Lleyton Hewitt

final Sunday, January 30, 2005

www.australianopen.com

  M. SAFIN/L. Hewitt

1 6, 6 3, 6 4, 6 4

  An interview with:
LLEYTON HEWITT

THE MODERATOR: First question.

Q. How important was that foot fault call when you were leading 3 1, something like that, in the third set?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I don't think the actual foot fault was that important.

Q. That game.

LLEYTON HEWITT: That game was important, but the foot fault had nothing to do with it in the end because I ended up winning that point anyway.

That game, though, you know, I was 30 Love up that game. So it was obviously a big difference, whether I was up 5 2, still a break. You know, that's the tougher end to play from as well. Always the breeze, and the court slopes a little bit that way.

If I could have held that one and had an opportunity at 5 3 to try and serve out the third set then, you know, it was the momentum, you know, could have still been in my court. But to his credit, though, he definitely raised his game from that point on.

Q. Did you sense he was losing it a little bit mentally, throwing his racquet down the game before?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, a little bit, I think. But, you know, he's a good enough player. As I said a couple of days ago, he doesn't let it affect him too much. I think, you know, through the whole tournament, he loses it now and then but it doesn't really worry his actual play. He really stepped it up from that point onwards. I didn't lose the match; he had to win it.

Q. He said to you at the end that you are a great fighter. Has he knocked that fighting spirit out of you at all?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I don't know. Probably a stupid question.

Q. What were you thinking in the first set? Did you think he was nervous or whatever? It was so totally your way.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I feel like I got out of the blocks and played well, but he hadn't hit his strides yet just either. He's a tough player to play. He can have service games where absolutely he hits three or four aces in a service game, and he comes out and lashes and puts you under pressure on a couple of your service games.

He's an awesome player. You know, even when I was a set up, at no stage did I start thinking about, you know, this is just going to carry along, you know, the way it went at the start of the match. You know, and his game really picked up. Sort of got that momentum back the start of the third set. Once again, he stepped it again to another notch.

As I said, I didn't feel like I played that badly out there, you know, he was just too good.

Q. Did you feel that you had him? You were running from here to Perth for some points and hitting winners, do you feel that threw him off for a long time at the end of the third set?

LLEYTON HEWITT: At the start of the third set I played a good game to break, to go up 2 Love. I ran down a lot of balls. You know, kept making him play, making him play those extra shots. You know, I definitely put myself in a position in the match there. But he stepped it up. Some of his hitting from the back of the court, you know, late in the third set and then the whole fourth set was, you know, pretty incredible. The amount of power he can generate from you know, whether it's a hard ball to him or a slower ball, you know, he's got amazing strength.

Q. There's an old adage in footy that when it comes to finals, you have to lose one to win one. Do you see tonight as a step forward to that ultimate goal or more just an opportunity lost?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I don't know if that's a good question to answer right at the moment. I'm sure in a couple of days I'll look back and think that, you know, it's been a great achievement. I'll have no regrets, and I've put absolutely everything into this tournament. You know, I'll be able to walk out with my head held high that I've given everything.

But right at the moment, I'm human and I'm disappointed. You know, to come that close, train so hard to put yourself in a position, you know, it's hard to take at the moment.

But, you know, my game's definitely better than where it was 18 months ago. You know what I mean? You know, making a US Open final, a Masters Cup final, and now an Australian Open final, I'm obviously doing something right. But would have been nice to get one of them.

Q. How is the pressure in your hometown final? We haven't had a winner since '76, first final since Cash. Did you feel the pressure more?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I didn't feel the pressure any more, I don't think. The whole tournament there's obviously been high expectations and every match has been like a final, I guess. You know, I think I've handled it bloody well. You know, it hasn't worried me the whole time. I've gone out there, done my thing. You know, as I said, I think I can walk away with my head held high knowing that

You know, it's an awesome feeling to have the whole country behind you. There's no doubt about that. Obviously I'd like a few more Australian players to be in the second week of the tournament to take a little bit of that load. But the feeling that I've had and the adrenaline buzz I've had out on the court, even on my days off and that, the public's been incredible. You know, it has felt like a Davis Cup the last two weeks.

