SAP OPEN MEDIA CONFERENCE

January 28, 2009

Lleyton Hewitt

THE MODERATOR: Thanks for joining us in the Bay Area, and this afternoon for some of us that are joining us outside of San Jose. We're pleased to have SAP Open former champion Lleyton Hewitt with us. And this will mark the fourth time in Lleyton's career that he's played in San Jose. In February of 2002 Lleyton captured an exciting third set tiebreak over Andre Agassi in what is considered to be one of the most exciting finals in tournament history. Lleyton is appearing in San Jose for the first time since 2006 and that year he reached the final where he lost to Andy Murray in a three set final. In Lleyton's career he's had amassed 488 career match wins, 26 singles titles and of course 2001 US Open champion and 2002 Wimbledon champion, and of course, a former two-time year end ATP world number one.
So let's just start the call. Bill Rapp, do you want to make a couple opening comments.
BILL RAPP: Absolutely. Lleyton, thanks for joining us.
LLEYTON HEWITT: No worries, mate.
BILL RAPP: First I want to welcome you back to San Jose and the ATP Pavilion and the SAP Open. Lot of good memories here of your matches here. Two-part question, talk about the final against Agassi here in 2002, because I remember it very well. And, secondly, talk to us about your surgery and your current level of fitness?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, well the final in 2002 was, yeah, a huge effort for me purely because the start of that year I actually got chicken pox, so I wasn't able to play for over a month before coming to San Jose and playing. It was my first tournament back since then. So I wasn't probably at 100% fitness at the time, and was world number one at the time.
So I actually saved match point in the second or third round and went on to get better each match. And for me it will go down as one of the greatest matches of my career in terms of the actual quality of the match. I think the match went well over three hours, and for a tiebreak in the third set and I saved match point in the second set.
So it was an amazing memories for me playing against one of the greatest players of all time in his home country as well. So that will definitely go down as one of the greats.
In terms of my comeback now. The hips been going pretty well. It was a decision that was sort of forced on me. I hurt my hip in Las Vegas and kept trying to play with that injury. I wasn't 100% sure exactly what it was and I was trying to get over it. I wanted to play obviously the French Open, Wimbledon and Davis Cup.
When I got through Wimbledon, I went to Beijing and played my first round there and basically my whole leg just shut down after that, and I wasn't able to compete at all. That's when I flew back to Australia, and I had basically no choice but to have the surgery if I wanted to keep playing the game. That's where I've done a whole heap of rehab since then, and I feel really strong.
I obviously got a rough draw in Melbourne last week and lost to Fernando Gonzalez in a tight five-setter in the first round. But the biggest bonus and positive for me is I didn't feel the hip at all during the match. And I pulled up 100%, and I would have been able to play two days later easily if I had gotten through that match.
So there are a lot of positives to on come out of the first month of the season for me, and I'm hoping to build on it especially in San Jose and Memphis in the next couple of weeks.

Q. Can you go into more detail about what it takes to come back from hip surgery?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, well, it's probably -- it's obviously physically but mentally as well, I guess, to be able to come back and do all the rehab and right things to get back to try to compete on the tour. For me it was a positive to get back on the court. In Melbourne at the Australian Open and be as close to 100% as possible. A few months ago I really didn't know if I was going to be able to compete in Australia.
For me it was a huge positive to be out there competing, and the biggest success was that I didn't feel any pain, that same pain that I was getting. It's a mental battle. I've never missed the US Open since I played there. And that was a special place because I won the US Open in 2001.
So for me it was disappointing not being able to play there last year. And to miss that Grand Slam. That's why I play the game. Once you've won Grand Slams and beaten world number one, the Grand Slams drive you as well. That really showed the hunger and drive was definitely still there to get back.
So now for me the most important thing is to try to get a lot of matches under my belt. That's what I'm going to be trying to do in the next couple of weeks.

Q. How did the injury happen?
LLEYTON HEWITT: From the first time I felt it, I was in Las Vegas training a couple of days before the tournament started in February last year. I went for a move in a practice session with Nicklaus Kiefer. I felt something straight away. I had it checked. Wasn't 100% sure at the time what it really was.
I kept trying to play with it. I got through some tough matches and then the days after those matches it just wouldn't pull up whatsoever, and, yeah, I really wanted to get through Wimbledon though.
So I went through the French Open and Wimbledon, and played there. Basically after that I made the round of 16 at Wimbledon against Federer and was well under 100% going into that match. And after that, my whole leg basically shut down because it was compensating so much.
So I had to have some bone taken off my hip joint. And I also had a couple of tears and cysts in there as well. So it was a pretty decent clean up in the end.

