ITF

102 TOMMY HAAS Germany SYDNEY 2000 MEN'S SINGLES SILVER M y feelings on the podium were very, very special. No question about it. To be honest, growing up, it was never really such a goal of mine to become a medal winner in the Olympics. But when I had the opportunity to go and be part of it, kind of sense what it's like to be part of this whole Olympics thing, be amongst such other great athletes, it was a very special feeling. I remember saying before the tournament started that I hope I don't get to play the semifinal match necessarily because if you win, you have a medal for sure, and if you lose, you're playing for a bronze. I didn't want to be in that position. Sure enough, it happened to be that I got that far and happened to play against Roger [Federer]. He was still young and up-and-coming. So I was really happy to win that match. I felt like I really won something special after that match. I got pretty close in the final, in the gold medal match against [Yevgeny] Kafelnikov. Something very special and memorable and something I treasure the most right now in my career. To me at the time [the Olympics] was already special. But then actually having the medal, going back home, looking back at it now, it truly was one of my greatest experiences in my life, one of the things I'm most proud of being a part of. Having that silver medal is something really special. I almost didn't go to the Olympics in Sydney because I had, once again, some kind of injury that was stopping me beforehand, (I was) not really sure if I'm fit and healthy enough to travel all the way down to Australia. But I'm so happy people talked me into it, said, look, worst-case scenario, you go for the experience, go to the opening ceremony, be part of it, experience it. [Andre] Agassi sort of made a big difference to me at the time. Him being one of my idols, somebody I grew up playing with at the academy, travelled with him to some tournaments. When I saw him really digging deep and wanting the gold medal so bad in Atlanta, and he got it. The tears in his eyes, what it meant to him, it was like, wow, I really need to go to the Olympics and try to see if I can get a medal myself. The medal's in a safe spot. Every once in a while you just kind of pop it out, put it around your neck or other people's necks, and they just love it. The weight of it, (they're) mesmerised by it, looking at the Roman numerals on it. Now being a father, I think it's really cool to show it off to your kids. When they watch the Olympics growing up, like everybody does, it's kind of cool to pull out the Olympic medal of your own and just say: "Look what I did." For me it's going to be a huge deal for the rest of my life. To just say that I have a medal from the Olympics, and especially Sydney Olympics, to me is really, really special. It was just done so well, run so well in Australia, which is a country I love. I almost didn't go to the Olympics in Sydney because I had, once again, some kind of injury.

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