L. HEWITT/A. Roddick  6-3, 6-2
An Interview With:  LLEYTON HEWITT
(The Ericsson Open Site; 03/28/2001)

Q. You looked like a lot more consistent player out there than he was. What
was the key to the match from your perspective?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I went out there with the attitude I had to be solid right
from the start. Obviously, he has had great wins to get to the quarterfinals
here from a wildcard. He is coming through a very tough section of the draw
as well. For him to keep doing that, though, match in, match out, it is going
to be tough. I felt that I had to be solid and it was very gusty conditions
out there on the court as well. So I didn't go out there and play silly
tennis. I think I played within myself.

Q. You were playing his backhand a little; then you were moving him around a
little bit. Was that sort of the tactics?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I haven't really seen a lot of his play, but obviously he has
got a huge forehand and huge first serve. So I felt once I got into the match
and I felt like I knew his game pretty well. Then I started moving the ball
around and trying to work the angles a little bit and get him running.

Q. Did you feel that was a good matchup for you going in, someone who
basically hits harder and harder?
LLEYTON HEWITT: It is hard to say, if they are on, they are going to be very
tough to beat. He has obviously been on for pretty much most of the week, so,
I didn't look at it as it was going to be a great draw at all. I was going to
be there for the tough match and I came out and as I said, I think I played
one of the smartest matches I could play.

Q. The first game he was serving a hard serve into your body. It looked like
throughout the match you were able to deal with his serve. He said earlier
that he had to basically hit the hard serve. How did you feel about the way
he served and the way you returned?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Well, obviously one of my strengths is my return of serve.
And in the past I have been able to return pretty much most guys' serves on
Tour. So, his serve didn't worry me. But there is no doubt that he has got a
great serve. It's big. He can serve anywhere. He has got a good kick serve.
But I felt like once I got a hold of it then I was after, you know, the
second or third of his service games, I felt I was really on to it.

Q. Another trip to the semis. This is pretty familiar territory for you.
Would you say that just playing the bigger points a little better, is that
just the only thing that is keeping you from taking the next step at this
point?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I think so, yeah. Really since I made the breakthrough at the
US Open last year and made the semifinals there that was a huge stepping
stone for me in the bigger tournaments whether it is the Grand Slams or the
Masters Series events. Since then I made the Finals of Stuttgart, lost in
five sets there, pulled out of Paris then next Master Series events made the
semis last week. Had breakpoint on Agassi in the 2-All in the third felt like
I was starting to play better and better as the match went on. In the end he
was too good. It is nice to back it up with another in the final 4 here, two
weeks in a row.

Q. Is the level you are playing right now good enough to win this tournament
or do you have to elevate it?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Definitely room for improvement, I think. Whether I can win
it the way that I am hitting the ball at the moment who knows. It has been a
little bit of an up-and-down week, I think, for me. First round was a little
bit scratchy then against Lapentti, I played pretty flawless tennis out
there. Against Santoro I was a bit scratchy again. And then today I played a
really smart match. I think I have played the big points well this week, so
hopefully once we get into Friday, Saturday, Sunday then I will be able to do
it.

Q. Lleyton, like you, Andy is still very young, but you had to go out on a
limb and say five years from now you see him in the Top-10, Top-20, Top-40,
where with would you put him if you had to project?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, he's definitely got a game that can be Top-10. He has
got everything. He has got pretty much an all-court game. He moves quite well
for a bigger guy as well. Got a big forehand; big first serve. I haven't seen
him play on grass or clay though. That is half the year as well. So there is
probably a little bit of the question mark there, but now I think he will
probably get in most of the tournaments with his ranking so we will probably
soon find out.

Q. One thing Newc said about you a while ago something along the lines that
you were really blooded for this game, you just took to it very easy very
naturally. Do you see that in Andy too, do you think he's a natural?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I think for sure. He likes playing the big matches I
think as well. He likes being the center stage. He likes showing emotion out
on the court. I think it is good. There is no doubt that he doesn't feel the
pressures of playing the big matches either as we have seen this week, so
yeah, I think he has got good things going in his way, but he can't, you
know, just think now that he's done well this one week and he has had a
couple of good wins that is going to set him for the rest of the year.

