int7

11/30/00
Interview: Lleyton Hewitt on Thursday
(The Masters Cup Site)

Lleyton Hewitt lost to Alex Corretja, 3-6, 7-6, 6-3

MODERATOR: Questions for Lleyton.

Q. With the way the crowd reacted today, was that a bit of a taste of what
you could expect next week?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I think, yeah, definitely in the way the crowd was today, for
sure. Playing neutral -- I suppose that's as bias as I've ever seen
(laughter). It's a good piece of experience I think going into next week, for
sure. I think I'll definitely be better for the match practice, as well. I
still have errors in my game that I have to work on. I think today I just
sort of, you know, struggled because I haven't had so many tough matches
under my belt the last few weeks. I had three weeks off coming into this
tournament. It's a big ask to come out here and match it with the best guys
in the world. Who knows? If I made that volley at 2-1 in the tiebreaker,
could have been a different story.

Q. Talking about taking things out of it positively. What can you take away
from it?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I hit the ball pretty well, I think, especially the first two
sets. I think it was high-class tennis. There weren't a lot of cheap unforced
errors. There was a lot of close service games on either side. I was pretty
happy with the way I actually hit the ball today. I felt like I dominated the
match for at least the first set, the start of the second, and the end of the
second set, apart from the tiebreak.

Q. How much extra feeling or intensity, whatever word you want to use, was
there out there today given what's coming up next week?
LLEYTON HEWITT: No, I never -- the Davis Cup never came into my mind the
whole match. I was out there. This is a totally different tournament, totally
different surface. The closest thing was the crowd, I think. That's nothing
to what it's going to be like next week. It's a small taste of it. From what
Newc and Rochey are telling me, we've got to be prepared to go through worse
things than we did in Nice last year.

Q. Can we read anything into the result?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I don't think so. I'm definitely going to raise my game next
week. I'm going to be better for this match.

Q. Did you feel any more tired today? Looked like in the second and start of
the third you were looking a bit exhausted at some points.
LLEYTON HEWITT: Not really. Pretty much the same. I think it was just a
totally different style match than I've been playing against. Even the guys I
played against in Stuttgart when I did well, it was really only Kafelnikov,
Ferreira the last two days where I actually played a baseliner. The others
were big serve-and-volleyers. I haven't had a lot of matches against the clay
court specialists, so to say. I felt like I adapted my game well enough
today. You know, I think it's a little bit that I had to play three matches
in a row, as well.

Q. Do you feel that you have lost the game or was Corretja the one who win
it?
LLEYTON HEWITT: You know, it's hard to say. I think I got out of jail a
little bit towards the end of the second set. He got the break halfway
through the second set. He probably should have served it out. You know, to
my credit, I kept fighting there, and I got it to a tiebreaker. You know,
then I had an early chance. You know, even if I was 3-1 up, there's still a
lot of points to go. It could have been a different story. You know, I think,
you know, in one way I feel like I lost it a little bit, but he played good
tennis.

Q. You'd have to expect him to be an even tougher opponent than that next
week, considering it's going to be clay?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, for sure. It's really who is going to raise their game,
you know, to the next level, I suppose. You know, we all know he's capable of
it, especially it's going to be even a bigger lift I think playing -- I don't
think Spain has ever won a Davis Cup final. It's in his home city. I think
he's from Barcelona, as well. There's a lot of incentive there to play for.
I've got a lot of things I'm playing for, as well. So far in my Davis Cup
career, I've only lost one live singles rubber. I believe in myself in the
big matches. I believe that I give myself every chance of coming through.

Q. Even so, would you have sort of taken a bigger psychological edge if you
think you won today, given what happened in January in Australia?
LLEYTON HEWITT: He's definitely going to have a little bit more confidence
today, I suppose. You couldn't be more down than his loss in the Australian
Open. I wasn't expecting to go out and beat him Love and Love today. That's
for sure.

Interview: Lleyton Hewitt on Wednesday 30 November 2000

Lleyton Hewitt was defeated by Marat Safin, 6-4, 6-4

MODERATOR: Questions for Lleyton.

