Rd 4 
Y. EL AYNAOUI/L. Hewitt
6-7, 7-6, 7-6, 6-4

Q. That was a high-quality match, wasn't it?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, was -- you know, it's always hard to tell when you're out there. Felt like pretty good hitting. One break for four sets, you know, high intensity like that, in a Grand Slam Round of 16, it's always, you know, I'd say pretty good tennis out there.
I was just disappointing that I was on the other end of it today, I guess. I felt like I played pretty well and I had a lot of chances, you know, I had a lot of 15-30s on his serve. To his credit, he just served huge today. I really couldn't get any rhythm on my returns and, you know, he was too good.

Q. Have you played someone who served better than that, do you think, 70 percent?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it's -- no one I could think of. Obviously, Sampras, when he's on, is extremely tough. But, yeah, I think that high a percentage of first serves, he was just hitting the lines so much out there today.
You know, I knew going into the match that's how he plays. I played him at Wimbledon in I think the third round there a couple years ago, and he did the same thing. It was an extremely tough four-set match. It was the same at the US Open in the quarters just a couple months ago when we had a tough four-set match as well.
He just played a lot better today than he did in those two matches. Normally he makes a few more unforced errors and can go down love-30, hit a few double-faults. There was one point in there early in the first set, 15-30, hit his second serve 185 down the middle on the line. Just in that zone, had great rhythm on his serve today.

Q. Did you sense that the crowd never quite got out of its very tense opening? Never really got going out there today? Couldn't lift you at all?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Definitely not their fault.

Q. Just seemed as though they were quiet from the word "go."
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I felt pretty good out there. I felt like the crowd was -- you know, I try and block it out as much as possible as well. It's not like I tried to use the crowd, I guess. Obviously when everyone's on the edge of their seat going into tiebreaks like that, we had three of them in the first three sets.
So, yeah, I think it's pretty nervous for everyone sort of sitting out there - not only the players but also the spectators and coaches and everyone.

Q. When you missed that passing shot when you had the breakpoint in the final, you thought that you could overcome?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Well, I never -- you know, the game after I got broken at 3-all, the game at 4-3, I didn't get my racquet on the ball that whole game. He served huge. If he was gonna do that again, then too good in the last game, I thought. I felt that I tried to put a little bit of pressure on him out there and. You know, I had breakpoint, and I if I got a second serve, I would have had a big chance I think. But he put in a big serve.
You know, he was gutsy enough to come into the net off a big forehand. If I was good enough, I could have made a pass but would have been an extremely tough pass to make.

Q. Do you think it's harder to win your home Grand Slam than it is to win other ones?
LLEYTON HEWITT: It's hard to say. Obviously, the pressure and expectation is a lot more on your focus. Whenever you're a top player playing at any Grand Slam, there's always pressure and expectation. Maybe if you're, you know, playing in London or America for me, then you don't feel that pressure quite as much maybe.
But, you know, I think No. 1 seed at any Grand Slam is always a little bit of pressure these days.

Q. Is it more painful for you to lose here than anywhere else?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, yeah. At the moment, it's really disappointing. You know, no other way of putting it. Hopefully I'm going to have a lot more opportunities and that's the way I've got to look at it. I didn't leave anything out there today. I gave everything I had and he was too good. You know, that's all you can ask of yourself I guess when you go out there to play.
You know, I'm sure I'm going to get, you know, some opportunities during this year or next year, whenever, tight matches like that, they go my way. So you win some, you lose some. You just got to, I guess -- it's tough at the moment but not get too dejected about it. Sort of bounce back better, bigger and stronger.

Q. A lot of people were expecting a night match rather than a day match. Is that a factor in any way?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I don't think so. I'm -- it was hot conditions out there, but it wasn't much wind out there or anything. It was hot but it was nice conditions to play tennis in. Obviously, you know, I played two night matches. This would have been my second day match.
So, you know, I got no complaints.