Q. Last follow-up: Can you see in five years from now, you and him playing in
the fifth match of a Davis Cup rubber to decide it all?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Maybe the fourth if we are both number ones, but, you know,
obviously I think yeah, Davis Cup is a high priority I think for him as it is
for me. So there is no doubt that, you know, maybe even next time when we
play America in Australia it will be nice to play him.

Q. I am sure your main goal would be to win your first Slam. Is this a plan
for US Open or do you think you have chances at Roland Garros or Wimbledon?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I think I have played good matches on all surfaces. Obviously
hard courts is more my preferred surface at the moment just because I grew up
playing on that. Clay I've played a couple of great matches - I think in the
Davis Cup final against Spain against some of the claycourters in the world
and showed that I could match it against the best guys in the world in tough
circumstances there. So I feel on clay I am doing well. Grass, you know, with
all the Davis Cup matches I have played on grass in Australia that I am
getting better and better. I have beaten Sampras at Queens. I have beaten
Pioline a couple of times on grass. I feel like, you know, I am doing better
and better on all surfaces so I don't think, you know, I am definitely not
going to be a favorite going into it, I don't think, but I definitely will be
around the place, I think.

Q. Talking about Davis Cup, the fact that you are still in it over here, how
important is that going into Davis Cup even though it is an entirely
different surface next week?
LLEYTON HEWITT: There is, you know, some positives; some negatives, I
suppose. Obviously it is great that Pat and I are still going both in singles
and doubles because the more matches we get better we are going to be
playing. And now that we are into the quarters and the semis and finals here
we are going to have big matches as well. But we are going to be match hard
when we get down there, but the tough question is playing on the clay, you
know, Guga and all the other Brazilians I think are down there practicing at
the moment. We are not going to get as much time on the clay. I feel with my
game - I adjusted pretty well in Spain after I had a breathing problem; then
played in Lisbon on indoor hard court; then had to go on to Spain pretty much
on the Saturday/Sunday before the tie started, so it is not going to be too
different to that one for me.
For Pat it may be a little bit different but I think for Pat the more matches
he gets under his belt the better off he is going to be.

Q. Is the breathing problem pretty much behind you? Still dealing with issues?
LLEYTON HEWITT: It is definitely not behind me, but I am dealing with it at
the moment as best as possible.

END--FastScripts by ASAP Sports

L. HEWITT/F. Santoro
3-6, 6-1, 6-2
An Interview With:
LLEYTON HEWITT

THE MODERATOR: First question for Lleyton, please.

Q. Good comeback after dropping that first set. You played pretty well in the three games after that.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it was a weird match. I didn't really feel in it at the start and it was tough conditions, though. You know, it was, you know, pretty swirly out there. It's not as covered as this court so it's sort of coming in from the side.
But, you know, I felt like I got better and better. I had a strategy and I didn't really play to that in the first set. Then in the second set I sort of put the foot down and started going after his forehand, coming to the net more. I served well and overall I got better as the match went on.

Q. What confuses you about this stuff?

LLEYTON HEWITT: It's just a weird style of playing. You're not playing against it every day basically. You know, I think that's why a lot of the players have trouble with it, because it's just so different, so unique.
You know, very rarely, you know, would I practice with Fabrice. I don't get a look at playing against him that often, and, you know, it takes a little bit of time I think to get a feeling to the match. You feel like you have so many chances and so many easy shots where you should put it away and, you know, he's so quick around the court as well. He makes up for it in a lot of ways.

Q. I guess it was good that you played him eight weeks ago or ten weeks ago in Sydney?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, for sure. I lost to him in Cincinnati last year in the first round. I played very well against him the second part of the first -- the second half of the first set, then the whole second set in Sydney, played really good tennis. That's when I really started to pick it up, I felt, for the Australian summer.
Today I felt like I picked it up from the second set onwards.

Q. What do you know about Roddick?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Not a whole heap. You know, I've watched little bits of his matches, saw him play a little bit last year here as well, did pretty well. He's got a big game. He's definitely going to be a great player, there's no doubt about that.
You know, I'm going to have to play, you know, as well as I can play, I think, to win.

Q. How curious were you to see just how Andy would come out after the big win against Sampras?

LLEYTON HEWITT: You know, I thought he had a good chance against Pavel. I thought he matched up pretty well against him. You know, he looks like he's got his head on his shoulders and really, I didn't think it would be a big drama for him. I, you know, what I've heard and what I've seen, he's probably been under a fair bit of pressure and publicity for a fair time now because he's really been sort of the No. 1 American coming up. So, you know, obviously he's obviously done well to, you know, shut out everything and just get on with playing tennis.

