Q. How do you feel after a match like that? How disappointed, and what's it like playing that guy and all that stuff?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, well he got off to a great start. The ball was flying everywhere out there today, you know, bouncing extremely high. He served really well, served a lot better than he did in Hamburg against me. And yeah, he hit his forehand up the line extremely well, as well, accurate.

And early on, he was sort of in his own. It was hard for me to press or do anything against him. In the end, I just had to try to get some rhythm out of him, and try and make a bit of a match of it in the third set.

But up until then, yeah, he wasn't making too many unforced errors.

Q. The conditions on the court, the weather conditions were bad for you, I mean, I'm talking about the rain, the early morning, and the heavy balls and something like this?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it was maybe a little bit heavy, but the ball was bouncing a lot out there. Obviously, the way that he takes a cut off both sides, it was really getting up. Even his second serve out there, it was hard to do anything with. Whereas in Hamburg, it was sort of coming through at a more standard level, I guess, or height to return against him.

Yeah, he just hits the ball so much differently to anyone, really, out there.

Q. What would the differences be exactly?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Just his spin off his forehand. It's quite amazing. Gonzalez has got a big forehand, but Nadal's is different. Yeah, he can really work it over with that forehand. Whereas, Gonzalez is more brute power.

Q. Would you rather have his forehand or Roger's?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, well, it's hard to say. Obviously on all surfaces, you know, Roger's is pretty good. On grass especially, because it goes through a bit more. On clay, there's no doubt Nadal has the best forehand to set up points on this surface.

Q. Any procession towards the finals, we seem to be at a procession towards the final, did you see anything today that makes you think it won't be Nadal winning another title?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Not really. I think the conditions here suit him well, here in Paris, probably more so than the court in Hamburg where Roger beat him. It bounces around a lot more out there, which I think helps Nadal a lot more. Yeah, I think the ball was probably in Roger's zone a little bit more, that hitting zone, especially on the backhand side, in Hamburg. Which if Nadal uses it right here, I think he's going to be tough to beat.

Q. Considering that Nadal is the reigning champion here in Paris, was it a surprise to see the way the public kind of supported you and preferred you to him?

LLEYTON HEWITT: No, I think they just wanted the match in the end. I think everyone's a big fan of him out there, as well. I think they realize what an effort it is to be going for your third straight French Open.

Q. Had you won that tiebreak, which you were well-placed to do, could it have been any different at all?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Well, I was starting to get a bit more rhythm, that's for sure, you know, serving a lot better, which is giving me opportunities. To take advantage of some points on his service games, yeah, if you're serving well against him, and you're taking care of your service games, then you can go out there and have a lash at a couple on his serve, as well.

And sometimes he is a different player when it gets a little bit tighter, if he's 6-3, 6-1 up, he's all guns blazing and going for every shot. If you can get that tight situation, yeah, then it's a little bit different ballgame.

Q. Can you just take us through the emotion when you finally lost the match? You had looked pretty gutted. A lot of guys would have just sort of said, it was inevitable, it was coming that way. But you're fighting hard at the end, and when the point actually was won against you, it really seemed to knock you around. Just take us through the emotion of how you actually felt inside about it?

LLEYTON HEWITT: No, I was probably more disappointed because I felt like I worked so hard to stay in the third set. I could have easily lost it at 7-5 there, with him serving for the match at 6-5. You know, I did all the hard work and was starting to get in the match, and led twice, too many breaks at different stages in the tiebreak. He played some good points, had to get out of it. And then the last point, yeah, the glare, the sun sort of got in my eyes when I went for that first forehand. It was more disappointment at missing a short forehand, you know, rather than probably that gutted at losing the match at that point.

Q. You talk about the sun getting in your eyes. Were you talking about the ball just inside the court at 5-4 in the tiebreak?

LLEYTON HEWITT: No, 6-5, the last point.

Q. At 5-4 when you had a chance to --

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, that was -- I should have made it. I went for a little bit too much. But that's what he makes you do. You know, he makes -- he move so well on his side of the court on this surface, that, you know, you feel like you've got to hit perfect shots against him.

Q. You just spoke about how imposing Rafa's forehand is on clay, and also Federer's on grass. But obviously in your great career, you've faced many great strokes, Pete's serve on grass. What is the very most imposing shot on which surface?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I don't know. That's a tough question.

Q. Can you give us a little thought on that?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Not really, no.

Q. When you look at all of the titles you've won over your career, does it surprise you that you haven't won more on clay? You've done so well on grass, so well on the hard courts. Do you feel you should have won more on clay?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I feel like I'm getting better every year on clay. I keep saying it every year. But, you know, if you don't grow up on the surface, it's hard to click your fingers and automatically play great on it. You know, it feels like -- it's a real effort for me to go out there. I've got to grind a lot of hours and try to get some matches under my belt before I feel like I'm making inroads and improving on the surface.

