LLEYTON HEWITT: It was only a couple of them. Yeah, two in a row, though. I don't know about that. You know, he's the kind of guy that was ‑‑ he was up a break in that situation anyway before then.

But, yeah, I don't think that was probably the reason why I lost the match today.

Q. Two and a half sets. Your accuracy with your groundstrokes was pretty phenomenal today. Can you comment on that a bit.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it was good. I felt like I was hitting the ball well. You know, obviously the start of the match, he came out smoking it and hitting a lot of heavy balls out there. I couldn't really ‑‑ didn't get an opportunity to try and dictate. You know, when I got my half chance in the second set, I had to take it, and I was able to do that. I started serving really well, better than I've been doing all tournament.

You know, I think late in the third set and then the whole fourth set, my serve did go off, my first serve, more than anything. Yeah, that just made it a lot harder to put pressure on him.

Q. How did you feel physically throughout the whole game?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, pretty good considering I haven't played, you know, too many five‑set matches against players of the caliber of Nadal. Yeah, coming into the tournament, I wasn't really sure how I was going to, you know, pull up obviously. So, yeah, to get through the match physically, I felt pretty good.

But, you know, that doesn't mean a lot if you lose.

Q. When you play a guy like this, how important is it to be sort of in a cycle when you're playing a lot of big matches, you're expecting to get to finals, as opposed to maybe if you're not playing at that level? Is there a whole different level of sort of mental concentration, focus that you need out there?

LLEYTON HEWITT: In some ways, yes. But then I felt like today, you know, when the match was getting tighter at points, I felt like that's when I was actually getting on tops slightly out there, and especially in the second set when I tried to put some pressure on him and then had opportunities at 3‑2, 15‑40 in the third set.

You know, he's very much like I guess Federer, winning so many matches, that it's sort of second nature for him. They get down breakpoint and they expect to get out of it. That's why he's one of the best players in the world.

Q. You seem very relaxed and analytical about this particular match. Is that just the change in your life that's gone on that's made you this way?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I don't know. That's probably just the way you see me now. I don't know.

Q. He's near enough to unbeatable on clay at the moment. When you come off the court, is it a feeling of, How does anybody beat this guy, or do you come off thinking with a few more clues, next time you play him, you might have a couple of points that you take into it, a couple of factors that might make you a winner?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, obviously, he's extremely tough. But, you know, I still feel like there are small areas. As I said, you know, 3‑2, 15‑40, you have to take those chances against these guys, whether it's Nadal or Federer, the best guys out there.

Obviously, you know, if everything pans out, you'd expect Nadal to play Federer in the final here. Who knows what can happen. Roger is getting closer and closer every time they play. He's obviously doing something right. You know, but then again, he hasn't quite been able to get over the line either.

Definitely confidence‑wise, head‑to‑head‑wise, it gives Nadal a hell of a lot of confidence.

Q. Pretty key point there in the third set at 4‑4, breakpoint, the dropshot. Did you read the spin on that, or were you surprised when it touched down?

LLEYTON HEWITT: It was too good a shot anyway. I wasn't quite going to get to it, I don't think, anyway. Yeah, wasn't so much the spin. It sort of caught half the line, as well, sort of kicked sideways.

So, you know, wasn't a whole heap I could do about it. It was well‑played.

Q. Besides obviously the disappointment of losing the match, where do you feel you are now overall? You have four big matches on clay. Having not played for so many weeks, looking ahead into the grass as well.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, there's obviously ‑‑ you know, when I look back on it in a couple days, there's going to be, you know, a lot of positives I'm sure I can take out of the last week and a bit here. You know, especially, as I said, not knowing, you know, a week and a half ago whether I was actually going to be able to play anyway.

I went out there, gave everything I had. Felt like ball striking‑wise, I'm a lot more confident going into Queen's than I was probably coming into the French Open. Yeah, that gives me a lot of ‑‑ a lot more confidence, I guess. And obviously moving on to grass, it's never an easy transition, but it's one that, you know, I've been able to handle pretty well in the last, I guess, four or five years.

Q. It was a good test for you thinking about Argentina in Davis Cup on clay?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Never really thought about that. You know, going out there, obviously, this was a big enough test in itself, playing the best player on clay at the moment in the French Open, the defending champ. So, you know, I wasn't really focused about Davis Cup too much today.