Q. Were you in that situation ever? Do you recall being in a similar situation?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Winning a big match, then coming out the next day? Probably for me it was beating Agassi in the semis of Adelaide in my first tournament then having to come up and play a final of an ATP Tour event the next day.
You know, I had to play Jason Stoltenberg who's not such a big name around the world but back in Australia he always plays well in Australia. So, you know, I think I've had to deal with that a couple of times but, you know, I think it's always hard, though. You don't want to get too carried away when you're in the middle of a tournament. It's nice to have the big win at the end of the week so you can celebrate.

Q. We know how pumped up you get during the match and emotional you get. But he seems to be -- there are times you can see he's taking on a bit of an air of cockiness out there. Do you think this is going to be an interesting matchup?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it's definitely going to be interesting but just because, you know, we're both so young I think. You know, I'm sure this isn't going to be the only time we play each other either. I'm sure there's going to be probably bigger matches in Grand Slams down the track and in the next few years, that's for sure.
But, you know, what I've seen, he does like to get pretty pumped up on the court. He looks like he's, you know, likes bouncing around and stuff like that and, you know, I got no problem with that.

Q. How are you bearing up with singles and doubles two long weeks, two tournaments back-to-back? Are you fine with it?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Not too bad. I didn't feel 100 percent going out there today, but, you know, I feel not bad. I think the body's holding up fine. I think it's good practice for Barcelona as well, just getting more and more matches both if we, you know, obviously on the singles side and plus, you know, the more matches Pat and I play in doubles, if we have to take that option of Pat and I playing in Brazil, the more matches we play, the better off we're going to be.

Q. Do you think you're going to play?

LLEYTON HEWITT: It's hard to say. As I've said the whole time, a lot depends on the first day. The key really is the first day. Depends how we're feeling, it depends, you know, what the situation is I suppose as well.

Q. Do you feel that something's starting to click into place with Pat in the doubles?

LLEYTON HEWITT: We're definitely getting better and better; there's no doubt about that. The last couple of matches against Stolle and Nestor in the second round here, it was great tennis by them and by us.
You know, I really enjoyed being out there, just part of it. I'm still learning, you know, a whole heap about playing doubles as well. I haven't played for -- basically since winning the US last year, so it's taking me a few matches to, you know, get back into sort of remembering, you know, just little things about doubles which you sort of forget when you're just playing singles at the time.

Q. Do you feel it's a good combination, the contrast in styles between the two of you?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I think it works well. Pat can try and help me out on my serve as much as possible, and I can give him the chances, you know, for us to break as well. So at the moment, it looks like a pretty good team I think. You know, obviously we haven't played, you know, too many big matches yet, though. That's probably the key.

Q. Do you think you'll play doubles in the Grand Slams or do you think you'll just take it easy and just play singles there?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Don't know. I wouldn't make that decision until sort of the week before, just see how I'm feeling. You know, especially with the French, I think, just because, you know, it's so, you know, clay court season is such a grinding season. To be out there going, I have to be feeling pretty fresh if I was going to play singles and doubles in the French.

FastScripts by ASAP Sports...

L. HEWITT/N. Lapentti  6-3, 6-3
An Interview With:  LLEYTON HEWITT
The Ericsson Open Site   March 25, 2001

THE MODERATOR: First question for Lleyton, please.

Q. The Oscars began at exactly the same time as your match. Have you  got any
interest in any of the films that are up for --?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Not really. I didn't even know it was on until my  manager
told me a couple days ago. It was a bit of bad luck. I normally  would have
sat down and watched it, but...

Q. I thought you would be in a rush to watch.
LLEYTON HEWITT: No, I don't think that's the reason I played well, but...

Q. Apart from that hiccup at 4-1 in the second set, you barely lost a  point
on your serve. Are you a lot happier now with the way you were serving?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I served fantastic. Actually, the doubles match 
yesterday against Sandon and Daniel Nestor helped me incredibly. We're out 
there, and we lost the first set. I really wasn't serving well. I lost my 
serve after we were a break up in the first set. Pat really helped me out on 
my service games. I just caught rhythm out there in the doubles. It really 
did help me. When I went to warm up before my match today, I was hitting my 
serve great. I took the positive thoughts that I had been serving well the 
last half of that doubles match and this morning in my practice with me out 
there tonight and that's the best I've served in a long time.