Q. Given all you've gone through, what are your goals for this year?
LLEYTON HEWITT: For me at the start of the year it's just trying to get the matches under my belt. I still want to be a force in the Grand Slams, and probably now I'm looking more so toward Wimbledon and the French Open purely in terms of the surface. I've had so much success at Wimbledon in the past.
I feel there's probably a handful of guys that can only push Nadal and Federer on that surface, and I think I'm one of them. For me it's about trying to get as many matches as possible, and trying to get the ranking back up there as close to the seedings as I can.
But obviously I want to be 100% going into Wimbledon and really try to push for that. And then hopefully the rest of the year I can work towards getting back in the Top 20, Top 10 again.

Q. Finally, I wanted your thoughts on Andy Roddick's resurgence down there in Australia?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, well, I actually haven't seen any of Andy's matches. So he's obviously done extremely well. Obviously the last match I know the circumstances, Djokovic pulling out and everything with that as well.
There's obviously, Andy's gone probably under the radar a little more in Australia this year than in previous years. That's probably helped him in a lot of ways as well, the expectation and the pressure on him. He's up against his old foe Federer in the semis. So he'll have his work cut out in that one.

Q. You were talking about getting matches under your belt when you started the year. Is that part of why you added Memphis after San Jose?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, a little bit, I guess. I was really keen to play San Jose this year again. I've had a lot of success there. Not only when I won in 2002, but the final against Andy Murray when I lost in the tiebreak third set as well.
So I think it's a place where I play well. And you always like to go back to places where you play well.
But for me to play a couple of indoor tournaments in a row in similar conditions was a good situation for me to be in. Especially I take one more week off after that. And I have Davis Cup in Thailand and come back for Indian Wells and Miami.
So for me it's about trying to get those match practice. And doesn't matter how much you are on the practice court, you can't get it until you're in the match court and get in the routine of playing the big points and the pressure points and being down, you know, breakpoint on serve and all that stuff. So for me it's about trying to get as much matches as possible now.

Q. Talk about Federer, Nadal. In terms of Roger approaching Pete's Grand Slam record, he's getting close, could possibly reach it and tie it this week. Can you shed some perspective on Roger being on the verge of that record, and what it takes to accomplish that?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Well, it's an amazing feat not only to be on the verge of it, to be very close to it. Obviously when Pete did it, I don't think anyone really expected anyone to get as close to Pete as Roger has and probably so quickly either.
You know, it took Pete an awfully long time to end up getting that one as well. So it's an amazing feat what Roger's been able to do.
Yeah, especially considering he hasn't won a French Open either. It would be a lot easier if he's won all four majors to be able to go out there and collect that sort of number of Grand Slam titles.
But, yeah, he's going to go down as possibly the greatest ever. You've still got Rafa knocking on the door, and who knows how many slams he's going to be out of putting the bag in the next few years as well.

Q. How healthy would you say the men's game is now, with Roger and I guess Novak and Murray?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I think it's doing really well at the moment. Obviously, those four guys that have been the standouts through the end of the year. But it's good to see Andy back, putting pressure on those guys as well. As I said, I think he's been a little bit under the radar in the last few months.
Yeah, there's a lot of good young guys coming in. Del Potro who I know is playing San Jose in a week or so's time as well. He's a great young player. On the rise as well. You know, Gilles Simon is up there. A lot of younger guys, Richard Gasquet, a whole group of them putting pressure on the top guys. But they're the four standouts right at the moment.

Q. I was going to ask you about some of the changes on tour. I know they've created three levels, I guess offering 1,000 and 500 and 250 points. Can you just talk about how that set up is for you this year and what you think about the tour's changes?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, well, right at the moment I can't say it's a huge deal right in my eyes right at the moment. Obviously I'm focusing on these couple of tournaments coming up. Then, obviously, the Masters series which coming up. I think it's good for the public to be able to put together a tournament from what they are worth. Purely before it was for players and coaches to know what kind of points for each tournament.
So I think that is the biggest category the ATP has tried to put together is that every tournament has a number that you're sort of going towards, and depending on how big the tournament is. So I guess they've tried to simplify it for a lot of the tennis public out there. But really didn't know how the ranking system worked in a lot of ways.

Q. Players and their coaches, in terms of you see some players make changes on almost an annual basis. But your coaching history and how important that is for a player?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it's very important. I think in terms of the tennis coach, it's totally different to a lot of other team sports around the world and probably more so in America as well. The basketball and baseball and those kinds of things.
It's such an individual sport out there that it really has to be a great mateship as well to make it work. It's got to be a great partnership. And you have to be able to get along with that person and basically talk about anything with that person as well.
I find that the people that I've got along extremely well with throughout my career are people I'm extremely close with. Not only know my tennis game but my personality on and off the court as well. And I think that makes it a lot easier. If you're going out there, you might have a great coach out there, but you two really don't mix together, then it can end awkwardly, I guess.
You look at the Murray-Gilbert situation. They obviously had their differences even though Andy Murray is a fantastic player and Brad Gilbert is a fantastic coach. I think the biggest thing is you have to get along with your coach.

