Rd 4 defeated Gasquet

An interview with: LLEYTON HEWITT
 

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Blow out some cobwebs.
LLEYTON HEWITT: Could say that. I don't know. Would have preferred to finish it in three and been done a couple hours ago.
But you just never know what's around the corner. Yeah, even though I won the first two sets, they were still tough sets. We traded service breaks quite a few times in both those sets. Through the third set, you know, he was starting to serve a lot better. He was getting through service games a lot cheaper out there. You know, at 5 4 down, I, you know, got up 40 Love. He played a great game to come back. He sort of slashed at a few shots, then that sort of you know, he got on a bit of a roll early in the fourth. Turned into another fight.

Q. Must have been pretty confident going into the fifth set. Got a pretty good five set record?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I've got a good five set record. That was obviously in the back of my mind. I haven't lost a five set match for a few years now. But you can't rely on that. Once you get out there, you got to focus on what you've got to do. It was important getting that first service game under my belt. You know, it was the first set tonight out of the five that I was actually serving first, so I wanted to try to get that early lead and try and, you know, hold it for the rest of the set.

Q. Is it a bit disconcerting when he calls for the trainer, looks like he's not in good shape, then suddenly he's like a rabbit out there, running everything down. You tried a couple dropshots, he was unbelievably quick.
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it's tough in that situation 'cause, you know, obviously in the back of your mind you're focus you know that something's not quite right a hundred percent out there with him. But, you know, then again, he was hanging in there and running down a lot of points. You know, my first matchpoint, I couldn't have made him run any more than I did, and he came up with an unbelievable passing shot.
So, you know, it's a lot easier said than done, but you've got to try and focus on going out there and executing and worrying about your game.

Q. Do you think, you know, you've had this incredible run here, quarters or better now, seven straight years. Is this in some ways the most sort of impressive one because of the fact that you're not a hundred percent?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Uhm, yeah. It's up there, I guess, yeah. You know, obviously winning in 2001, you know, and beating a guy like Sampras in the final, it's hard to beat that.
But this year, you know, not sort of having the runs on the board the couple of weeks leading in when I made a final a couple years ago I had a great run going coming into the tournament so I sort of knew where I stood and, you know, how well I was hitting the ball coming in. Whereas this year, it was a huge question mark, you know, not knowing if I would be able to even play the first match, let alone last the two weeks.
So I've put myself in another position here, and, you know, got to try and take it when they come.

Q. Obviously, Andy has changed his form around. Very, as you said earlier today, very poor first six months of the year for him. He's got Jimmy Connors in his camp. How much do you think that that's helped him, and also talk about the match.
LLEYTON HEWITT: Uhm, yeah, I don't know. You know, obviously, Jimmy will come with a few different ideas, I guess, than he's probably had in the past. Obviously listening to someone that he and everyone respects so much, as well.
Uhm, you know, I think Andy, you know, obviously he's won a few matches in a row now. You know, especially struggling, he struggled through the first couple matches in Cincinnati. Won 6 in the third and probably should have lost in the first round there.
It's more when you get those wins under your belt to try and keep rolling with it. Obviously, he's been able to do that. He had a tough match yesterday with Verdasco, a talented left hander, and, you know, I've got to step it up another notch. I definitely know what to expect.

Q. And in terms of your knee, I mean, there were a couple of times out there when it looked like you were stretching, you went to your right side and it might have jarred.
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, no, I felt it a little bit out there the whole time. It's sometimes worse than others, but when I see the other guy cramping up the other end, it's a matter of that gives you a bit of an extra boost, as well.

Q. Does your winning record over Roddick give you a little bit of added confidence?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Not really. You know, at this stage, we haven't played for a while. So it's more I think both of us are in the same boat in a lot of ways. We both know what to expect from one another's games. We've played enough times. We've played enough big matches, as well.
I think at the end of the day it's going to be who can execute well on Wednesday, and who does that best is gonna win.

Q. What about the crowd? Probably won't have too many friends in the stands.
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, well, I've played a few big name Americans here over the years. I know what to expect.

Q. Do you think he's doing anything differently under Connors?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it's hard to really know at this stage. I haven't seen, you know, enough of him here. I don't think there's a whole heap different, I can't see from some of the matches that I've seen, the last couple of tournaments that I've seen him play. But this week I haven't seen enough to really know.