Q. When you were out on the court you said to them if it hadn't been for the crowd you don't think your body would have held up. If this hadn't been the Australian Open, when would it have all ended, do you think? When would your body have given up?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I can't pinpoint an exact time. But the crowd, obviously, and the adrenaline and playing in your home Grand Slam, in a tournament that is my favorite tournament of the year, that all combines to going out there and pushing yourself, I think, just that little bit further.

You know, I was obviously maybe two points away from losing to Nalbandian, I think, at some stages. Against Nadal, a tiebreak away from losing in the fourth set there. There's a lot of tough matches. Against Roddick, second and third set tiebreaks, that's when the crowd got into it. The adrenaline was there and I played some of my best tennis.

It's hard to actually pinpoint a time that I might have lost, but I think it just drew the best out of me the last two weeks.

Q. What are your immediate plans, apart from rest?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, rest. No, I'm not going to play till the Davis Cup. So that was always my plan and, you know, that's why I put in all the hard yards in, you know, December, knowing that I was had the last four weeks of tough competition Adelaide, Sydney and then the Australian Open for two weeks. Just get my body through that and now I can have my sort of break for the next three or four weeks. I don't even know when I'll pick up a racquet.

Q. Did fatigue play any factor in tonight's match or was Safin just too good?

LLEYTON HEWITT: My legs were a little sore out there. But, you know, I've been playing through pain the last week or so.

He's such a powerful guy out there. He can get you two, three meters behind the baseline and you're just scrambling to get stuff back as well. He doesn't make it easy for you when you're feeling a little bit tired as well out there.

But, you know, he played an awesome match.

Q. Seemed a little bit quieter on court tonight. Any particular reason for that? I mean not as many clench fisting c'mons.

LLEYTON HEWITT: There's not a whole heap you can do when you're down a break in the fourth set and a guy is hitting three aces every service game.

Q. Do you think maybe you have to reconsider playing two events before this?

LLEYTON HEWITT: No, it's got nothing to do with that.

Q. This is your eleventh time. Was this the best he's played against you?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Against Marat?

Q. Yes.

LLEYTON HEWITT: No, I don't think it's the best he's played against me, no. I've played other matches against him where, you know, twice that I've lost to him in Paris indoors, probably a couple years ago in the finals, he was pretty awesome that day. And he always plays well, I think, indoors.

Tonight, the first set, he didn't play his best tennis. In the end we started it was pretty good tennis out there, I think. He was probably more patchy tonight than, you know. When I played him in Paris he was awesome for three sets.

Q. Do you walk away thinking the surface beat you or Safin beat you? The controversy of the two weeks.

LLEYTON HEWITT: No, Marat obviously beat me. He was too good.

Q. Just on the fatigue, did he having an extra day help or hurt at all?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I don't think it would have worried him either way, his body. He's extremely fit as well. You know, he didn't quite play as much, you know, as many hours as me leading into, you know, the final. But, you know, he's a good athlete. I've never seen him lose a match because of fitness anyway. Even though he had a tough match against Federer, I expected him to bounce back as well.

Q. You didn't feel sufficiently disadvantaged by playing?

LLEYTON HEWITT: No, not at all.

Q. Can you talk about Marat as a person. You have connection over the years.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, he's a good guy. Yeah, I get along really well with him. He's very laid back. He's a funny guy in the locker room. What you see is what you get, pretty much. What the public see, him on the court and, you know, even his speech and stuff like that, that's Marat in the locker room, you know.

I think everyone gets along with him pretty well. But, yeah, he's a really nice guy.

Q. Have you done more damage to the hip by playing through, by playing on?

LLEYTON HEWITT: My hip's actually not too bad. It's a lot of other parts of my body that's hurting more now.

Q. Greg Norman was in your camp tonight. Did you speak to him?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I spoke to Greg before. I saw him quickly after the match. I haven't really spoken to him fully. But it was obviously great to have him here and, you know, he flew down for it. So, yeah, it means a lot. He's a good guy.

*************************************************

Lleyton Hewitt semi final

Friday, January 28, 2005

www.australianopen.com

L. HEWITT/A. Roddick

3-6, 7-6, 7-6, 6-1

Q. How important was the seventh game in the third set, do you think, when you finally started really nailing your returns, got into his head a little bit? Was that a crucial game for you?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it was to, yeah, step it up. I felt like I had a lot of opportunities out there to break serve. He came up with some massive second serves, you know, 30-All, fif-30 points. You know, throughout the second set, I felt like I was the better player and had a lot more opportunities out there, and I just really couldn't get that breakthrough.

