Lleyton defeated by Wayne Ferreira Stuttgart final  7-6, 3-6, 6-7, 7-6, 6-2 5 November 2000

MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Looking back on it, the fact that you played tough opponents all the way
through the draw, do you think that was a factor of what happened today?
LLEYTON HEWITT: No. I think match fitness was really the biggest difference.
Coming into the last couple of weeks, I really didn't hit a ball, couldn't do
a lot of fitness because I had a pretty bad virus and that. That was sort of
a telling factor in the end.

Q. What was that? Sort of a flu or cold thing?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Breathing, stomach pain, the works.

Q. Where did you pick that up?
LLEYTON HEWITT: No idea.

Q. Airplane?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, staying in hotels. Not a lot you can do about it.
Air-conditioning, stuff like that.

Q. An extraordinary match. Wonderfully gripping, as well. Can you feel that
yourself when you're out there playing?
LLEYTON HEWITT: A little bit at times. You're trying to concentrate as much
as possible. It is very hard to think about sort of how the crowd is seeing
it, I suppose, the public. You know, definitely with as many tiebreaks, three
tiebreaks out of the five sets, five-set tennis, you know, the whole crowd
really enjoys seeing a very tight match.

Q. Do you think after getting that third set in which you had to struggle
when it was in your pocket, did you think you would take it on from there?
LLEYTON HEWITT: It's hard to say. I definitely wasted an opportunity at 5-1 I
think, just because the momentum had swung my way big time at that stage.
To Wayne's credit, though, he came -- I played a couple of slack points. He
played some good points, put a lot of pressure on my serve when I was serving
for the set.
To my credit, I gave a hundred percent out there. That's all I can ask.

Q. How weary were you in the fifth set?
LLEYTON HEWITT: It's strange, because my whole life I've had to rely on a lot
of fitness, I've put in a lot of hours into my fitness. With my game, I can
go sort of all day. You know, it just wasn't there today.

I think the main reason is just because I haven't been able to put in the
work as usual because of this virus.

Q. When did you actually get back to work as you would like it to be before
coming here? Was it a week before?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I hit a couple of days before Basel, that was it.

Q. Are you a bit surprised that you got this far?
LLEYTON HEWITT: For sure. I was a bit surprised I made the semifinals in
Basel. I was going to pull out there in the first round. I kept struggling
away each match. I'm very surprised, very happy, you know, that I got through
to the semis there and particularly the final here.

Q. A week off next week?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yes.

Q. Lisbon looks fairly secure for you now.
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah.

Q. Tim can't catch you.
LLEYTON HEWITT: That's nice to hear (smiling). There's still two other guys,
I suppose. Whatever happens, happens. That's just the way I've got to look at
it.
I have to go out in Paris and give everything I've got. I do that every time
I step on the court.

If everything matches up well, hopefully I'll be there in Portugal.

Q. You alluded to it the other day, but do you feel quite strongly about the
fact that some guys have been scrapping out all year and Agassi is getting in
there on the back of a tournament he won nine months ago?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I don't agree with it at all. I just think the whole ATP
thing was to do with, you know, cutting out the Grand Slam Cup, sort of
putting this one event, I suppose, for the best eight performers over a 52
calendar weeks. Obviously, I just think it's a little bit strange.

I spoke to Pat about it. Pat said, "I didn't know that. If I won Wimbledon .
. ." He's still ranked 16, 17 in the world -- he wins Wimbledon, he doesn't
have to play all these tournaments, he gets automatic entry into the Masters
Cup. That's what makes it a little bit silly, I think.

Q. Was that a one-year arrangement, or is that ongoing?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I don't know. I assume it's ongoing.

Q. I know it's this year's rules.
LLEYTON HEWITT: I think it's ongoing. You could have come out at the start of
the year, straight after Andre won the Australian Open, he was guaranteed to
play in Lisbon.

Q. I don't know if you can remember this far back, at 6-All in the first set
tiebreak, you changed your racquet. Can you remember that? Do you know why
you did it?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Because the string was going to break.

Q. Was going to break?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah.

Q. You're still very young. Do you have one big goal you want to achieve in
the future?
LLEYTON HEWITT: You know, obviously I think the ultimate is to be No. 1 in
the world someday. That's what you dream of when you're a youngster sort of
growing up, watching all the big names play tennis. You wish you have that
opportunity. I think everyone's dream is sort of to be the best player in the
world.
I've been given an opportunity I think. I'm getting up there now. There's
still a lot of work before I can say that I'm the best player in the world,
even if it's just one week.