Q. Was it a lot different playing at night for you?
LLEYTON HEWITT: It's a lot heavier out there. You know, I spoke about  the
balls after my first-round match with the balls and just it's very humid  out
there as well. But it's just so heavy. I played a couple of night  matches
here last year, and I recalled from those previous matches that I  have
played it's always been very heavy here in the evening.

Q. Were you surprised by the level of support for your opponent tonight?
LLEYTON HEWITT: We're close to South America, I suppose. They probably  don't
get a lot of opportunities to see their players play, so, you know, I 
suppose a lot of South Americans live maybe in Miami as well. So...

Q. Do you think Lapentti's a better player than that tonight?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I think -- I thought he played quite well tonight. You  know,
as I said, I played my best match I've played in a long time. You  know, I
really don't know where he could have, you know, done more damage out  there,
particularly on a hardcourt. You know, I think if it's on clay it's a 
different story maybe. But, you know, the last two meetings, the Davis Cup 
one on the grass, I came out and I got on top of him early. I wanted to try 
to continue that roll out there tonight.

Q. You're now the top seed in the bottom half of the draw. Does that  give
you encouragement?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Not really. You know, I take it one match at a time.  You
know, I got Santoro next round, in the Round of 16s. It obviously will  be
great to make it through to the semis or the finals, but I'm going to have 
my hands full with Fabrice. We played a tough match in Sydney in the 
quarters this year. I got through that one.  But if I play the way like I did
tonight, I'm definitely in with a good  chance.

Q. Have you ever considered establishing a base in this part of the  world at
all?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Not really. You know, obviously I'm one of the few 
Australians who still resides in Australia. At the moment, I just love going 
home and catching up with the mates. I'm not that fussed at the moment about 
taxes or whatever. I love getting home and hopping on the Quantas plane, 
whatever, you feel like you're almost there. So we do that much flying in the
Juniors that it hasn't really affected  me flying home for a couple of weeks
then going back to Europe or going back  to America.

Q. When the European season starts, will you base yourself somewhere in 
Europe?
LLEYTON HEWITT: It's, you know, hard to say. I haven't really planned my 
schedule at the moment either. I've got to sit down. A lot depends on how I 
feel after Brazil.  I've played San Jose through to Miami here, four tough
tournaments. I've  done pretty well. I've been there to at least Friday,
Saturday, in all the  tournaments. Obviously Brazil is going to be not only
physically tough, but  mentally very draining down there as well. I'm just
going to sit down and think about it, you know, after that  Monday probably
or the week after the Davis Cup in Brazil and see how I'm  feeling mentally
and physically and where I want to start my clay court  season this year.

Q. So you've left your schedule open?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it's very open. Yeah.

Q. Obviously the atmosphere tonight probably didn't compare to Spain but  did
it have a little bit of a Davis Cup feel?
LLEYTON HEWITT: You know, I really try to block it out as much as  possible.
It really didn't worry me. I just went out there and played my  game. Got
pumped up on the points I felt like I needed to get pumped up on.  That's
when I play my best tennis. Obviously it's nice playing in front of  a, you
know, fairly big crowd as well, you know, night match. I enjoy  playing the
big matches.

Q. There's a chance you and Andy Roddick could meet at some point later  in
the draw. He's been described as not having any fear. For somebody who's 
pretty close in age to him and also not having fear yourself, how much of 
that is inherent and how much do you develop as a player?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I think a lot's just sort of born in you, I suppose. You 
know, that's how I played my footie when I was growing up as well and I just 
carried it over into my tennis as well. It really wasn't something I had to 
work on or a weakness at any point that I felt I had to get better. I think
it's something that's just in you. You can't do much about it.

END--FastScripts by ASAP Sports...

L. HEWITT/J. Diaz 6-3, 6-3  (March 23, 2001)
An Interview With: LLEYTON HEWITT
(The Ericsson Open Site)

THE MODERATOR:  Questions, please.

Q.  You must be pleased with the way you got off to a good start like that.
LLEYTON HEWTT: Yeah, it's always tough when you have a bye and you come out
and the guy's obviously played a good match to get, you know, into the second
round of the tournament.  It's tough conditions here in Miami as well.  You
know, quite often it's quite swirly out there with the breeze, especially in
a big stadium court like the Stadium out here.  I found the balls very heavy
out there the last couple of weeks as well.   I don't know if the ATP's
changed balls or not, but I think it's a pretty average ball at the moment. 
I'm happy to be through to the third round in the tournament.

