WIMBLEDON

July 5, 2000

Alexander Popp

MODERATOR: Ladies and Gentlemen, Alexander Popp.

ALEXANDER POPP: Yeah. I didn't feel as relaxed as in the other matches. I played on the big court for the first time; I'm in quarterfinals, of course. I wanted actually to try and go out there and just enjoy it and play well, but I didn't have a good touch from the beginning. If you don't really get into the match, it's always tough to come back if you haven't got any experience with those matches. If I would have managed to stay in the match maybe until 3-All or 4-All, without playing well, everything can happen. It didn't work out for me, so it was very difficult. I mean, he played solid today; didn't miss any easy shots. That's probably the reason why I didn't play the way I would have liked to.

ALEXANDER POPP: Well, about as much as my first serve. It was horrible today.

ALEXANDER POPP: Oh, his serve. He served all right. I mean, it's tough to answer that question because I've got the feeling I wasn't as concentrated as in the matches before. I was a little bit tired mentally. It's always tough to return somebody like that if you're not focused 100% and you can't see the ball as well. He had a lot of spin on his serve. As everybody could have saw on the court, I didn't return very well today.

ALEXANDER POPP: It wasn't that bad. It was just my concentration was horrible today. I didn't see the ball that well. I was just tired. There was so much going on off court, which was probably more worse for me than playing the matches for five sets. A lot of things happened at home as well, which I wasn't very happy about that, as I heard it. It wasn't easy for me to play today.

ALEXANDER POPP: Yes, press. Everybody was going crazy. I don't really know why. I've had a good tournament here, but after this week I'll probably be maybe 60 or 70 in the world, which is all right for me. Everybody was like behaving as if I was No. 1 now. I think I got too much attention. I didn't really deserve that. I had a good tournament, but not more and not less. That's about it.

ALEXANDER POPP: The problem for me, of course, I have to deal with both. If you're English and you play well, the English press goes after you. If you're German, you play well, the Germans come. I had to deal with both, which was a lot. If you sometimes say, "No, I can't do it anymore," the reporters get upset. I think I'm always try to stay polite, and they have to accept if I can't do every interview. The last couple days, if I would have done every interview, I wouldn't have had time to practise, I think.

ALEXANDER POPP: Yeah, I would like to go back now and rest a little bit, think about what happened the last two weeks, because for me it was a great experience. I never thought of coming that far. I'm very happy about the way I played, except today. That happens. Tennis, you can't always play very well every day. That's it. If you play somebody like Patrick Rafter, you have to accept that you can't win against him if you don't play 100%.

ALEXANDER POPP: Not really. I haven't thought about that, as I already said the last couple of press conferences. The time will show what's going to happen.