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7th January, 2000 INCIDENT MAKES ME ANGRY The issue of on-court security for players has raised its head again with the incident involving Monica Seles at the Hopman Cup. A spectator walked down to the side of the court and tapped Monica on the shoulder looking for an autograph. That sort of thing to me is more annoy8ing than frightening – to have someone slapping you on the back just after you’ve finished a match. But it could have given Monica a big scare after what happened with the stabbing in Hamburg. We saw someone walk on centre court during the Australian Open final last year and that was obviously something we could have done without. Security is in place for a reason but I don’t worry about that sort of thing. If someone is going to do something like that, they are going to get you. It can just happen. My attitude is if it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen so it’s best not to worry about something you can’t control. I’m off to Melbourne today for the Colonial Classic and the Australian Open after having a really good training week with "Rochey" (Tony Roche) and Sandon (Stolle) in Sydney. My form is good and I’m sure the work we did before the Davis Cup final had a lot to do with that and it’s helped me carry form over here. This is as good as I’ve hit the ball at this time of the year so I’m looking forward to Melbourne. It looks as if some of the Aussies are already in top form from the first week of tournaments, with Jason Stoltenberg and Lleyton Hewitt both playing well in Adelaide. "Stolts" is one of those guys who can come back from a break and play really well. I’m the opposite – I tend to need matches. The way "Stolts" is playing, he can definitely put himself into contention for a Davis Cup spot against Ecuador next month. If Lleyton needs a break – and we all know what the little fella has been through with his health and we understand that – then "Stolts" is obviously a great player for us.
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