Q. Going into the rest of the summer, how much confidence is it to come off a court now knowing you could compete when maybe you thought with injury that might not be the case?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, well, I think when I look back on it, you know, as I said, I think ball striking‑wise, I got better and better with every match that I played. Against Hrbaty, I struck the ball extremely well. Yeah, I know now, only play one tournament on clay, now we're on to grass, so it's a totally different situation.

But if I can take that same mentality out there onto the grass, you know, have a positive attitude out there, then, yeah, who knows, maybe I can be dangerous in the next month or so.

Q. I know what you say about Davis Cup being three months off, but it's your next clay court assignment. Do you feel the matches you have here will make you that much more confident going to Buenos Aires than you otherwise would have been?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I don't know. Davis Cup is a long way away right at the moment. Still two other majors, and obviously Wimbledon is more focused right in my mind at the moment.

Q. May seem obvious, but what is it like to play him on clay versus Rebound Ace or other surfaces? What are the in and outs of it?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Well, you know, I felt Coria ‑‑ I never played Coria on clay. Looked to me a couple years ago, Coria moving on clay, Ferrero even moving on clay. But I think this guy, yeah, his movement on clay is exceptional. It's second to none, that I've seen. He makes you play so many more balls, normally you'd have winners. On clay he can sort of get enough on it to make you play a tough volley, whereas on grass or hard court, I think, you know, Rebound Ace, I think sometimes you have an easier volley at the net. It's a little bit harder for him to put something, you know, on a passing shot when he's six, seven meters behind the baseline, whereas on clay, he can sort of get away with it. He's so physically strong out there, as well.

Q. You're an underdog in this match. For many years, you were always a favorite when you played. Do you feel different on the court or is it like a regular match for you?

LLEYTON HEWITT: You don't feel any different on the court. Obviously you know that it's ‑‑ yeah, if I could have got over today's hurdle, then the draw really opens up, as well. You've definitely got that in the back of your mind, I think.

But, yeah, it wasn't a matter of thinking that I was a huge underdog where a couple years ago I would have been favored. He's obviously earned the stature to be favored in nearly every one of his matches now on clay. You know, that's something that comes with winning 60 odd matches in a row on this surface.

Q. For more than two sets of this match, you grinded very well with the guy. Didn't seem to be losing your patience out there, even when he was making spectacular returns. Was this a match where the frustration level finally broke you down in the third and fourth set, just got tired of grinding with him?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Not really. You know, it was a matter of ‑‑ you know, against a guy like him, you've got to take your opportunities. You get that half short ball out there, you see the opportunity. I think 4‑All, 15‑All, I had a short forehand. I went back to his backhand, missed it wide. It's just small opportunities like that that you've got to take.

But then again, against a guy, he makes you go for that little bit more as well sometimes purely because, as I said before, he gets so many balls back out there on the run.

But, you know, I guess that's the way that got me back into the second set, was me going out there, being aggressive, going for my shots, staying positive out there. I don't think that really changed. I may have missed a few more balls late in the third and the fourth sets, but you've sort of got to go with it. It got me back in the match, as well.

Q. I heard you were not feeling well before the Hrbaty match. Is that true? If so, how close did you come to not playing it?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I wasn't going to walk on the court. And then, you know, just decided to see how I go.

Q. You were about to pull out?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I was vomiting in the trainer's room literally before I walked out.

Q. Then played one of your best matches.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah.

LLEYTON HEWITT: I don't think it had anything to do with his fitness. Dominik is probably one of the fittest guys on tour, I'd say, probably in the top handful. It didn't look like he was moving any differently to what he normally does. I actually felt today was probably a lot better standard match than I've ever played against him before. He probably played a lot better today than he ever has against me. So, you know, I thought the standard was pretty good. You know, I needed to play some good tennis out there and I was able to do that.

In terms of the ankle, you know, just doing all the same stuff: icing, physio all the time. You know, just trying to get the inflammation down as much as possible after matches, and let it rest as much as possible as well.

Q. You were playing some pretty incredible tennis out there. Where would you rate that as far as the best tennis you've played on clay?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it was up there. My ball‑striking was great today. Right from the word "go," I served as well as I've probably ever served, especially on clay. Just mixed it up extremely well.

Dominik doesn't give you a lot of cheap points out there; you've got to work for it. But I took it to him. You know, he's a guy that doesn't really want to get too far behind the baseline and, you know. I had to really try to hit through the court to hit a lot of winners against him, and I was able to do that today.