Q. When you're at the age of 21, obviously more tennis ahead of you to play. When you get to a match like this, are you at a point now where you (inaudible) the opportunity you lost or you can still look forward? The reason I ask the question, from your experience last year, you know sometimes you're just not right for these sort of tournaments. There might not be that many chances you get, where everything's right, your health, fitness.
LLEYTON HEWITT: You're disappointed but hopefully I can come back and be healthy next January and, you know, hopefully I can go a little bit further into the tournament.
But, you know, I'm the kind of person that gets a bit disappointed after any loss, I guess. I love competing. I love getting out there and playing as good of tennis as I can. And, you know, I think when I look back on this match in a couple of days or a couple of weeks, whenever I feel like thinking about it again, you know, I can honestly say that, you know, I fought as hard as I could out there.
Who knows, it could make me a bigger, stronger person when I come back to play in the years to come. I don't know. We'll just have to wait and see.

Q. Are you starting to wonder, what is it with Melbourne Park? You seem to have bad luck.
LLEYTON HEWITT: Not really. It's not bad luck, I don't think, today that I lost. I played an opponent who was better than me on the day. That's tennis. That happens. It's not like golf where you go out there and you've got to just worry about your score and you don't really know what's going on. It's a one-on-one battle and you've got to win seven matches in a Slam.
Today he was too good.

Q. Were you surprised at the high level he started playing from the beginning of the match; you were expecting something different?
LLEYTON HEWITT: No, I think in the times that I've played him before, he's a tough player to get rhythm off because he's got such a big forehand there, obviously a huge first serve. Even his second serve gets up there; doesn't give you an opportunity to attack at all.
So, you know, probably a little bit surprised. The matches I've played in the past, he hasn't been able to string it together for that long. He didn't play any loose service games obviously today, whereas in the past he's thrown in a couple of doubles in a game or missed a couple of forehands when he's gone for too much and stuff like that.
Today he, you know, played extremely well.

Q. The other day Younes said it's very easy to find out which are his weaknesses. He said you watch him playing after ten minutes, you see what is his weakness. Are you somehow disappointed you were not able to exploit those weaknesses, I mean, to play on them?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Well, it was just too hard the way he was serving today. It's as simple as that. Hard to find his backhand I guess when you can't get your racquet on the ball. Really was a little -- you know, it was a little out of my control. In the tiebreak it was -- you know, the second-set tiebreak, I was up 3-2. Third set tiebreak I was up 4-2. So, you know, I had my chances. The end of those couple of tiebreaks he just played a lot better than I did.

Q. Do you think he's good enough to be in the Top 10? What additions does he have to add to his game to get there?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, if he plays like that, he's easily good enough to play in the Top 10. I just think over the last couple of years or so, you sort of see him play a great tournament, then the next couple of tournaments he loses to guys he probably shouldn't. It's probably just getting -- for your ranking, it's all got to do with consistency and how you play throughout the year.
There's no doubt he's a dangerous fighter in any tournament to play against. You just don't know some days whether you got him or not.

Q. You have one of the best returns in the world - maybe the best. Is there something in Younes' serve that makes him difficult to read?
LLEYTON HEWITT: He seems to hit the lines a lot more than everyone else. He goes for those. You know, obviously his serve out wide on the deuce court worked unbelievable today. But he's a very -- he's one of those guys that sort of goes for the lines the whole time. If he's on, he's very tough.
You know, it was -- couple years ago when I played him at Wimbledon, I thought he served extremely well. Today he's outdone that by a fair bit.
At the US Open when I played him, he didn't serve that well. I had a lot of opportunities to get into rallies with him and really needed to take it to his backhand I guess a lot more.

Q. Service percentage was 47 percent today. You only got broken once, obviously. Do you think that's something you need to work on in terms of getting your percentage up in some big matches?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Sometimes. For the tournament I've been broken three times for four matches. Not too bad.

Q. Do you remember any other match when you didn't break your opponent in four sets?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Off the top of my head the only one's the Agassi match when I was 16 in Adelaide. It was 6 and 6. But I'm sure there are other matches that I haven't broke, but I can't think of too many.

Q. Just a little insight into what it is like to have to bear the weight of the Aussie tennis expectation, how do you think you cope with doing that?
LLEYTON HEWITT: You know, I haven't really felt any extra pressure. I try to block it out as much as possible, and try and use it as a positive rather than a negative. I try and go out there and, you know, enjoy the fact that I've got 15,000 people barking for me.
It's a lot easier to go out there and do that mentally rather than, you know, play in Brazil or Spain in a Davis Cup tie and have them all going against you and booing you.
So, yeah, I try and use it as a positive. There's been times I guess where I've played some of my best tennis in hostile arenas, where the crowd's against you. Sometimes I think in that situation you've got to focus a lot more and sometimes for me it brings the best out in me.
But the pressure of, you know, being the No. 1 Australian, you know, I think, you know, obviously we don't have anyone in the quarterfinals now. I think on a whole, it was a lot better than last year. Some of the younger guys who got wildcards and got the opportunity have sort of stepped up. It sort of I guess takes the weight off me a little bit.