There's been times over the last few month where I feel like I've been playing my best clay court tennis that I've ever played, even when I was No. 1. And that probably comes with, just over the years, learning a bit more about it, because we don't grow up on it, so...

Q. You're so good at running down balls and keeping rallies going and driving guys nuts because you got back winners and stuff, but he does that as well. Does that sort of seem funny to you that somebody does it almost as well or as well as you do it? And do you sort of get frustrated the same way guys get frustrated when they play against you?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Maybe, yeah. It's different because he's moving on clay so good, you know, the way he slides for every shot. Yeah, he's an exceptional mover and he does get a lot of balls back. He sort of makes you -- as I said before, he makes you go for that perfect shot every time.

Q. What do you think you'll take out of this stretch you've had on clay? You've been pleased with your form. What will you take out of this to grass court season now?

LLEYTON HEWITT: A lot, I think. Yeah, my ball-striking's been good. Obviously, playing on grass is totally different. You know, the return of serve, and serve is going to have a huge impact. But, you know, my ball-striking, and, yeah, I've served pretty well, as well. So hopefully I can continue that because it is such a big part on grass.

But, yeah, I look forward always to the month on grass. The body's feeling good at the moment, so, you know, hopefully I can have a good couple of weeks.

Q. At 4-3 in the tiebreak, you came up with a little something on the left foot, the left leg. Was that just a wince, sort of a jam or something like that?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I felt like I just stretched my right groin. Yeah, he just got me out of position, and I turned the wrong way, just felt something pull at that stage. But it feels fine.

Q. In your mind, what is a successful Wimbledon for you?

LLEYTON HEWITT: It's hard to say. I guess where I'll be seeded, as well, you don't know who you're going to come up against in different parts of the draw. But, you know, as we all know, if you can get to some parts of the draw which really open up on grass and at Wimbledon. Really, it's hard to say at the moment, I think, to put an actual round on it. I feel like there's a whole lot of guys that can win Wimbledon.

Obviously, Roger's going to be the favorite, and I put myself in that next category. So, yeah, I'm looking forward to it.

Q. Also about Wimbledon, they're introducing the Hawkeye system, with the challenge system there this year. What is your opinion on that?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I probably haven't been the biggest fan of it. I just feel like sometimes it just gets overused. End of sets, players sort of take advantage of the situation to get a bit more of a breather. So, yeah, sometimes I think, you know, if you've got a couple up your sleeve, people just use them at the end of the sets for the sake of it. There have been a couple of situations that I've seen that haven't been 100% right.

Yes, I'm not the biggest fan of it, but, yeah, it does bring the public and the fans into it, and stuff like that, so...

Q. Payback for a couple years ago here in the French Open, or are you satisfied with coming back here?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I wasn't really looking at it that way, but yeah. Obviously he was too good a few years ago when I lost to him here. Yeah, it's good to get a win against him.

Yeah, he's got to be one of the toughest second‑round players to play. Plus at the moment you just don't know really what you're going to get from him, as well. So at first he played fantastically. I didn't feel like I played that poorly out there. I just had to try and find a way to change things around early in the third set.

Q. Was the way you played the first two sets like the way he played the last time here?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, a bit more, a bit. He was hitting his backhand great. His forehand is maybe slightly his weaker wing, but he doesn't miss too many balls on it either. He kept great depth.

I felt like I had a lot of opportunities in the first set to get up a break, and I wasn't able to take them. He hit a lot of lines and big points, got a net cord. I felt like it was just a matter of trying to hang in there and take my chances when they come up.

Q. Not to be too critical of him, but he's a guy that can toss a few matches and he doesn't exactly have the Lleyton Hewitt grit. Would it sort of hurt to lose to a guy like that when you're a tremendous competitor, and he's a guy that every now and then doesn't seem to really care about a match?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, well, I don't know. It does make it harder playing a guy like that, because sometimes you just don't know what you're going to get. And mentally I had to be on my game the whole time. Yeah, he's going to have ups and downs and I knew that going into the match. And it was a matter of me not having those downs at any point.

I had to keep, you know, concentrating the whole time, whether it's breakpoint or 15‑Love in the game. You just don't know. He's such a great shot‑maker, you don't know what he's going to come up with. In the first two sets, he played great.

I felt like I got better as the match went on, though, which was good. Changed up things a little bit. And I felt once I, you know, got that fourth set under my belt, I felt pretty confident going into the fifth.