Q. Could we have a health update to start with? How were you today?
LLEYTON HEWITT: The same every day. Nothing much changes overnight. You know,
I think it's going to be a process where I've just got to guts out the next
week and a half and then as soon as I get home, I've got to see some people
that I have a lot of faith in. It's probably going to take a couple of weeks,
I'd say. I've had this since Toronto, which is probably 18, 19, maybe 20
weeks since then, and it hasn't shown any signs of improving. It's very hard
to expect that one morning I'm going to wake up and it's going to be all
fine. It's something that I've got to play through. I understand that. I've
got a big week and a half ahead of me. I wasn't really expecting a lot going
into this week just because, you know, I have had two weeks off and I haven't
been able to put in the hard yards, hit a lot of balls on the practice court.
It's nice to be able to have at least three good matches here, maybe four
action maybe five, then g! o into the big one next week.

Q. How significant is tomorrow's match, given next week, as well?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I don't think it plays a real big part. For starters, the
surface is an obvious difference. Playing on clay next week, we've never
played on clay before. The other thing, it's in his home crowd, which is
going to be a huge advantage for him. You know, I don't think you can really
read into it too much. It's also Davis Cup. I think we've seen so many
surprises in Davis Cup tennis. It brings out the best in some people, and
some people fold under the pressure. I feel like you probably can't have a
good look into it. I've had two good wins over Alex already this year. I
don't think that counts for much come next Sunday.

Q. Is it possible for you to sort of weigh up the advantages and
disadvantages of spending a week playing the world's best players and a week
practicing on clay? Is it possible for you?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Going into the Davis Cup?

Q. Yes.
LLEYTON HEWITT: Obviously, the advantages are I'm getting at least three good
matches against the world's best players. I don't like to say it to Paul
Kilderry, but here I am playing against Pete Sampras and some of the great
players. If I was hitting over there, it would be with Peter Tremachie and
Paul and those guys. That's definitely one advantage, that I'm getting great
match practice. The big disadvantage is I'm only going to have 4-5 days
practicing on clay which normally takes a while to get a groove, to make that
transition. Some people do it a lot quicker. I think I'm probably one of the
guys who can change surfaces a lot quicker than the guys like Rafter and
those kinds of guys. It's still going to be a big ask, but I'm prepared to do
that. I think this is the right call for me.

Q. I just asked Marat if he and you could form a rivalry over the next five,
six, seven years, similar to the one between Sampras and Agassi. He said he
hopes so, but it was a longshot. What do you think?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I hope so, as well (smiling). Obviously, I think there's a
definite chance there. We're both -- I'm No. 6 in the world, he's No. 1 at
the moment. You know, I think at the age of 19 and 20, there's a very good
chance that we hopefully haven't peaked yet, as well, so we're still
improving our games. But there's still a lot of young guys coming up, as
well. I think there's probably going to be a lot more guys than just
Agassi-Sampras. I think there are going to be more rivalries, whether it be
Federer, Vinciguerra, these kinds of guys, Ferrero. I think there's a lot of
19 -, 20-year-olds coming up. It's good for tennis.

Q. What gives you the most joy in playing the game?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Just competing, you know, being out there. Doesn't matter
whether I'm kicking the footy or playing backyard cricket back home, I want
to win. This is a sport I love competing in. I love getting out there and
hitting tennis balls. I'm able to do that at an elite level, which a lot of
people aren't as fortunate as me to be out here at the moment.

It gives me a lot of joy just going out there, seeing guys that I've idolized
growing up, actually being out there sort of the center of attention playing
against these guys.

Q. In the last year, how have you really changed your serve? Anything you've
done differently on it technically?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Not technically.

Q. You're tossing the ball pretty far in front of you now.
LLEYTON HEWITT: Not so much. Just probably monitoring my ball toss a lot. I
used to throw in sort of the old slack ball toss and still hit it. Now I try
to concentrate a lot more on my ball toss. Really just sort -- probably the
ball toss a little bit higher, as well. That's pretty much it. To sort of
make sure I fall into the court as well instead of pulling back. Sometimes on
the second serve, you have a tendency to pull back, you're worried about the
guy hitting a good return, whereas you have to really follow through. I think
that's sort of come out the last four, five, six months, just I'm not serving
as many double-faults as I used to, as well.

Q. When you go home, when you get away from the tennis, are you still a
down-to-earth kid? Do you still have the same mates as before? Do you think
it's changed a bit and you can't relate to your mates as you once did?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I can relate to my mates exactly the same. Obviously,
everything around me I think has changed just being in the public eye all the
time. You know, you go home, you're in the papers. There's TV cameras
everywhere, you're on the news. I think it changes a lot of other people's
opinions. Not so much opinions, but stature about yourself, sort of, whereas
I haven't changed at all, I don't think. I still have exactly the same mates
I hung around with at school. I still go out to Darren's Night Club
occasionally with those boys. I go to the movies with some of the mates I
played junior tennis with. It's pretty much the same group of guys that I
hung around with then.

