Transcript - Lleyton Hewitt (Australia)
8 January 2004
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Well first of all, I’ve just had a quick chat to Lleyton – you don’t know
whether the doubles is going to be played or not yet.
(Hewitt) No, I don’t. You know, I just had to worry about going out and playing
a singles match and, you know, I’m pretty happy to get through all my
round-robin matches without losing a match so far. Yeah, I’m happy with my
progress at the moment. Karol (Kucera) gave me an extremely tough match. I felt
like I was a little bit unlucky there, not to win in straight sets, but good
work, I guess, coming in before the Australian Open.
And it’s always been a goal to try and get through this week undefeated and he
really did test you tonight, didn’t he?
(Hewitt) Yeah, he’s a tough player. He got better and better as the match went
on and, you know, I had match point there in the second set. I had a lot of
chances. I had a couple of break points at three all to go up a break in the
second set as well and, you know, I just wasn’t able to capitalise on those. In
grand slams they’re the points you really want to take.
A few questions asked of your game; how did you think it responded today?
(Hewitt) I played pretty well. You know, I stayed aggressive the whole time –
even when the pressure was on and, you know, I felt like I really tried to take
it up a notch when I needed to.
It’s been a tough week for you; soul mate’s gone down – now a team mate’s gone
down – did you see Alicia (Molik) before you came out on court?
(Hewitt) Oh, very quickly. She was in getting treatment and I was trying to
stretch and warm up. I haven’t seen how bad it is or what’s the actual problem.
I think it’s got something to do with…she’s had a couple of bad foot injuries
and I think it was starting to…she was starting to get that same feeling that
she might have had three or four months before it really went bad. So, hopefully
it’s just precaution, it’s not too bad and, you know, for her as well coming in;
she’s been playing a lot of good tennis. You know, a week or so out before the
Australian Open – no-one wants to see that.
Last one…you’ve got two Davis Cup titles, what would a Hopman Cup title mean to
add to that collection?
(Hewitt) Yeah, it would be very nice. You know, I’ve obviously lost in the final
last year and we’re obviously through to the final on Saturday. Hopefully
Alicia’s okay and hopefully I can go out there and play a better match than I
did last year in the final.
Well done tonight – well played.
(Hewitt) Thanks.
Transcript - Lleyton Hewitt (Australia)
7 January 2004
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How is your ankle Lleyton?
(Hewitt) Yeah, it’s alright I think. Yeah, I think it was lucky I had the ankle
braces on.
Was there any sort of damage at all?
(Hewitt) Not really, I just, precaution, taped it afterwards and just felt a
little bit weaker afterwards when I was putting pressure on it so...Yeah, I was
going to just try and keep playing on it and then I thought, nah, I’m going to
get it strapped and obviously try to finish the match. I got through it and got
some treatment before the doubles and then got some treatment again now.
How’s Kim?
(Hewitt) I don’t know.
Are you disappointed you didn’t get to meet her in the doubles?
(Hewitt) Umm, yeah I guess in some ways. Obviously it was disappointing the way
it ended up, I think, more than anything. More disappointed that she’s injured.
At the moment we don’t know how bad it is and how it’s going to pull up I guess,
but I think that’s the most disappointing thing for me.
This game was the talk of the town; had you both spoken about the hype
surrounding it?
(Hewitt) Oh, not really. For us it was just another match.
Can you still concentrate on the match when something like that happens?
(Hewitt) Yeah, it was weird because, you know, obviously I went and saw her and
saw how it was and whatever straight after her match and then I had to try and
focus again on my match. Obviously knowing that we were probably going to get
through the tie anyway, you know, I’d seen and knew that she was going to get
scans and whatever done, and I knew that she’d probably be forfeiting the mixed
doubles obviously – so we were probably going to get through the tie. It’s an
awkward situation to go out there and play singles in that state of mind.
Lleyton, you mentioned courtside that it could well have been the summer; is
that the way it felt; did you really give it a good twist?
(Hewitt) Yeah, I gave it a good twist. The ankle brace actually pulled me up. I
could feel that I was about to go over and the ankle brace sort of threw me back
up, which is a good thing. You know, I’ve been wearing them since ’99 when I did
my ankle pretty bad in Los Angeles against Agassi. Yeah, I guess little things
like that can sometimes change your luck.
Was it a bit of a worry at first?
(Hewitt) It was. Especially after Kim (Clijsters) had done it and I’d seen
Alicia (Molik) in the match earlier go over on her ankle in that same corner.