Q. Just a matter of maybe confidence?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Oh, I think so. If you win a Masters Series week before a Grand Slam, you're gonna have a bit more spring in your step. He was able to, as I said, get through a tough match early on in that tournament. He obviously got better and better. He beat good players in the quarter, semi, and final there.

Q. Does a long five setter have any impact on your knee at all?
LLEYTON HEWITT: You know, I hope not. Hope not. We'll see what happens.

Q. How is it feeling?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it's not too bad.

Q. How does this change your routine now? Obviously, you probably won't get to sleep until 5 o'clock or something. What does it do to tomorrow and the way you'd normally have the in between day?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, well, you know, I'll obviously try and get as many hours of sleep as possible. You know, at this stage I'm probably banking on I assume we're probably going to play Wednesday night. That's my guess.
So at least being probably another night session probably got me on that same routine a little bit for the next couple of days. Obviously, tomorrow, see how the body's feeling. May have a light hit later in the day. But, you know, take it easy for most of the day and just chill out and do everything possible to feel as good as possible, I guess, you know, come Wednesday.

Q. Do you travel with your own physio?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Not here at the moment, no.

Q. You come in here to get some treatment tomorrow likely?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, yeah. I'll get some, whether it's here or at the hotel.

Q. Do you have a preference, I mean, you prefer the nights?
LLEYTON HEWITT: It doesn't worry me. You know, it's a great atmosphere, you know, at night, obviously, being the feature match. Doesn't really worry me.
You know, obviously, you know, when you get a big crowd in that arena, it's pretty electrifying.

Q. The crowd cheering the ball girl, was that distracting?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I didn't know what was going on the first couple times it happened.

Q. They finally dismissed her.
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, then they started booing the other bloke. He was pretty shattered.

Q. That fifth set, I mean, you really had no idea what he was going to throw at you next, did you? How do you sort of try to lock yourself into a match in those circumstances?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Oh, you know, as I said, you know, I was serving first in the fifth set so it was a matter of trying to keep my nose in front. You know, even though I was up the break, you know, late in the fifth set, he still started to have a couple of breakpoint opportunities. It was a matter of trying to hold on to that break as much as possible, and I was able to do that in the end.

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Rd 3 defeated Djokovic.
 

THE MODERATOR: First question.

Q. The wrap obviously was good for the knee. Had a great result out there.
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, sort of just staying the same at the moment, not getting any worse. It's hard to see it getting to a hundred percent at the moment. If I keep going, then hopefully it will.
Yeah, today was a lot better. I knew I had to step it up another notch. Never played against him before. You know, the first six or seven games, I was more trying to feel out what his strengths and weaknesses are a little bit out there.
You know, I felt like I executed what I wanted to do out there today pretty well.

Q. Seemed to break his spirit. He went away in the second.
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it was strange. Felt early on he was serving extremely well, I couldn't really get into his service games. Halfway through the first set, I started getting onto his serve, just ran down a lot of balls, made him go for shots that I don't think he really felt comfortable going for.
I snuck into the net when I needed to. I moved the ball around well. That was sort of the game plan out there. It paid off perfectly today.

Q. In order to keep going, now with the rain, it's going to be almost a daily thing to play, how do you physically think that's going to be?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, well, I'll have to wait and see. Obviously, I would have liked to got the match in yesterday just to keep on that routine of a day on, day off. Knowing that I'm going to have to play tomorrow now, it's a matter of trying to do everything in order to bounce back as well as possible.
This is exactly what I could have hoped for. Hour and a half match, to get through against a guy that can play that well, that gives me a lot of confidence going into a similar kind of match up against Gasquet.

Q. Djokovic, you take satisfaction from beating a good young player as him?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I don't think he was at his best today, for the results he's had. I think he made the quarters of the French and maybe Round of 16 at Wimbledon. He beat a lot of good players at Wimbledon, as well, to get to the Round of 16. I know he beat Robredo and Youzhny, probably should have beaten Ancic. I was very wary of the kind of player he is. Did my homework as well as possible without actually ever hitting against him to know what to expect out there.
It was still a little bit of suck it and see the first seven or six games. It was a good win for me. First up against a guy like that, as well. It's not an easy third round, I don't think.

