LLEYTON HEWITT defeated by Chela.


March 15, 2004

Q. I saw you go 3-Love up, decided to watch something else, came back, saw you win the second set, saw your breakpoints in the first game. I couldn't understand the final score.
LLEYTON HEWITT: It was a bit like that, wasn't it (smiling)?
Yeah, there was a lot of momentum changes out there. I felt like I hit the ball well early on. You know, I came out very aggressive right from the start. Had a chance to go 4-Love up. You know, didn't feel like I played too bad a game. I felt like he didn't miss a lot of balls out there today.
It's extremely heavy with the balls out there, you know, to play a guy like that. You know, it's a big change from when you get new balls, and then probably a game or so, you know, even after you change balls because, you know, they're very heavy, it's hard to hit winners, especially against a guy like that. He's standing a couple of meters behind the baseline and running everything down.
Q. He was finding corners very well, wasn't he?
LLEYTON HEWITT: He played well. He didn't make too many mistakes. He definitely didn't make any easy mistakes anyway. He chased a lot of balls down. Yeah, even when I felt like I had him on a stretch a couple of times, he came up with good defensive shots, I guess the kind of shots you learn to play when you grow up on clay.

Q. Are you feeling a little bit shell-shocked by it?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Not really shell-shocked, I don't think. Yeah, I'd seen him play tough matches in the past. You know, he's beaten Roddick. He's had a couple of tough matches with Roddick since then, as well. Yeah, I've seen him play.
He's always had reasonable results on a hard court. And this kind of hard court I'd say suits him the best. With, you know, the balls fluffing up a lot out there, making it slower out there for him, as well.

Q. You're usually so quick about court. Today it didn't seem it was quite you sometimes. You didn't seem to be moving quite as rapidly or off the mark as you usually do. Any reason for that?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I felt a little bit heavy out there today, just running around. I don't know if it was my first match out in the heat for a while. You know, obviously I played a night match the other night. Haven't played outdoors for a while.
Whether that's got something to do with it. You know, it's hot conditions out there today. Yeah, I did feel, yeah, a little bit heavy out there, yeah.

Q. How much slower is the court from last year?
LLEYTON HEWITT: A fair bit slow. You know, I don't know if it's all the court, though. I think it's got a lot to do with the balls. The balls, they're getting worse and worse by the week.

Q. Physically there's nothing wrong?
LLEYTON HEWITT: No, no. I'm fine.

Q. If you don't feel shell-shocked, how are you feeling? What are you feeling?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I'm actually happy with how I hit the ball. I felt like I hit the ball well out there today. I felt like I timed the ball well, I just didn't take my chances when I had them. Obviously, if you're 3-Love up, you have a chance to go 4-Love up, you'd like to think you're going to get that set.
You know, if you're getting that, I had Love-40 in the first game of the third set, Love-30, Love-30, next two games. Even 5-1, I had Love-30, 15-40. Had a lot of chances, wasn't able to capitalize on it. Against these guys, you have to be able to capitalize on them.

Q. Kind of a crapshoot from week to week? You find out what it is when you get there?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, a little bit. Obviously, a little bit's got to do with the court as well, how much it's chopping the ball up. But I think the majority definitely has got to do with, you know, the ball and how it's made.

Q. How big of a disappointment is this for you, going out in the early round?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it's disappointing, you know. But, you know, I'd like to think there's lot bigger matches, you know, around the corner for me. As I said, you know, I felt like I was actually hitting the ball well. In practice, I've been hitting the ball well. In all my matches this year, I've played pretty good.
So, you know, it's disappointing to go out. But, you know, he had to play one of his best matches I think to beat me out there today.

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March 14, 2004 Rd 1 defeated Johansson
LLEYTON HEWITT

THE MODERATOR: Lleyton. He's won 13 consecutive matches here. He's 15-1 on the year. Open it up for questions.

Q. You didn't have such a great start here last year, but you've got to be pleased with today's performance.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it's different than last year in the fact that I was coming off winning Scottsdale the week before last year. You know, I didn't get a hit on center court before the tournament started here. You know, this year I've had pretty good practice, I guess. But in a lot of ways that can make the first round a little bit tougher. To go out there, you haven't played for a couple of weeks in match conditions.

You know, in this kind of setup, the higher seeds get byes here, Johansson played a match yesterday, and got through in the conditions we're going to be playing in. You can't take it lightly at all.

Q. Surprised how easy it went?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it didn't feel that easy out there. You look at the score line, and you think it's pretty convincing. But I think there were a lot of tough games out there, some pretty good rallies out there.

Yeah, Thomas is a tough player. Out of all the non-seeded players, he'd have to be one of the toughest, I think. For me to come through in that way, we had a tough match in Rotterdam a couple of weeks ago, as well, so that probably helped me in good stead a little bit. I played better I think today than I did in Rotterdam a couple weeks ago against him.