Q. How much does it surprise you, when you consider that you haven't played much on the surface in two years, and this is only your second tournament on clay in those two years?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it was pretty good today. It really was. You know, I hit the ball well, and as I said, he's a tough opponent to play against. I knew I had to step it up from my first two matches and I was able to do that. You know, to beat Dominik in straight sets pretty convincingly was, you know, not to waste a lot of energy out there on the court as well, was another positive.

Q. You seem to be prepared to take some risks on your return. I noticed you were running around your backhand and smacking winners with your forehand. Were you just consciously trying to shorten the points there?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Uhm, not really. I just felt like, you know, the ball was there to be hit quite often, and, you know, I just felt like I picked the times to do it today and to try to put him under as much pressure as possible. He wants to be the aggressor out there and he wants to try to take it to you the whole time. I had to try to get on the offensive when possible but not be silly with that either. Played offensive when I needed to as well.

Q. Do you think you're a better clay courter now than when you were world No. 1?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I don't know. I have some good days and I have some average days. That's a tough question because I, you know ‑‑ coming into this tournament, you know, for two years I haven't played on this surface.

You know, it's a tough one to answer. But, yeah, obviously, you know, couple of my best matches have been at Davis Cup probably on clay probably against Kuerten and Costa. They're no slouchers on this surface. It's pretty hard to beat those wins.

Q. Another player who hasn't had a lot of success on clay but seems to be finding his feet, James Blake. I'm wondering if for guys that don't grow up on it, is it just a learning process to become more adept on the surface? What goes into it?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I think so. You know, James is a guy that, you know, he's a great athlete out there and a great mover. There's no reason why he should struggle on this surface. You know, he's got a big first serve and a big forehand and. You know, it's a matter of I think playing a lot of matches as well and trying to get that confidence to be able to do it against the best players. And obviously, James is probably in a similar boat to myself and a lot of the Australians where we just haven't grown up on it. The whole moving aspect of it is different.

Q. Is it a matter of imposing a hard court game on clay?

LLEYTON HEWITT: You've definitely got to adjust. Just the movement. There's a lot of times where I'm sure James as well, as good as his forehand is, he probably feels like he has to hit two or three winners to get it past him. Whereas on hard court or grass, that one big hit normally wins it for you.

Q. Don't want to jump the gun here. There's another match to go. But assuming that the No. 2 seed wins today, we all know what you've done with him in the past. Is it ancient history? And the fact that it's going to be on clay, should we just discount your previous experiences with Nadal?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it's a totally different ballgame, I think. Obviously, on clay. Yeah, it was a couple years ago as well when we last played ‑ year and a half ago in the Australian Open. We've had tough matches every time we've played on hard court. But obviously, you know, he's an extremely tough player right at the moment, especially on this surface, as everyone's well aware of.

So, you know, if I've got to play him, it's a matter of me going out there and sticking to what I want to do out there. You know, I've still got to execute extremely well. And we know he doesn't give guys a lot of chances.

Q. When you look at the way you've played today, how much better do you have to play against Nadal?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I've got no idea. I'll have to wait and see.

Q. James Blake also has success against him. Although you have a completely different style from James, there is one similarity: you're both pretty fast. How much of that is a factor, do you think, in your success against Nadal?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I'm not sure if it's a huge thing. You know, I'm sure Nadal has beaten a lot of good, quick players as well. Guillermo Coria is as quick as probably James or myself out there, and he's had his number.

You know, I don't think James has played him on clay. But, you know, obviously when he's played him on hard court, he's tried to dictate terms from the back of the court. I think that's what you've had to do with him.

But on clay, he's definitely a different story.

Q. In percentage terms, where is your ankle?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Probably 80%.

Q. 80%?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah.

Q. Given that, Lleyton, and so much movement, so much of clay court is movement, I mean, how well did you feel that you moved today? It looked from the sidelines like you were moving pretty well. Is that as good as you could move, do you think, in the circumstances?

LLEYTON HEWITT: In the circumstances, for sure. I still feel like I'm ‑‑ you know, if I was a hundred percent, I'd be moving better. No doubt about that. I feel like today was ‑‑ you know, gradually every match has been better and better. But, you know, I still feel like there's room for improvement in that. But that's a healing thing. That's sort of out of my hands.

