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ROGERS MASTERS

August 7, 2006

Peter Polansky

TORONTO, ONTARIO

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You were up 3-1 in that first set tiebreak. From there on it seemed like the wheels maybe came off a little bit. How did you see it? How did you feel?
PETER POLANSKY: Well, I know, yeah, I was up 3-1. I wasn't really focused on the score. He came up with a few big serves. Couldn't make my returns. Then I made a couple mistakes. Cost me those six points.

Q. How did you feel where your game was or where your game is right now?
PETER POLANSKY: I felt pretty good out there. I mean, I was okay with like, you know, just being out there and being in front of everyone. Felt great.
Made a few errors here and there, but overall I played pretty solid.

Q. Talk about the crowd a little bit more.
PETER POLANSKY: Well, I had a few friends up in the crowd - quite a few. You know, they were great. I mean, they were cheering me. You know, it was a great crowd. They were cheering for both of us.
There was no pressure. I was playing my friend. All went pretty well, except I lost (smiling).

Q. How many tickets were you hit up for today?
PETER POLANSKY: About 11, yeah. But it was okay. They let me have 'em.

Q. What have been the best experiences about getting to play here this week?
PETER POLANSKY: Well, I mean, it's a pretty big tournament so, you know, just stepping out on court, having my first match being someone that I know made it a lot easier. I think, I mean, but I still think it was a great experience. Still extremely happy.

Q. What are your plans now going forward in tennis?
PETER POLANSKY: Well, I have a few more junior tournaments in the US Open. After that, I'm going to concentrate more on futures and getting me ranking up more so I can get my pro ranking up.

Q. Did you really think you'd be here a couple months ago?
PETER POLANSKY: Not even a month ago. I mean, yeah, in the back of my head when I was still like in my wheelchair, still just starting, I kind of thought it would be like a long shot, getting into this. A month ago I still couldn't play that long because my ankles would start hurting pretty badly because I wasn't mobile for a long time. I still thought, you know, I could get in. But then I kind of thought, you know, maybe I won't even play.
I got main draw, played prequallies, made it through prequallies, and everything went really well.

Q. Can you take us through just the physical challenges you've overtaken in the last couple months? This is kind of an amazing thing.
PETER POLANSKY: Yeah, like after the accident, I was in a wheelchair for about six weeks, then I kind of slowly just started standing and walking again. About maybe two months ago I started doing like really small plymetrics, just doing lots of whatever I was told, just kept doing that.
As everything was progressing, I was just doing more and more. Then I started hitting again full court. I couldn't play that long because my ankles and my feet, they would -- like the muscles and the bones and stuff, they would start hurting a lot, so I couldn't play that long.
Every day seemed to get a lot better. I was just impressed -- I was just happy being able to play Granby. I mean, from there, I've been playing really well. I got in here and I'm just really happy.

Q. What was it like the first time you picked up a racquet? Did it feel almost foreign to you? Did you have no timing? Did you feel like you'd never been away?
PETER POLANSKY: Actually, when I first started hitting again, I would just kind of stand on court, people would hit the ball right to me. I'd take like one step, that was it. I mean, I felt pretty good. I feel like I didn't play for like a week, even though it was like 10 weeks when I first started hitting. I mean, felt like I lost nothing almost.

Q. Do you think your injuries caught up to you today at the end with the match readiness not quite there?
PETER POLANSKY: No, I think everything was pretty well. I mean, yeah, I was moving fine. It was just a few shots here and there that I missed, a little bit of loss of concentration in the second when I got broken. But everything was fine.

Q. I'm wondering what sort of mentorship you've had in terms of overcoming your injury. I saw you practicing with Daniel Nestor, and Frank today. Have they been a positive influence?
PETER POLANSKY: Yeah, just like being here and being able to hit with all the big guys, the top guys, it really helps your game. Just the way they hit the ball, it's just so solid and so heavy. It really got me ready for my match today.

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