Q. You've had how many different coaches?
LLEYTON HEWITT: How many I've had?

Q. Yeah.
LLEYTON HEWITT: I've had four.

Q. Who is your coach right now?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Tony Roche is my coach. He's one of the greats of Australian sport and of Australian tennis and former French Open champion. So I'm very lucky to have a guy like him behind me.

Q. You've been with him how long now?
LLEYTON HEWITT: We started about a year and a half to go together. But I've known Roche for a number of years. He was a Davis Cup coach when I was on the way up, and he and John gave me my opportunity to play Davis Cup for Australia when they were captain and coach. So, yeah, Roche knows my game as well as anyone does, I think. It's been a good partnership, and hopefully goes on for many more years.

Q. Working on the tournament San Jose year round we work for 51 weeks and then one week the guys come in and we're thrilled to have you back. Can you talk about how you'd like things to go here in San Jose?
LLEYTON HEWITT: For me what I remembered of the past is a fantastically run tournament for the players. I think the players get looked after extremely well. Obviously, in a great arena as well.
So for me just to come back to a place like that and play tennis. I've had great support there in the past as well. Played a lot of big night matches there which is fantastic. You know, that tournament's obviously been fortunate to have a lot of big names in the past as well.
Andre Agassi supported it for so many years and it was only a few years ago John McEnroe made his comeback in the doubles court there as well, I remember. So it's always been a fun tournament to come back to. Hopefully for me in particular this year, I'm just hoping to get through my first couple of rounds and build on that as the tournament goes up. I'd like nothing more than to be holding up the trophy on the final Sunday.
BILL RAPP: If you do get in early, if you're here by Thursday night, I don't know if you follow the San Jose Sharks, but the team here is the top team in the country right now. If you're in on Thursday night, we'll get you a ticket to the game.
LLEYTON HEWITT: Okay, no worries, thank you, mate.
BILL RAPP: Thanks, Lleyton.
LLEYTON HEWITT: Thank you.

End of FastScripts

AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 20, 2009

Lleyton Hewitt

MELBOURNE, VICTORIA

F. GONZÁLEZ/L. Hewitt
5-7, 6-2, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Midway through the fifth set, a switch in momentum. What do you attribute that to in Fernando lifting his game a bit, yours going off a bit?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Big point was probably 1-All in the fifth, I had fif-40. I had another breakpoint. I couldn't get that break. I felt at that stage I was starting to get back on top. From the second and third sets, he was dominating the match. I had to try to find a way to get back into it. I was able to do that through the fourth, broke a couple of times. Early in that fifth set, it would have been nice to go up an early break.
Yeah, he came up with a couple of big forehands on those points. Yeah, but if I could have got that early break, it could have been a little bit different.

Q. Is this the toughest loss in your career?
LLEYTON HEWITT: It's not the toughest, no.

Q. Was your recent lack of match play a factor?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Who knows. Obviously, the more matches you have, the more matches against the better players in the Masters Series, big tournaments, it's obviously going to help in the tight situations on the big points.
Yeah, there was still only a couple of points in it there in the fifth set, if I could have broken there, then consolidated early in the fifth set, you know, he was ready to go as well a little bit.
Yeah, even with that set, I still had my chance out there.

Q. Did Fernando's injury break throw you at all?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Maybe a little bit, I guess. I wasn't quite serving as well as I had early in the match, though. Even though I won the fourth set, I didn't feel like I had my best serving set that set at all. Then the fifth set, I didn't serve great. I gave him too many chances to dictate with his forehand. Yeah, that was probably the telling point.

Q. You pushed him pretty close. He's a very good player. Is this discouraging for you with your comeback or encouraging? Does it give you hope you can get back to where you were?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I don't know right at the moment. Haven't really thought about it too much. You go out there and you try and beat whoever you're up against.
I'll probably look back at it in a couple of days' time, yeah, look at where I could have improved and whatever. But, yeah, in hindsight, when you haven't had the matches, haven't played five sets for quite a while, yeah, you're always going to be fighting it, I guess, a little bit.
In terms of that then, you know, I think it's a good springboard for the rest of the year. I would have still liked to have gone a bit further in the tournament.

Q. Where do you go now?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Play San Jose and Memphis in a couple weeks' time.

Q. No matter what happens from here, do you feel you've written yourself into the history of this tournament by having so many great matches?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I don't know. I guess I wrote myself into the tournament when I lost in the final a couple years ago.
Yeah, I'm not sure. This is my 13th Australian Open. I've been coming here for a while now.