Q. Were you in the locker room when Andre came in?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I haven't seen him, no. Saw a little bit of the start of the match on TV. Haven't seen anything since.

Q. How did you find out about the result? Did you hear anything from Ashe coming over?
LLEYTON HEWITT: No, I didn't know until I came back in the locker room. Yeah, obviously from what I saw before I went on, his movement wasn't nearly a hundred percent today. It was always going to be a tough order against anyone. I know the guy's a qualifier, but there's a reason he's in the third and now fourth round of a Grand Slam.

Q. You could give us a pretty accurate read maybe how gutsy he's been. Can you give us a player's view of what it's taken him to play?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I can't probably exactly. Only Andre really knows how he is feeling. From all reports, it wasn't too flash.
Yeah, that's been a little bit the case throughout the last year and a half, though. He's been always trying to get ready and ready. You just never know if he was ever going to be a hundred percent in any one of these matches.
It was a remarkable win what he did against Baghdatis, one of the better players going around the world at the moment. In the top 10 and deserves to be in the top 10.
It's probably a little bit of a shame that he didn't end up maybe losing a close match to Baghdatis in that atmosphere that was there that evening.

Q. How do you see your draw now with Agassi gone?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Oh, at the moment I'm worrying about Gasquet. I think he's two sets to love up or something. He made the final of Toronto Masters Series only a few weeks ago. He can play. We've never played against each other before. That's going to be a challenge in itself.

Q. Do you know much about him? He's another one of these young up and comers. You played one today. Do you know these blokes very well?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I know a bit more about Gasquet. I've hit with him quite a few times. I know a little bit more about his game, what to expect. Djokovic today I didn't know a whole heap about. It was more Roger doing as much homework as possible to at least give me an insight so I wasn't going to be absolutely shocked when I went out there.
Yeah, it's fortunate in five set matches you can sort of get a feeling for things within the first set at least. Ideally I think I'm going to know what to expect tomorrow against Richard, though.

Q. In terms of the knee, when you move, is it a case of restricting your movement or just when you maybe put weight on it or certain times where the pain shoots in?
LLEYTON HEWITT: There's certain times when I just get the pain and that feeling that I've had the last couple of weeks. Obviously that's always in the back of your mind when you're moving out there. It's a matter of trying to, as I said before, that mental battle of trying to push through that pain. If it gets to a stage where you can't compete, you can't compete. Sort of trying to lay everything on the line at the moment.

Q. Are you surprised, happily surprised? Thought you would get this far in terms of the injury?
LLEYTON HEWITT: It's more so playing with pain and trying to limit it as much as possible over the two weeks. When I had the injury, I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to walk on the court, let alone compete. I'm obviously happy with the way I can compete out there at the moment. It's been good that I've been able to get through my matches in straight sets as well and not put too much strain on it unnecessary strain anyway.

Q. Are you going to be playing Davis Cup next week?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Don't know, Mate.

Q. You feel as though you have your teeth in the tournament, second week?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, you can't win it in the first week. That's sort of been the challenge right from the start with the knee injury. That was trying to get through the first couple of matches and feel okay after it, I guess. I've done that so far. It's going to get tougher and tougher with every match. We all know that at Grand Slams.
So far so good. I've put myself in a position to have another crack in the second week of the US Open, which it's always nice.

Q. What is it about Flushing Meadows? Is it the court, speed of the balls?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I'm not sure. Obviously, the court, I love the courts here. I've always been a fan of 'em. I think they suit my game well. I've played a lot of matches on all three of the show courts over the years. I think they're all unique in their own way. They're all a good feeling out there. Like today felt, you know, very close to the crowd, good atmosphere out there, even though it wasn't totally full either.

Q. That's going to be an advantage for you against Gasquet, the fact you feel so comfortable on these courts?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Well, I don't know. He's obviously feeling pretty comfortable on hard courts at the moment, making the final of Toronto and pushing Federer in that match. Yeah, I feel as comfortable as anyone, I think, on this kind of court.
Yeah, it's still a matter that's not going to get me over the line. It's a matter of going out there and putting it all on the line again and hopefully executing the way I want to.