Q. Do you think Hopman Cup was enough preparation for your game?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I played four matches: four singles, four doubles. I had a good training week last week.
I don't think preparation was the problem. You know, I trained extremely hard, and I hit a lot of balls last week. I was feeling good coming in. So, you know, it's always a tough question of weighing it up, you know, playing competitive ATP tournaments compared with playing the Hopman Cup. At least you get in that Round Robin situation, you're guaranteed matches rather than you go in, work on areas of your game, bomb out early, your confidence is probably lower if you bomb out in Adelaide or Sydney rather than Hopman Cup.

Q. What is your goal now this year, at this moment? Still be No. 1 or winning Slams?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I don't know. I think Slams are probably the most important. You know, obviously backing it up last year, you know, No. 1 two years in a row was sort of all I wanted at the end of last year. I was able to play my best tennis towards the end of a really long and tough year.
This year, you know, I don't think I'm going to play nearly as many tournaments as I did last year. Whether it hurts me, you know, trying to hold on to No. 1 again, we'll have to wait and see.
But if I get in a position, you know, of doing well in Grand Slams, you're always going to have a good chance of finishing the year No. 1 anyway.

Q. Can we take it for granted it's going to make you even more motivated for a couple weeks' time in Sydney?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I don't know. I guess it depends who's showing up, too.

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Rd 3 L. HEWITT/R. Stepanek
6-3, 6-2, 6-0

MODERATOR: Questions for Lleyton.

Q. What was more difficult, the match or talking to John McEnroe?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Well, it's always tough. I get a bit nervous talking to John.
Yeah, I think it's fantastic that he comes all this way, though, to commentate. I think he really adds a lot of attention and spice to the tournament. You know, I think it's great that we have a personality like John who is able to -- I think everyone saw how much the fans love him just going out there and saying some words. He's turning into a bit of a comedian out there, as well.

Q. After the first two games, did you think you would have a tougher match?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I thought it would be a little bit tougher than it turned out. It was different conditions, though, tonight compared to two nights ago when I played Larkham. The breeze was a lot stronger I felt out there tonight. It was coming straight down the court. And I was into it that first game.
So it was a little bit tougher from that point of view. I didn't make any first serves I think that first game. I still had a lot of chances to hold serve. He probably played nearly as well as he could that first game. You know, it was probably one of the better games he played for the whole night.
He served extremely well in the next game. From there, I felt like from that point on I felt pretty much in control of the match.

Q. Following on from John McEnroe's question to you about playing in front of a home audience, what percentage would that lift you from playing in Shanghai or playing in New York or somewhere else?
LLEYTON HEWITT: It's hard to put a percentage on it. I think especially in tight matches when the going gets tough, you sort of look there and you have 15,000 people screaming for you, I think that can really help. So far probably the test has been Magnus Larsson in the first round when I went to the fifth set, and they really helped me sort of bounce back after I lost that tight tiebreaker in the fourth, I was able to get out of it and go up an early break in the fifth.
I think the crowd works both positive for me and negative for your opponent sometimes as well. It feels like they're playing the whole crowd, not just myself out there sometimes.

Q. How much of a relief is it to be into the second week after last year?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it's a big relief. You know, nothing went right last year, obviously. There was obviously a lot of pressure and expectation coming into it this year again, being the No. 1 seed, being a little bit fitter and healthier, as well.
You don't have to play your best tennis just yet, as I said when I was out there with John. You just got to try and find a way to win the first few rounds, get your way into the tournament. You know, the last few Grand Slams I've been able to play some of my best tennis towards the end of the Grand Slams rather than at the start. I feel like I'm getting better and better with each match.
This is the time now you really got to step it up another gear.

