August 11, 2002 

Western & Southern Financial Group Masters 

Cincinnati, Ohio 

C. MOYA/L. Hewitt 

7-5, 7-6 

An interview with: 

LLEYTON HEWITT 

 

            THE MODERATOR:  We'll open it up for questions.

 

            Q.  What's the difference between today's match and yesterday's match?

            LLEYTON HEWITT:  You know, I think just Carlos is A‑class, I guess.  He's been there before, he knows how to play the big points well.  I think that's probably the biggest difference between him and Gonzalez.

 

            Q.  How was your back today?

            LLEYTON HEWITT:  Yeah, not too bad.  It was a little bit stiff before the match.  I got some heat cream rubbed into it beforehand, just tried to loosen it up.  I didn't feel any twinges out there.  Just genuine stiffness.  It's fine, I can play with that.

 

            Q.  The rain delay, did that have any bearing on your injury, having to stop and start again?

            LLEYTON HEWITT:  Not really.  Not a huge difference.  I just had to go through the same routine as I did before I went out to play the first time.

            So, you know, sure, once you get into the match, you always like to sort of continue it on.  But it wasn't that big a difference.

 

            Q.  What did you do during the break?

            LLEYTON HEWITT:  Just sat in the change rooms.  Did nothing.

 

            Q.  Sat where?

            LLEYTON HEWITT:  In the change rooms.  Just not a lot.  Just watched the monitor, then got ready to play once.  Then, you know, standing out with our bags, then we got told it was raining again.  So we had to sit down and go through it all again.

 

            Q.  Did you watch it on TV, the match?

            LLEYTON HEWITT:  The rain or...?

 

            Q.  The replay of the first set.

            LLEYTON HEWITT:  No, no, I haven't seen anything.  No.

 

            Q.  How many times have you lost a 5‑2 lead in a set?

            LLEYTON HEWITT:  I don't know.  I've definitely done it before, I think, in some stages.  Yeah, I didn't make too many first serves.  But apart from that, I didn't hit the ball that bad.

            You know, he just raised his level of game.  To his credit, he played some huge points there to get the two breaks.  At 5‑3, it was a huge opportunity there, if I was able to get into a third set.  I felt like at 5‑2 I was starting to get on top of him  ‑ breaking for the second time that set.

 

            Q.  Where do you feel this leaves you in preparation to defend the US Open title?

            LLEYTON HEWITT:  Hitting the ball well.  You know, I've gone up another level since Toronto, which is nice.  That's all I can really ask for out of the tournament.

            Sure, I'm disappointed.  I would have loved to have won another tournament like this.  But, you know, when you sit back tomorrow and you go through what your preparation is going to be, you know, the next two weeks going into The Open, well, it's going in the right direction at least at the moment.

 

            Q.  What are your next two weeks like?

            LLEYTON HEWITT:  I'm playing Indy then a week off.

 

            Q.  Carlos  ‑ I don't know if this is exactly accurate  ‑ he said he thought you lost nine matches this year, and seven of them were to Spaniards or South American players.  He felt like you maybe had trouble with that style of play.  Would you agree with that?

            LLEYTON HEWITT:  I don't know.

 

            Q.  If so, what gives you trouble?

            LLEYTON HEWITT:  Yeah, I lost to a few of them this year, but I don't think it gives me that much trouble.  I think I have beaten them a lot as well.  You sort of don't see the first rounds I chop up a lot of the Spanish and South American players as well.

            Obviously, the guys I've lost to, they've been class players.  I lost to Moya, what, twice on clay, now here as well.  You know, he's a former world No. 1 and a definite ‑ when he's playing his best ‑ Top 5 in the world.  So, you know, that's no bad loss.

            You know, some of the other guys  ‑ Gaudio I remember losing to on clay, which at the time wasn't a bad match because he'd won about 15 matches in a row.  Then there was Alberto Martin, first round of the Aussie Open when I wasn't 100%.