First you sort of don’t know and you’re hesitant anyway to put pressure on it,
just depending on how bad it was. Then I tried to put a bit of pressure on it
and it just felt, not real bad, but just, you know, as though it just wasn’t a
hundred per cent right. Obviously, it just irritated it a bit and then I decided
that I had to see the physio and get it strapped up – just precaution.
What’s the process from here on until tomorrow night? Is it more ice; more
treatment?
(Hewitt) Yeah, just a little bit of treatment. Not too much more, I don’t think.
You know, I’ve done a couple of sessions already, you know – after my singles;
after my doubles. From now on it’s not too much more.
There have been a lot of ankle problems on this surface over the years; Lindsay
(Davenport) was talking about how you can stick on it the other day – is it a
problem?
(Hewitt) Obviously, I guess, growing up I saw Mark Woodforde at the Australian
Open do his real bad. Sabatini did it at the Australian Open, if I recall
rightly. I guess there’s been a…it’s pretty sticky when it gets hot now and
then, but still it’s a surface that I like to play on. Yeah, I rolled my ankle
bad on an American hardcourt as well, so…
You wouldn’t expect this indoors though, when it’s not so hot?
(Hewitt) Yeah, it’s a sticky surface I guess anyway. It probably gets extra when
you’re outdoors and the sun is on it the whole time.
Did you get pretty frustrated with a few of the line calls?
(Hewitt) Oh, there was a couple of average overrules…yeah.
Now that you guys are engaged, does this maybe mean that you’ll move to Belgium?
(Hewitt) Probably not.
Do you think you’ll stay in Adelaide then?
(Hewitt) Probably.
On an unrelated subject, Todd Reid had a good win in Adelaide…
(Hewitt) Yeah, I head that yeah…
He has talked about the influence you had on him…what do you think of his win?
(Hewitt) Yeah, he’s getting better and better over the whole year. Since I hit
with him a little bit at the end of Miami and then we went to Sweden and we were
training there. I got him out in the world team cup team to come play a bit of
doubles and train with us and I could tell just in those couple of months then
that he had really started to put a bit more heat on his balls. That he was
playing from the back of the court and he was starting to really serve a lot
bigger and take that extra step. Who are you laughing at? (referring to Roger
Rasheed) Then anyway, so you know, I could tell that he was doing well. He’s
been a great guy to have around the Davis Cup team and I think in a lot of ways
he’s sort of learnt from the way that I did as well – the orange boy coming out.
How do you rate yourself and Alicia; are you guys going to win the Hopman Cup?
(Hewitt) Umm, I don’t know. We’ve got a good chance I think. You know, we came
close last year; didn’t quite play as well as I could have, I guess, in the
final. You know, Alicia was up against a tough opponent. This year, I’d say at
the moment we’ve got a pretty good chance of making the final. You know, we’ve
just got to…if we get to Saturday anything can happen. But there’s still,
obviously, America and France – the two undefeated teams in the other side and
they’ve got some pretty good players. You know, it could come down to the mixed
doubles and, you know, it’s a little bit of a coin toss at that situation.
Sorry, one more about the engagement…why did you ask her now?
(Hewitt) Ahh, because I feel like it.
Because you’re both very young…
(Hewitt) Yeah, I guess.
Transcript - Alicia Molik and Lleyton Hewitt (Australia)
4 January 2004
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Alicia, you won that one pretty close.
(Molik) Yeah, I think I said earlier that a win’s a win and it’s just good to be
out on the court and feeling healthy for a change. I’ve had a pretty big lay off
and practically the last couple of weeks has been very, very limited. I was
ordered to have a few extra days off over Christmas just to make sure my foot
was right. But you know, a win’s a win and I put us one up and let Lleyton go
out there and seal it for us. It took the pressure off for us – I think he was
going to be fine anyway, really.
How did the foot feel; was there any soreness?
(Molik) No, there’s no problem now – it’s pretty much fine. I just haven’t got
the amount of sets and match practice in me that I would like, but that’s what
an event like this is for, I think – to get matches and to get a lot of sets.
Is it hard for you to come straight off Christmas, after eating all the
Christmas pudding?
(Molik) It’s not too harsh. I had a few easy days, but I’ve been getting into it
as early as I could. I haven’t been too great, but things are fine now and I’m
ready to go for the week.
Do you feel confident now, going up against Kim?
(Molik) You know, I’m glad I got the win under my belt today. It’s going to be a
bloody tough match though. I just have to go out there and enjoy it – let loose.
There’s not too many areas that I can pick at with Kim, she’s pretty damn solid.
I’ll just go out there in a couple of day’s time and really give it my best.
Has Lleyton given you any tips on how to handle it?
(Molik) Not yet, we haven’t spoken about it.