Q. Any sense that it's your last Australian Open?
LLEYTON HEWITT: No, I don't think so.

Q. Where do you feel you are at the moment as far as getting back into the top 10?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Right there. The guys that I've lost to, especially the last two weeks, yeah, they're both top 15 at the moment. But when they're at their best, you know, Nalbandian is possibly top-five, top-seven player and González is a top-10 player. The two losses haven't been the worst losses on paper. I probably could have easily won both those matches, as well.
In the next couple days, I'll get to assess how it went, how the body's pulled up. I'll probably go through it with Rochey and see what maybe I could have done a little bit better.

Q. How did your body hold up? Your first five-set match in months.
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, pretty good. Just wasn't quite getting enough push-off in my legs, my left leg, just due to playing five sets, especially as the match went on with my serve. It probably cost me a little bit. Especially late in the fourth and fifth sets, I just wasn't getting a high enough percentage in first serves. That probably comes with the strength of pushing off my left leg a lot more than I've done in quite a long time.

Q. You said during the week that it would be nice to have someone else take a bit of the burden of expectation off you that you've had for a long time. Bernard Tomic in the last 24 hours is all over the front pages. Do you think that might help you as you come back, not having as much pressure on you?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it was a great win by Bernard yesterday, but he's still got a long way to go before he's in the top hundred and playing in the other slams, the other Masters Series week in and week out. I could be retired by the time he gets to top hundred. Who knows how long that will take, so...

Q. Do you see similarities in the expectations that are on him now and were on you at a similar age?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, a little bit. When I was coming up, though, Pat was already up there. We had a good stock of players, I guess. There was quite a lot of, you know, not exceptional top-10 players, but a great group. Stoltenberg, the Woodies, Sandon Stolle, Richard Fromberg. There were so many of them that were competitive week in and week out on the tour. It probably made it easier for me to hang around with guys, hit with guys, learn from them as well a lot, whereas Bernard right at the moment, there's probably really only myself and Gooch that are on the tour week in and week out in the actual ATP tournaments.
The more Aussies we can get there, the better off it is for everyone coming through.

Q. (Question regarding the surgery and thoughts of retirement.)
LLEYTON HEWITT: No, not at all. I really didn't have that much time to think about the surgery, to tell you the truth. As soon as I flew back from Beijing, I landed that morning, then that afternoon I was under the knife. If I was going to retire, then I wouldn't have had the surgery done.
It wasn't something that was going to affect me in everyday life for the rest of my life. It was something that, you know, if I want to still play tennis, then it had to be done.

Q. Did you have any input as to whether this was a day or night match?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I would have preferred to play during the day today, so...

Q. Will you take Bernard under your wing if he approaches you to hit with him on tour?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Absolutely. I haven't really seen a lot of him. He came to the Davis Cup tie in Townsville. He rolled up a little bit later than everyone else, so I didn't get a chance to hit with him at all there.
I really haven't seen him play a lot. Yeah, obviously to win a tour match is obviously a huge bonus. It wasn't just him yesterday. You know, Brydan Klein, who I've hit with a lot, had I thought a really good win against a really good player yesterday as well. They're boys that have to take the next step. When you get wild cards into these tournaments, you have to take them, you have to take your chance.

Q. How would you rate Fernando's chance in the tournament?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, he's a tough player to play against for anyone, even the best guys like Roger, Rafa, those guys, purely because he wants to play on his terms. He's always gonna be the guy trying to dictate play. If he's able to dictate play, then he's extremely tough to beat. He's obviously in a section with Gasquet and Nadal after that. He's going to have his work cut out. But he's a dangerous floater.

Q. (Question about his left leg.)
LLEYTON HEWITT: I think it would keep improving probably six months since the surgery and rehab till it gets actually to its strongest and when hopefully you don't have any issues.

Q. How tough are the next few months going to be now? Your ranking is going to drop a bit. You won't have the protection of the seeding any more.
LLEYTON HEWITT: It won't be that tough. I'm only playing a couple of small tournaments. Got Davis Cup, a couple of Masters Series in America. Yeah, I really don't have any points to defend, apart from a fourth round at Wimbledon, for the whole year. I can't say I'm too worried about points and rankings right at the moment.

Q. Will we see you in the doubles here?
LLEYTON HEWITT: No, no. I think the double's draw is done already. Probably won't go and play.

Q. This is a close match. You've had a lot of dramatic matches here. What are some of the most memorable ones for you looking back?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Nearly all seven matches that I played in 2005, I think. Yeah, every match was a bit of a rollercoaster out there. That was probably the year that I had a lot of -- a couple of five-setters, a couple of close four-setters nearly every match. That and probably obviously the Baghdatis match last year.

