12th September, 1999

WE CAN MATCH THE RUSSIANS

WHOEVER plays Davis Cup for Australia in Brisbane on Friday week will get the job done.

Mark Philippoussis and I will not be involved because of injury but with Lleyton Hewitt and whoever gains the second singles spot, I think we can still win the semi final against Russia.

Until the middle of this week, I gave myself a chance of being right to play.

But after seeing the doctor in New York, he told me that it is probably going to take between six and eight weeks for my right shoulder to be strong enough again.

The right shoulder has a small tear and it is going to take time, rest from playing and plenty of rehab to have it right.

I have been going to the gym every day since it happened and the shoulder is steadily becoming stronger.

But there is no way I could have played Davis Cup doubles, let alone singles.

I will head out to ANZ Stadium next week to help out in practice. It will be good for me to keep involved and I will be able to keep up my fitness.

I will be able to do most things except serve, because that puts the most strain on the shoulder.

If we can win the semi-final, then I will aim to be fit for the final in December and I would probably play a couple of tournaments to have some matches under my belt.

I have not worked out exactly what tournaments I will play but, if we do reach the final, I want to play a couple of events before the final to see how the shoulder is.

The problem at the US Open was that I felt great in practice playing a couple of sets, but when I put the shoulder under pressure in the first round against Cedric Pioline I really struggled with it.

The shoulder has definitely improved this week, but the doctor is worried about the endurance aspect, whether it would be able to withstand the pressures in a match situation.

I have been doing a lot of work in the gym and the doctor is confident that, with the right kind of treatment and rehab, the tear will heal itself.

Playing a Davis Cup match in Brisbane has always been something I have wanted to do, but it is not going to happen this time.

It is still going to be a huge tie.

The Russians have a good team with Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Marat Safin and Andrei Olhovskiyu.

They will be tough to beat, but we have the players to do the job.

Wayne Arthurs deserves a chance.

He has had a good year, especially on the grass, and it will be interesting to see how he handles the whole Davis Cup experience.

He is a laid-back character off court and is pretty quiet.

But he has a great game for grass, with a big left-handed serve and solid volleys.

Jason Stoltenberg is another very good grasscourter we can call on, knowing he is going to be very competitive, and Lleyton Hewitt proved himself on grass this year.

Sandon Stolle has won in Davis Cup singles on grass and he played a great match against Goran Ivanisevic at Wimbledon this year.

The guys will start practising from Thursday, which gives them a week to adjust and settle on the best line-up.

I wish I could be out there, but it is not possible. The shoulder needs time to recover.

As "Newk" (John Newcombe) outlined, the perfect scenario will be that we win the semi-final, I get myself right, Mark Philippoussis recovers and we pick our strongest team for the final and win that.

That is what all the guys want hopefully we can pull it off.

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