 

            Q.  What strategy did you have today against him?

            LLEYTON HEWITT:  Obviously tried to, you know, get into, you know, as many rallies as possible and give myself a chance to take the initiative up before he started making me run and moving the ball well.  As soon as he gets around and whacks that forehand and he's on the offense, he's an extremely tough player to put back on the defense from that position.  I felt like I played pretty well, you know, doing that.

            But then my serve just let me off once I got to 5‑2 in the second set.  You know, I was serving well and making, you know  ‑‑ serving well on big points.  When I was deuce and break points down, I came up with a big serve.  Then I wasn't able to do that.  I think that was sort of the main difference and maybe the turning point from 5‑2 up and losing at 7‑6.

 

            Q.  Did the double‑fault in the tiebreak just kill you?

            LLEYTON HEWITT:  Yeah.  But then again at 5‑4 I went for a second serve ace and it paid off.  You know, shit happens.

 

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August 10, 2002 WESTERN & SOUTHERN FINANCIAL

GROUP MASTERS Cincinnati, Ohio

L. HEWITT/F. Gonzalez 6-7, 7-5, 6-2

An interview with:

LLEYTON HEWITT

 

THE MODERATOR: We'll open it up for questions.

Q. Was there any point in that second set where you thought you might lose?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Not really - not lose. I don't think that thought ever entered my mind. It was more did it ever enter my mind, "What the hell he's going to do next," yes. I had no idea.

He's a tough player to play. You know, he gives you absolutely no rhythm. I thought Wayne Arthurs didn't give me a lot of rhythm just with his serve and that, but this guy was just -- he's just letting go from the back of the court or wherever he is. He hits the ball as hard as he can every time. It's tough to play that kind of player.

Q. He said you were a fighter, that on the real important points, that's when you play the best. Do you agree with that?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I guess, yeah. I guess that's probably been the case a little bit over the last few years.

You know, you sort of look at the guys in the Top 10, Top 15 in the world, and the guys who have been able to win Slams, they're able to step it up on the big points when it matters in big tournaments, in big situations. The semifinal is big here.

When I was down a few break points, I came up with a big serve every time. I was 2-1 down in the second set, came up with a pretty good serve every time I was down a break point.

I think it just -- it comes with a lot of practice and being very mentally tough out there, I guess, when it comes to the big situations. You know when to step it up and have that self-confidence out there.

Q. Is that just your attitude, though, in every match, that you just don't feel you're ever going to lose it? Or was this specifically with him tonight?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I never feel that -- there's always a chance that you're going to lose, of course, but it never enters my mind when I'm out there playing.

Then, too, I'm one of those people - as everyone knows - I go out there and give 100%. Too, you got to go up and shake hands at the end of the match. There's so many times, I think people have seen, where, you know, one or two points change the whole outcome of a match. You know, sometimes when you get through those matches, it changes the whole outcome of the tournament. You feel like you've sort of survived one and you're half lucky to be in there, then everything sort of changes.

Q. You had 20 aces, and really your serve was such a strong weapon. Is that a little unusual for it to be that strong?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I actually didn't feel like I served that great out there. I don't think I got a -- probably 45, 48%, I think, first serves. I'd be guessing.

Q. 47.

LLEYTON HEWITT: 47, thanks (smiling). Make me sound good.

And as I said, he's a strange guy to play. He was guessing a lot of the times on the return. He sort of was jumping immediately inside the baseline and guessing which way. So, you know, he'd make me look bloody good with a nice ace out wide which he missed by three meters, or he'd wail it past me for a winner if he guessed the right way.

I didn't serve that great. He probably made it look a little bit better than it was. When he runs around, smacks a few big serves, second serves as winners like he did there, especially in the tiebreak in the first set, then he makes your serve look pretty ordinary as well.

Q. Did you tweak your back?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I've had a bit of stiffness the last week or so, week and a half. I've been getting treatment every day on it. And I could just feel it getting a little bit stiff out there.

