Lleyton Hewitt press conference


This is an edited interview held with Lleyton Hewitt, top seed at the 2005 Next Generation Hardcourts, on December 30, 2004.

Why is Adelaide the right start for you?

I always wanted to come back and play here. It’s where it all started for me. I’ve given the Hopman Cup a run for the past three years and felt like, you know, at the end of the day, to get a real tournament under my belt where there’s ranking points on the line and you’ve got to go out there and win every match to get match practice out there as well so there’s extra incentive to get those matches under your belt going in.

What about the depth?

Actually I wouldn’t have a clue who’s playing. I’m just worrying about my own game. At the end of the day I think I’m playing well enough at the moment to go out there and put everyone under a lot of pressure. I feel like I’m hitting the ball extremely well. There’s certainly no easy matches. At the start of the year I know as well as anyone you’ve got go out there and get the job done, but I couldn’t be happier with the way I’m hitting the ball.

Given that a lot of people would probably come here to watch you play, do you feel any more expectations playing at home?

There’s always going to be more expectation and pressure put on, probably more so from you guys than anyone else so, I’ve just to go out there and get the job down. At the end of the day it’s a bit different when I came here as a 23-year-old, with all the results that I’ve had in the past compared with when I was 16 or 17 coming here. It really was the be-all and end-all. For me this is about preparing myself as well as possible for Melbourne in three or four weeks time. By January 17 I want to be hitting my peak but I feel Adelaide and Sydney this year is going to give me great preparation for that.

As you look forward to next year, is that the big goal, winning the Aussie Open?

It’s obviously a huge goal but it doesn’t get any easier either. No matter what happens in a month’s time, if I’m able to win it or lose it, whatever, it’s still not going to be the end of the world. There’s still a lot of big tournaments out for the rest of the year and a lot of things that I’d enjoy capturing and obviously trying to get the Davis Cup team up again into a position where we can maybe make the semis or final there and the other three majors. I feel like this year I had a good shot at all four majors and wasn’t quite able to take them and ran into one guy in particular who was too good in three out of the four. I think next year can definitely be a big year in the majors.

You said Roger Federer was setting the benchmark in the last year or so. What makes him so good and what do you have to do to bridge the gap?

Yeah, I think confidence has a huge thing to do with it. When you are on top of the game and you’re winning a lot of matches, a lot of big matches, when you’re playing the best guys in the world there’s only two or three points in a match that changes the outcome of a match and Roger’s been that confident on big points, he goes for the big second serve, he comes up with the huge backhand, half volley on the baseline. He’s pulling the trigger at the right points and that’s what makes him so good though. Under pressure, he’s able to come out there and do it. He’s human though, and he’s going to make errors at some stage and we’ll have to wait and see when it happens but hopefully it comes in Melbourne in a couple of weeks time.

Do you think you have the confidence to beat him?

I can definitely beat him, yeah. But it’s not going to be easy and I think I know as well as anyone, he’s definitely the man to beat out there at the moment.

What motivates you nowadays? Is it getting back to No.1 or winning Grand Slams along the way?

It’s more Grand Slams. I don’t want to go out and play week in, week out and try and chase my ranking or get it up an extra spot. At the end of the day though, if you go out there and put yourself in a position to win Grand Slams then you’re going to be very close to 1, 2 or 3 in the world. To get that close, then sure, I’d love to have another crack at trying to get No.1 but at the end of the day I’d prefer to just concentrate on playing my best tennis at the majors.

Are you playing as well now as when you were No.1?

For sure. This last year has been as consistent a year as I’ve ever had, even when I was number one. Roger (Rasheed) and I have put a lot of work in both on and off the court and it’s really been paying off. The US summer, hardly put a foot wrong, didn’t lose a set until the US Open final and from then on I didn’t play a lot of tennis towards the end but I still came out and played some of my best tennis, plus one of the best matches I’ve ever played against Roddick in the semis in the Masters Cup. At the moment there’s only been one guy I haven’t been able to sort of handle in the last 12 months, 18 months or so.

Have you adapted your game at all?

No point worrying about him (Federer) right at the moment. He’s not playing here in Adelaide or Sydney and I if can get the No.2 seeding I won’t have to worry about him until I play a Sunday night final at the Aussie Open. There’s plenty of other good players out there you’ve got to be very wary of, so you don’t just want to focus on one particular guy but obviously you’re going to have to try and do something different if I do come up against him.

You seem pretty relaxed out there, how much does it help to have all your mates around you, training?

Yeah, it’s good. It’s nice to be back home and chill out and not have the stress of hotels and travelling around where you don’t know your way. To be able to sit back. I enjoy playing here, the weather, this is where it all started as well. I have a lot of mates come out here and support and they’ll be supporting me and Roger in the doubles, too.

Andrew McLeod said the other week that you inspire him with his training, what does he do for you?

Oh, nothing (laughter). He catches barramundi for me…no, he’s been great. Obviously he’s a guy that I’ve looked up to. Obviously I’ve been able to get a close friendship as well, which has been fantastic. He’s going to have a game on Sunday night in a charity event, so we’ll see how he goes with a racquet in his hand.