Q. How much were you able to do in the time before Austria? How much training did you do before that event? What time scale?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I did a lot. In Sydney, the frustrating thing was, you know, couple days before I went, was going to go to Hamburg, I strained my calf muscle. You know, so that was another week off, you know, couldn't do anything. So that was more frustrating than anything because I just wasn't able to do anything, you know, after I put in the ‑‑ I felt like I put in a lot of hard yards in Sydney, done a lot of running back there, a lot of base work, and wasn't able to get on the court. So that was a bit frustrating.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it was good. Yeah, first set was pretty tough out there. I knew nothing about the guy, though, going into the match. It's always going to take a little bit of time to work him out. He's obviously got nothing to lose out there either, really trying to take it to me.

Once I got that first set under my belt, I felt like I could, yeah, get more and more confident. I got better as the match went on.

Q. How were you physically today? You said you still weren't a hundred percent after the first round. Do you still feel the ankle today or is it progressing well?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, the ankle's still not a hundred percent. But, you know, I'm getting through, doing all I need to right at the moment. You know, hopefully it picks up a bit.

But, you know, it's something that ‑‑ you know, I've played with pain before. This is just another case of it.

Q. What about the potential opponents, Karlovic and Hrbaty? What are your thoughts on them?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Tough. Both of them are tough players. But tough in different ways, both of them. You know, we'll have to wait and see what happens.

You know, obviously Hrbaty, he's a workhorse out there. He doesn't give you too many cheap points. He's extremely fit, going to run down a lot of balls. We've had some tough matches in the past. You know, I've been able to get through quite a lot of them. I've never played against him on clay, though, so... Yeah, he's definitely a tough player. Karlovic, he's serve‑dominated. You have to be returning well and making him play as many balls as possible.

Q. Players talk about confidence all the time, but not many people can actually say what it is or define what it is. I'm wondering if you could take a stab at it, how that translates on the court when you feel confident. Maybe it's easier to describe confidence by saying what it feels like not to be confident. When you're on the court, what does it mean?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Well, I think confidence comes when you don't have to think about a lot of things when you're out there. You're going out there and you know what you're going to do all the time, especially in pressure, tough situations. It's sort of like you're on autopilot a lot of the time. I guess, confidence is being Roger Federer in the last couple years. In situations, big points, that's when you back yourself, I guess.

You only get confidence from playing well and doing it in the match situations, in big matches. Yeah, I guess when you're not confident, then, yeah, you're probably thinking and trying to push a little bit more rather than going out there and sort of just being on autopilot and a little bit freer out there.

Q. Why do players lose it and then get it back?

LLEYTON HEWITT: It's probably a number of reasons. Obviously, you know, court surfaces. You know, there's a lot of different things for a tennis player, I guess. You know, if you get on a bit of a run, then confidence, you know, picks up. I guess it's like a ball going down a hill: it just keeps building more and more confidence as you keep winning. Sometimes it's tough, you know, if you've been struggling for a couple of weeks, to get that confidence back. Sometimes you got to win ugly just to get through, to get that momentum started again.

Q. Where would you say you are at the moment, this only being your third match back? Overall are you pretty satisfied at the level you're at at the moment?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I'm pretty happy at the moment. I'll still in the tournament. Coming in here, you know, a week ago I wasn't sure if I'd be able to play, so it's obviously good to be through to the third round. Haven't wasted a lot of energy so far, got matches under my belt. See what happens from here, though.

Q. Nick Bollettieri has written an article saying that throughout his career when he was a coach, he coached players from the sidelines during matches, using discreet signals to coach players. He says he feels it should be allowed. How much are you aware that players are coached from the sidelines? Do you feel it should be allowed?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I don't think it should be allowed. You know, that's the great thing about our sport: once you're out there, it's a matter of going out there and doing what you need to do against your opponent and working it out for yourself. A lot of guys in the past win matches because they're able to work out ways of beating their opponents on their own out there. I think that's one of the great things about our sport.

You know, I don't think that is a good thing to change in that way. Signals, you know, I know there's been times in the past where I'm sure coaches have been giving little signals or whatever at the back of the court. There's not a whole heap you can do about it. At the end of the day, their player still has to go out there and execute.

Yeah, obviously it's a slight advantage if they are getting some help because obviously a coach seeing from a different perspective of the match, as well. In the stands, when I watch other guys play, you can work out other things probably a little bit better than sometimes when you're actually out there as well.

