WIMBLEDON

June 21, 2004

Alex Bogdanovic

THE MODERATOR: First question, please.

ALEX BOGDANOVIC: Well, for me, it was great, a great experience, to start off with the positives. I think after a match like that...

ALEX BOGDANOVIC: Yeah, I mean, I don't think, you know -- there's always positives gonna be after that match. Obviously, you know, I had nothing to lose, I'm playing against the world No. 1, and, you know, it's tough out there. He was very good, you know. I didn't get much chance out there. But the way, you know, to get to play on the Centre Court against No. 1, you know, won't happen every day. Obviously, I can just go back now and get a lot of positives out of this match. Hopefully, this is gonna help me get better as a tennis player for the future.

ALEX BOGDANOVIC: Oh, quite a lot of things I learned, actually. First of all, I was really surprised he had so much time on the ball; the fact that, you know, any ball that came over, he had so much time, he could have done anything with the ball. You know, I felt I was always under pressure. And when you feel like you're struggling for your service games, you're trying to win point by point and he's winning his pretty easily, then, obviously, it gets tough. He puts so much pressure on you. But the way -- you know, I served okay in moments and stuff, I think. I think I had him -- you know, sometimes I had him where, you know, I should have really finished points at the net. You know, he was going side to side, and I think I really should have moved in and took the ball a bit earlier. Because every time he took the ball earlier, you know, I was always under pressure.

ALEX BOGDANOVIC: Yeah. Yeah, I didn't have too many chances out there. But maybe, you know, I was a break down in the second but I had the breakpoint, had a couple of breakpoints. You know, to get those breakpoints, you know, I played a couple of good points. I know I was sometimes a little bit unlucky. I missed a volley, you know. I think I should have made it. Unfortunately, it happens. Obviously, I think, you know, if I could have broke back there, you know, maybe... Who knows? Hold my serve and at least get to a tiebreak. He always had a lot of gears in front of him. He could have just stepped it up if he could. But, you know, to be honest with you, I really enjoyed it out there. It was something special, you know. You really got to be out there, to actually experience it. You know, for me, it's the first time, and I really enjoyed it.

ALEX BOGDANOVIC: No, no, no. I just -- straight down to the locker room, and then I came down here. So, hopefully, if I get to see him in the restaurant, you know, it will be good to have a talk to him and see, you know, if he can give me some tips.

ALEX BOGDANOVIC: Yeah, it definitely did. No, it was great. You know, times when I felt, you know, it got tight a little bit, the crowd was there, had adrenaline always pumping for me, was going "Come on." I was just, "Point by point, and hopefully I'm gonna get there." No, it was -- at the end of the day, it was a really good day for me.

ALEX BOGDANOVIC: I was definitely a little bit nervous - definitely, you know. Two days before, and also today, walking out there, I was definitely -- I felt the nerves, you know. Maybe it took me, you know, two or three games to actually settle in, but there was always, you know, a little bit of that nerves that I tried to let go. But, you know, I thought I managed to hold on in the first and second. And, obviously, in the third he just stepped it up and he was too good.

ALEX BOGDANOVIC: Okay. Well, you know, I'm still playing doubles here. So hopefully if I can win a couple matches there, that would be really good. But then after that I'll be playing two more challengers, and hopefully trying to improve my ranking from there and just keep improving and trying to, you know...

ALEX BOGDANOVIC: One's Nottingham, and Manchester. They're all on grass.

ALEX BOGDANOVIC: Yeah, for sure. Definitely. As I said, this is my hometown. It's the nicest Grand Slam in the world. You know, I'm sure -- I look at it, you know, this happens for a reason, to get a draw like this. You know, to be honest with you, I wasn't really expecting a wildcard, and I got it. You know, I was so happy with that. And to pull, you know, Roger Federer in the first round, it was something, you know, really good, you know. It happens for a reason, and hopefully I can learn from this and hopefully I can improve my game.

ALEX BOGDANOVIC: Yeah, no. Yeah, well, I think next week some time, the second week of Wimbledon we're going to sit down and talk. But, you know, obviously, it was tough. I was really borderline also with my ranking. I really don't know what kind of situation we were in. But, you know, obviously, it was pretty fair of them to give me a wildcard, you know, especially my ranking was 290. They said the rule, you had to be inside 300. At the end of the day, they did give me a wildcard even though, you know, we had -- it wasn't great with them.

ALEX BOGDANOVIC: Well, no, not at all. I mean, I just wanted to go out there and, you know, have some fun. Obviously, you have to enjoy it out there because it's going to be difficult to play against the world No. 1. It's never going to be easy, you know, especially, you know, he's so confident and won the tournament back, you know, two weeks ago. Obviously, he's playing pretty well. You know, all I can say, I can go out there and just play my game.

ALEX BOGDANOVIC: Yeah, it's tough. I just wanted to stay out there, you know, because, you know, the court's so nice. I tried to look around a little bit, and it was just phenomenal to be playing in such a great arena out there. You know, I was just begging for rain, you know. "Take me out here, so I get another chance to walk back out there again." You know, I'm sure I'll be back there, hopefully. Just a lot of hard work in the next maybe year, next two years, and I'm sure I'll be out there again, you know. So sooner, later, that's definitely not gonna be my last time because, you know, it's something great to be out there.

ALEX BOGDANOVIC: Well, no, not at all. You know, I always worked hard. But, obviously, it was tough because, you know, they gave me this ban because I had food poisoning and I literally -- they said you had to go to the tournament the next day, and I wasn't feeling too well. They said you had to go, or that was it. So it was a bit tough for me, but I made the decision because it concerns my health, and I knew I couldn't play. Obviously, I took that decision, and they weren't happy about it. But that's how it went. Now I've got to just really move on. That's in the past. Just stay positive and keep working hard.

ALEX BOGDANOVIC: Yeah, yeah. I said, "I'm hoping for the rain to come down," (smiling) and he's hoping to finish, obviously. It would be tough for him if he comes out and needs to win one more point. But, no, it was really fun out there.

ALEX BOGDANOVIC: "Get a move on," yeah, you know. "Let's just hurry up, I want to get it." But, no, it was good out there, really good.

ALEX BOGDANOVIC: Well, I think, first of all, you've really got to hold your own serve before anything else. I mean, that's the key out there. Because, obviously, you know, he put so much pressure on my serve. I knew I had to hit, you know, big serves all the time. He was putting, you know -- coming on to me all the time. Obviously, he was winning his service games easy. So, you know, he doesn't feel the pressure. When he gets, you know, 2-All, 2-1 and 30-All, you know, I'm feeling the pressure. I mean, he's playing really well. If he continues like that, I'm sure he's going to be really tough to beat in this competition.