Q. I saw only the first set, and he kept you behind the baseline four five meters. Did you manage to come near the baseline when you took over?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Not really. Why'd you leave the match, huh (laughing)?

Q. Second question (laughing). What has made you do so good results now on clay these last weeks? What has changed? What's up?

LLEYTON HEWITT: In the past I've had some good results, I think, especially won some matches on clay. Hamburg, I played well there the whole week. I stepped it up. I knew I had to against the guys that I was up against. It was a pretty tough draw considering who I had to come up against, and the form that those guys had been in on clay.

Yeah, I took a lot out of that week, I think, obviously coming so close to Nadal. Yeah, hold me in good stead, but tough match in the second round here today. So, yeah, it's nice to get through this one.

Q. Is there any addition to your clay game now because of these results?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Not really. I think just getting used to playing on it. I hit a lot of balls on the one clay court we have back in Australia before I came over to Rome and Hamburg, and worked on some things. I just felt like I wasn't that far away from playing well. I just had to get some matches under my belt, try to get that rhythm going again.

You know, I felt like I played extremely well in Vegas earlier this year, then I got injured. It's just been that stop‑start feeling. If you can get a lot of matches and wins under your belt, then it's sort of second nature.

Q. In the first set there, one of the lineswomen got the call wrong and you replayed the point. It seemed to sort of irritate you enough, that's when you lost a little concentration and momentum. It looked like that sort of knocked you around a bit, and it took you a while to get back from that. Did that have a significant effect on you?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Not so much. Yeah, the net, we replayed the point and you've got a dead net cord. So it was a couple of little bit unlucky plays in a row could have given me breakpoint to go 5‑3 up and serve for the first set. Especially against a guy like, Gaston, who he's on edge the whole time out there. If that net cord went the wrong way and he hit a double fault, it could have been the end of the match, basically.

It was a little bit frustrating, I guess, to not get those breaks when I needed to, because I felt if I got off to a good start I could have really put a lot of pressure on him and maybe run away with the match. In the end, he got confident, and I had to beat him at his best out there.

Q. Clay is such a tough surface and you've had the injuries in the past. Right now you feeling pretty well on top of it?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I feel pretty strong out there. Physically I felt like I outlasted him out there today. I think I'll be better for the run as well. So, yeah, I'd like to think that all the hard work I've done off the court, this is when you need it to pay off. So hopefully it will.

Q. The decision in Australia to go to the (indiscernible) Cup, or whatever it's called, what are your thoughts on that?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I think it's a good decision from what I've heard. Yeah, the consistency of it, we can get a pace that's going to be consistent around Australia, you know, whether you're playing at a local club or playing Center Court at Rod Laver Arena. And that's been the biggest problem with Rebound Ace, whether I'm playing in Adelaide, Sydney or Melbourne, it plays differently. The weather conditions has always effected it so much.

Yeah, so hopefully ‑‑ the other thing is player development and trying to get juniors to come up. If they're hitting balls around their ears when they're 5‑, 6‑, 7‑year‑olds, it's not the easiest surface to play on. Hopefully it pays off, I guess, for Australian development in the years to come.

Q. Marat yesterday was talking about how difficult it is getting older, having those injuries, and how you carry on. Even as the competitor you are, have you had some tough times with that?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, absolutely. I think anyone that, you know, gets injured. I haven't had, touch wood, any absolutely seriously injuries. It's more niggles that can be sometimes more frustrating. You feel like you're getting on a roll, and it sets you back three or four weeks. So I guess that's been frustrating, and it's a matter of not getting down on yourself there. You can't do anything about it.

And that's sort of the way that I saw Miami. There wasn't a lot I could do about it. Get all the checks and get everything ready to go, and get back on your horse and start training again. That's where I felt like I was, you know, in the gym and on the practice court a lot of hours before coming over here to Europe. Yeah, it's nice that it's paying off a bit.

Q. How did working with Andre sort of reenergize you, and what did you guys do?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I actually don't know where that came from, because I didn't work with Andre. I did a bit of training with his trainer.

Q. Gil?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah.

Q. How'd that go?

LLEYTON HEWITT: It was good. Very good. He's a very switched on guy. There's a lot of different training that he had me do which is a lot different than anything I've done in the past. I really enjoyed it.

Q. How many days were you with him?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I just did some weeks here and there when I was around the States.

Q. You played a great match. But regardless of that, how much do you think did Gaston help you with his body language first. And second, if you notice the difference in his game in the first two sets and the other three?