(Hewitt) I don’t know how to. She beats me.
Lleyton, can you talk about your preparation at the Davis Cup, on how you
prepared?
(Hewitt) My first job was caddying for Greg Norman, so that was…No, but I took a
couple of weeks off – two weeks off and then got straight back into training
pretty much where I left off just before the Davis Cup final. I’ve hardly taken
a day off since so I’ve been training really hard. It’s been really hot whether
in Adelaide, which has been good for me because even though this is indoors,
obviously I’m looking towards the Australian Open and you can get some really
hot days there, so hopefully I’m used to it as much as possible.
Lleyton, you talk about caddying for Greg Norman – what did you learn from him
as a person – obviously some golf tips, but what else?
(Hewitt) He’s got an amazing presence, a presence that I’ve never been around
anyone with a presence like that. It was a true honour to actually be walking
aside him. You see the game of golf in a totally different way, but not only the
game of golf, but little things I guess that walking down galleries you don’t
get to see. For me it was a chance of a lifetime and the bag didn’t ruin my
shoulder too much, so got out of it okay. You know, he was just a great guy.
Nervous at all?
(Hewitt) I was a little bit nervous the first day. After that it was easy going.
He made it a lot easier than it probably could have been.
Did you actually give him any tips?
(Hewitt) We were doing the yardages – I didn’t give him too many tips. You know,
you still stand on the driving range and look at all the other guys hit, and he
hits the ball better than anyone on the driving range.
How happy were you with how you hit the ball today, considering it’s been a
while?
(Hewitt) Yeah, I played well – very well. He looked to be struggling with his
movement a little bit. But then again, he was just coming out flashy the first
four games and there was very little I could do. I just wanted to get some
rhythm and try and get into the points. He served extremely well in those first
couple of service games. Then I felt like I got on his serve a little bit and
then was really able to work him around and open up a few weaknesses in his
game. It’s nice to come away with a pretty straight-forward win.
With your ranking dropping in the last year, do you feel you’ve got any ground
to make up this year?
(Hewitt) No, not really. A ranking is a ranking.
Any disappointments about last year?
(Hewitt) Well I guess winning the Davis Cup cleared all that out. Especially the
second half of the year, that’s what I set myself to do from probably….as soon
as the US Open finished. When I had that chance to play Federer and then got
through that match then I set myself just for the Davis Cup final. It was pretty
rewarding, the way the whole team pulled together for that win.
Does the lower ranking make you less prepared psychologically for the Australian
Open?
(Hewitt) Prepared? No, I don’t think so.
No mind games knowing you’re lower ranked?
(Hewitt) I know how good I can play if I play my game.
Physically and on the court, what have you been concentrating on in the past few
months?
(Hewitt) Physically on the court?
Physically, like in the gym, and on the court.
(Hewitt) You know, probably trying to be a little bit more aggressive, I think.
That’s probably the last five or six months, not just the last couple. But I was
trying to definitely do that, I think. You’ve got to keep doing it in practice
and sometimes it doesn’t all pay off. In a couple of my biggest matches in the
Davis Cup it did pay off – in both of those. I felt like I was pretty aggressive
out there today. Even though I hit a couple more unforced errors, I’m still
pushing and dictating points a lot more. Off the court, you know – trying to get
a little more strength I guess. My fitness has always been pretty good, but
trying to take that to another level.
Do you feel any fresher than the other years having played so little?
(Hewitt) Yeah, you know I had to have something done to my foot at some stage
anyway, and I think the timing couldn’t have worked out better. I got those
three weeks off that I couldn’t walk and put any pressure on my foot, and then I
was able to really just think about the Davis Cup final and training. I was able
to freshen up, stay in Adelaide and I haven’t been in one place for that long in
seven or eight years now. So it was just really refreshing I guess to come out
and have that start, and I’m looking forward to playing a lot of matches.
Who do you see as your biggest threat for this competition?
(Hewitt) For this? Well, in our group obviously today was probably the easiest
opponent in our group. Slovak Republic will be tough I think – Hantuchova and
Kucera – and also Belgium is probably the toughest in our group. Obviously with
Kim, and Xavier’s a very tough player. I think everyone knows that if he’s
switched on, then he can have a great day. Then again, he can have a couple of
horrors as well.
Now, it’s a big match up with you against Kim, are you nervous?
(Hewitt) Do I look nervous?
No.
(Hewitt) Well, there you go.
Lleyton, have you spoken to Pat Rafter at all lately and are you surprised that
he’s going to have a hit at the Aussie Open doubles?