Q. Nalbandian says Australia has no chance in the tie.
LLEYTON HEWITT: He would know (smiling).

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Rd 2 defeated J Hernych An interview with: LLEYTON HEWITT


THE MODERATOR: First question, please.

Q. Obviously, great to be through to the third round. How is the knee?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Uhm, yeah, it was no different today than it was in the first round, which is a good sign. You know, 'cause I was, you know before I came into the tournament, I was a little bit worried more about the second round, if I got through the first round, how it was gonna pull up.
You can't emulate on the practice court what it is like on the match court. Today I was happy with how it felt. Couldn't complain, that's for sure.

Q. Is that the biggest positive to come out of that?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I think so. I think my ball striking was a lot better today than it was in the first round, as well. And even though the score line suggests that it was pretty one sided, we still had a lot of deuce games out there, and he's always I've had tough matches with him in the past.
As I said yesterday, I think he's underrated. And he's a difficult opponent 'cause always when he's behind he plays a lot better, I feel. You know, he seems to play a lot better on my service games than he does sometimes on his own.
So it was more trying to, you know when I got out of that first set, then I sort of opened up a bit and played better as the match went on.

Q. What was the story with all the foot faults?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I'm not sure. No idea.

Q. The umpire said he agreed with you?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I didn't hear what he said.

Q. He said, "I agree with you, Lleyton."
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I don't know. I couldn't hear what he said. He said something, but I was struggling to understand what he said with his accent anyway. It was something I was just trying to block out. You know, I was obviously doing something right, you know, even though I didn't serve well today.
You know, that's still a positive, that against a guy that likes stepping in on second serves, my second serves still held up pretty well.
So, you know, it was obviously disappointing with a few more foot faults than I would have liked. After the first couple, you sort of stand back a little further anyway. I was more wondering what was going on when I was that far back.

Q. Is that all you can do about it, stand back? Can you do something in between matches?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Not really.

Q. Just have to deal with it?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, pretty much.

Q. Is this the place you most get foot faulted?
LLEYTON HEWITT: No, last year in last year, yeah, in Sydney I got foot faulted a lot just in that one tournament. Ended up going to the referee at the tournament and, yeah, it's the way I pivot my foot sometimes, and it actually doesn't touch the line. But to the naked eye, you may actually 'cause the back of my foot, my heel sort of twists so much it doesn't touch the line but sometimes it's over the line. But the rules are if it is not actually touching the line then it's not a foot fault.
You can understand why sometimes they can, you know, see from the line that the actual shoe isn't touching the line.

Q. Going back to the match today, when you play a guy like that who plays in little spurts like he's a top 10 player then makes really elementary mistakes, is it hard to keep your focus?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it was more so, like I said before, that he plays so much better when he's behind. And, you know, that was the case at 5 2 in the first set, you know. When I was up a double break, he sort of opens his arms up and swings for a few more.
At 5 3 he had a good service game, probably one of his better service games for the match. You know, the next game, even though I didn't play great that game, he still, you know, came up with some good shots and put me under the pump.
That's why, you know, I was always wary, because every time I've played him it's been the same situation. You've always got to be very mentally tough against a guy like that. Even when you get in front, the job's not done.

Q. He just said to us that out of the four times he's played you, he thought this was your best performance. He thought you were more aggressive and hit the ball crisper. Does that give you some confidence in terms of hearing someone else say that?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Uhm, yeah, a little bit. You know, within myself, I know how I feel like I'm hitting the ball and what I feel like I have to do against the better players. Against him, yeah. It's hard to say, but the score line I had today, you know, looks great on paper. As I said, I think there were some a lot tougher games than the score line suggests.
When I played him in Las Vegas this year, earlier in the year, I thought I played pretty well for the two sets and it was a pretty straightforward win.
The French Open, I felt I actually played pretty well in the first round against him, even though I lost the second set against him. I didn't feel like that was my bad play, but I thought he stepped it up. It was probably one of the better times I've played against him.