Then I actually felt something sort of -- some twinges in there towards the end of the second set. I was just a little bit concerned. I actually wasn't going to call the trainer. Then I felt like I had the momentum. I didn't want to sort of let up on that at all after winning the second set, and I was just going to play through it. Then he had a toilet break, I saw Doug sitting on the sidelines, I wanted to try to keep it as warm as possible that change of ends.

Q. Was that more of a prevention type of thing?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Well, I could feel it out there. I've been getting treatment every day on it anyway. So, you know, it's been a little bit sore. But I think it's nothing, you know, that's going to pull me out of anything. I can definitely play through it.

Q. Do you know how you did it?

LLEYTON HEWITT: No, it's just general stiffness. The thing that worried me a little bit tonight -- I've been playing through it. I felt stiff in that area every day I've been on the court, practice and that. Normally, the adrenaline's pumping in the matches. I didn't feel that bad in the Agassi match last night, I was stretching a lot.

There was a couple of times tonight where I was stretching on my serve, a few times that I felt a pinch, a bit of a - I don't know if it's a nerve sort of reaction, but like a twinge out there. That's why I called Doug, just to try to warm up so I didn't further damage it.

Q. How does it feel now? Is it something that goes away quickly with a bit of therapy?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Don't know. Not sure. Could wake up tomorrow morning, it could be stiff. I got no idea. I can't see it being a big problem.

Q. Carlos Moya.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, he's very tough. He's probably been -- since Wimbledon, since he's been back on the clay, he's probably the form player, I guess. What did he win, a couple of tournaments and another semi or something?

He's a tough player to play. He's obviously getting back to his -- I think what we all think he's capable of doing and what he proved when he went to No. 1 in the world a few years ago. I've got a lot of time for Carlos, he's a really nice guy as well.

Q. How much of what you did tonight owes simply to your refusal to give in, your unwillingness to lose?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Possibly a fair bit. There's tough matches, I guess, when you get in those situations and, you know, a lot of guys would probably hop for the easier option, I guess, rather than hang out there and keep fighting. That's one of my main qualities.

Q. Are you aware of the effect that has on your opponent?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I've never really worried about it. It's just me. I've always done it, and, you know, I'll keep fighting until I got to go and shake hands at the end of the match.

But, yeah, I don't know if it does have an effect; that they think, you know, they've got to put me away right to the very last point. That's definitely an advantage for me.

Q. You seemed to get off in a strange way. What was going on in that first set? Was it just a matter of feeling him out?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, little bit. As I said, he's a strange player to play against. I'm still struggling to work out how he plays (laughter).

The first few games he was sort of rolling his serve in, then he'd run around, smack a forehand back fence, then he'd hit a winner. I just tried to keep a few balls in play.

Then I lost my serve in the third game. I hit two double-faults, and I sort of went for my serve a little bit more because a couple of points before that he ran around and hit probably one of the biggest forehands I've ever seen on a second serve. I went for it a little bit. I probably really didn't have to pull the trigger at that point in the third game, you know. If I was playing him again, then I probably wouldn't have gone for it so much early on.

But then he played -- as I said, he came out and played the back fence four points in a row in the next game and gave me the break back straightaway.

Q. The way he hits it, does it make you want to be more aggressive with your serve?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah. Yeah, little bit. You always know that as soon as you hit a ball that's slightly short, even, you know, sometimes you hit a good depth ball, and he'll still try and whack a winner off it. Sort of gets you on the defensive straightaway. When you have an opportunity to attack, it's pretty important.

I can't say he's got the best defensive skills around.

Q. Now that you have a victory over him, how can you assess his skills, his talent? Can he be a threat at the US Open?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Gonzalez?

Q. Yes.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, for sure. He's a tough player to play against. He's beaten Henman, Krajicek and Roddick three matches in a row. They're three class players. They're contenders for the US Open. So I can't see why he's not a chance.