(Hewitt) Yeah, I’ve spoken to him a couple of times. I played golf with him in
Queensland before with Norman. I knew about it a little while ago. I guess
you’re a little bit surprised. He’s obviously playing that exhibition against
Wilander, and then going up decided to play a few matches, doubles. It will be
interesting. You know, it’s good for tennis I think, in one way, but they’re
going to get a little bit more Pat Rafter and then he’s going to not play again.
It’s going to be, I guess, a little bit disappointing for the crowd to see him
once or twice again and then not get to see him again.
So it’s purely for that exhibition?
(Hewitt) I’m not sure - I don’t really know. I haven’t spoken about it, you
know, why he’s actually playing doubles. Whether it’s to have a bit of fun with
Josh Eagle, one of his best mates, I don’t know.
You wouldn’t expect to see him back on the singles court?
(Hewitt) No, no.
Alicia, who do you see as your biggest threat?
(Molik) I think Lleyton pretty much hit it. Yeah, definitely next match, Kim.
Like Lleyton said, Xavier has shown what he can do in the last couple of years.
I think both, by far; the Belgian team are one of the strongest here. You know,
closely followed by Daniela (Hantuchova) and Kucera.
Transcript - Lleyton
Hewitt
2 January 2004
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Lleyton, how does it feel to be officially spoken for. I suppose it must have
been an exciting few weeks, the last few weeks.
Yeah, it’s been good. Everything went well and I’m really enjoying it at the
moment.
And I suppose it was just very important that she said yes, but you never
doubted it.
Oh, I hope not. I hope there wasn’t too much of a problem. You know, everything
has been going well for the last four years and we’ve both been able to help
each other out a lot, both on and off the court.
How have you spent the last week?
Just training mate – the same as always.
So you don’t get to have fun just because you do something like that.
No, not at all mate. The Australian Open is coming up.
Lleyton, how good is it to have Kim, another elite athlete, as your partner –
especially during the lows?
Yeah, you know, it’s good I guess. We both know what each other is going
through. Obviously I got to the pinnacle of tennis, I guess, just before she
did, and now she’s up there and we both understand the pressures. And we don’t
talk about tennis that much, but if it does come up and we do have issues then
sure, we can sort it out or help each other I guess.
And your parents were thrilled about…
Yeah, Mum was happy – it was good.
You’ve both got fairly hectic schedules, any thoughts on when the wedding might
be? Can we expect it in the next 12 months?
Oh, don’t know mate. You won’t be the first to find out!
How do you go into Wednesday though Lleyton, when obviously that’s one that
people want to talk about, considering you’re up against your fiancé, how do you
approach that game?
I’m not up against her yet. I’ve got to beat Xavier.
In the mixed doubles though?
Well, we’ll wait and see if it’s live.
On the tennis front, what are your goals for this season?
You know, see what happens. I haven’t passed the round of 16 at the Aussie Open
before. Obviously the Hopman Cup and Sydney for me is working towards the Aussie
Open and getting as much match preparation as possible. Apart from the last two
Davis Cup ties which were obviously a couple of the biggest highs for me in my
career, I haven’t played that many matches. So for me it’s just good to get out
there on one of my favourite surfaces, the Rebound Ace, and try to get some good
hard matches under my belt. You know, I give myself a real good fighting outside
chance, I guess.
Is that one of the things you aim for, to reclaim the world number one? I know
you cut down on the amount of tournaments you played.
Oh, not really. I think if I put myself in a position early in the year then I
might have a crack at it. But, you know, it was awesome taking those last three
months off before the Davis Cup final. I know a lot of people questioned it, and
the people closest to me didn’t question it at all and they knew what was best
for me. And it won us the Davis Cup in a lot of ways, I guess, winning that
first match against Ferrero. I feel like I’ve got a lot of energy in the tank at
the moment and if the chance comes around to have another crack at number one,
then I’ll be happy to take that chance.
Having won the Davis Cup, do you think you might scale up your tournament
schedule this year?
I’ll wait and see how the summer goes and play it by ear.
Lleyton, you look like you’ve bulked up a bit in the off-season, or in your
three months off and I know Roger (Rasheed) was saying you’re the fittest you’ve
ever been, do you feel that way?
Oh, not really. Nah, I’m alright.
You’re wearing the muscle T Lleyton, come on!
Oh, it’s so hot here in Perth. Don’t you have air conditioning over here if I’m
gonna come over from the east? Nah, I’m a little bit stronger I think. I’ve been
doing a lot of work off court. You know, even leading up to the Davis Cup final
I was probably the fittest I’d ever been going into that match against Ferrero,
and in the end I think I wore him down. To wear a guy like that down, who’s
probably in the top two or three in the world of the fittest guys out there, and
to do that in those conditions on a very hot day in Melbourne – I was pretty
pleased with that and hopefully I’ve gotten stronger since then.