Q. Obviously, there was a lot of expectation on you. Given the intensity that you bring to the court, was there a lot in yourself to get through this first week, given last year?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I just took it one match at a time. I didn't want to look too far ahead of myself. You really can't go out there and expect just to cruise through just because you're the No. 1 or 2 seed or whatever. You've got to put your head down and work extremely hard to get through the first few matches. You're playing obviously lower-ranked guys in the first couple of rounds, and they want to knock off the No. 1 or 2 or whoever, you know, the Top 10 players in a Grand Slam event. That's sort of their dream out there.
So I guess you're sort of the top dog ready to get knocked off, as well. Sometimes they play better tennis against the better players.

Q. When you pump yourself, are they timed at any particular point? Is that when you feel like you're actually getting the advantage?
LLEYTON HEWITT: It just comes out naturally, I guess. It's not something I think about before the match. "If I break in the second or third game, I'm going to get pumped and get the crowd into it." It just happens when I'm out there. You know, that's me, I guess. You know, there's not much I can really do about it. I like to get the crowd involved and I like to show my emotion out on the court. You know, I can't really put a time or a certain spot in the match that I'm deliberately going to get pumped up. Sometimes I break serve and I just give a little pump or yell out, "Come on." I don't know why.

Q. You said you have to lift yourself up in the second week. How much do you have to lift yourself up for the match against Younes El Aynaoui?
LLEYTON HEWITT: It's going to be a tough match. He's got a big first serve. He's got a big game. He's got a huge forehand. You know, we played a tough four-set match in the US Open in September in the quarterfinals there, in the second week. I was able to scrape through that one.
He's obviously playing well. He had a tough match today against Lopez. You know, I just got to go out there and play my game. If I execute as well as I can, I'm giving myself as good a chance as I can have.

Q. Serena Williams said she's at 75% at the moment, and she times herself to peak at the finals. Can you afford to do that in men's tennis?
LLEYTON HEWITT: No. You got to be on your game I think right from the word go, as you saw in me against Larsson. There's upsets in men's Grand Slams day in and day out. Obviously Moya losing to Fish, not a lot of people would predict that. There's a lot of upsets in men's tennis. You know, that just shows the depth, I guess. You just can't take it lightly, especially over five sets, depends on the conditions of the day that the guys have played before, how much that's taken out of them. There's so many variables, I guess.

Q. The issue that's been brought up several times in the last several weeks of drugs in sport, that whole issue, what are your feelings, thoughts on the issue of drugs in sport, drug testing, whether you think it's rampant at the moment?
LLEYTON HEWITT: You know, I'd like to think that the sport's clean, you know, as I think every other tennis player would, as well. You know, it's sort of out of my hands a little bit, I guess. You know, I believe in drug testing. I got no problem with that.
But, yeah, there's not a lot I can do about it. I've just got to sort of concentrate on myself. I know I'm as clean as you can get. You know, I'd like to hope that every other opponent that I'm playing out on the tour is as clean, as well, so it makes a fair dinkum battle out on the court.
You know, so far there's only been a couple of incidents where people have been caught positive. You know, the two guys who have been caught in the last couple of years, I know at least one of them was by accident, something was in vitamins or something that wasn't meant to.
It's very tough when you get in that situation.

Q. Do you get tested often?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, very often. You know, the end of last year I got tested every week. I got out-of-competition testing. Yeah, from I don't know when, just before the US Open, till the end of the year, every tournament I was tested. I had out-of-competition tests a couple times in there, as well. That's a fair bit, I'd say.

Q. There's a lot of young guys in your half of the draw. How do you rate them?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Oh, they're all great players. They've all played well in big matches, as well. You know, Roddick obviously has a huge game. He plays Youzhny now. I thought he's pretty good for a while now, and it didn't really surprise me the way he handled the situation in the Davis Cup final from two sets to love down. I played him in Rosmalen and Wimbledon last year, as well. I thought he handled the situation very well.
Federer is still there. Blake is still there. There's a lot of tough young guys, I guess. You know, a lot depends on just going out there on the day and see how your game matches up, I guess who is feeling a bit fitter as well. That's the big key in Grand Slams, is how you feel, if you have a couple tough matches, how you pull up the next time.

Q. With Safin no longer a chance of meeting you in the semifinals, that has to be a good thing should you get that far?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I have to worry about getting to the semifinals. If you make it to the semifinals, you're not playing a pigeon in it. You're playing a guy who has won, what, five matches to get to the semifinal. It's going to be no easy beat, I don't care who you play.
Obviously in that situation, down in the bottom half, the favorites, I'm not sure who they play, but Blake and Federer from the top of my head are probably the two favorites to get through there now. You know, the way the game is these days, you can't take anyone lightly.