Q. Obviously this is a pretty special week to be top eight. Is there
something on a lighter note that struck you about life in the big-time that
you can get used to in the future?
LLEYTON HEWITT: You get your own driver for the week. I've never been able to
have that before. I'm sure a lot of the other guys in the eight this week
have probably had it at smaller tournaments. I haven't been that fortunate to
get my own driver. That's been pretty cool.

Q. Have you got him to take you anywhere special?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Just dinners. He's great. His name is Pedro. He's a good
bloke.

Q. Although the season is far from over for you, what has been so far the
greatest moment of the year and the most difficult moment for you?
LLEYTON HEWITT: It's hard to say. Obviously this has been one of the best
moments, making it to here. Over 52 weeks, to actually say you're in the top
eight of tennis players in the whole world, at the age of 19, has been
fantastic. I really -- I was hoping to get into the Top 10 sometime this year
to. Actually consolidate my spot in the Top 10 at the moment, and hopefully
I've got another thing to tell you next Saturday, Sunday night, fortnight,
hopefully we'll win the Davis Cup. That would probably go down as the biggest
thing. Probably the biggest disappointment, I suppose, was probably going out
first round of Wimbledon I'd say just because I was hitting the ball so well
going into there. I felt like I came up against a guy, he was too good on the
day. I don't think I played a really bad match at all, but I had to take my
hat off to Jan-Michael on that day. I still felt I could have done a bit of
damage on the draw if I g! ot the right path through.

Q. What is the best match you've played this year?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Pretty hard to top beating Pete in the final of Queen's. I
think I nearly played a perfect match. I didn't make any errors. It was the
best I've ever returned. I think I actually served more aces than Pete that
day, as well, which on grass is a big thing for me. I think I just played a
perfect match then.

Q. Could you speak a little bit about today's match? How tough was it to play
Safin today?
LLEYTON HEWITT: He's a great player. He hits the ball very heavy off the
ground. He didn't give me a lot of chances to sort of dominate many of the
points. You know, he served well. I didn't really get too many chances. The
only chances I got sort of close on his service games is when I was sort of a
break down anyway. I was always playing catch-up tennis a little bit out
there today. Still you look at it, I lost 4 and 4. In the first set, I was
4-All, 30-Love up on serve, looked like I was pretty much cruising. I played
a couple of slack points, he comes up with a couple of good points, that's
the set good-bye. I felt like against those top guys you only get sort of a
point here and there where you've got to take it, you've got to take your
opportunities. In the past I've pretty much been able to do that in the big
matches. Occasionally you falter. I felt like I didn't come up with the big
points out there today.

END--Fastscripts provided by ASAP

Defeat of Sampras 7-5 6-0 at Masters Cup first match 29 November 2000

Q. Is that a second set to tell the grandkids about?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah. You know, I felt like I hit the ball really well today. Took me a while to get onto Pete's serve just because it is his weapon. I struggled in the past returning his serve. Once I sort of got in the zone, obviously Pete coming off such a long break as well, wasn't at his best today. I knew it was a big opportunity for me to get a good match under my belt and get a good start in the Masters Cup.

Q. How did you feel physically? Don't look like you're struggling for breath.

LLEYTON HEWITT: That's what everyone says to me. You know, Darren and my parents, "You look fine out there." I feel like I must look so bad to everyone, but obviously I don't. I'm definitely not a hundred percent out there at the moment.

You know, I'm pleased that even though I'm not feeling great, I'm still able to, you know, compete with the top players in the world and still able to play such good tennis, which I've pretty much kept at a pretty high standard for the whole year.

Q. What difference does it mean to you to beat a guy of that stature 6-Love rather than say 6-4 or 7-5?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, but when it goes in the papers back home, everyone is going to think he forfeited or something (laughter).

You know, obviously it's fantastic. I just felt like I got better and better with the whole match. I'm sure Pete lost a little bit of interest towards the end of the second set, as well. He definitely wasn't the six-time Wimbledon Champ out there today.

Q. How much of a role has Darren played in your success this year and your success currently?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, you know, Darren has played a huge role. Even in the years leading up. My mum called him up a few years ago when I must have been 12 or 13 years of age and asked if he'd hit with me sort of once a week because I wasn't getting great hitting in Adelaide at the squads and that. He said that would be fine.