Q. You have a pretty full diary for the rest of the year. How big a worry was
that virus? Obviously the Davis Cup final is going to be big for you.
LLEYTON HEWITT: It was a big worry. It's still a worry, I suppose.

Q. You're not all right?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Not a hundred percent at the moment. It's still a big worry.
You know, I think that Davis Cup is the biggest worry because it is over five
sets and it is on clay, as well. Obviously, probably can't last as long as
today maybe, but it's going to last pretty long, I suppose.

Q. When have you been informed about Kim's match?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I turned my phone on and had a message from her on my phone.

Q. After your match?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah. She's playing doubles, I think, at the moment.

Q. Did she win?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Singles?

Q. Yes.
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yes, she won singles.

END--Fastscripts provided by ASAP 

Lleyton defeats Yevgeny Kafelnikov  6-4, 6-7(5), 6-3 Stuttgart semifinal 4 November 2000

MODERATOR: Lleyton goes to his first Tennis Masters Series final. Questions,
please.

Q. Yevgeny was saying that you both have too much respect for each other's
game, you were both waiting for the right ball to come in, a bit of cat and
mouse. Do you feel that way?
LLEYTON HEWITT: At the start I felt that way, for sure. Towards the end, I
just tried to play my game. That's what really got me back in the second set.
I felt like I really took it up to him. You know, I was a bit stiff in the
tiebreaker in the second set. I felt like I played a pretty good set to get
back in the match. I was feeling quite confident going into the third set, if
I continued playing the way it had been going.

He had longer matches I think this week, doubles and everything, than I had.
I was feeling pretty good.

Q. That's a heck of a section of the draw you've come through, beaten four
class acts.
LLEYTON HEWITT: It's been very tough. When Darren and I saw the draw first
off, saw Krajicek playing a qualifier, we didn't know who the qualifier was
at that stage. We all knew how important it was for the points; the Masters
cup in Lisbon, as well. I think Darren and I were a little bit worried as
soon as we saw the draw. It just got better and better.

I'm full of confidence at the moment. I believe I can match it with anyone
out there.

Q. Does that help you focus when you see a section of the draw like that, you
know what's at stake?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I've really been taking it one match at a time. I wasn't
worrying about it. Obviously, I would have thought that Safin would have got
through to the quarters. I really wasn't worrying about those matches. I was
just taking it one match at a time. I think that's been the big bonus this
week.

Everyone that I've played has been really tough, and I've had to worry about
getting through that match. It's turned out so far, so good.

Q. Is there any surface you go on and you think, "I don't like this very
much"? You adapted to clay for the first time this year, grass, Queen's,
obviously hard court you grew up on. You come indoors.
LLEYTON HEWITT: I think my kind of game is suited pretty much to all surfaces
if I'm playing well. You know, I feel confident in my return of serves on a
grass court. I don't think it makes that big a difference.

Obviously, I think I've had to learn how to play a more grass court game and
a more clay court game sort of the last couple years. That's what Darren has
been a big help, in that factor.

Just coming up through the juniors, I didn't have a lot of grass and clay
court preparation, it was all hard court. I never played indoors in my life.
I don't find it that different really to playing on a hard court.

Q. Increasingly this year, again this week, we've heard your opponents say
how mentally tough you are to play, you give them very, very little. Do you
know that within yourself now? Is that an extra bonus for you when you are
under pressure?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah. I think I've always believed that I've been mentally
tough, you know, even when I was in juniors. It's nice to know that your
opponents think like that, though, as well.

When you're going out there, you get in a tough situation, they know you're
not going to give them too many cheap points. I think that's a big thing to
have in my favor.

Q. A lot of players this week have been saying how sticky the surface is. In
that respect, is it very reminiscent of the courts that you do so well on at
the start of the year in Australia?
LLEYTON HEWITT: No, it's a totally different kind of stickiness or gritty
court. It's strange. You can't -- I normally slide a little bit on my passing
shots. You know, you go out there to slide - you probably saw today where I
went to slide for a forehand with an open stance, my foot just stuck. You're
sort of pulling back. That's when you're off balance.