Q. Considering what you're saying about coaching, that tennis is one of the few sports where it's not allowed during a match, is coaching overrated in tennis? Do you need a coach to be a great tennis player?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I don't know. Roger Federer hasn't. He's won quite a few Grand Slams. Yeah, I don't know. A coach for me, it's someone I've got to get along with extremely well. It's totally different having a coach in tennis compared to a coach on the football side where they've got to come together and get 20 egos together to play good football at the same time. Tennis, it's more of a mateship as well. That's where I feel with Roger, we're great mates, with tennis or without tennis. And that goes a long way for me.

For me, Roger does a lot more areas than just the tennis coach, as well. Fitness‑wise, motivation, a lot of different stuff that he brings to the table that helps me out. On my terms, he's not just a pure tennis coach. He's got a lot of areas. I feel that, you know, he helps me out in that way.

Q. Speaking of players that have been at the top of the sport, then have not been there, I'm thinking of Andy Roddick, you've been in the same boat. Can surface sort of change a player's season, turn it around? Thinking of Roddick going into the grass court season. He's struggled the first half of the year.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, absolutely, he's going to be ‑‑ let's put Roger obviously aside for favorites of Wimbledon. Andy is going to be in that next category with probably only a few handful of players with true chances to win Wimbledon.

Yeah, I definitely think for Andy's kind of game, surfaces do play a huge difference. He's obviously a lot more dangerous on a grass court or on a fast hard court such as the US Open compared to, you know, the clay courts of Europe.

For some of the other guys that have probably not so dominant serves, it probably doesn't matter quite as much. For a guy like Roddick, I think grass is a huge benefit for him.

Q. Can you look at what he's been going through and sort of sympathize with it? First big dip in his career.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, uhm, I guess there's always going to come a time when you lose a couple of matches here and there. He's had a couple of niggling injuries. I know what that's like as well to play through. It's not easy. Especially when he's not playing on his favorite surface either. It sort of all comes together at the same time.

Yeah, in my mind he's still one of the best players to go to Queen's and Wimbledon the next few weeks, a guy to watch out for. Yeah, maybe he feels like he's got a point to prove, as well.

Q. A question about Australian tennis. You're the only guy to get through in your ranking. There's one in the women's. Is it a bit of a concern? The numbers of getting low. Is that a cyclical thing? How do you see it?

LLEYTON HEWITT: It's been a concern for a few years now. Nothing's going to change straightaway. You know, obviously Tennis Australia have got to try to work on things, put things in place for junior programs, which I believe is happening. You know, hopefully we start getting ‑‑ you got to start look at the 12, 13, 14‑year‑olds to start to come through now. Hopefully we got a few good ones coming through.

You know, it's not going to happen overnight. It's going to be a long process. Hopefully things are being put in place, though. We've definitely got the facilities, we've got the coaches in Australia. I'm sure we've got kids with a lot of talent, as well. Hopefully we can bring it all together.

Q. This surface particularly, more needs to be done clay court‑wise in Australia?

LLEYTON HEWITT: There's no doubt. We don't have any proper clay courts in Australia. Melbourne is close as we can get to clay, and it's really nothing like it. I think movement‑wise, it's easier to go from being a good clay court player in your junior days and adjust to hard court and grass than it is vice versa. I think clay is a great surface to learn all aspects of the game on, as well.

Q. How important is it for you to see Alicia Molik coming through to the next round? Does it give you additional boost to see her back in form?

LLEYTON HEWITT: It's great for her. Doesn't give me any more boost, I don't think, when I've got to worry about my own game. Alicia has been through a rough lot. Obviously, cracking into the top 10, playing great tennis at last year's Australian Open, getting struck down by an ear infection. Strange sort of setback, as well.

Alicia is a great girl. Hopefully she'll be able to get back right up there. Hopefully this is the start of things. You can't expect miracles straightaway. It could take her a little while to get back to where she was before she got ill.

Q. Nicolas Escude has announced he will retire. One of his best performances was to beat you in '91 during the Davis Cup in Melbourne. How do you remember this match? What did you know of the guy when you played him?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, he's a very talented Frenchman, obviously. There's a lot of talented Frenchmen around. On grass, he was probably one of the best. I'd lost to him a year or so I think before that. Actually, I think it was that year at Wimbledon as well in five sets. We had a couple of tough matches on grass in big occasions.

But, you know, he was definitely the hero of that tie in Melbourne. He played extremely well in both his single matches. He's obviously had a tough run with injuries, as well, over the last couple of years.