Since the start of your career you’ve just jumped up, up, up and up and last
year you had a bit of a climb backwards, have you learnt anything from last
year?
Not really.
Because everyone, obviously, is trying to beat the number one all the time.
Yeah, I still feel like some of the matches that I played were as good as I’ve
ever played. Coming back against Federer in those last three sets, was probably
the best tennis I’ve played in my life. Against Ferrero – exactly the same.
Against Enqvist in Sweden in the Davis Cup…it seems to always happen in the
Davis Cup, but I had some pretty good matches last year. Even at the US Open I
felt like, before I actually hurt my hip in that match against Ferrero, I was
playing as well as I’ve probably ever played. I think a lot of the other guys
have probably improved a little bit as well. There’s a lot of young guys out
there who are playing extremely well and who believe now that they’re capable of
taking that extra step and getting to the top of the game and winning Grand
Slams.
So the Australian Open obviously would be the most important thing that you have
yet to achieve, because you’ve achieved so much.
Yeah, pretty much. To win your own national tournament, I think. I’ve been going
to Melbourne Park ever since it opened and I get goosebumps just walking in the
place. I’ve never really played probably my best matches there. I know it was
only Davis Cup – it’s not the Australian Open, but I’ve now played two of my
greatest matches ever in there. So those memories are going to flash back as
soon as I get in there, and I’ll really go out there and try and attack it right
from the start. Grand Slams are weird though – you’ve just got to take it one
match at a time.
Just one more question about Wednesday’s match, you and Kim never have played
each other competitively, have you?
No, just practice.
So it will be a fun sort of day, I suppose.
Yeah, it will be fun if I win my singles. Obviously Kim is a red-hot favourite
against Alicia, so Alicia’s going to go out there and try her butt off like she
always does, but it’s going to be a tough one for her. And I’m going to go out
there and try and beat Xavier, and make it a live rubber for everyone.
Lleyton, you’ve got Jimmy on board for training this year…
Oh, no just helping me out more than anything.
Was that your coach’s idea?
No, well Roger (Rasheed) is still my trainer more than anything.
So will that help you, having him here?
Oh, it’s more travelling with a mate along the place and he was someone I grew
up with and played the Satellites and Challenger circuit together with and
someone I get along really well with. He knows a lot about tennis and he’s very
motivational as well. Hopefully he can add a little bit to my team.
How much do you know about your first opponent – it’s either Canada or Hungary.
Not a lot about the Canadian kid, Frank Dancevic. I’ve seen him play a little
bit in the Canadian Open – I think he got a wildcard and might have won a round
or lost close and he’s pretty talented from what I’ve heard. He’s only 19 or 20
years old I think. Savolt I’ve played once before on clay. He likes to attack a
lot and he had his best year, I think, last year. But if I go out there and play
as well as I can…it’s always going to be tough first match of the next year on a
new surface…but if I can go out there, I’m sure I can hopefully wrap it up.
Do you feel you’ve got a bit of unfinished business here after last year? You
haven’t quite gotten over the line here at the Hopman Cup.
Oh yeah, well last year I think Williams and Blake were definitely the best team
in the competition, there’s no doubt about that – they deserved to win it. The
year before I actually thought we were playing as well as anyone. I hadn’t lost
a match and Alicia was starting to play well – she actually beat Sanchez that
last match. I would have liked to say that I probably would have beaten Tommy
Robredo on that day and we probably would have won it after that. So it was a
little bit disappointing that year, but apart from that we just go out there and
have a bit of fun – and try to get over the line. Alicia, I think, surprised
everyone last year, how well she played, so hopefully she can back it up this
year.
Just one last one, I know you’ve touched on it, but do you genuinely feel that
this is the best way to prepare for the Australian Open, coming on this surface?
I think so. Nothing has really been quite right yet for me in my preparation.
Last year I felt like I played really well in Melbourne. I lost to El Aynaoui in
a very tough match and didn’t really have a lot that I didn’t do in that match –
he was too good. I played the Hopman Cup and had a week off last year. This year
I’m playing the Hopman Cup and Sydney, purely more because I probably took that
end of season off last year so I get a few more matches going into the
Australian Open. I feel like physically I can go through playing three
tournaments in a row and hopefully I’ll be fit enough.
Lleyton, how did you propose?
Oh, it was just on the Sydney Harbour – like you’ve probably read. That’s all
you’re finding out.
Thank you.