I went out there, going around his place at West Lakes every day, hitting for two hours. It was a pretty easy choice when I had -- when I wanted someone to travel with me, to invite Darren to come along. He's obviously made a big impact. At the start I struggled with the whole ATP Tour. I came out and got success at such a young age, my first real tournament. I didn't really know what the whole tour was about.

Darren has been there and done that. I thought that was important to add to my talent, as well, sort of his experience coming together with me.

Q. With the experience that you had at such a young age, what has he done this year to help you specifically?

LLEYTON HEWITT: We just worked on areas of my game. Obviously, the serve I think is probably the main area of the game, trying to get a little more cheaper points off my first serve, which has been very useful. I think it definitely helped me throughout the US Open, making the semifinals there.

In Stuttgart, you know, even there today I got some cheap points when I needed them. You know, I think just trying to become a more all-court player. If you look at Darren's game, that he used to play, it was more of a serve-volleyer, chip-charger, as well. He's very good at that aspect. I'm mainly a baseliner. Maybe he can help me out with the things he was good at

Q. When you experience your breathing problems, are there degrees of it? Is it worse for some matches and not so bad at times? Some matches is it a lot worse than others or is it the same kind of feeling each time?

LLEYTON HEWITT: It's pretty much the whole time. Obviously I notice it a lot more when I'm out on the court just because I am exercising, sort of you get out of breath a lot quicker than if you're just walking around your hotel room or going to dinner or something like that. I can notice it at rest as well as exercising.

Obviously, I probably feel it more the longer the points go. I'm sure next week on the clay courts I'll be feeling it. You know, it's something I believe, and I've spoken to Newc and Rochey about it, I believe I'll be able to overcome it next week and hopefully do the job for the boys.

Q. What is news from the Davis Cup camp? We hear Pat is on fire.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Definitely putting a lot of long hours on the clay. I think everyone realizes that he needs to -- he's one of those guys who needs to hit a lot of balls on the clay court because it's totally different. He has to be a lot more patient and pick the right balls to come in on. On a hard court, he sees the first ball and he's in. He has to structure his points more on the clay court. He's hitting great. I think Sandon and Woody are arriving today, yesterday, tomorrow, I'm not sure. I'm sure they're right sort of to get straight into it, start working really hard.

I'm ready, if I get there Monday, Saturday, Sunday, whenever, I'll get hopefully four or five good days of practice in before next Friday comes, the big one.

Q. You mentioned on the courtside interview about not so long ago you were playing in the Satellites. Does it sometimes amaze you where you are now?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, a little bit. It's hard to reflect on all the success you have at such a young age, I suppose. I always look forward to the upcoming and big events I'm going to be playing, like this week, the Davis Cup, all the Grand Slams and that. Sometimes you forget just a few years ago I was playing the Perth Challenger, two weeks later after Christmas, I'm holding up the trophy in Adelaide. Sometimes it's sort of pretty hard to believe. I look at all the guys I grew up with playing in the juniors and then getting into the satellites, I was getting my butt killed in some of those matches. Now they're still playing out there in the satellites, I'm sitting up here No. 6 in the world.

I think just sort of mental toughness and making the sacrifices really helped me.

Q. Pete obviously has an incredible record through his career. You've beaten him on grass, you've beaten him indoors. Do you have a sense when you're playing him of his mystique? Do you have any intimidation at all when you go up against him?

LLEYTON HEWITT: You know, you've got so much respect for Pete. You can feel the class when you walk out there. Obviously tonight wasn't one of his best matches. We all know the reasons why.

I feel he sort of raises my game a little bit as well because, you know, you know that you have to compete at your best. If I lost my service game early in the first set, there's the first set gone. There's just little things where he does put that kind of pressure on you where you've sort of got to come up with the big points. I feel like I've done that. I definitely did it in Queen's. That match has got to go down as possibly my best match ever. Out there tonight, I didn't make too many unforced errors on the big points.

Q. Seemed like Pete was having trouble reading your second serve. Did you have any sense why that was?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I think last week practicing on the clay a little bit. I had Pat Rafter trying to chip-charge on the clay on me a fair bit last week. My second serve improved a little bit there. It was obviously a factor out there tonight. Pete on the big points likes to try to put pressure on you, come up with a pass. He wasn't able to do that probably as much as he would have liked.
Fastscripts provided by ASAP