Q. Public expectations for you to win this in Australia for the first time in however many years, does that pressure sometimes get you? How do you sort of try to overcome that?
LLEYTON HEWITT: You know, I just block everything out. I block all the sort of outside pressures, I guess, and expectation out. I just worry about going out there and doing the job. You know, basically just take it one match at a time. I'm not getting ahead of myself at all. I'm in the Round of 16 now. Three down, four to go hopefully. If I'm good enough, then I'll be here on the final Sunday. If not, then I'll be back next year.

Q. With regards to Safin's injury, he said it was partly due to the short off-season. I don't know whether you've been asked this summer about your feeling on what is the best date for the Australian Open.
LLEYTON HEWITT: It's a tough one. You know, I still feel like the Australian summer deserves to be the first thing at the start of the year. I still think it's our summer, I think it's a fantastic time to play tennis. Whether it's maybe a couple weeks later, one or two weeks later, that would probably be ideal.
Obviously, it coincides with school holidays and stuff at the moment. That's another issue that people on the Australian Open organization may have some problems with. But for the players, I think it would be better in a couple of weeks later. But I definitely prefer to start the new year playing in Australia rather than going over to America or whatever, then coming back and playing, whatever, March or April. I still think starting with the Australian Open at the start of the year would be much better.

 

Rd 2 
L. HEWITT/T. Larkham
6-1, 6-0, 6-1

MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. A win is a win obviously for you. Is it tougher if you're wiping the floor with a fellow Aussie?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Well, it's always tough playing Aussies, anyone from the same country, I guess. But, you know, this is a Grand Slam, and you've got to try and block it out as much as possible.
That's why I guess I try and block out who I'm playing, you know, from whichever country he's from really and just try and play my game against theirs and see how it matches up on the day. This is such a big tournament, you can't go thinking about taking it a little bit easy out there or whatever.
I had to just try and get on and off the court as quickly as possible. It's nice to do it a bit easier than I did in the first round, too.

Q. Does it put a bit of an edge around the Aussie group of players playing one another instead of us against them?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I don't think so. There's nothing really you can do about it. I think everyone knows that and accepts it. You know, if you're drawn to play each other, it's too bad. Basically you got to go out there and do as good a job as you can and then you'll be mates afterwards and talk about Davis Cup ties or whatever. That's always been the case, I think.
Yeah, I don't think anyone's really had a problem with it.

Q. Who inspired you the most, Kim or Andre Agassi yesterday?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Pardon?

Q. Who inspired you most to win that?
LLEYTON HEWITT: No one really inspired me too much. I just tried to get a win on the board.

Q. Were you aware of the score of Kim?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I knew she won today. She cracked half an hour. It's a good effort.

Q. She said afterwards she feels a bit sad and bad for her opponent. Do you have the same emotion?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Well, it's always tough, yeah. But as I've said, I saw how, I guess, Andre went out there and chopped up Lee the other day, as well. You know, this is a Grand Slam. You know, you can't take any match lightly. You got to go out there and play your A game and hopefully it's good enough.
I've seen so many matches won and lost when you're still cruising one or two sets up, two sets and a break, and you lose it. You just can't afford to do that in this game of tennis these days. There's too many good players.

Q. Was your need for a quick match heightened by what happened in your first match, long, tough match?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it's always nice to have an easy match after a tough one. But, you know, I felt good out there today. I felt really good. I felt like I bounced back really well. I felt hungry. I felt eager out there. I felt quick on my feet.
You know, when you put in your work before a Grand Slam starts, you've got to be prepared to play seven best-of-five set matches. You've got to be prepared to go the distance in every one of those matches. You can't be thinking about trying to get three or four, just cruise through to victory in an hour and a half or an hour and 20 minutes. You've got to be prepared to last three, four hours, maybe seven matches. Hopefully I've done enough work to be able to do that.