Q. What was working for you today?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Felt like I moved really well. I was pretty consistent. It was heavy conditions out there. I didn't make a lot of cheap errors. I felt like I hit my groundstrokes pretty well from side to side. I had him moving a lot. I mixed up the pace very well out there tonight.

Yeah, and my serve, I served well in patches, I think, apart from the last service game.

Q. Do you feel your game has totally come together? You're 15-1 this year, lost to Ferrero. [sic: Federer]

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I was playing pretty well this time last year, as well. You know, I came here, obviously won Scottsdale and Indian Wells here, then I got sick the night before I played in Miami, lost first round there. You know, won a Davis Cup tie, took a bit of a break I guess, there before the French Open, Wimbledon.

Yeah, I feel like I'm playing well at the moment, yeah. As I said, though, after you take a couple weeks off, you've won a title, you've got to try to get back into it. It's always going to take you a match or two to get back into it.

These kind of tournaments, you can't really get off to slow starts. Best-of-three sets against the best players in the world right from the word "go." These are tough tournaments to win.

Q. Talk about the reemergence of Safin, what it does to the mix of people in the tournament.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Safin fully fit is obviously one of the toughest guys out there. He's got an all-around game. He's got a lot of power out there. He can play on all surfaces. We've all seen him at his best. I think the Australian Open this year, he was pretty close to his best, I'd say, a couple of those matches towards the end of the tournament.

He's going to be tough, there's no doubt about it.

Q. As a guy for whom consistency and consistent approach is obviously a virtue of your game, do you have a hard time identifying with a player like Safin, whose motivation seems to come in and out, up and down? Do you say, "How can someone possibly not care all the time"?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Not really. Everyone's personality is different, I guess. That's what makes the game so interesting I guess in a lot of ways. Yeah, you're always going to have those kind of characters out there, I guess. You know, different personalities. You know, you look at McEnroe and Borg, totally different situations, playing styles, strengths and weaknesses, I guess.

Obviously, Marat, one of his biggest strengths is how hard he can hit the ball, his power, his all court game. Sometimes the mental side of it lets him down sometimes.

If you got the whole package, then you'd be winning week in and week out, I guess. It would be boring for everyone.

Q. What do you think was the turning point in tonight's match?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I was 2-1 down in the first set, saved a couple of breakpoints, and then ended up getting on a bit of a roll after that game. I was able to break a couple times and win the first set.

He started pretty well in the second set. I just had to hang in there. I felt like I was getting enough chances, enough 30-All games on his service games. I felt like it was just a matter of time before that opportunity would come. And against the best players in the world, you may only get one, two, three of those opportunities, you got to be able to take them straightaway.

Q. I know you need to adapt your game to everyone, but do you find a finesse player, like Federer, how do you compare the problems he presents to you with a big-hitter?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Well, you know, a lot depends I guess on the surface, the court style, how the conditions are a lot more, as well. Obviously, a grass court with Federer's kind of style of game, you'd have to say that suits him probably the best because he's a natural. He's got an all-court game. He's the best volleyer out there, in my opinion, at the moment. He has an all-court game which suits grass.

On other surfaces, though, there's obviously tougher players I think on clay, guys that have grown up on it. A lot of the Spanish and Argentinian guys are pretty tough on it. I think match-ups depend a lot on surfaces.

Q. Does a finesse player of that caliber on grass, is that more problematic than even like a big server, like Goran?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Well, he's not so much a finesse, I don't think. He's got a great serve, I think. He's got a huge forehand - as big a forehand that's out there, Federer. Sure, he's got great hands, you know, finesse as well. He's got a great package deal, I guess.

But he's got a very powerful game out there, as well.

Q. You haven't played Roddick since that 2001 match at The Open. Obviously his game has probably changed a little since then. Are you sort of looking forward to maybe seeing how you would measure up now against someone like Roddick, the challenge, because it's been a while since you've played?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, you know, I'll look forward to it if I've got to play him. I'm not too worried about him at the moment until -- I think he's in the other side of the draw this week.

Q. Just in general, though.

LLEYTON HEWITT: You know, there's a lot of tough players out there. There's no doubt I'm sure that I'm going have to play him whether it's this year or next year, I'm sure, and probably in a big tournament at some stage. And there's no doubt that his game's changed.

But, you know, I still feel like I'd match up well against him. You know, he's obviously got, you know, big strengths. You got to try and exploit any weaknesses that he does have, as well.

Q. Kim was quite disappointed she had to pull out. Are you disappointed there's no chance of a double repeat like last year?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it's disappointing anytime one of us has to pull out of a tournament, I think - especially the situation. She really obviously enjoys playing here and plays extremely well here. I don't think it's an easy decision to do because, you know, you can obviously aggravate the injury a lot more and be out for a serious period of time. I know there's a lot of players who have had a similar injury in the last few years, and they've been out for a while.


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