January 9, 2008
SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES
THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.
Q. What are your thoughts on the match?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Unlucky. About the only word I can come up with at the moment.
Q. Some 50/50 calls, couple of line calls, maybe that controversial half
volley of his --
LLEYTON HEWITT: Maybe.
Q. Do you think it was pretty dubious?
LLEYTON HEWITT: There's no way the ball can bounce that way if you've got under
that. But with that said, I was -- I had four breakpoints in the match and I
didn't face a breakpoint in the whole match.
I wasn't lucky today. I'm just hoping that all comes together next week.
Q. Chris wants to get into the top 50 this year. Do you think that's
achievable for him?
LLEYTON HEWITT: With his game, yeah. Absolutely. He can win matches on all
surfaces. He's a dangerous player to play against. He's got one of the best
serves in the game, there's no doubt about that, and I think he moves well at
the net as well.
Q. Have you been happy with the umpiring decisions in the two matches here?
LLEYTON HEWITT: No. I feel like cricket is (indiscernible.) What's going on with
all the refs these days? Useless.
Q. You sound pretty disappointed.
LLEYTON HEWITT: At the moment I'm pretty frustrated because I felt like I played
a pretty good match out there. I felt like I was the better player the whole
match and I think the stats showed that.
The first set I had three breakpoints and the second set I had one breakpoint
and could have easily been a 4 and 4 out there. That's probably the most
frustrating thing. I felt like my serve came together well today.
You got that take your hat off to him, though. In the big points he served well,
especially in the first set. Just those half chances I had to take them.
Q. Are you happy with the balls? A lot of players are complaining about the
balls becoming heavier and fluffy.
LLEYTON HEWITT: The ball becomes a bit fluffy. I think after probably three
games or is that gets pretty heavy, I think. Yeah, that plays totally different
with new balls.
Q. Richard Gasquet said that the balls are bigger than what he's used to and
it favors the stronger players. Do you think that it's true?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I don't know if that's the case. Sometimes guys that sit out
there and grind sometimes it favors them is a well because they don't miss and
the other guys find it harder to hit winners against them. Say all the guys that
get a lot of balls back. You can look at that both ways.
Q. What do you think of the overall standard of umpiring?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Pretty ordinary.
Q. What do you think can be done about that?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I'm not sure. There's got to be some kind of standards, I think.
I think central umpires are probably gone into their shell more so since
Hawk-Eye has come in, which, okay, that's fine in major tournaments. But at the
smaller tournaments where you don't have Hawk-Eye you have to stand up and make
decisions.
So, you know, it's obviously tough for them because one week they've got
Hawk-Eye and the next week they don't.
Q. Why do you think the standard isn't what it used to be years ago?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I don't know. Who wants to be an umpire? Here. You can have a
go.
Q. Australian Open, looking forward that now. What is your prep now? Will you
go down early or stay at home?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I don't know. Just try and hit some balls in the next few
days and basically just keep the rhythm. I felt like I had pretty good rhythm
out there today. If I can keep the service rhythm like I did today hopefully
I'll be in the mix.
Q. So certainly not pushing the panic button just yet for the tilt?
LLEYTON HEWITT: The major tournament hasn't started yet, so there's no point
getting worried. I felt all in all today the ball striking was pretty good.
Q. Do you feel like you've had enough matches to go in well-prepared for the
Australian Open?
LLEYTON HEWITT: You never know. If you get through your first couple of the
matches you're happy. Now I just got to focus on next Monday or Tuesday and
getting off to a good start and hopefully getting that first round under my belt
and then building on that.
Q. Do you think there's anything that you can improve from now on?
LLEYTON HEWITT: No, I don't think you can improve too much in two or three days.
You know, I've done all the hard work, and now I've just got trust what I've
been doing. As I said, if I can just keep that rhythm going that I felt like I
had out there today, hopefully that will do it for me.
Q. Playing best-of-five sets in a Grand Slam a lot different than
best-of-three here?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, absolutely, especially in that kind of match today. I
think you get a lot more chances over five sets. Against a guy like Chris or
Karlovic or those guys it's a bit of a lottery really. It's a shootout.
End of FastScripts
January 8, 2008
SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES
THE MODERATOR: Questions for Lleyton.
Q. What are your thoughts on the match today?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it was a different kind of match a little bit. Yeah, he,
like I thought, he was going to be very flashy and he was. He came up with some
big service games, especially early on.