But then again, you have five sets playing that style of tennis. Then, you know, it's gonna be tough to do it, you know. But with his power, I think he's gonna have days when he looks incredible and he's gonna have days when he struggles a bit.

Q. Also yesterday you complimented his forehand. What can you say about his backhand?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, he's got a nice backhand. I think he's probably -- over the last few months, I think it's gotten better and better since I saw him play last. He was more inconsistent on it a few months ago. Now he probably waits for the right ball a little bit more on his backhand.

Obviously, though, his forehand is still his main strength. You know, he's always trying to run around his backhand to hit that forehand.

Q. In your opinion, what makes him a great player?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I don't know. A little bit like Andrew Ilie, I guess. I don't know how much experience is gonna be. With some of those guys, they sort of can look incredible and they play very entertaining tennis. But on big points, is that always going to help you win the big matches? I don't know. Some matches it will, some it won't, I'm sure.

But whether he can learn to I guess sort of - I don't know - control his power a little bit in some important points, then that may help him.

Q. How was your confidence at the end of the first set when he won the tiebreak? Did you think you could lose the match?

LLEYTON HEWITT: There was always a chance I could lose, but it never entered my mind, you know. It's only a set, you know? Two sets to go.

I was right in that set. Had 4-3, love-30, missed a short forehand I probably could have gotten. He's the type of guy that gets down on himself and strings together a lot of errors when you put that pressure on.

Really, I felt like I could have just been serving for the first set at 5-3. So I tried to take the positives out of the set. And I knew his game a little bit better going into the second set, but it was still tough out there.

Q. You played Carlos three times this year. Talk about those matches.

LLEYTON HEWITT: I won the first one in Indian Wells first round. Then I lost in Monte-Carlo and Rome.

Q. Different surface.

LLEYTON HEWITT: It's on clay, obviously. I'd prefer to play on hard court; I think everyone knows that.

And, yeah, he's a great hard court player as well. He's playing a lot better, I think, than he was in Indian Wells. He was just starting. I could tell there that he was -- I think he won a tournament the week before Indian Wells on clay, maybe Acapulco or something like that.

But he actually was starting to time the ball like he did when he got to No. 1 after winning the final of Indian Wells or something that one year. He was starting to get around and use his forehand and his first serve. He's got a big first serve for sort of a "clay court specialist" type of guy. He's very underrated.

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August 9, 2002 

Western & Southern Financial Group Masters 

Cincinnati, Ohio 

L. HEWITT/A. Agassi 

7-5, 6-3 

An interview with: 

LLEYTON HEWITT 

 

            THE MODERATOR:  Questions for Lleyton.

 

            Q.  What was the difference today?  I mean, you had some really good rallies  ‑ deep and everything  ‑ but yet you were able to just edge them out.

            LLEYTON HEWITT:  I don't know.  I was able to play the big points well, I think, towards the end of the first set.  The first set was huge.  You know, it's just about around an hour, I think, long.  It was a long first set, and it was a grinding one.

            He had the advantage at the start, then I was able to peg back the momentum.  I played a good game to break at 4‑all.  Then, you know, just didn't quite execute right at the 5‑4 game, serving for it.  Put in a couple of early errors.  He was able to step it up.

            Got to 40‑15.  Huge three or four points there to turn it around, get the momentum back quickly.  I went on and held to love the second time serving for the first set.

            Second set he came out and served great the first few times.  From there on, it felt like I was in each one of his service games.  It was very important just for me to hang in my service games.  I felt I was going to get an opportunity sooner or later to try and break his.

 

            Q.  Do you think you played better ahead?

            LLEYTON HEWITT:  Ahead?

 

            Q.  Yeah.

            LLEYTON HEWITT:  I don't know.  I played pretty well getting back in the match.  I was 3‑love down, 15‑30 in the first set.  Two points there and you can pretty much kiss the first set good‑bye at 4‑love against Andre.