LLEYTON HEWITT: His body language is always the same. You know, he doesn't do fist pumps and yell out, "Come on." He doesn't show a lot of emotion; that's him. When I lost to him at the French Open a couple of years ago and he went on to win the tournament, he sort of took it all in his stride. That's him. He's very relaxed and laid back character, I think.

As the match went on, I felt like my level lifted a little bit, which put pressure on him. I felt like he was doing a lot of running out there and stretching.

And in the fifth set, there's no doubt that he wasn't quite getting to the balls that he was earlier in the match.

Q. Is it fair to say that you're enjoying your tennis, perhaps enjoying your life a bit more now at the moment than you have done for a while?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Not really, no. I guess there's times when you're frustrated, yeah. Indian Wells, Miami was frustrating this year. Leading into the Australian Open is frustrating. A small calf tear there. There's frustrating times.

I enjoy putting in the hard work, and hopefully seeing it pay off. I really enjoy that. So I actually enjoyed when I was at home doing all the hard work, knowing that hopefully it's going to pay off in the next, whether it's two months or whether it's six months. I think it's starting to pay off now. I still think I can get better.

Q. Your next opponent will be Jarkko Nieminen, and he played a very strong match today in three sets. What can you say about him ahead of that match?

LLEYTON HEWITT: He's a good player. Played him a few times, and had the wood on him so far. We've had some tough matches. Obviously a left‑hander. Good off both sides. He's got a good left‑handed serve, not afraid to come in. Moves well. And yeah, it's a different kind of match‑up, though, than playing a guy like Gaudio today, who is a typical clay court player. Nieminen's played well on hard court, grass, yeah, everything. It's going to be a tough match.

Q. It's not the first time you've come back from two sets down, even in a Grand Slam. When you've lost the first two sets and you're sitting there in the break, what is going through your mind? What are you thinking about? How are you going to get back into it?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Basically that, how I'm trying to work out small ways that I might be able to get back into it. Trying to get off to a good start in the third set, and not focusing on that you've got to win, go five sets to win now. I think that's one of the biggest keys is, you know, just focusing on what's just ahead of you.

You know, throughout that whole third set, I was just trying to get that third set under my belt. I wasn't even thinking about the fourth or the fifth. It was the same in the fourth set, just thinking about that set. Got off to a good start, and I was able to hold serve throughout that set, which was good.

Q. If you had grown up in Spain, do you think you'd be a French Open champion now and not a Wimbledon champion?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Maybe. I don't know. That's a tough question. But, I'll still keep Wimbledon.

Q. Do you find now that you're ‑‑ 26 or whatever, getting a bit older, happened to Andre, happens to a lot of players, do you feel people are more familiar with you and you get a few more fans? As you get older and people sort of feel more comfortable with you and they always cheer for some of the players who are more established and they're more familiar with? Do you feel that at all from the fans?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, maybe sometimes. I felt like I had a quite a lot of support out there today, especially considering I was playing a guy that's won the title here a few years ago. So I actually felt like I had the crowd on my side. And I think they liked that I was putting in and giving 100%. I wasn't going to lie down out there, as well.

I think the French crowds enjoy a tight match out there. I certainly gave them that.

Q. We're seeing traditional producers of champions, countries like Australia and the USA, struggling to produce players to compete at tournaments like this. Britain obviously is still struggling to present anybody. Do you think it's hard for people growing up in those kind of countries to compete with the hunger of the people from more emerging nations these days?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, in some ways, yeah. Obviously the States still ‑‑ yeah, they haven't had a great tournament here, but at all the three other majors, they're a dominant force with Roddick, and Blake, and Fish, and these guys up there.

In terms of Australia, there is no doubt we're limited at the moment, I believe. And I know a lot of the guys, Fitzy and these guys, we need clay courts. It's a must, I think, to grow up on. I think you can learn a lot more.

And it's a lot easier nowadays to switch from being a good clay court player to switch to hard court and grass than it is vice versa. I think you can learn a lot from growing up on clay ‑ the art of how you play on it, the sliding, the drop shots, the angles. There's a lot of different things. You can't just go out there and blast your way with a big serve.

Yeah, I think Australia has got to ‑‑ we are trying to do that. Which is a good thing.

Q. It is obvious that you are coming back and reaching a level you should be because of your talent. How far do you think you are to be closer to Federer and Nadal?

LLEYTON HEWITT: It's a tough question. They've obviously been the two dominant players over the last two and a half, three years now. Roger, especially on every surface, and Nadal's doing better and better on grass. Made the Wimbledon final, and he hasn't played there too many times.

So yeah, it's hard to say how far away you are from actually reaching them, but obviously pushing Nadal. Yeah, Roger's been a standout the whole time. I still feel like there are errors in my game that I can work on to improve, and I'm going to keep trying.