Q. If you look at the two guys that you could face, obviously Djokovic is a real up and comer. A lot of people are saying good things about him. If you faced him, what are you dealing with?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I'm not sure. I've never hit with him. Never played against him.
So, you know, I've seen him play a little bit, and he's obviously very solid from the back of the court, but he can step it up, as well.
He's got a deceptive first serve, and he's had good wins against good players in big tournaments. He's sort of on the rise, especially in Grand Slams I think, more and more these days. So, you know, match like my first round to today, I've got to step it up another notch. I'm gonna play a guy that's in another category to Hernych, and I've got to be prepared for that.

Q. Mardy Fish?
LLEYTON HEWITT: He's a slightly different matchup. He's probably a versatile all around player, but will probably give you a few more cheap points than Djokovic I would have thought.
Fish is obviously getting somewhere near when he made the final of the Olympics and played some of his best tennis in Cincinnati that year. Yeah, so he's a dangerous player. We haven't played a lot of times either, but he's got a great backhand and he's gonna try and penetrate through the court and come to net, so...

Q. How long did you hit for today compared to what you would normally hit for?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Before the match?

Q. Yeah, I understand you were cramped for time.
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, we were a little bit rushed. I still hit 15, 20 minutes, I guess.

Q. What would you normally hit for?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Max, 30 minutes.

Q. Problem with time?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Not really, we had to end up going a totally different way that I'd never been before. I got to see a bit more of New York than I probably would have liked to this morning.

Q. Any phone calls to the organizer saying you're on your way?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Roger maybe did, you know. He was directing traffic for a bit of it, as well.

Q. Actually got out of the car and directed traffic?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, well, we were at a standstill for 40 minutes, I think. Yeah, he had to tell the police at the front that there's such a backup of cars that someone had to do something, not all wait to go through the tunnel.

Q. Been there many times.
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, that's probably one of his better ones.

Q. When you started, obviously you didn't know whether you were going to play. Now here you are, you'll be at the weekend. When you look back on where you were a week ago, you've got to feel pretty good about just being here and in this position.
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it is. As I said, it's all a positive. And coming into the tournament, I felt I knew I was gonna have to battle some pain, you know, through my matches, and especially in my first round.
I was more concerned about the second round, you know. I felt like when the draw came out that I was gonna have some pain in that first match, and I had to get through it. It was more an amount of how I was gonna have to recover after that. It didn't get any worse. Obviously I'm happy with that. I get a day off tomorrow to do all the right things and give myself every possible chance of playing well on Saturday.

Q. I mean, it doesn't seem like your movement is that restricted. How much is it restricting you?
LLEYTON HEWITT: It's a little bit. I'm not feeling a hundred percent out there at the moment.
Uhm, you know, it's more times when, you know, you get that pinch of pain out there knowing that you don't want to make it any worse, I think. It's a bit of a psychological battle, as well.
You know, I've had these sort of situations, though. Made the final of the Aussie Open, I had a hip problem. At the French Open, where I played well this year, I had obviously an ankle that wasn't a hundred percent going in.
So there's no doubt that in I've been pretty mentally tough with niggling injuries. You've got to try to put it behind you as much as possible when you're out on the court, though.

Q. As much mental as physical?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Sometimes, yeah. In some situations I think it is.

Q. On a separate note, Andre, obviously playing tonight. May be his last night. Is that something you might be watching? What are your emotions about that?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Uhm, I may have a little look. You know, I think it's obviously gonna be a great match, if it lives up to all its expectations and if Andre's body is after a tough match against Pavel in the first round, if it holds up, a guy like Baghdatis, you don't know what to expect. He could come out and play an awesome match or be off beat and give Andre a real chance.
It's probably a good situation for Andre. You know, I'm sure he probably would look forward to going out and playing, you know, in his last tournament a guy that's on the rise and one of the up and coming and future of the game. You know, so you definitely wouldn't write Andre off, that's for sure.

Q. You're obviously a lot younger than he is and had your first big win against him. Now you see these young kids coming up, 17, 18. Can you put yourself in their shoes and imagine another 11 years out here?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Not really. I don't think anyone can do that. You know, put themselves in Andre's shoes and what he's been through. Yeah, it's pretty amazing, it really is. To be at the top of the game for that many years and see so many players come and go, I guess. You know, it is pretty amazing.