            So I felt like I gutsed it out.  I hung in there.  I didn't give him any cheap points at that stage.  That was important.  I was able to break straight back.  The whole momentum of the match had changed where he was in charge right from the start, yet I had breakpoints the first game and I had game points in the second game.

            So I could have been 2‑love up.  Instead, I found myself an early break down.

 

            Q.  5‑all, 40‑15, there had been a lot of coming and going.  It seemed Andre was right with you, level at that stage.  Suddenly it changed.  Do you know why?

            LLEYTON HEWITT:  No, it was strange.  I just hung in that game.  I said to myself, "I'm gonna hang in there and I'm going to try to take the initiative away from him a little bit," and I cracked two winners at 40‑15.

            Sort of changed the whole momentum a little bit.  I felt like I was starting to get on top, as I said before, at 4‑all.  Broke him.  Served for the first set.  Didn't execute the point properly.  Played a bad start to that game.

            At 40‑15, I was just able to hit two clean winners ‑ backhand up the line and an inside‑out forehand.  Changed straightaway.  We changed ends.  The whole momentum swung again.  I was able to hold to love the next game.

            In the second set, he came early, he came at me again strong.  You know he's going to, he's such a great player and a great competitor out there.  He didn't give me anything early.  He was serving a lot better, I felt, at the start of the second set, a lot more cheap points.  I was able to hang in my service games.  And, you know, I felt sooner or later he's going to have to start missing some first serves.  That's when I had to try and pounce on him.

 

            Q.  With Pete at 31, we see some signs of his slowing down, changes to his game or breakdowns.  Do we see that at all with Andre at 32?

            LLEYTON HEWITT:  No, not at all.  He's an incredible athlete.  You know, there's not many people who would be able to do  ‑‑ I don't know if I'll be out there running around the way he is .  And still the motivation and everything, you know  ‑ he's ready to go right from the first point every time.  You've got to be on your game every time you step out on the court against him; otherwise, he's going to whack you.

            You know, I was able to, you know, the last couple times we played.  We played some great matches.  It's hard to beat the San Jose final at the start of the year.  And, you know, I don't see any signs of him, you know, fatiguing towards the end of matches at all at the moment.

 

            Q.  When you were yelling, were you mad at yourself, were you trying to pump yourself up?

            LLEYTON HEWITT:  Yeah, I was just trying to pump myself up.  You know, sometimes it works as a positive, sometimes as a negative.  I felt like I was able , when I got down on myself a couple times, I'm able to  ‑‑ I have a  ‑ I don't know how to say it   ‑ but some guys, it turns the whole match around and they get very negative on themselves and can't sort of get out of it.

            I'm able  ‑ for some unknown reason, I don't know why  ‑ to focus straightaway on the next point.  It sometimes makes me concentrate on the next point and try and improve on what I did wrong.

            Yeah.  So for me, I'm not going to say 100% of the time that I get down on myself it works for me, but, you know, I think a lot of other guys, if they get down on themselves at all, sometimes they're history.

 

            Q.  After the match, on TV you talked about the level of respect you had for Agassi and still do.

            LLEYTON HEWITT:  Yep.

 

            Q.  Is it special for him to have that now for you?

            LLEYTON HEWITT:  Yeah, I guess.  It's something I really don't think about, what Andre thinks of me or how I play the game or me as a person or whatever really.  I've got along great with Andre, you know.

            It's something, you know, even in the locker room now you still look up to him and have so much respect for him.  I've still got a poster in my garage of Andre Agassi on the wall at home.  Growing up, he was  ‑‑ he's that kind of  ‑‑ he's got that kind of personality that you sort of, you know, it sort of fitted right into my attitude, I guess, and my style of play.  He's very sort of out there, he gives 100% every time he's on the court.  And he's, you know, he's a baseliner as well.  A lot of people spoke about how I was the next person since Andre to win from the back of the court at Wimbledon.  I draw a lot of confidence from a guy like Andre being able to win all four majors.