Q.  How do you find the speed of this court? Does it suit you?
LLEYTON HEWTT: I think the court speed does.  Yeah.  Just as I said, though,
these balls are  -- these new Masters Series balls are a totally different
ball to what we're used to playing with.  Especially at this time last year. 
I think the ball got heavier as the year went on.  It's definitely fluffing
up as much as ever right at the moment.

Q.  And how do you feel you're playing at the moment? You're hitting the ball
quite well.  Are you happy with the way you're playing?
LLEYTON HEWTT: Not too bad.  Still room for improvement, which is a good
thing.  You know, two semifinals the last two weeks, lost to Agassi last week
6-4 in the third then he went on to the win the Masters Series in Indian
Wells.  It wasn't a bad week result-wise but I felt there were areas of my
game that I could improve on.  That's what I'm trying to get out of this week
and also going into the Davis Cup in Brazil.

Q.  Does it feel different not having Darren here with you?
LLEYTON HEWTT: Oh, it's a little bit different I suppose.  Obviously, Darren
and I have had a fantastic relationship over the last few years, what with
being, you know, on Tour traveling together week in and week out.  You know,
it's fantastic that he's had a kid as well.  So it's a whole new stage of his
life now.

Q.  Is this the first time that he's been away for this long?
LLEYTON HEWTT: Yeah, since we sort of set out, starting  -- I think we
started in the Perth challenger in the end of '98, December '98 we started,
was our first trip.  Since then every tournament I've played he's been there.
 So it's a little bit different.

Q.  Are you conscious of the fact at the moment that you haven't won a Tennis
Masters Series event?  Is that something you'd like to correct?
LLEYTON HEWTT: You know, I haven't held up a trophy, but I feel like I've
been pretty damn close.

Obviously I made the semis here last year and lost to Sampras in three.  
Made the semis in Rome, made the final in Stuttgart, lost in five sets to
Ferreira.

You know, if it wasn't for my breathing problem back then, you know, I feel
like I should have won.  I was playing possibly the best tennis I've ever
played during that tournament and I just ran out of gas due to the breathing
problems that I had.  Made the semifinals in Indian Wells last week.  It's
not a matter of  -- I definitely know I'm up there and capable of, I believe,
winning one.  Until that time comes when I get the opportunity to hold up the
trophy, then I'm definitely getting hungrier and hungrier to win.

Q.  I guess the fact that you picked up the semifinal spot last week has
taken the pressure off you for here, having to repeat what you did last year?
LLEYTON HEWTT: Yeah, little bit.  I didn't think about that going into it at
all.  But if you look at it that way, I've got basically nothing to, you know
-- I think I lost second round in Indian Wells last year and made the semis
here.  If you want to look at the points and try and keep up as well as
you're doing, stay in the Top 10, semifinals in Indian Wells last week was
huge.  Anything this week's a bonus.

Q.  You've had about a year playing quality Top 10 tennis.  Have you had a
chance to think,  "Okay, I've reached this point.  What do I have to do to be
No. 1? Do I have to add something to my game? Do I have to get stronger? 
Does my forehand have to get a little bit better?"
LLEYTON HEWTT: I don't know about looking at it being No. 1, but definitely
to improve my ranking, there's definitely areas of my game.  The main area's
getting some cheap points off my first serve.  No question.

The big matches that I've played well in I've done that well, and, you know,
that's the US Open semifinal, I think that's the best I've ever served, that
tournament.  I served more aces than Sampras in the semifinal.

So I think that's the main area.  I've just got to get more consistent.  And,
you know, in all the matches I play I have to get those cheap points.  Maybe
a little bit of an all-court game as well.

Q.  Michael Chang reached a point in his career where he figured he had to
muscle up.  Five years ago he did, he went to the bigger racquet, did an
awful lot of weight lifting, got his serve up to 115, 120, that area.  He hit
more double-faults, too.  But is that sort of on your agenda now?
LLEYTON HEWTT: Not really.  I think my off-court work you know, for me --
everyone's different.  For me personally it's a lot of running I think.  
I've got to get a lot of miles in my legs.  I've got to be capable of, with
the game that I play, I've got to be capable of staying out there and
lasting, you know, all day, four and a half hours, best-of-five set matches.