End of FastScripts

January 18, 2009 Interview re draw Australian Open

Lleyton Hewitt

MELBOURNE, VICTORIA

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Probably not the first-round draw you would have hoped for?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, probably not. Probably a lot tougher ones as well, though. So, yeah, when you're unseeded, you're thrown in that territory where you don't really know what to expect.
Yeah, it's going to be a tough matchup. But the whole time I've been preparing the last couple of months to be ready for whoever I came up against. It was going to be fairly tough anyway.
Hopefully I can knock him out and take his draw.

Q. (Question regarding the draw.)
LLEYTON HEWITT: No, that doesn't worry me what they think too much. Obviously, you know, I think for anyone, I'm probably one of the more dangerous unseeded players in the draw. Yeah, puts a little bit more pressure on him, I guess.

Q. Have you had enough matches to get through seven matches in a Grand Slam?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Don't know. Just take the first one, see how we go after that. Right now I'm focusing on González, worrying about the matchup, what I need to do with my game to be in as good a nick as possible.

Q. Have you got any expectations of how far you think you can last into the tournament?
LLEYTON HEWITT: No, I haven't. Not worrying about anyone apart from Fernando at the moment.

Q. There's been a lot of talk amongst the players about this Open should be moved into February. What are your thoughts?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I think as an Australian, I think it's probably the ideal team for Australian sport. This is the time that I've always known it as the Australian Open, the dates that I've always come to, around these dates, late January, since I was coming here as a young kid to come and watch.
For an Australian, it fits in so well with obviously the school holidays and getting kids out there. And I think for the sport of tennis in this country, that really helps as well, you know, that the young kids can come out and watch a lot of it, even on the back courts, get a good atmosphere out here.
You know, I think sport-wise there's not a lot on at this time of the year either, so it sort of stands out by itself as well, which is probably a good thing for our Grand Slam. Yeah, so it's a tough call. It's obviously early in the year. A lot of overseas players have prepared well enough to win it in the past (smiling).

Q. Do you ever feel tempted to say what you just said to Roger, Novak, Andy about the viewpoint of an Australian, the way it fits into the summer here?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I definitely know Roger knows it. Yeah, I haven't actually spoken to any of those guys about it, what their thoughts are about it. I'm sure Roger knows. He's had a lot of success here in the past. It hasn't really changed his performance, I guess. He's lucky that he's been able to come out after only one or two weeks' preparation and still play extremely well.
But obviously there's a lot more to it than just worrying about the players for a couple weeks, I guess. You know, the tournament has to worry about obviously ticket sales, kids being around the place, a whole lot of other things.

Q. Do the players enjoy coming here as the first tournament of the year, since a lot are coming from the northern hemisphere where it's pretty cold?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I'm not sure. I hope so. I think they put on a great event here. It's in an awesome stadium, great arena. You know, obviously I love playing here. But I think, you know, everyone really enjoys it here. We get looked after really well, which is good.

Q. You've been playing the sport a long time now. You've had quite a few family changes in the last year or so. What about your level of ambition now with all that experience behind you, do ambitions shift, attitudes change, or are you still as driven as you always were?
LLEYTON HEWITT: No, right at the moment I'm still as driven and motivated as I think I've always been. You know, probably more so after having the injury, having to put in all the hard yards to try and get back, just to get back on the court, you know, doing a whole heap of rehab, fitness stuff, just to be able to play here.
So, yeah, if the motivation wasn't there, then I wouldn't be playing. So for me, you know, I still feel that I've got things to do in the sport. I still feel I can get back into the top 10 and push those better guys at the top of the rankings.
I've obviously got to play a lot more matches, get in that rhythm of, you know, hopefully being a hundred percent fit on the court and playing week in and week out as well.

Q. Roger Federer is on the brink of joining Pete Sampras. You've been one of their closest rivals. His achievements, where he sits now, can you believe it?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Right at the start of his career, you didn't really put anyone in the same category as Sampras. That seemed like an awfully long way away before anyone got close to Pete's record.
Obviously when Roger got on that run for four years or so there, he was nearly unbeatable, especially in three of the majors. So, yeah, he's had an unbelievable run. Yeah, obviously he won the last slam, the US Open of last year, as well, so he's gonna be one of the favorites coming in here. If he does it, good on him. It's a hell of an effort.

Q. Is there still a rush coming into an Australian Open?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, absolutely. Australian Open and Wimbledon are probably two of my favorite tournaments, I think. Yeah, for me to always come back and play here, it is a big thrill always. Yeah, I love playing on Rod Laver Arena. It's going to be a lot of fun on Tuesday, as well.

Q. How is the court surface this year? Are you happy with it?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I think it's all right. I wouldn't say it's any different to last year. It's probably on the medium to fast pace, I'd say. It's a fairly rough court surface, though. The balls fluff up quite a bit after a couple of games. But that's very similar to last year, as well.