Q. Stepanek next. The sort of trend today is not to volley very much, but he volleys a lot. Is that going to make a difference?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, he's a tough player. I've only seen him play a few times. To beat Guga again, he beat him in the end of the season in the Paris Indoors, I saw that match. He's a different kind of player. He plays with a lot of finesse. He moves extremely well. One of the best movers I think on tour. He's probably one of the most underrated players. He's really come sort of from that doubles sort of playing and then sort of joined the singles, I guess, and got better and better. I think he's learning a lot from playing. I saw him play a lot with Jiri Novak over the years with doubles. I think he's learning a lot from Jiri in the way he's stepped up to the plate and got into the Top 10 in the Masters Cup now.
He's had a big win. Obviously, he's going to be a little bit tired. I've got to try and take full advantage of that come Saturday.

Q. So what's on your agenda tonight?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Nothing.

Q. Nice celebration?
LLEYTON HEWITT: No, not really. Bed.

Q. (Inaudible)?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Oh, we had a bit of a dinner last night. I didn't think I was going to be off this early tonight.

Q. The new shirt, is it a little bit too close for comfort to a Port Adelaide Magpie shirt? Does that not worry you?
LLEYTON HEWITT: No, doesn't worry me. Actually, I like black and white, I really do. I think it's actually a really nice-feeling shirt out there. I think Andre and I are the only two guys who have the actual black one with the white stripes.
I like the look of it. I think it's a pretty nice shirt.

Q. Does it get hot in the sun?
LLEYTON HEWITT: The black? That's why I'm only wearing it for night matches. I'm wearing the white one with the two black stripes for the day matches. It does get too hot. I think that's probably -- if Andre plays a night match, he'll probably wear the black. I think he's wearing the white during the day as well, so.

Q. Apparently James Blake was given dispensation to wear his sleeveless shirt in this tournament. Is this something you would consider?
LLEYTON HEWITT: The sleeveless? He's wearing that?

Q. He was wearing it.
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, no, I haven't really thought about it too much. You know, it's a bit of a fashion statement, I guess. For me it would be a weird feeling going out there and play with no sleeves on your shirt.
At the moment, I feel comfortable just playing in a normal shirt. You know, I guess times have changed a little bit, you know, with colors and stuff out there at the moment. I'm probably not quite ready to make that adjustment yet.

Q. You just mentioned the Masters Cup in Shanghai. Do you think your winning the Masters Cup have impacted encouraging you to win the match in Australian Open?
LLEYTON HEWITT: To win the tournament?

Q. Win the tournament.
LLEYTON HEWITT: Well, you know, last year -- it gives you a lot of confidence, coming off winning a tournament like the Masters Cup, knowing that you're among the eight best players in the world at that tournament. You have to play, you know, incredible tennis to win such a prestigious event.
But this is a new year now. It's a totally different format than the Masters Cup. You've got to get through, you know, seven best-of-five set matches, whereas in the Masters Cup there's only the final that's best-of-five sets.
It's a different situation, but I guess, you know, I feel confident, I guess, coming off the last few wins I had in the Masters Cup, beating Safin, Federer and Ferrero three days in a row. I felt like I played extremely good tennis that whole week.

 

RD 1
L. HEWITT/M. Larsson
6-3, 3-6, 6-1, 6-7, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Magnus was just saying that he thinks a match like that is better for you than if you go through two, two and two, because it sets you up.
LLEYTON HEWITT: For me personally?

Q. Yeah. What do you think about that?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, well, it's always a tough one, I guess. I'm happy to be through to the second round. A win's a win for me.
Yeah, I think sometimes it is good. You know, it's a little bit of a wakeup call in some ways I guess. I didn't feel like I played my best tennis, but then again the three sets that I won was 3, 1 and 2. So wasn't like I just got totally killed in the other two sets that I lost. And I had early chances early in the fourth set and wasn't able to take them. I thought he played incredibly well for a guy that only played a few tournaments last year.
I think he was definitely one of the toughest qualifiers, just for the fact that, you know, playing No. 1 seed, the crowd against you on center court, he's not scared of that. I think, what, the other 15 qualifiers would have been a little bit more scared than Magnus was.

Q. The two sets that you did drop, what went wrong there?
LLEYTON HEWITT: It was one service game in the second set. I don't know if you saw, but 30 -- I was up 30-15, playing all right. Magnus half put a tank volley, spun it back over the net. That could have gone anywhere. So it was a little bit -- you know, the next two points I served one out wide, he cracked a winner off my serve, big forehand. The next point, I attacked a little bit too much and made an error. Apart from that, I didn't play the set that badly.
I felt like I had chances early on his serve and wasn't able to take them. But it's tough, you know, he doesn't give you a lot of rhythm out there. If he gets any kind of short ball on that forehand, no matter where he is, he tries to put it away straight away. Obviously when he's serving well, he's very tough to break.