I felt like all in all I returned pretty well today. Yeah, you know, the breaks
that I got were because I kept putting a lot of pressure on his service games.
It was a little strange because he played a very loose game and looked to be
struggling a little bit towards the end of the first set and then played fine
after he had a treatment after the end of the first set. It was more keeping my
concentration s the second set went on it is.
Q. Are you looking forward to playing Gucc tomorrow?
LLEYTON HEWITT: It's a challenge. He's the kind of guy, very similar. Played
Wayne Arthurs a few times. Pretty similar to that matchup.
So, yeah, I'm obviously going to have to return well and make him play a lot of
balls.
Q. Have you practiced with him a lot?
LLEYTON HEWITT: A bit for Davis Cups. Not a whole heap. Very rarely do I play
someone that plays like Gucc in Davis Cup ties.
Q. Did you feel like your game progressed today from before?
LLEYTON HEWITT: It's hard to say. It's a tough matchup today against that kind
of guy. You're trying to dictate as much as possible, but then again he's going
to dictate and make errors as well.
You sort of got to weather the storm with him and try and get as many balls
back, and tomorrow's going to be the same situation.
Q. On another subject, Roger Federer is now going to go into the Australian
Open without any match practice. Do you think that will make him more
vulnerable?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Probably not. Yeah, between the French Open and Wimbledon he
didn't have any matches either and didn't worry him too much last year.
Yeah, he's a good enough player that he's going to get through his first few
rounds, and that's probably all he's going need to get his eye in. He had enough
matches towards the end last year that it shouldn't be a problem.
Q. Bernard is playing qualifying for the Open now. What sort of challenge
does that pose to him? You did that ten years ago.
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I don't know Bernard that much, so I don't really know how
it's going to go. He's got a pretty nice backhand, and I think his serve and
forehand has to have a little bit of work done on it I think, yeah, especially
to make that jump into the senior ranks. But I haven't seen him hit enough
before it really know.
Q. What sort of advice would you give him?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Good luck. No, it's a matter of, yeah, he's just got to go out
there and see what happens. A lot depends on the draw and quallies. There's
still a lot very good players out there in qualifying for a Grand Slam. He'll
need a little bit of luck with the draw I would say.
Q. Was it difficult to regain composure after losing serve in the first set
with the line call and all?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, not too bad. I felt like he played a good game to break me
in the first set. Yeah, and I felt like I was having a lot of opportunities on
his service games to put pressure on him. It was a matter of trying to stay on
top of that and not get too worried about losing my serve there.
He played a pretty flashy game to break my serve and in the first set. I bounced
back straightaway breaking him again. Yeah, that was a huge positive.
Q. Were you happy with your serve today?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I served well in patches. Probably towards the end of the
match I started serving -- started getting a bit more rhythm, especially my
second serve.
But, yeah, all in all I served reasonably well. The game that I got broken early
in the second set I just a lost concentration a little bit. Yeah, he seemed to
be struggling with an injury for a couple of games and then he seemed fine. It
was more lack of concentration, I think.
Q. How did you think the new surface will affect Rafael Nadal's prospects at
the Australian Open, if at all? There was a feeling it was a little bit on the
slower side previously.
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I don't think it'll worry him too much. You've seen him
play well in Indian Wells. He won last year, tournaments like that, which is a
very similar pace I would say. I can't see him having too many problems. He's a
good enough player.
He's won in Montreal before on a similar hard court, so I don't think it'll
worry him.
Q. On your first match point today you came in and volleyed on his serve. Is
that the kind of thing you've been practicing with Rochey?
LLEYTON HEWITT: When I get some opportunities, I guess. It's not my natural
game, but to mix it up and put some pressure on him. He came up with a pretty
good pass and I was able to hit a real good volley to win that point.
Yeah, the guy actually hit some pretty good passing shots when I came in on him
today, so it wasn't that easy to do it.
Q. But you volleyed well. Why is it so much against your instinct to do?
LLEYTON HEWITT: A lot depends on the balls that are -- that you've got to do it
off, I guess, as well, and probably who you're playing. Yeah, I guess in the
past I've always been more of a counterpuncher, so you still got to be able to
take that from the practice court onto the match court and pick the right balls
to do it.