You know, I've been doing that the last couple of years anyway.  So for me,
right at this point I don't think I have to make a huge change. (Inaudible.)

Q.  According to the latest stats, you're actually in the Top 10 of effective
servers at the moment.  Were you aware of that, and how do you feel about it?
LLEYTON HEWTT: Must not have been the last couple of weeks.  I feel that I
wasn't great in the last few weeks.  I think around the Australian Open and
Sydney I was serving pretty good. 

Definitely towards the end of last year I was serving very well.  Last couple
of weeks I haven't served great.  That's one area I've been concentrating on
in practice.

Q.  How are the breathing problems by the way?
LLEYTON HEWTT: Up and down, good days, bad days.

Q.  Sometimes you still feel it, the way you did last year?
LLEYTON HEWTT: Yeah, for sure.  You know, it's something that I try and block
out as much as possible.

Q.  Are you any closer to finding out exactly what it is?
LLEYTON HEWTT: No, not really.  No.  You know, I try and block that out as
much as possible, as well.  I'm sick of seeing hospitals and doctors and
stuff like that.  So, yeah, just positive thinking, I think, at the moment
and just, you know, I've played so many matches now and a lot of five-set
matches and long matches that I know that I'm capable of lasting.  That's the
main thing.

Q.  So you're not looking into it any further?
LLEYTON HEWTT: I've looked into it  -- unless I feel that I've got to take a
couple of months off and whether it will be some kind of surgery or whatever,
until that day comes I'm not going to  -- until it starts affecting my
tennis, then I'm not going to take it.

Q.  As someone who has Patrick Rafter's ear, have you informed him that the
world's going to stop spinning on its axis if he retires from tennis at the
end of this year?
LLEYTON HEWTT: There's plenty of other people to watch.  Maybe the women
won't like it as much.  But obviously  --.

Q.  A lot of us might not like it.
LLEYTON HEWITT:  All the Australians definitely don't want him to retire,
because we've seen the kind of tennis that he's still performing.  You know,
last week he played great matches I thought.  He, in my opinion, he probably
should have beaten Sampras in that match.  He would have been very tough if
he did get past that match.  Semifinals of the Australian Open speak for
themselves.

You know, he's  -- I believe he's still got, you know, a few Grand Slams left
in him for sure.  No doubt about that.  And he's that kind of player, and I
think, you know, Wimbledon this year, he and Sampras are going to be, you
know, the one and two favorites.

Q.  What are you going to do to force him to come back in 2002?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I don't think anyone can force him to come back.  You know,
at the end of the day, he's the person that's been traveling, you know, day
in and day out for the last, I don't know, since he was playing the
satellites and everything back in Queensland and wherever.  So at the end of
the day, he's got to want to play.  No one can tell him to pick the racquet
up and go out there and keep playing.  If the will's not there, then there's
no point

Q.  The fact that you're playing doubles with Pat, is that with an eye on the
Davis Cup?
LLEYTON HEWITT:  It gives us another option, I think.  We definitely could
have had a chance of playing in Spain as well but as it turns out, there was
really no chance.  I played for, you know, over four hours in my match.  I
was physically pretty tired.  Pat, you know, was on the drip the
night before the doubles after his match.  So as it turned out, we really
didn't have too many options going into the doubles.  We like to keep our eye
open going into a Davis Cup tie,
especially this one coming up in Brazil.  Gives Fitzy and Wally options.

Q.  Do you discuss the options?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Not really, no.  Fitzy and Wally pick the squad and no one's
really spoken about it yet.  Pat came up to me a few weeks ago and said, 
"Maybe we should have a bash in Indian Wells and Miami."

I said, "Fantastic."  I learn a lot from playing with a guy like Pat as well.
 It's going to help me in my singles game as well as hopefully that Davis Cup
tie.  There's no talk at the moment about who's going to play doubles.

Q.  Given you've won a Grand Slam with Max, is it sort of a difficult
decision as to who to play doubles with?
LLEYTON HEWTT: Yeah, well, I didn't play in Australia due to, you know, it
was such a long year last year.  I just wanted to, after the year before, I
made doubles finals in Adelaide and Sydney as well as winning the singles, it
made an extremely long January for me.  I haven't played any doubles until
last week.  It took me a couple matches to really, you know, get into it as
well. 