Q. The prospects for the locals don't seem to be overly high. Is it frustrating that stories about what's wrong with Australian tennis are being written before a ball is even hit?
LLEYTON HEWITT: We don't have that many guys or players in the main draw. Yeah, it's always going to be written if you don't have the players out there. We were fortunate for a number of years, though, even before probably Pat Rafter was, you know, getting up to the top, we still had a lot of great players out there competing in the main draws, being able to make the odd semifinal, quarterfinal, consistent Round of 16s at any of the slams. That's probably what we miss, you know, at the moment. We just don't have the numbers there to be able to do that.
Until we get more guys in the top 90, top hundred in the world that get direct acceptance into the Grand Slams, it's gonna to fall back on guys like myself and Guccione.

Q. Tony Roche has indicated he's going to speak about the state of tennis in Australia after the Open. Have you had lengthy discussions with him about it yourself?
LLEYTON HEWITT: You know, we talk about little things now and then. Yeah, obviously there's issues behind the scenes to try and get more players to be able to come through.
Rochey, I can't speak for him, but he obviously knows more than anyone about how to make kids into players. He's been around the traps that many years and he's worked with so many great players, I think people really should be listening to a lot that Rochey has to say.

Q. Almost 40 years since Laver completed the Grand Slam. There's a lot of emphasis on Roger and his beating Sampras or equalling it here, then the next step is another Grand Slam attempt. Where do you think Laver's position in tennis history is?
LLEYTON HEWITT: It hard to say. Over time it changes so much. But obviously he's always going to be one of the greats. To win a Grand Slam twice is remarkable. But, yeah, it's hard to compare generations. It's like in golf, comparing Woods to all the older guys that won so many slams as well. When does he get put in that category the same as them?
It's a lot easier to sort of look at Sampras and Federer and try and compare the two of them than it is throwing Laver in. This day and age, there's so many different countries playing as well now. The surface of all four majors are all different as well now. There's a lot of variables.

Q. Can you remember being made the favorite for a tournament, a Grand Slam, before you'd actually won a Grand Slam?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I wouldn't have been, no.

Q. Do you think it's common sense to make someone a favorite before they've actually won a Grand Slam, going into a Grand Slam?
LLEYTON HEWITT: It's probably not the done thing. Who knows who's favorite. Yeah, that's one person's opinion (smiling).
I guess the rivalry of Nadal and Federer in the majors the last, you know, three or four years... They're both at the moment 1 and 2 in the world. You're a brave man to look outside those two as a favorite going into any slam at the moment.

End of FastScripts

Medibank International 2009

January 13, 2009

Lleyton Hewitt

SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES

L. HEWITT/J. Benneteau
5-7, 6-2, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Pretty good work out.
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it was. You know, it was always going to be tough in the first sort of tournament match back for a while.
Yeah, trying to get into the routine for a while of getting out there again and on the big points being able to do what you want and what you're used to doing, I guess. I obviously got better as the match went on.
Plus, it was really tough conditions out there for both players. It was swirling a lot out there. Probably one of the windier days that I've actually had on that center court where I sort of couldn't tell where the breeze was coming from the whole time.

Q. You seem to be more attacking. Has that been something you've been working on with Rochey?
LLEYTON HEWITT: A little bit. You always want to do as much as possible. A lot depends on the opponent you're playing and how much they let you do it too. Felt like there was quite a few short balls out there, especially in the first set, that I probably didn't attack and step up to the line as much as I probably could have.
I missed a couple of those opportunities in the first set. Probably the second and third set I tried to do it a little bit more and put more pressure on him. Felt like with the breeze today as well it was important to try and take the ascendency of the point and dictate as much as possible.
If you came in on a pretty good approach shot out there, doesn't matter how good a passer you are out there, it was going to be tough to hit a good pass with someone sitting on the net.
I tried to take my chances out there a couple times. A lot of the time it worked really well for me. I came up with some really good volleys.
Yeah, I missed a couple, but that's always going to happen, too.

Q. How's your hip feeling?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Felt good today. Obviously tested out another three-setter, and played a couple tough three-setters last week and pulled up pretty well. Hopefully will pull up well again tomorrow.

Q. Next you've got Janko Tipsarevic. Your thoughts on him?
LLEYTON HEWITT: We've had some tough matches in the past. I've at least beaten him a couple times. Lost to him once. Last time we played I reckon it was Davis Cup on an extremely slow clay court in Serbia. Going to be a lot different conditions to that match.
Yeah, he's a great ball-striker. One of the best ball-strikers going around. Very similar to Djokovic in that sense. He moves extremely well, but you got to hang in there with him and make him play that extra shot.
Hopefully I can sort of weather the storm enough against him out there.