Q. Does the racquet technology affect it, the way you serve and volley?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Maybe a little bit. I think every thing is sort of a little bit
slower and the balls have probably got heavier over the years as well. Even for
a guy like Tim Henman, even though he's retired now, the last two years he's
been serving the same the majority of the time, even on a grass court.
So I think just the conditions and probably the balls more so, even on a grass
court such as Wimbledon and Queen's. When he's got to serve and stay back you
know it's playing a little slow.
Q. So do you feel like you actually are getting a bit more comfortable doing
that over the past few months?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I'm definitely getting more comfortable. Still got to be able to
put it into practice though.
Q. So it's still something you have to think about?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Now and then. There's times when you try and do it, especially
in this kind of tournament as well. Try and pick your chances and do it when the
opportunity's there.
Q. Have you been surprised at accusations that the cricket team play it too
hard?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Played too hard?
Q. Yeah, play it too hard.
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I don't know. I think the Australians have always played
the game hard. I think they're a pretty fair team as well. Yeah, it's hard to
say. I don't know the ins and outs of what happens on a cricket field at all. I
know Adam Gilchrist extremely well, and he's one of most fairest guys I've ever
met, one of the nicest guys. I know all the boys and I can't have any bad words
to say about any of them.
End of FastScripts
January 7, 2008
SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES
THE MODERATOR: Questions for Lleyton.
Q. You said yesterday you took only positives out of your defeat in Adelaide.
What were they?
LLEYTON HEWITT: First two matches I played really well in Adelaide. I was doing
all the things that I wanted to do and I was executing it all. Just didn't serve
quite as well as I would have liked against Tsonga. He just served a lot better
than I did.
I guess a guy like that I gave myself the amount of chances that I probably need
to beat him, it was just that I didn't take those chances, and then I didn't
take care of my service games as well as I would have liked.
All in all playing a big server like that I actually returned pretty well to
give myself that many opportunities. I just didn't take care of my service games
as well.
Q. Is your serve your biggest concern like ongoing? When you serve well you
seem to play well and get results, but if you're not it's very difficult for
you.
LLEYTON HEWITT: Everyone's probably like that. In the game these days there's
not too many matches where you break serve a lot of times. Normally it's only
going to be that once in a set. Got off to a good start last week. I was up an
early break and had breakpoints to get 3-0 double break, so I was doing
everything right on the other side of the net. I just had to hold my service
games a bit more comfortably.
Q. Do you anything about Mahut, your opponent tomorrow?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, he's another fleshy Frenchman. He's got a big serve,
decent forehand, and can come into the net. He's got a bit of an all-court game.
I feel like I've got to take it to him and see what happens.
Q. Do you think the match against Tsonga, another big-serving Frenchman, will
help you tomorrow?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Maybe a little bit, yeah. Tsonga has more firepower I think than
Mahut. I saw him play at Queen's earlier this year. It was probably his best
tournament of the year really. Made the final there and should have beaten
Roddick.
Yeah, he was pretty confident playing on grass. On hard court could be a little
bit different.
Q. Going back to your serve, do you think it's improving?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Well, yeah, my first round against Sela I served really well. I
served in patches against Acasuso when I needed to. I didn't lose serve for the
match, so, yeah, I couldn't be that disappointed with it.
My second serve was holding up probably a lot better against Acasuso than
against Tsonga. That was probably the biggest difference.
Q. Is there anything else is in your game that you feel like you need to fine
tune before Melbourne?
LLEYTON HEWITT: This week is about getting more match practice for me and
getting out there. I hadn't played competitive matches for three months or so
going into Adelaide. Absolutely I would have loved to have won Adelaide or got a
couple more matches there, but I got three tough matches.
For the main part I hit the ball pretty well, and hopefully I can continue this
week.
Q. Your impression of Plexicushion? Any further thoughts on how it's playing?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Playing like a hard court.
Q. As you expected?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, pretty much. Pretty much.
Q. Some players are saying that it's too slow for them. What are your views?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Depends who you talk to, I guess. Yeah, I think it's probably
medium pace. I wouldn't say it's medium-fast or medium-slow, I would say it's
medium. It's definitely slightly a little bit slower than the US Open for hard
court I would say.
Q. (No microphone).
LLEYTON HEWITT: Pretty similar.