You know, I played that second-set tiebreak especially well, extremely well. Got off to a good start and, you know, kept it going from there. I returned a lot better in that tiebreak.

Yeah, but then the third-set tiebreak was pretty telling as well. He had a mini break there, and I was able to get that back. When we changed ends at 3-All, I was able to really turn it around from there.

Q. How is the hip?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, the hip's good. Felt good out there tonight.

Q. Can you put into words the occasion here, hundredth year, your first final here?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, this is -- it's awesome, it really is. You know, it's a little bit hard to believe right at the moment. But, you know, I know all the preparation that Rash and I have done for a long time to come into this tournament. I would have given anything to be in this position, to have an opportunity to play one match for the title here in Melbourne.

Yeah, now part of that dream's come true. I get an opportunity Sunday night. You know, I know as well as anyone that I'm going to have to go out there and play one of my best matches to get up against Marat. But, you know, at least so far I haven't put too many feet wrong. I've put myself in a position to have a crack at it.

Q. Some players seem to buckle under the expectation. But you seem to be feeding off it.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I don't think expectation has ever worried me too much. You know, I got thrown into the spotlight at a pretty young age and I think I've been able to handle it pretty well. I've played enough big matches in, you know, Davis Cup ties for your country. I think probably the expectation doesn't come much bigger than that. You know, I think my Davis Cup record speaks for itself.

Q. You've made no bones about what you wanted to do, and you talked about this preparation. Does that date back to the moment you walked off court in the US Open final? Was it even before that?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Probably even before that. Probably more so Wimbledon time, I think. Yeah, the US Open, you know, obviously I felt like I had a pretty good opportunity there. I was hitting the ball extremely well going into that tournament. I was on fire obviously with the results that I'd had in the North American swing.

Yeah, but the Australian Open obviously meant, you know, a lot to me. I think everyone knows how much I love playing here in Melbourne. I think that's why, you know, Roger and I set our seeing on really trying to -- at The Masters Cup we didn't really focus much on the Masters Cup, it was more playing against those top guys and getting good preparation for a couple months' time down here in Melbourne.

You know, so far so good.

Q. How do you go about preparing for a tournament that far out? Can you give us some idea of what format preparation has taken over six months? Continual training?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Oh, it's training. The Masters Cup, I went there more to enjoy myself. You know, the other Masters Cups that I'd been to in Shanghai and Sydney, I was playing for that No. 1 position both times, whereas this year obviously Roger had it wrapped up. I was going there pretty much to enjoy the company of being there with the best players in the world and to enjoy that achievement that, you know, you put in for that whole year to make the Masters Cup.

Didn't put a lot of pressure on myself going into it. And also, you know, just tried to focus on more getting my game right to a level that, you know, where you got to play your best tennis against the best players in the world day in, day out in Houston. And, you know, if you're going to win a Grand Slam a couple of months later, you've really got to focus on that, as well: beating the best players under pressure.

I think that was good preparation and I played extremely well in Houston.

Q. You talked about the hard yards over Christmas. How unfestive was Christmas?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I only had a few days off after Houston really when I came back. You know, I'm taking a month off after this next match on Sunday. So I'm not playing until the Davis Cup in Sydney. I've known that the whole time. That's why I decided to do all my hard work leading into the Australian summer, and basically through December and through the hot period and get used to the conditions and everything, and get my body in as good a shape as possible, that I was going to give myself the best possible chance, knowing that I was going to have a rest straight afterwards.

I tried to focus on getting through the four weeks of hard tournaments in Adelaide, Sydney, Melbourne, and then get my break afterwards.

Q. Did you actually work on Christmas Day?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I went for a run, yeah.

Q. Having said that about Houston, how important psychologically do you think was the way you finished against Andy in that match, then subsequently today? Did it have any lasting effect or lingering effect, do you think?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I'm sure it was in the back of both our minds going into the match. You know, it was only a couple of months ago.

But, yeah, he started a lot better today than he did in Houston. In Houston I pretty much had the run of the match from the word "go." Today he was obviously the better player throughout the first set. Even though, you know, at the end of the first set, I was starting to get -- you know, had a couple of 15-40s his last two service games. Wasn't able to quite get that break through. Then the match, I felt, started swinging my way, you know, with the momentum a little bit, you know, throughout the second set.

