucky to get through the
first match. He was three match points down. But I think once he gets on Centre Court or
Court 1, you know, he knows those courts pretty well these days, and I think that's where
his best tennis comes out. So I'm going to
have to play out my best to sort of keep up with him, I think.
Q. Are you one of those blokes that look at the draw? Did you know this was there for you,
if you could win?
A. I actually did know about this one. I didn't look past my first round when I was
playing Filippini, the first time you've ever played at Wimbledon you don't really want to
look too far, but I did have a look there, just to see
who the actual seed was in my section. It was Kiefer but, you know, Becker was there as
well and he's taken him out now.
Q. Did it motivate you today, you know, one of the things you really wanted, to get there
and be playing Becker?
A. A little bit. I saw his score up on the score board when he finished, so I knew if I
won I was going to be playing Boris. So I suppose deep down inside is going to be a bit of
a buzz, I suppose, to be out on the same court as
Boris Becker.
Q. Lleyton, as a kid did you sit at home dunking the biscuits into the milk, watching
Wimbledon, and thinking, "One day I'm going to be playing Boris over there"?
A. For sure. I think it's everyone's dream to be playing a three-time champion of
Wimbledon -- of a Grand Slam tournament, you know, you're going to be out there on a Show
Court, but I've got nothing to lose, and I haven't
been real nervous in all my matches so far, so I'm sure I'm going to be a little nervous
going into that one, but I think a couple of games into it I'll settle down and hopefully
I can play some good tennis.
Q. Coming into the tournament, did you set yourself a goal?
A. Nothing at all, no, I just went out there, I really only looked past my -- at my first
round then, Marcelo Filippini, and, you know, I just took it one match at a time and
that's how I'll be taking it for the rest of the tournament.
Q. It's like a devil-may-care attitude, you've got nothing to lose?
A. Pretty much, I'm 18 at the moment, no one expects me to go out there and the following
Sunday be holding up that gold trophy, so I've got nothing to lose. I'm just going out
there and I've got nothing to lose at the moment.
Q. Do you like the grass?
A. I'm starting to like it, you know. I made the semis of Queen's and pushed Sampras all
the way and now the third round of Wimbledon, so I'm starting to enjoy it.
Q. The crowds in London, you've got them going today, they like Aussies most of the time
but they'll probably like Boris Becker more. You're going to find in your next round that
you'll be geed up, but no one will be coming with you?
A. For sure, that's just something I'm going to have to, I suppose, understand going out
there, playing Boris. Everyone was on his side two days ago when he had to play Miles
Maclagan, or whatever his name is, that bloke anyway, and he's a Great Britain guy. He
must feel even worse than anybody else, he's playing his first Grand Slam and one of his
only Grand Slams every year and he's out there playing Boris Becker and everyone is going
for Boris. So I think that's something everyone is going to have to deal with if they play
Boris Becker.
Q. How much is it part of your game, do you need to have the crowd, to be geeing yourself
up with the emotion we see there?
A. Not really, at Scotsdale I played Jan-Michael Gambill, I played a really good match
there and they're all going for the Americans. I've played Patrick Rafter a few times now
and everyone goes for Pat, no matter where he is. So it's a few times I've had to do it
and I think I've become a little bit calmer in that situation as well. I don't sort of
think about the crowd as much as if they are on my side and try to get pumped up with it,
so I think it could be a help in one way.
Q. Was Becker a particular favourite of yours at all when you were a kid?
A. He was up there, he wasn't probably the number 1 guy, but he's always up there, you
know. It's I suppose just how he carries himself around the court, how much class he's got
out there, and you know, I suppose how he can come back at the age he is, and that, and
sort of come back to these places and still beat guys like Kiefer so easily and, you know,
I think he came runner-up to Agassi in Hong Kong, so he's obviously hitting the ball
pretty
well this year, even though he is a part-time player.
Q. Lleyton, you are getting a bit of a reputation obviously for having a bit of a short
fuse out there; it was rising again today. Is that something (a) you need to do, do you
think you play better when you're a bit angry with
yourself, when you're having a go at yourself? A. It surely didn't affect me today,
I think the only reason I lost that
third set was because the guy lifted his game. I played the same the whole way through, I
think, the game. I think I was seeing the ball well, hitting the ball well, returning the
ball as well as anyone could return today, and
he just lifted his game. If he was going to beat me today in five sets, he had to play
that way the whole rest of the match from the third set onwards. So, you know, I really
didn't feel much. I thought I got ripped off a couple
of times with the line calls, and, you know, but I don't think that sort of got me down at
all today. I thought I bounced back pretty well from it.
Q. Is the temper something you're trying to keep in check?
A. Not really. You know, I thought I played well today, and if I can play like that and
have that temper, it's going to be fine, I think.
Q. What about the fans here? It's your first Wimbledon. You're not at all worried about
the impression you might leave on them?
A. No, it looked like I had most of the crowd on my side, so I wasn't really worried about
it at all.
Q. Are you enjoying the attention from female fans?
A. I haven't noticed it, really, to tell you the truth.
Q. Wimbledon has always been seen as Boris's tournament. Do you think that's ever going to
happen to you?
A. I'm not sure. At the moment, I wouldn't say grass is my favourite surface, but I think
for Boris, for sure it was always his favourite surface, and I suppose that's where he
sort of grew up playing his tennis, and sort of
that's where he burst on the scene as well, winning Queen's and then winning Wimbledon at
the age of 17. But I think at the moment my favourite surface is rebound ace and playing
in Australia.
Q. But still you seem to have adapted really well to the grass. I mean, you wouldn't
expect someone with your style of game to adapt so quickly.
A. Yes, I think I suppose Andre Agassi has been a big role model for me on grass, you
know, we play a similar game. Agassi probably clouts the ball a little bit harder at times
and he's probably a better returner and that, but
he's won this title before and he's beaten Ivanisevic, Krajicek, Sampras, all on grass
courts as well. So I think it is possible. I think you've just got to match up their
weaknesses against your strengths pretty well.
Q. Would you go to Agassi for any advice, given that you practised with him the other day,
or that just doesn't happen?
A. Not really, no. I'd probably more go to the Australian guys for advice and the older
Australian guys who are sort of the past champions and the past players at Wimbledon.
Q. What were you doing when Boris won his first Wimbledon? Was it a high chair still?
A. I can't remember. It could have been. I would have been four years' old, I think.
Q. Lleyton, you were talking about Andre and the Australian guys. Andre earlier on
mentioned they all grew up, Pete and Jim and Michael Chang, and they had this competitive
spirit, this edge. He sort of thought as youngsters
you almost need that if you want to get to the top spot. Do the Aussie guys feel that way
about each other, like it's more a professional relationship and you've got to be like
that?
A. No, I think the Aussies are totally different. I think it's a pretty good relationship
that all the Aussie guys have got. They're all friendly towards each other, whether it be
in the locker rooms, having lunch, going out to dinner, going to the movies, playing golf.
So, you know, I think we've got a great relationship, and I think as long as that keeps
going with the younger kids coming up and me, and then I'll pass it on to some other
juniors coming
up, I think sort of the Aussies are always going to be up the top there, like I think Pat
has been a great role model for everyone else, and now Philip is coming up now and I think
the way the Woodies are handling themselves, they
haven't won a Grand Slam for a while now, they're still up there, though, every
tournament. So I think we've got a great friendship, I suppose, with all the Australian
guys.
Q. So we're going to win the Davis Cup and beat the Yanks?
A. I think so.
END
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