Q. Speaking of hanging in there, the two matches in Perth and here, dropping the first set, that might not have been a bad thing for you. Is that the way you look at it?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah. I would have liked to have won in straight today. For sure that's probably the No. 1 positive to come out of winning a three-set match. Gives the body a tougher time.
You're going to have to win at least three sets to win any match in Melbourne. You got to be prepared to do that, and fit and strong enough to do that, so...

Q. When will the questions about your hip stop?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Don't know.

Q. Are you prepared for that?
LLEYTON HEWITT: You tell me.

Q. If you had to rate it at one to ten at the moment, how do you see your body and form?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Hard to say at the moment. You know, in practice I'm hitting the ball really well. It's a matter of taking that into the match court though. You can't expect miracles when haven't played for nearly four and a half, five months on the tour.
It's not easy to come out in match situations and just pick it up straightaway. Doesn't matter how good you are. It's a matter of getting that confidence. The more matches, yeah, that will come back.

End of FastScripts

January 14, 2009

Lleyton Hewitt

SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES

L. HEWITT/J. Tipsarevic
7-5, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. How was it out there?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Hot.

Q. It looks it.
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah. No, it was -- yeah, I think it works into my favor though, conditions like that. You know, that's what I try and train in as much as possible and get used to it, even though, you know, it doesn't always feel that comfortable for anyone out there.
Yeah, you know your opponent is hurting as much if not worse than I am, so that's the positive you got to try and think about when you're out there.

Q. You probably sensed that he was getting a bit heat-affected.
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, well, he's a tough player to play against because he's such a great shot maker, and then he just sprays balls out of nowhere as well. He serves in patches as well.
Like the start of the match today he was serving extremely well and hitting a lot of lines on his first serve and I really couldn't get into any of his service games.
He played a couple good points on my service games and I played a couple loose ones and I'm down a break straightaway. I really had to fight hard to get myself back in that first set.
Once I got the break back I felt like the momentum really changed out there and things were starting to go my way, which made life a lot easier. Once I was able to win that first set 7-5 instead of even going to a close tiebreak, then I felt like I could really try to put pressure on him early in the second set.

Q. How are you going with your autopilot?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Not too bad. I didn't come out and play my best tennis at the start today, which sort of put me behind the eight ball a little bit.
Mind you, he didn't give me the opportunity to do that either. As I said, he was hitting a lot lines out there early. Any half short ball he was really trying to step up and attack it and put it away, which put a lot of pressure on me. I had to keep good depth. I sort of wanted to get my teeth into the match by making a lot of balls out there and making him play a lot balls. Sort of turn it into a bit of a grinding match in some ways, and I was able to do that sort of three quarters of the way through that first set.

Q. Did the crowd bother you at all, the chanting?
LLEYTON HEWITT: No, that just fires me up more. It's not the smartest thing to do.

Q. So the first serves, do you feel like you need to do that better tomorrow?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, a little bit. I served well when I needed to today. Though. Yeah, first serve percentage, yeah, definitely got to try and work on that and get a little higher out there. You know, especially every round it's going to get tougher and tougher against better players, and also next week in Melbourne.
It's something I definitely got to work on. He was a good returner out there today. When I needed to, I hit the spots pretty well.

Q. Speaking of firing you up, Nalbandian next round.
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, we haven't played for a while. Yeah, it's another step up in class, though. He's a top 10 player, just outside of top 10 at the moment. Yeah, he got through, you know, with ease today against Llodra who is a dangerous opponent as well, so he's obviously playing pretty well at the moment. Going to have to step it up another notch.

Q. How much do you look forward to those kind of matches where you and he have had a bit to say to each other in the past?
LLEYTON HEWITT: It's not something I'll be focusing on going into the match tomorrow. For me, it's more another -- a good step to see where I'm at going into Melbourne. For me, obviously the big picture is next week, and I want to get in as good a shape as possible before Monday or Tuesday of next week.
Yeah, having an opportunity to play a guy like Nalbandian is a good opportunity for me.

Q. He likes to bait you, but he's gone off that strategy. Do you think he realized that's not very effective against you?
LLEYTON HEWITT: We actually haven't played that much really. We've only played three times, I think. We really haven't played much at all.
Obviously I killed him in the Wimbledon final, and then we had a cliff-hanger at the Australian Open in Melbourne, and he took me down pretty comfortably in the Davis Cup here in the semifinal I think a couple years ago, quarterfinal maybe.
So, yeah, it's always a tough matchup. Nalbandian plays extremely well some days and he has average loses out of blue others. He's a tough player to get a read on, but when he's at his best he's definitely in the top 10 players.

Q. What do you find most difficult about him?
LLEYTON HEWITT: He's got a good all-court game, I think. He's got good feel around the court. Yeah, he moves well and can play well from both forehand and backhand. He defends well, but he can also be very aggressive as well.