 

            Q.  It was Agassi you had posters of, none of the other great players?

            LLEYTON HEWITT:  Oh, no, I liked a lot of players.  I liked Mats Wilander a lot.  I like watching Pete.  He obviously  ‑‑ I was never going to be a serve‑and‑volley player, I just didn't have that style of game.  But I got a lot of respect for Pete, just how good he really is, you know, how good he's been over so many years.  I think I realize that more now that I'm sitting at the top of the game.  It's so hard to go out there and after you win a major or two, you sort of  ‑‑ your goals change.  It's hard to get up week in and week out for smaller tournaments.  You got to take your hat off to a guy like Pete and Andre who have been able to do it for so many years.

 

            Q.  Did his poster used to have a better spot in the garage?

            LLEYTON HEWITT:  Andre?  No, everyone got it confused.  I told them when I did my press conference after I beat him in Adelaide the first time it was in my garage.  Everyone kept saying it was in my bedroom.  No, it was always in my garage; it hasn't changed.

            Just, you know, I've got a little gym set in there and a speed ball and stuff.  It's sort of where I worked out a little bit when I was younger.  That's why it's up there.  It's when he had long hair and had the bike shorts underneath his denim shorts and that.  That sort of suited my character, I think, a little bit.

 

            Q.  You have probably the best two hardcourt players playing each other in the quarterfinals.  Was this the best rivalry of the tournament?  If so, do you feel like you're over a hump now in the tournament?

            LLEYTON HEWITT:  No, there's still two tough matches to go, you know, whoever I play.  Obviously, the next match, Roddick or Gonzalez, you'd have to guess that Roddick's probably going to get through that one.  But, you know, Andy and I have had a lot of tough matches.  It's gonna be extremely tough.  He's seeing the ball well.  This is basically my first sort of string of matches that I've put together on the hardcourt so far this season.  He's had a lot of matches.  Even though he's lost a couple, he's made the semi of LA then the final of Toronto.  And if he gets to play me, again, it's another semi for him.  So his winning form is good form.

            Then after that, you know, if I can get through that one, then I meet one of the Spaniards.  By the way they're going, they're playing pretty well.

 

            Q.  You talked about Andy.  Can you talk about Gonzalez?

            LLEYTON HEWITT:  I've never played Fernando.  Actually, I've played him in Juniors.  I played him when I was about 15 and he was 16.  I never played him in seniors, though.  And all I remember of him, he was the No. 1 junior in the 14s and a guy I probably looked up to when I was 12 or 13.  Then he went walkabout for a few years.  Next thing you know, he comes out, qualifies, wins the Orlando tournament, now he's here beating Henman and Krajicek yesterday.  He's got a massive game, a really big game.

 

            Q.  Andre broke you early in the first set.  Did you still believe you could recover after that?

            LLEYTON HEWITT:  It was 3‑0, but I wasn't gonna get down on myself because I had chances in the first two games.  You know, I had 15‑40, then another breakpoint.  So I had three breakpoints in the first game.

            Then in the second ‑‑ next game, I had a game point, pulled the trigger and went for a big second serve and double‑faulted.  I felt like, you know, it could have very easily been 2‑love to me rather than 2‑ or 3‑love down.  I just hung in there and kept fighting.

 

            Q.  The public was today on his side.  Does it bother you, or not at all?

            LLEYTON HEWITT:  No, he's Andre Agassi.  He's in America.  I guess, you know, he's just that kind of person as well.  The crowds love to come out and see him play.  You know, if I wasn't a tennis player, I'd love to come  ‑‑ I'd pay to come and watch Andre play as well.

            We're playing in America as well, but Andre has a great following throughout the world.

 

            Q.  Are you right where you want to be, heading in to the semis tomorrow night?

            LLEYTON HEWITT:  I'd like to be in bed soon, but...

            Apart from that, I'm pretty happy (laughter).

 

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