REPUBLIC NATIONAL MONTE CARLO OPEN

April 21, 1999

Mark Philippoussis

ATP: Questions, please.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: Advice for them? No. I just want to keep the advice to myself (laughter). No, I don't know. They play well on clay, too. I didn't watch Thomas' match, but Tim had a tough match. He had a chance to win. You know, it's hard to judge someone on a couple of matches or a match. It's just very early in the clay court season.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: I do. I feel comfortable at the back, on the baseline. It was a bit hard today. It was very heavy out there. It was drizzling a little. It was tough to put a ball away because it was so heavy. You know, hopefully, normally, some of those don't come back. They shoot through a bit more. Towards the end, I got my rhythm. He started to miss. You know, if needs be, I can mix it up and serve-and-volley, too, if I have to.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: Definitely. But then again, he didn't do anything wrong at the 40-15 points. He played a decent point. I got to it. A dropshot volley, hit a winner, hit a good return, big forehand. But then the two missed forehands, and also I think he missed a couple at 6-5. But he definitely did let me off the hook, which I was sure I lost a bit of concentration.

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS: My approach to this year has been totally different to the past. You know, in the past I've set myself a goal of Top 10. I haven't achieved that. This year all I want for myself is each match I do go into this year, I want to, you know, give a hundred percent commitment of myself out there, and just try as hard as I can for each match. If I do that, then, you know, I think -- as I've shown, I've had the best out of my career, because I'm just competing in every match. I'm a lot tougher than I have been.