He says he beats you on an X Box?

He is the best X Box tennis player I have ever seen, I just wish he could do it on the real court.

How about that trip away to Darwin, what was that like?

It was good. I’ve never been to the Northern Territory so a lot of fishing, a lot of different stuff, a lot of Aboriginal art stuff and seeing their whole culture up there as well. It was great for me to get away from it for a couple of weeks.

Do you notice a different level of expectation playing a Grand Slam in your own country than the other three during the year and how do you deal with that?

A little bit more because of the media side of it, playing in your own country, but in terms of Grand Slams and putting expectation and pressure on myself, I expect the best every time I go into all four majors. I don’t put any added pressure on myself just because it’s in Australia. I think everyone knows how much I would love to win the Australian Open though and win your home title, but every Grand Slam’s tough going in there. To win seven best of five set matches isn’t easy. You need a little bit of luck along the way and you’ve got to try and stay as relaxed as possible through the two weeks.

You haven’t made it past the fourth round of the Aussie Open, is there a particular reason why you’ve found it harder?

There’s probably been a number of reasons. Every year’s been a little bit different. This year, playing Federer, I could have easily been on the other side of the draw and made the final against him. The year before I lost a bit of a freak match to (Younes) El Aynaoui. I didn’t break serve for four sets. I can’t remember the last time I haven’t broken a bloke’s serve in four sets. Then I had chicken pox before that. Every year’s been a bit different but hopefully this year, who knows, I might make it into the quarterfinals and it all might open up.

In the last couple of decades it’s seemed that Australians have had a lot of trouble, is it particularly hard to win the Australian Open?

The three of us, probably myself, Pat Rafter and Flip (Mark Philippoussis) have all – our best results have been at Wimbledon and the US Open. Maybe the court surface has a little bit to do with that. It suited our games better, all three of us. There’s no doubt that the US Open has been my best Grand Slam. I’ve made the semis at least the last four or five years now so I feel extremely confident on that surface. It’s probably a little bit to do with that. Pat had a great opportunity a few years where he led Agassi two sets to one and started cramping late in the fourth set. In a semi – he would have played Clement in the final, so he had a huge opportunity there. I know Flip and I haven’t made it past the fourth round, hopefully it’s just a matter of time.


Do you feel extra pressure being Australia’s main chance at the Open?

Not really. Over the past few years the focus has just been on Flip and myself anyway, regardless of whether Flip’s at his best or not or if anyone gives him an outside shot or not. I’ve just got to go out there and worry about my game. At the end of the day, there’s always going to be a lot of pressure ever since I started and ever since I’ve been at the top of the game. Playing your home Grand Slam, there’s not a whole heap I can do about that.


The next guy ranked below you is Joachim Johansson. How do you rate him?

He’s a very dangerous player. Obviously he’s made huge inroads throughout this year. He lost in qualifying in Adelaide a year ago. He’s 11 or 12 in the world, he’s got a huge game, he’s very dangerous, very flashy out there and over three sets it’s tougher to play him than a best of five sets match because he can come out there and hold his serve very comfortably for a set or two and you’re in a tiebreak shoot-out. It would be nice to have the opportunity to play him if we both get through to the final.

Do you agree with the sentiments that were expressed recently that Australian tennis – there’s a bit of a dearth of talent?

I don’t know. I haven’t spent enough time back here looking at the younger guys. There definitely needs to be changes made to try and produce more players. Right at the moment I’m probably not the best guy to ask purely because I haven’t seen the whole structure enough, I’m not back here enough to be hands on with that. There’s definitely – you look at the other countries coming through and we just don’t have enough depth. It’s as simple as that. To have one guy in the top 100, for a Grand Slam nation it’s not good enough.

Is it purely a numbers game, just not enough players on the ground?

I don’t know. I don’t know if it’s not enough players or not enough the 15, 16-year-olds coming through and making that next jump from juniors to seniors. In the past we’ve had quite a few players playing in junior grand Slams. They haven’t been able to make that transition to the seniors and really get a world ranking like the top 150, 100 in the world. And that’s where you’ve got to be to be on the Tour week in, week out.

Young Nathan (Healey), he looks like he’s hitting the ball pretty hard…

Yeah, we grew up together. We spent a lot of time overseas. He concentrated on doubles, he got in an awkward situation with singles and trying to focus, a lot of players get in that situation when they get in the top 50 in doubles and they can’t play singles week in, week out, but he’s decided to drop doubles for a while and try to get back into singles this year. He’s made a huge improvement over the last year or so. It’s good to see he got a wildcard into quallies. He’s got a lot of potential. He wants to improve and become a better player, which is a good thing. He can definitely improve from where his ranking’s at the moment. He’s got a great opportunity this week in a qualifying field that’s probably not the toughest qualifying field for tournaments week in, week out around the world. So there’s a big opportunity for a lot of young Australians this week.