Q. Is that one of your strengths now, to think that when someone just plays a better second, you just accept it and get on it and think, "What can I do," knowing that you can win the match?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, there's always ways I guess to try and get out of tough situations. You know, I've been in enough tight situations now that over -- I've got confidence when I get in that situation. I don't press the panic button I guess as much as I probably would have a couple years ago.
That just comes with experience and being out there and sort of gaining that experience of playing the big matches and playing the big points.
Yeah, it's something that I think I've handled very well the last few five-setters that I've played. Obviously the one against Ferrero in the final of the Masters Cup, I don't know if I played any other five-setters before that, the Sjeng Schalken at Wimbledon was a great one to get out of that one, also the James Blake five-setter in the third round of the US Open this year. So my five-set record's pretty good at the moment. I figure at two-sets-all, I got to try and step it up a gear. I was able to do that today.

Q. The Sjeng match was probably that time, could you see a period -- was it transitional?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Not really. The Schalken match gave me a hell of a lot of confidence after I came back. I had matchpoints to win in straight sets. Nothing went right there in the third and fourth set. In the fifth set, I was down a break twice on grass against a guy who's confident and got nothing to lose. That was a tough situation, gave me a lot of confidence. I guess it was a big step to go on to win Wimbledon, getting past that.
It's always nice to come out, have a tough match somewhere along the line of a Grand Slam. Not too many guys who don't have a scare - they're the ones that go on to win.

Q. Can you say something about Todd Larkham?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I don't know if I ever played him in sat's, a long time ago. I was trying to think about it today. We may have played, he might have chopped me. He was one of the best satellite players around when I was playing. I'm not sure if I played him or not.

Q. 1996.
LLEYTON HEWITT: I did play him. Lost right?

Q. Love and 2. I think you lost.
LLEYTON HEWITT: I'm pretty sure I'll get more than two games, there you go. No, but, yeah, he's obviously had a great week. I'm sure he was disappointed didn't get a wildcard. He felt like he's got something to prove. Cecil Mamiit, I hit with him a few days before the tournament started, and I thought he was hitting the ball really well.
They both play very similar games I'd say. I didn't see any of the match today. You know, good on him. That's a good win.

Q. How much did you have to change your prep when a qualifier came up in the draw and all of a sudden it was Magnus, not your regular qualifier?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Well, I didn't change my preparation too much. It's always tough playing a qualifier, especially in Grand Slams, because they've been out there, played matches, they're match tough, they've got nothing to lose.
A lot of them, it's huge money to get into the Grand Slams for a lot of them. I know Magnus is very well off anyway. But it's always a tough draw I find playing qualifiers.
When Magnus came out, as I said before, I think he was probably the toughest, maybe Vinciguerra was up there as well, couple of the toughest guys who you probably didn't want to draw, just because they've been in the Top 50, obviously Magnus Top 10 in the world.
As I said, on court, I really looked up to Magnus a few years ago when I was younger. He was in the Top 10. I remember sitting up and watching him win the Grand Slam Cup. So, you know, I had total respect for him out there on court. I didn't take it easy at all.

Q. When did you think you had it?
LLEYTON HEWITT: When I got matchpoint.

Q. It was really that tough?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Well, it's -- I was very relieved I guess when I got that early break in the fifth set because then I could just sort of try and go up a gear and keep holding my serve and I knew I was home then.
But, you know, you just never know. He's the kind of player that could come out and just smack four winners off his forehand and break you back straight like that.
I felt like I served pretty well today. I didn't lose my serve for the last couple of three sets, I only dropped it once I think in that service game that I said that he hit the tank volley that turned out all right.

Q. Was it overwhelming emotion, relief at the end?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I think it's a lot of relief after last year I guess more than anything. Losing in the first round last year, obviously feeling shocked and the whole situation, I felt like I was, you know, playing pretty well coming into the tournament, then, you know, nothing went my way.
I think sort of the sour taste left in my mouth after last year, I could come out here and sort of get rid of it. I'm just going to get better and better from now on.