Q. So you're comfortable?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah.
Q. How does it compare with Rebound Ace?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I think it's a lot more consistent across the board. Hopefully
doesn't differ so much from Adelaide to Sydney and hopefully Melbourne. That's
the biggest thing. Rebound Ace you're playing in different states. I played the
Hopman Cup before and every court was different.
Q. Do you think this whole thing will blow over? Once the tournament goes
along it'll sort of be a spent issue?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I think so. Obviously any kind of change or new thing and
all you guys are going write about it, aren't you? Yeah, I don't think it's a
big deal for the players. We play on hard courts three quarters of the year.
I wouldn't say it's that much different than Indian Wells and Miami. I don't
think it's going to be a big deal. I think it's pretty equal for all players.
Q. Does it get a bit boring answering questions about the speed of the court?
LLEYTON HEWITT: At the moment. You going to keep asking this week?
Q. What's a realistic goal after the three months off?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I'm not putting a round on it. It's a matter of, you know,
see what happens. There's not too many easy draws that's days in any tournament.
For me, I feel like if I can survive the first week I'm going to be a lot better
for it going into the second week and give myself a chance.
Q. There's always a lot of talk about the injuries that come up. You've been
preparing for the Australian Open. Sometimes it's been the surface and sometimes
it's that players haven't been playing. Do you think it's that so much, or
people coming in not playing this time of year?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I think it's a bit of both, absolutely. Yeah, the season's that
hard that you can't expect guys to finish up in the Masters or whatever and then
straightaway get on the practice court and start grinding it out for the 2008
season.
That's the hard thing, because you have to be well-prepared to do well in
Australia in these conditions and in this heat. Sort of a Catch 22 a little bit
for the guys that have had a big year and played the Davis Cup final in
December. They do need some time off, but then again, that could hurt them
coming into the Australian summer, too.
Q. You're looking fit and tan. Rochey must have been hammering you after
Christmas.
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, he works extremely hard and puts in a lot of long hours,
and I really enjoy working with him, though. I feel like he gets the best out of
me every time we step on the practice court, so it's a good thing.
Q. To get back to where you were when you were on top of your game, do you
have to improve substantially? Seems like every year the game goes up by five
percent.
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I don't know about every year it goes up, but, yeah, it
definitely goes up I think over three to five years. The game changes, yeah.
Federer's sort of kept it around the same mark I'd say. It's very hard to lift
it too high for him. So it's obviously, you know, somewhere that I feel like
there are small areas of my game that can help me make that adjustment and to
hopefully put myself up there with Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, the three stand-out
players like last year.
Q. Do you have any more insight into Federer's game now?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I probably do, but it hasn't really -- I haven't spent too much
on it, talking about it at all. Only time it's really come up is when I played
him in Montreal and Cincinnati those two weeks in a row. I felt like I played a
lot better in those two matches against him, especially in Cincinnati, but I'm
sure Rochey has got a few things in the back of his mind.
Q. I saw on the telly today about you and pressure regarding the Australian
Open every year. How will Lleyton Hewitt go? Do you thrive on that, or do you
wish we would stop talking about it altogether?
LLEYTON HEWITT: It doesn't worry me. I don't take too much notice of it. 2005 I
had a lot of expectations I guess. I finished off 2004 pretty well. I finished
No. 2 or 3 in the world and then made the final of the Masters and then won
Sydney going into the Australian Open.
I handled the situation pretty well, and it was a huge buzz going into every
match that I played, all seven that I played in Melbourne. I was just trying to
ride the wave as much as possible. I get dumped. I would have liked to have kept
going.
For me it's a really enjoyable time of year. I get to go home and watch the
cricket and play a bit of tennis at night.
Q. How is Rochey different than other coaches?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Rochey is very -- the biggest thing is every time we go on the
practice court there's a purpose behind every session that we have and every
minute that we spend on the practice court. That's the biggest thing. I think
really there's a reason and a tactic out there why we're spending hours on the
practice court.
We're not just going out there to hit balls up the middle of the court. There's
always a reason behind it, and that's probably been the biggest advantage, I
think, to having Rochey in my corner.
Q. Has that been stimulating for you to think about your game in different
ways than you have previously?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah. I've enjoyed it. Every time after a drinks break or
whatever we're going out there to work on something specific. And, yeah, it's
easy for me to get motivated as well, to want to try and improve as well that
way.
End of FastScripts