On a Rebound Ace court, it is sticky and hot, but it does give you a bit of
give when you go to slide a little bit. That's why it is actually a strange
surface, this one.

Q. You have a heck of a schedule coming up. Although it's not mathematically
certain, we would be all amazed if you weren't in Lisbon. Then you have the
Davis Cup a few days later on a completely different surface. Does that worry
you at all?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Not really. You know, it is a lot of tennis.

The way that I've set my schedule is that I was going to make the finals in
Lisbon. I knew that Davis Cup was going to be on clay, since Spain beat the
US. I knew it was going to be the following week. There's nothing I can do
about it.

I feel like, you know, I'm probably a little bit different to a lot of the
other guys. I don't need a hell of a lot of play on a particular surface,
because I've done so well on all surfaces this year. I'll pop back on clay,
after a few days, I'll hope that I'll be ready to go, come Friday.

You look at Rafter, I think he's a different kettle of fish. I think he
really needs to be sort of out there grinding and hitting a lot of balls. I'm
sure he'd say the same thing.

Q. Are you aware of the results from Leipzig?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah.

Q. Good day?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Not bad (laughter). Hopefully it's as good tomorrow.

Q. Have you spoken to her?
LLEYTON HEWITT: No, not after her match. I spoke to her before the match, not
after.

Q. You have been in the race, in the Top 10, since the beginning of the
season. Do you feel like you have been one of the most consistent players of
the year?
LLEYTON HEWITT: It's hard to say. A lot of guys don't play the first couple
of weeks in Australia.

Obviously, Agassi has been consistent here and there. He doesn't play the
first couple of tournaments in Adelaide or Sydney. That's why you saw, I
think -- I think the public was amazed because Santoro, myself, these guys
are No. 1 in the world in the race. It also seems to pan out, I think,
probably after Wimbledon a lot more.
It's been working pretty well, I think, since then. I feel like I've had a
very consistent year without doing something spectacular, I suppose, like
winning a Grand Slam, which would be nice.

Q. Can't win it all the first time around; you have to have something to go
for next time.
LLEYTON HEWITT: I can go for another one (laughter).

Q. Yevgeny said he was very tired in the third set. Did you feel it by then?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Me personally or feel that he was?

Q. Did you feel tired?
LLEYTON HEWITT: A little bit, but not too bad. I think he's played a lot more
tennis this week than I have, just with the doubles, late nights, stuff like
that. I felt that he was a little bit tired after he won that second set. He
just didn't put as much pressure on me early in the third set as he had done
throughout the whole second set.

END--Fastscripts provided by ASAP  

Lleyton defeats Greg Rusedski 6-4 6-4 Stuttgart Quarterfinal 3 November 2000

MODERATOR: Questions for Lleyton, please.

Q. That looked rather more straightforward than the television view of your
last match with him seemed.
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yes, for sure. Greg is a difficult player to play against,
really. He's one of those guys who doesn't give you a lot of rhythm out there
on the court.

Today, I think I learned a lot from playing him last week in Basel,
especially because he is such a good indoor court player.

I got off to a good start today. I felt like when I got my second serves, I
thought he was going to stay back most of the time. That's what he did last
week. I knew that once we were sort of in a baseline rally, I had sort of the
percentage on my side. I had to really take advantage of that.

In the games that he lost, he gave me a couple of second serves. I took
advantage of it.

Q. Did you sense he wasn't moving as well as he might?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Not that I could tell out there. You know, when he had to
come in, I thought he played pretty well. On the passes that I did make, I
thought they were pretty good passing shots.

Q. How did you feel he served compared with the last time?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Probably about the same, I'd say. He probably served a little
bit better, I'd say, in the fact that he missed a lot of first serves last
time by a big margin. He just netted a lot towards the bottom of the net. I
think he actually had a lot better rhythm on his serve out there today.

Q. Which was the tougher match for you, yesterday or today?
LLEYTON HEWITT: You know, it's hard to say. Greg is the type of player who
puts pressure on you. If you do lose your serve, you really are under a lot
of pressure. Tim is obviously a more all-court player.

You know, I'd have to say that yesterday was definitely a lot harder match in
the sense that I was a set down and I had to really fight and sort of dig
deep. In the end, sort of that 4-All game, you know, Tim had his chance to
win that. It could have very easily gone the other way yesterday.