But, yeah, I think it was definitely in both our minds probably going out there.

Q. He said at the end of the third set when he went off to change his clothes, the referee was almost tying one shoe on for him to try to get him back out on the court. Have you ever sat there that long waiting for an opponent to come out after a break?

LLEYTON HEWITT: No. That's one of the longest, yeah.

Q. Obviously the momentum is on your side. You have to start the fourth in the best way you possibly can.

LLEYTON HEWITT: It's awkward. Obviously, I was serving first, as well. I don't even know how long I was sitting down. It must have been close to 10 minutes. Yeah, it's a long time just to be sitting down. You're not sure whether to stretch, get up. After you've had that excitement and the adrenaline buzz of playing a tiebreak third set, you go up two sets to one, then to switch it off for a 10-minute break, try and get your breath back and your thoughts back, you know, gather yourself again, it's not the easiest thing to do.

You know, that's why I was happy to get that first game out of the way in the fourth set. Obviously, he was able to break straightaway.

Q. You observed Marat's journey throughout the tournament. Do you sense, as everybody else has here, there's a greater maturity, that his temperament is no longer as fragile as perhaps it might have been in previous years, he's actually maturing and he's going to be harder mentally to overcome?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, there's no doubt. I think he had an awesome end to last year, you know, the way that he played in Madrid and Paris. Even in the Masters Cup, he was close to beating Roger in the semi there, as well. Yeah, he's playing extremely well.

Yeah, he loses it a bit out there now and then, screams at himself. But he's a guy, like myself, we can switch it on and off very quickly. You can get your mind back on the job and I don't think he loses concentration because of that. You know, that's part of Marat. That's why people like, you know, enjoy watching him play, as well.

Q. Did you watch the match last night?

LLEYTON HEWITT: No. I only watched part of it.

Q. How much did you watch? Just a set?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah. I think it finished too late for me to see it all. It was only about a few games here and there, I saw.

Q. The fact that Roger is not waiting for you in the final, how does that change your outlook coming into a match like today?

LLEYTON HEWITT: It didn't change anything, today's match. You know, at the end of the day, I just had to try to put myself in a position to be there, you know, in the final. You know, I wasn't even looking to who I had to play if I got through. Today I was just worrying about Andy and working out ways of, you know, trying to get on top of him today.

Obviously, now, you know, I'll start thinking about Marat.

Q. Can you just talk about your first memories of coming to Melbourne Park when you were a kid. How old were you, what you saw, the feeling it instilled in you?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I don't know, I must have been seven or eight, I reckon. Yeah, I remember watching, you know, some memories of, you know, going out to Court 1 out there and watching Lendl and Rochey train early mornings out there. You know, I used to go to a lot of Pat Cash's matches, Mats Wilander, they were my favorite players. I went out to a lot of their matches. Yeah, saw a lot of tennis here.

Q. Did you walk away really wanting to win the Australian Open?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I love this place. You know, every time I walked in here, you know, I wanted to come back in and watch more.

Q. Do you and Eddo ever talk?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Not a lot, no. I haven't spoken to him a lot.

Q. Doesn't offer you good luck or say "About time"?

LLEYTON HEWITT: No, nothing like that, no.

Q. Do you have recollections of Cash's final, second final here?

LLEYTON HEWITT: The final here, against Wilander. I've watched it a bit since, as well. I've seen highlights since. Obviously, I remember that a bit better.

Q. Do you remember watching it as a kid?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah. I watched that one on TV. I was back at home then, yeah.

Q. Is it good news for you and all the players to know that Federer is beatable now?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yes, I guess in some ways. You know, he's obviously had a tremendous run there, you know, not losing, not losing big matches either, to Top 10 players.

But still it's taken a hell of a player to play a hell of a match to beat him. You know, I don't think he should be ashamed of that. Marat's a top player, and he's got a lot of firepower and a lot of weapons out there. You know, Federer still could have easily won the match in four sets and we all would have been saying, you know, that he'd done it pretty routine, and once again he's one of the great players. In the end, a couple of points here and there, the match is turned.

Q. Do you regret being the guy who could not beat Federer here in Australia?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Oh, doesn't bother me.