Q. You had the chance to serve first, but you chose to let him serve. Do you think that backfired when you lost the first game to him?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Not really. Yeah, I just sort of feel -- depends on how I feel on the day, I guess, if I win the toss what I do, and today I felt like receiving first.

Q. Where would you like to see your ranking at the end of the summer?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Couldn't care less, to tell you the truth. It's not something that I'm focused on for two weeks' time. At the end of the year I'll probably look at it. Right at the moment I just want to get through and focus on the Australian Open. One tournament more than anything, not purely just a ranking for two weeks' time.
You know, rankings are on a 12-month basis, so it's really hard to says in three weeks what you'll be.

Q. How does your body pull up after each match?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Felt really good today. Felt really good considering I had a 6-4 in the third match in the late afternoon yesterday. Don't have that much time to recover.
Yeah, in the heat today I felt quite comfortable.

Q. When you do your pre-season stuff, obviously you practice a lot. Do you do anything else to try and prepare for the heat, sand hills or anything like that?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I do some sand hills and a lot of cross-training stuff. Probably the first three weeks or so before I actually got on the court when I was able to start running and doing stuff, I was doing -- yeah, it was all fitness work. Nothing to do with the racquet at the start.
I was fortunate that the whole month of December there was no tennis anyway, so I didn't really have rush to get back in tennis shape. I felt like I could be able to get a good base to start this year.

Q. Has the break helped you? Could it extend your career?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Who knows. Depends how it holds up, I guess.

Q.
LLEYTON HEWITT: I guess it freshens you up when you play a lot of tournaments and you're looking at results and thinking about the next tournament, where your going to be playing and stuff like that and preparing.
To have three or four months where you didn't really focus on tennis at all, you know, it's probably a good thing in some ways after so many years of actually on the tour grinding it out. Yeah, I still miss not being out there, though.

End of FastScripts

January 15, 2009

Lleyton Hewitt

SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES

D. NALBANDIAN/L. Hewitt
7-6, 7-5

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. That looked like another step up for you in difficult conditions out there.
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it was really tough conditions. I thought Tuesday was gusty out there. It was a lot worse today even.
It's the same for both players, but, yeah, you to try and find a way to hang in a lot points out there. It was tough for both of us to serve. The ball was swirling a lot.
I probably didn't get a high enough first serve percentage in, especially against a good returner like Nalbandian. That put me under a little bit of pressure, you know, especially in windy conditions.

Q. How do you assess your form against David today?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Not too bad. There's a lot of positives, I think, to take out of today. He's a step up, you know, in class to the two other guys that I played this week.
You know, it was a point away from taking the first set there and didn't quite get enough on the return. Just set up a little bit too much for him. He was getting tight in that situation. He obviously served for the first set and wasn't able to do it.
Then I felt like things were starting to turn my way. Yeah, he played a pretty good tiebreak, especially early on in breaker to get in is better position, I guess.

Q. You're pleased that managed to stick in there?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Well, felt like I had a lot opportunities out there, a lot of Love-30s out there. Yeah, he served better than I did, especially on the big points today.
Yeah, in the tiebreak he served well. I didn't really get too many opportunities to get onto his serve. The set point I had in the first set he came up with a big first serve. Yeah, if I could have got my teeth into that point, then right at the time I thought I was starting to get on top a little bit.
So, yeah, it was frustrating that I wasn't able to quite take any chances when they popped up.

Q. Three days in row you're played off the back of Perth, so probably nice to have a break now.
LLEYTON HEWITT: I'll just keep practicing the next couple of days. Yeah, obviously you won't have that intensity of getting ready and preparing for a match.
Yeah, can be a good thing, I guess, going into a major as well. You got to save your energy. Grand Slams are a totally different situation.
Yeah, you got to be ready to play five sets. That's a long time out there to grind out there for five sets as well. In the past I've probably had my best tennis over five sets.

Q. Do you see yourself as now being ready for five sets?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I think so. I'm as ready as I think I thought I'd ever be coming into this situation. Yeah, I never really knew what to expect, especially before the Hopman Cup, going in there after so many months out.
Yeah, this is where it starts, now and the next week.

Q. The draw tomorrow, it's the first time in a real long time you haven't been seeded in a Grand Slam. What are your thoughts about that?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Can't do much about it, can I? Just see what happens. You know, it's in the hands of the gods. You know, just whoever comes up, then I'll be ready on Monday or Tuesday.

Q. What does it tell you about your form when you get so close to beating a bloke that's ranked 11th in the world?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I don't think I'm that far away from it. You know, especially, yeah, he's a good player and one of the best players in the world and probably capable of beating nearly anyone on any surface on any given day.
I had chances in both sets out there today. I had breakpoint in the first game of the second set as well. Yeah, it's probably just not having those tough matches against the best players this probably let me down today.

End of FastScripts