Q. Greg was obviously very impressed with the way you served today. How do
you feel you served today?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I felt like I served one of my better matches out there
today with my serving. I got off to a good start. I think I actually served
more aces than Greg, which is not that common, I suppose, for a lot of
players. I'm pretty happy with that.

Q. Lisbon is looking more and more of a reality for you. You're not there
yet, but would that have been beyond your expectations at the start of the
year?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, probably. A couple of weeks into the year, I would have
given myself a slight chance. Probably going into Adelaide, I think it would
have been a little too much to ask, to have a fair-dinkum chance of making
the top eight at the end of the year. My goal was probably to try to get into
the Top 10, try and stay there as much as possible. But to actually make the
top eight and secure the spot, it was always going to be tough.

As you said, at the moment I'm not there yet. Sitting on a good ticket, I
think, at the moment.

Q. What do you think of this campaign by the ATP?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I think it's a great idea by the ATP. It's got all those
young guys together. Wherever you look now on the TV, the ads, all the
commercials and that -- I'm not sure how many players, maybe 12 guys in it. I
think this is sort of the future of tennis. I think this is a good thing to
sort of have us as so-called "gladiator guys." I think the photos turned out
not too bad.

Q. Not too much pressure for the young players?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I don't think so. I think we've all had to deal with kinds of
pressure so far anyway. If you look at the guys they've picked, they're sort
of the guys who have been successful in some kind of tournaments, or probably
ranked, I assume, in the Top 30 at least, around that.

Q. There's also a new campaign of the tournament, a group of 40 supporters
for you especially. They get free tickets as long as you are in the
tournament. Is that a good idea?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I think it's been fantastic, particularly at the start of the
week. A lot of the tournaments sort of struggle when you do have a big centre
court like it does here. You know, you go out there Monday, Tuesday morning
match, there's no one in the crowd. It's just sort of a dead atmosphere. I
think it's a very good idea to get a bit of emotion out there. I think it's
been good.

Q. How was their support?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Fantastic. I don't think it puts off the opponent. I think
it's good to hear your name, you know, get the Germans behind you over here.

Q. Going back to the other thing, do you feel there's a changing of the guard
now? Do you feel maybe Sampras', Agassi's generation is starting to slip, you
young guys are ready to move up and take over?
LLEYTON HEWITT: It's hard to say. You know, they've both won Grand Slams this
year. You can never write those guys off, I don't think. Pete beat me just a
few weeks ago in the US Open semifinal. I think those guys will rise to the
occasion of playing the big tournaments, the Grand Slams.

You know, I don't know how many years they've got left in them, but I think
for sure the next group of guys are these "New Balls" guys coming up, for
sure.   

Lleyton defeats Tim Henman Rd 3 Stuttgart 2 November 2000

No. 8 seed Lleyton Hewitt fought a strong fight with his contender, ninth
seed Tim Henman, and came out the winner. The score was 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. Here's
what he had to say after the match.

MODERATOR: Questions for Lleyton, please.

Q. Was that final set as tense as it looked?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah. It was a strange kind of set out there. You know,
obviously I think at the start, Tim probably had a couple of chances to go
up, early break. I sort of fought those off. Then, you know, I'd say towards
the whole end of the set, I had every chance. I was winning my service games
pretty comfortably. On his service games, there's that one ridiculous game,
that 3-All game. Obviously that was a little bit nerves, I think. Nine times
out of ten I think in practice I'd make those second serve returns. On those
occasions, I hit pretty ordinary ones. I came out with it hard in the
following game. He was up 40-15, slackened off a bit at 4-All. I took my
opportunities, made him play, you know, came away with the points.

Q. Do you think on balance, too, you should have got the first set?
LLEYTON HEWITT: No, it's hard to say. I think it probably should have been a
lot closer than it was in the end. I felt like Tim came out to a pretty
nervous start, I felt, gave me the first game. He actually played a very good
game to break me back, the first break. Then the second break, it was pretty
much three of my unforced errors that he got the break and won the set there.
He's a tough player to play, as well, when he's full of confidence. That's
why, you know, if I went out there with a game plan, it would be not to give
him so much confidence. I had to do it the hard way today. Thank God I came
through.