Q. What's the most dangerous thing about Marat?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Oh, he's got all the shots. You know, he's got a massive serve, he's got a big forehand, backhand, he moves well for a big guy. Yeah, he's very talented. He's got everything. I just got to keep making him play out there.

Q. Footballers always talk about when they were kids, they used to dream about kicking the goal after the siren to win the Grand Final. When you were a kid, how did you win the Australian Open?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Oh, I don't know. I don't know. I probably won it a few thousand times. Probably a lot of ways.

I'd like just a nice little straight-sets win, but I don't know if I'll get that.

Q. The way Andy handled the match, the end of it in Houston, tonight how you got to him pretty fast, do you feel like he has maybe some more maturing to do in the way he handles his play?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I don't know. You know, in Houston I felt like I played a pretty faultless match the whole way around. He was just frustrated I think in Houston. To lose the last 20 points or whatever it was, with his kind of game, you know, it's pretty amazing.

But here it's a little bit different situation. I felt like I just wore him down tonight more than anything. You know, he got off to a good start and I just had to weather the storm and hang with him and wait for my opportunities.

Q. How long did you run for on Christmas Day?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Oh, I don't know. I'm not sure. Went for a while.

Q. What will you do tomorrow? What will your plans be?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Probably a 10K run, gym session. It's what footballers do, isn't it (smiling)?

Q. How will you relax?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I don't know. I won't be watching the women's final, that's for sure.

Q. Why?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I'm not into women's tennis any more (smiling)

HEWITT (3) v SAFIN (4)

************************************************ 

Rd 2 L. HEWITT/J. Blake

4 6, 7 6, 6 0, 6 3

An interview with:

LLEYTON HEWITT
 

THE MODERATOR: First question, please.

Q. Gave you a hell of a fright?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, he's a dangerous player. He always is. Yeah, had not a lot to lose out there when he went out there. You know, he's got as good a forehand, you know, as anyone out there when it's on.
You know, had opportunities. I had the first opportunities in both the first and second sets and wasn't able to get those breaks. You know, he played he came up with some big serves on all the breakpoint opportunities that I had. Just had to, you know, hang in there and wait for my opportunities.
I felt like I was starting to get, throughout the second set, I was starting to get in most of his service games. I just had to take my chances when I got them.

Q. Come out of a match like that, almost one point away from being two sets to love down and get through.
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it was good because I felt like fitness wise I was always going to have the upper hand as well. So, yeah, it's always nice to get through. You just sort of look at it as, you know, it's a dangerous match. As I've said all the time, you can't take anyone lightly. But I think my first two opponents, Clement and also Blake now, they're two tough players.
You look at the guys in the whole draw who aren't seeded, they're a couple of the toughest because they're big match players. Clement has obviously made a Grand Slam final, been in the Top 10, 15 in the world. Blake has been in the Top 25 or so in the world and has beaten a lot of the best players.
So it's never going to be easy.

Q. Tell us about the emotions out there with the roller coaster of that tiebreak.
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it was a lot of momentum swings out there. Just kept trying to hang in there more than anything. You know, I don't know. You just give 100% and, you know, things fell my way towards the end of that tiebreaker. At the start of the tiebreaker he served extremely well. I just couldn't get into his serves at all. You know, as soon as I got some second serve opportunities, then I really capitalized on those late in the tiebreaker. Played a great point to end up winning it. It was a huge momentum swing.

Q. You bounced your way over to the chair. You were obviously pretty pumped up at that stage. Did you expect the third to go the way it did?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I don't know about that, but I felt pretty confident going in there after winning that second set. I just felt like there had been a huge momentum swing, and obviously after he served for the second set at 6 5 as well. You know, just felt like I was starting to get on top of him at that stage and just really had to put the foot down. I was able to do that at the start of the third set.
He obviously went away a little bit towards the end of the third set once he was down a double break, but then I knew I had to regroup the start of the fourth because he was going to come out and try to jump me a little bit there. It was good I was able to get up an early break in the fourth as well.

Q. What did you think when he sort of mocked you there in that tiebreaker?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I actually didn't see it. A few people told me they'd seen it. I didn't see it.

Q. What do you think now that you've been told about it?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, they can keep doing it if they want. I took it off of Wilander, so....

