Speaker 1: Other standout achievements in your career, of course, were your
Speaker 1: two Grand Slam finals, the US Open in nineteen ninety
Speaker 1: eight when you lost to Parafter and then Roger Federer
Speaker 1: at two thousand and three Wimbledon, and those are quite
Speaker 1: iconic opponents. Really did you kind of ever have a
Speaker 1: sense that you were a part of tennis history at
Speaker 1: that point?
Speaker 2: I think, you know, I think there's so much going
Speaker 2: on that you're not thinking in those terms, obviously knowing
Speaker 2: it's a Grand Slam and your goal, as any athletics
Speaker 2: is tennis placed, is to be a Grand Slam champion.
Speaker 2: So the first one, I was twenty one, you know,
Speaker 2: and that was tough for me because I was playing
Speaker 2: Pat who was doubles partner, you know, Davis Cup teammate
Speaker 2: and an Australian. So it was very hard where you
Speaker 2: had their respect and you felt like, you know, maybe
Speaker 2: too you know, I wasn't as loud as I should
Speaker 2: have been, and to disrespect someone, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2: And then I was in incredibly nervous at the time
Speaker 2: he had won the US Open the year before was
Speaker 2: my first Grand Slam. It was the first year they
Speaker 2: had that new center court the atmosphere was amazing and packed,
Speaker 2: and I don't know exactly what it holds, but it's
Speaker 2: a big stadium and nervous start, and yeah, just playing
Speaker 2: someone who was so close to was difficult for me.
Speaker 2: And it was four sets. There was an opportunity, you
Speaker 2: know in that third set, remember breakpoint, but just you know,
Speaker 2: Pat just the experience and holding his emotions together, and
Speaker 2: you know, just just had too much for me that day,
Speaker 2: you know. And it's strange because you know, I was young,
Speaker 2: and you're kind of a little definitely ignorant, thinking I'll
Speaker 2: have another chance, not realizing how rare it is, you know,
Speaker 2: how tough it is to get to a final of
Speaker 2: a Grand Slam, you know, and you might not have
Speaker 2: another moment, and just telling yourself that, not that I
Speaker 2: didn't leave everything out there, of course I left everything out,
Speaker 2: but realizing this might be your only shot, you know.
Speaker 2: And at the end, I think that the problem with
Speaker 2: tennis at times is that there's two to three tournaments
Speaker 2: going on at the same time all around the world.
Speaker 2: So when you lose, it's easy to say, oh, it's
Speaker 2: next week, you know what I mean. There's no off season,
Speaker 2: and maybe the same thought, it's different. There's only four
Speaker 2: Grand Slams. I think I'd say, okay, I'll get the
Speaker 2: next one. You know, again with being a young, ignorant person,
Speaker 2: and then you know you have injuries that set in
Speaker 2: this and that, and all of a sudden you find
Speaker 2: two thousand and three is a complete different story where
Speaker 2: I was in the final, and Wimbledon was a place
Speaker 2: that I was the most comfortable because it was grass.
Speaker 2: It suited my game the most. I love playing on grass.
Speaker 2: And there's a lot of things that happened in the
Speaker 2: fact that I had my third knee surgery and up
Speaker 2: until that point they said I'll never play professional tennis.
Speaker 2: So I knew how hard i'd work to prove and
Speaker 2: wrong and to come back. And you know, I wasn't seated,
Speaker 2: you know, I just kind of quite quietly made my
Speaker 2: way through the draw and then to play Roger in
Speaker 2: the finals. You know, it was I think over a
Speaker 2: month Agoy. I played him in the German Open. I
Speaker 2: think I beat him around to sixteen when he was
Speaker 2: the defending champion there. So I beat him in three sets,
Speaker 2: and then you know, so like no one had heard
Speaker 2: of him. He was four in the world He had
Speaker 2: won plenty of tournaments and Master Series events, but this
Speaker 2: was his first Grand Slam final, and of course everyone
Speaker 2: knew the talent that he possessed and how good he was.
Speaker 2: But I felt like this was my opportunity. You know
Speaker 2: this this I was the favorite at on that day.
Speaker 2: And a couple of things that that stood stood out
Speaker 2: was that walk, you know, that that famous walk from
Speaker 2: the locker room to the center court. That was something
Speaker 2: I remember watching as a kid, and to have experienced
Speaker 2: that he was truly incredible, you know. And walking on
Speaker 2: those walking on that court finals, where you walk out
Speaker 2: in the crowded erupts, everyone's already in their seats, is
Speaker 2: not a seat free Get still goosebumps to the day
Speaker 2: thinking about that, and and at the end of the day,
Speaker 2: just this is what I've worked my whole life for.
Speaker 2: This is you know, to play on that center court
Speaker 2: is incredibly special. Is one thing. To play it on
Speaker 2: that center court. The last match on that Sunday is
Speaker 2: what you train for as a kid. And you know,
Speaker 2: two weeks you know, of make my way to you know,
Speaker 2: it's seven best of five set matches to in a
Speaker 2: Grand Slam, So you play six matches to get their
Speaker 2: best of five and they've gone so close and not
Speaker 2: being able to do it was mixed emotions, very difficult
Speaker 2: to watch that opponent make that climb that I saw
Speaker 2: Packash do as a kid that I visualized myself doing.
Speaker 2: You look, but you know you don't want to look,
Speaker 2: and then you know they do a lap with that
Speaker 2: trophy and it's tough. It's not easy. It was. I
Speaker 2: was very proud of myself, obviously, but that one really
Speaker 2: hurt because I knew how special and rare these moments are,
Speaker 2: you know, and I knew what I had done, you know,
Speaker 2: myself in a position to try and get to that final.
Speaker 1: If you'd like to hear the rest of our conversation
Speaker 1: with Mark Philippusies, make sure you head to the sit
Speaker 1: down wherever you're listening to this, or you can find
Speaker 1: the links in the show notes