Q. An important win for you in the Lisbon race, too.
LLEYTON HEWITT: Very important. I think it's obviously a big knockdown for
him, I think, because I was already in front of him, as well. I think he's
probably the last guy, I think it's out of four guys, to make it. He was the
last one going into this tournament. So obviously he's got to do better than
the three other guys in it. Alex and Thomas went out early here. It sort of
set up a big opportunity for Tim and myself. I think that played a little bit
of a part of the nervousness out there in the match.

Q. Within six weeks you're going to have to play two Masters Series: Masters
and the Davis Cup final. How can you handle that?
LLEYTON HEWITT: It's tough, you know. I'm one of those guys who likes looking
forward to the big matches. There's certainly going to be a lot of big
matches for me. Still my No. 1 goal is to win the Davis Cup. Absolutely, I
want to be in tip-top form come December the 8th, going out there and playing
singles on day one. That's what I'm really working towards. There's a bit
inside me because it's Newcombe and Roche's last tie. It's going to be
special to - trying to defend the cup again with Patrick Rafter back in the
team. At the moment, I'm trying to forget about that. That's going to come in
a few weeks' time. I've got a job to do at the moment here. I've got to try
to make The Masters finals.

Q. By tradition, this isn't the most favorite time of the year for Aussie
lads brought up under a nice blue sky and a burning sun.
LLEYTON HEWITT: You can say that again.

Q. Pat has never liked this European thing. Philippoussis, not too keen on
it. How do you sort of come to terms with it? Is it something you have to
grin and bear?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Pretty much. I'm not a big fan of it either. You know, you
got to be mentally tough, I think, come this time of the year. So many
players, you start talking about playing Sydney and the Australian Open, all
these tournaments next year, sort of coming into the next Grand Slam, having
Christmas and New Year's, all these great things. You still have four or five
tournaments to finish off the year. I think it's tough mentally just coming
here. You're sitting in your hotel room or you're indoors at the courts all
the time. It's hard to get outside and get some fresh air as well because
quite often it's raining.
You know, obviously I think it's been a lot easier for me because I'm a lot
younger, plus I've got a goal, as well, to try to make this Masters cup. I've
got to go out there and treat it like a Grand Slam. You know, I think that's
just in me, though, as well. Every time I step out on the court, I want to
win. It's probably a lot easier for me than it is for other guys.

Q. How do you feel about tomorrow's match against Greg?
LLEYTON HEWITT: He's obviously raised the bar of his game lately. I played
him last week. You know, he's definitely got his serve back. He's playing a
lot better from the baseline, as well. Very tight first set last week. I felt
like I found some rhythm on the return, got on top of him there. I'm going to
have my work cut out for sure against Greg. He's the kind of player who, you
know, he can chop up guys, I think, on a surface like this, as well, as we
saw with Marat Safin today.   

Lleyton defeats Richard Krajicek Rd 2 Stuttgart Master Series 31 October 2000

MODERATOR: Questions for Lleyton.

Q. You obviously are aware of his pretty impressive record coming into it. Your thoughts on the match? 
LLEYTON HEWITT: You look at the draw and you see Richard Krajicek my first match up, because I got the bye here, obviously I'm a little bit worried. You've got a little bit of added pressure because you don't know how he's going to serve. He can serve you out of the match. I felt he didn't serve great out there today. I took advantage of those times and got the breaks when it counted.

Q. A couple of the guys have said that the courts are playing a bit slower for indoor courts. Does that sort of suit your game against the bigger servers?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I found last week played pretty slow in Basel, as well. A totally different surface, though. I don't know if it's just my game totally down to the ground, because I tend to slide a little bit into my groundstrokes. You can't do that at all. You sort of come to a complete stop out there. You got to put on the brakes pretty quickly. I noticed, I had one hit yesterday before I went on the court, it's a totally different change coming from Basel to here. 

Q. In terms of the race for Lisbon, it's obviously very tight, yourself and a possible third round match with Tim Henman, right in the mix. 
LLEYTON HEWITT: I've got to block that out as much as possible. At the end of the day, we've all played the big tournaments, the top eight players are hopefully going to get in. I think it will be a little bit of an injustice if Andre Agassi missed out and then got in because he won a Grand Slam. Hopefully, you know, I hope Andre gets in for the ATP's sake.