It's been a while since two Australians have made the singles semifinals of the same Grand Slam, but we've managed to do it at the US Open. It was great to be able to reach the semis and then to have Mark join me. It's great for Australian tennis.

Flip's always had the weapons to take his game to the highest level. He's got so much talent and he's starting to settle down and produce what he's always threatened to do. He's worked hard on his physical condition and, with Pat Cash helping out with tactics, Mark's got some good people around him, including Gavin Hopper, his coach. I was really impressed with the way he fought against Thomas Johansson. Grand slam competition is where you learn the most about yourself and your opponents.

The last time 2 Aussies made it to the finals of a major was 1976 at the Australian Open and the players were Newk and Edo (Mark Edmondson) so it shows just how difficult it is. But most of the current Australian players have been up there in the semis. In the past couple of years Mark Woodforde at the Aust Open, Stoltz and Teddy (Todd) at Wimbledon and Wally Masur at the US Open. It's been a successful period for the Aussies and we want to keep it going for a while longer.

Ever since the draw was made for the US Open, there's been a lot of talk about the rivalry between Pete Sampras and me. As somebody who doesn't want to look further ahead in the draw than the next match, I was at pains not to know that I was getting closer to Pete. But now I've got the chance to face Pete again and it's obviously a very big match for both of us. But if Pete beats me and wins the title against either Flip or Moya, then he equals Emerson's 12 Grand slam singles titles. A lot has been made over our last match, which I won on a disputed line call. Pete's obviously keen to get me back and I would love to beat him again. He's a great player and he's already won 4 US Open titles and sort of regards this tournament as his own. He'll come out firing, I'm sure, and it's going to be a matter of me having to play right at my top.

Just to set the record straight over my relationship with Mark Philippoussis, everything is going well. we've bumped into each other quite a bit at Flushing Meadow over the past fortnight and I couldn't be happier for Flip to see him doing well here. We've had a few short chats, wished each other the best before our matches and congratulated each other afterwards. We went our different ways at the end of last year when we stopped playing doubles and there has been the odd drama with the Davis Cup, but we both ealize we're out here to do a job and we're both Aussies. Everybody's different and Flip and I do have different pesonalities. He's got a lot of talent and I'm sure he's going to be around for a lot of years and he's going to have a lot of success. By the time you read this, I hope both of us have had cause to congratulate each other again.