Once you're not in there playing week in and week out, you actually start to
forget about playing it.  You try to play singles on a doubles court. 
Obviously, I'd love to play with Max some time down the future.  But when it
comes to Davis Cup and preparing with Pat, then, you know, that takes first
preference.

Q.  Do you look at Pat as big brother, good friend, guru, what exactly?
LLEYTON HEWTT: Gee, I don't know.  I try not to praise him too much.  But,
you know, a little bit big brother, for sure.  Yeah, and I, you know, I look
at it, I suppose, as I'm sort of the next generation of Australian tennis
coming up as well.  He was up there and, you know, he's won
Grand Slams and been the world No. 1 and helped us in the Davis Cup and
everything.

I just feel that, you know, there's  -- I'm not sure how many years between
us, maybe eight years or something between us.  I'm sort of coming up and
he's going to retire and I'm going to try to slip into his shoes, I feel, and
try and take over the responsibility of holding up Australian tennis like
he's done for so many years now.

You know, but he definitely, you know, he really did take me under his wing
when I was a junior playing at French Open Juniors or whatever, and, you
know, he was asking us to go and practice with him before his semifinal match
of the French Open.  For a guy to go out of his way to do that when he's got
so many things on his mind, he's just a great guy.

Q.  In one of his more reflective moments over a year, has he ever imparted
to you a piece of advice about tennis or life in general that will always
stay with you?
LLEYTON HEWTT: Not that I can think of off the top of my head.  Maybe I don't
want to say it publicly either, so...

END--FastScripts by ASAP Sports...

 

March 17, 2001 - TENNIS MASTERS SERIES
Indian Wells, California
A. Agassi/L. Hewitt  6-4, 3-6, 6-4

An interview with:  LLEYTON HEWITT

MODERATOR: Questions for Lleyton.

Q. To paraphrase Andre, he sort of suggested it was a bit of scrappy tennis
out there. How do you see it?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it was tough conditions out there tonight. You know,
it's pretty gusty, a lot gustier than when I first hit this morning or this
afternoon. You know, it was actually tough. It was swirling a lot. There
wasn't one particular way which I could feel the wind was going out there.

I think the first set was pretty scrappy. After that, it got a little bit
better. Obviously, you know, he made a lot of unforced errors out there
tonight.

Q. You got that break in the third set at the end there. Did you think you
were going to have a chance to pull it out?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Well, you know, obviously when you get it back on serve,
after he served for the match, I definitely gave myself another chance, I
suppose. Like another life out there really, you know, because he's played so
many big matches and closed so many big matches out. To get that opportunity
to serve for it. But to his credit, he came out, didn't make too many
unforced errors in the next game.

Q. Think you're back on track after the couple of weeks of up and down?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, this week was good. I played I think five matches, five
good matches. I got better and better with every match that I played, I
thought. You know, obviously it's disappointing losing, but to lose to Andre
Agassi, you know, he's in pretty good form at the moment, obviously coming
off the Australian Open win. He's doing pretty well. Made the final of San
Jose.

It's not a bad loss, 6-4 in the third against him. Obviously, I had my
chances, 2-All in the third set, I didn't take advantage of it.

Hopefully I'm going to have a lot more opportunities here in Indian Wells,
other big Masters Series events.

Q. You're not one of the giants of the tour size-wise. A lot of people don't
think somebody who isn't a giant these days can win. How do you feel about
your chances?
LLEYTON HEWITT: There's a lot of I think positives and negatives about being
big or small. I draw confidence, I suppose, from watches guys like Andre,
Michael Chang, those guys get to No. 1, No. 2 in the world, and stay there
for a lot of years.

Obviously, you're a lot closer to the ground, very quick around the court.
Most of the shorter guys return very well, as well. Obviously we've got to
try and counter-punch maybe a little bit more. I think it's nice to see. I
think it's good for tennis to have mixtures of games.

The big guys, you have Marat Safin, hits big and strong. You have Patrick
Rafter, total serve and volleyer. You have guys like myself, try to stay
back, drive from the baseline. I think it's good for tennis just to have
different varieties. You don't definitely have to be 6'4" to win a Grand
Slam.

Q. Did you have the chance to see a bit of the women's final?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I saw a little bit.

Q. Have you talked to Kim?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Not really. Not about the match.

END--FastScripts by ASAP Sports...