Q. Magnus compared you with Mats Wilander, who I think was a hero of yours.
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yep.

Q. Is that a fair comparison?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Well... Yeah, I don't know if I'm that good. Yeah, Mats is -- you know, I love Mats. You know, he's probably one of my, you know, maybe the favorite player. I just love the way he played. He was so cool on the court, got fired up when he wanted to, brought the crowd into it.
Yeah, ever since -- he was fortunate enough to get some great results here at the Australian Open when I came and watched him as a youngster. I really enjoyed the way he played. He never won Wimbledon but he was always a contender, semifinals, quarterfinals at Wimbledon as well.

Q. Leaving aside last year, obviously different circumstances, do you feel much fresher than when you played Adelaide, Sydney usually as your leadup?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Pressure or...

Q. No, fresher.
LLEYTON HEWITT: Fresher, sorry. Yeah, I guess maybe a little bit. I think there's positives and negatives and that is the reason I went back to the Hopman Cup is I didn't get a good enough test last year for preparation for the Australian Open. With the chicken pox, I felt like I was playing really well coming in. Definitely wasn't the Hopman Cup's fault I lost in the first round last year.
So I felt like, you know, sometimes playing maybe Adelaide or Sydney, you just get, you know, that competitive spirit. I think everyone knows once I get out on the court, I'm not going to take it lightly at all and I'm going to go out there and try and compete, run every point down, maybe wear myself into the ground a little bit. That's why I saw the Hopman Cup as an advantage this year. Hopefully, come second week of this Slam, it will pay dividends.

Q. The other Aussies have done well, especially compared with last year. Is that pleasing for you?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it's great. Well, we're going to get Crabby or Ilie through. Jaymon played, I watched him last week on TV play against Ferrero, and I thought he hit the ball really well. He was very stiff not to win that and Ferrero went on to make the final there.
So that was a great effort for Crabby, he works extremely hard. I know him pretty well, I've trained with him. Who else? Luczak, that's another hit-up partner who's been in the Davis Cup. I think he's got a real good draw for him, sort of opening up for him. He plays Renzo next.
Good to see guys stepping up to play. Wayne and Flip, they're the known guys. I think the one I'd love to see is Scott Draper do well. He's a very close friend of mine. I think everyone, you know, knows how much trouble he's had. I think he's really hitting the ball well. You know, tomorrow I think's going to be a big test for him playing Albert Costa, but I believe he's good enough.

Q. At the start of the fifth set, the trainer -- end of the fourth -- the trainer came out briefly. You spoke to him. Can I ask what that was about? Was there a physical problem?
LLEYTON HEWITT: No. I actually sort of burnt my finger on the Rebound Ace. When I went to change my shoes there, my shoe lace snapped, I said to the trainer if you could maybe just warn him I may need something after the next change of ends. I played the next game and a half since then, and when the trainer came out, I said, "Don't worry about it. It feels fine. I'll just play with it." Sort of just precautionary. It was hurting a little bit at time, just a burn, went away straightaway.

Q. Wayne said today after his five-setter that he was inspired by the thought of having watched some of your matches and watching you dig yourself out from tough situations. Coming from a 31-year-old, how does that go down?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Well, it's great, I think, if, you know, one of the main reasons why I'm No. 1 in the world is because I train extremely hard and my never-say-die attitude. I think if the younger Australians can sort of get that into them, if I can help in that way, being a role model in that way, that makes me feel extremely good, you know.
If Wayne actually was thinking about that at two sets to love down yesterday and got out of it, well, that means a lot. I've seen Wayne come back from awkward situations. He's got that kind of serve that's always going to keep him in the match anyway on most surfaces.
I think it's nice to get that kind of feedback I guess from a guy that, you know, I've played a lot of Davis Cup pressure ties with.

Q. Have you had a chance to follow the Crows much?
LLEYTON HEWITT: It was good, mate. They're both trying to fight for a position in the back line to win the flag next year.

Q. So it was Smart and ...
LLEYTON HEWITT: Bassett.

Q. Bassett, yeah. Sort of thing you like to see?
LLEYTON HEWITT: It's great, isn't it, in the preseason. Be aggro. May pay off next September when we win the flag.

Q. You wish?
LLEYTON HEWITT: We got the King, mate.