Q. Didn't see it like an insult or anything like that?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I don't know. Seems like I'm sort of the only bloke doing it at the moment so, yeah yeah, doesn't bother me too much.

Q. How difficult or otherwise do you find it when you get here on a day, you know you're playing last in the day session, then today there was a long five setter, there's a couple hours you have to fill in somehow. Take us through how you go. Do you find it a bit hard when you're waiting?
LLEYTON HEWITT: It's a long day. You get here quarter past 11 or so, warm up at 12 o'clock, then sitting around until, I don't know what time we ended up getting out there, must have been close to 5 o'clock, just before 5 maybe.
There's a lot of empty time there. You're just sitting around, listen to music. You know, watched a little bit of Nadal Youzhny match just because it was starting to get a bit interesting there for a bit. That was pretty much it. Then just do the same routine, you know. Obviously thought that Venus was going to as soon as that match went on, I thought that would go over pretty quickly, obviously. Pretty much as soon as that men's match finished, then I started getting myself geared up, ready to go.

Q. The extra wait and the conditions when you got out there, the wind looked like it was gusting around. Overcast, a bit cool. Were there a few things that combined to make you feel flat at the start of the match?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Not really flat. I didn't feel flat going out there. I felt ready to go right from the start. I felt like I was the one early on that had the opportunities. You know, I had the first breakpoint in the first set. It was weird, though, because, you know, you play that last match during the day, and the shadows start coming across the court as well. So it's a lot easier to play once you get that whole the shadows come, you know, the whole way across the court rather than half and half and you're serving either out of the sun into the shadow or vice versa.
Yeah, it was definitely one end was a lot easier. You know, the end that we walk out on to court was a lot easier to play with the breeze today than the other end. Really felt like you were hitting uphill the other end, so...

Q. During the tiebreak, when you hit that lob over James, he stood at the net for a long time clapping. Did you see him there at all? Or had you already turned around to the cheer squad?
LLEYTON HEWITT: No, I didn't see it. What point was that? I can't even remember.

Q. 7 all.
LLEYTON HEWITT: Okay, yeah. No, I can't even remember. No, didn't see it all.

Q. Little bit of animosity between you guys before. Could you describe the state of your relationship now?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, we get along well. Practiced together in the past. He's a pretty down to earth guy as well. He's very easy to get along with.

Q. Can you talk about next round.
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, Juan Ignacio Chela. Get ready for a long match, I'd say about as long as his name (smiling).
We've had tough matches in the past. We played twice last year, both on hard court. He won the first one in three sets in Indian Wells, and I won the next one in three sets in Long Island right before the US Open.
So he's a tough competitor. He obviously beat Wayne Arthurs in the first round. But it's going to be a little bit different matchup, him playing Wayne compared to playing me. There's going to be a lot of long rallies. It's going to be a real battle out there.
But if I stay mentally tough, you know, hopefully I can come through.

Q. Can you talk a little bit about the cheer squad, the Fanatics, what they bring to a match and what they bring to you?
LLEYTON HEWITT: They're awesome. Wazzo and the boys are fantastic. Something that I've grown up playing the Davis Cup with them there, you know, every time. You know, there's been a lot of away ties, I think, where if it wasn't for them, then I probably wouldn't have got over the line on a lot of occasions. They've really helped me out a lot. I try and help them out and get a good feeling here at the Australian Open as well by getting them some tickets.
You know, I really enjoy their support. I think they get the crowd going, singing the National Anthem, stuff like that out there. I know I've got to be concentrating, but it's pretty funny.

Q. What do you say about Joachim Johansson's achievements last year?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Last year?

Q. Yes.
LLEYTON HEWITT: He had a great last year. Obviously at the start of the year, he, you know, lost in qualifying in Adelaide. Then he's gone on to finish 11 or 12 in the world, so he's had an amazing year.
He's always had the potential, though. He's got amazing firepower. It was pretty much just a matter of time before he matured as a player, I think. He's dangerous on all surfaces and, you know, as we saw at the US Open, beating Andy Roddick in five sets in a quarterfinal at the US Open is not an easy thing to do.
You know, he'll be around for a while.

Q. Do you think you had any impact on him?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I don't know. Probably copying me with a few things, but I don't know (smiling).

Q. Did you see the Federer Suzuki match last night?
LLEYTON HEWITT: No.