Q. How does Ljubicic not being in your quarter of the draw work out for you?
LLEYTON HEWITT: At the moment, I'm not worried about that. I know the players say that every time. Djokovic or Fish, I'm gonna have my hands full with either one of those. Then Gasquet is after that, been in good form making the final of Toronto and pushing Federer.
So, you know, there's never really any easy matches. You get to fourth round in a Grand Slam, and you're always going to expect someone that's playing well; they don't get there by luck, so...

Q. Is there any specific medical thing that you do, or just rest tomorrow, treatment?
LLEYTON HEWITT: During a tournament I can't do much now, so it's more, you know, icing and steam and ultrasound and all these kind of stuff that's pretty much the basic standard kind of stuff that you do for most injuries now.

Q. Do you literally have to stay off it?
LLEYTON HEWITT: No, I can walk around. It's not going to make it any worse.

Q. Yesterday Nalbandian told us that he wants to play Davis Cup against the best Australian team, and you are the best player in Australia. What do you say?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I got no comment about Davis Cup, thanks.

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RD 1 An interview with: LLEYTON HEWITT Rd 1 defeated Montanes


THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. First of all, the knee, any problems? You feeling okay?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, not too bad. You know, there's times when I feel it. It's definitely not a hundred percent yet. It was important just to get through today's match and give myself the opportunity. Hopefully, you know, no more damage was done, hopefully. And, you know, see how it pulls up again tomorrow.

Q. You've had so many, you know, great memories, I'm sure, here. This has been a wonderful venue for you to perform in. Just talk about this whole atmosphere, what it does for you as a player?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it's great playing any Grand Slam. You look forward to it. It's always a buzz. I think every Grand Slam has a unique feeling about it leading into it, probably the couple days leading into it.
But for me in particular, you know, the US Open, that's where it started on a Grand Slam level for me, winning the doubles here in 2000, and then obviously the singles the next year.
You seem to always try and, you know, play your better tennis, I guess, you know, at those tournaments that you've played well and had good memories at in the past. It's no different for me. You know, I'm not sure why, but I love the atmosphere here. You know, especially you play big matches on Arthur Ashe Stadium. It's the biggest tennis stadium we ever get to play in front of. It's a pretty awesome thing to be out there, you know, only two guys out there in front of 25,000 people.

Q. You played well on hard courts early in the season. I know the past few weeks you've been hampered by the injury. Is there another good run in you, do you feel?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, at this stage I'm more trying to focus on getting through the first week and the next couple of matches. And then if you put yourself in a position in the second week, then, you know, I feel like I'll be getting better and better with my rhythm and timing and confidence. And, you know, hopefully that can put me in a good position to maybe have another run at it.

Q. When you started out yesterday, maybe a little bit tentative and probably the weather delay didn't help, but really sort of came once you got to 5 2, you really put the pedal down, and then obviously finished it off today. So good for the confidence?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it was good. For him to get 5 2 yesterday, I thought he was playing well. He didn't miss too many balls. His backhand was a lot better than I've seen it in the past. You know, it was a matter of trying to hang in there, 'cause at 2 All I had 15 40 and ended up having three breakpoints and wasn't able to take them. I knew I was gonna get my opportunities, but, you know, it was nice to get out of that set and at least be on an even keel going into today.

Q. Of all the matches you've played in your career, was there one or two matches where everything was working, where it was the best you ever felt on a court? Any of those matches come to mind?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Uhm, probably the semifinal and final here in 2001. You know, everything pretty much went to plan. Yeah, I did everything possible. Yeah, I did everything well those two days. And, you know, probably when I played Kuerten in Davis Cup down in Brazil I didn't do too much wrong down there either.

Q. Just for fun. Boxing match between Federer and Nadal, who do you think would win that?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I don't know. I've got no idea.

Q. Do you think they'd be in the same weight category?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Probably not. Probably not (laughing).

Q. Must have been heartened to see Mark put up a good performance. You probably didn't see a lot of his match, but he put up a good performance against Nadal today. He said he's looking forward to going to Buenos Aires and playing the Davis Cup there. It's obviously good to see him come back?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I didn't see any of his match so...
You know, obviously, it's a rough draw, you know, playing Nadal. I don't think Mark would have played him before, so it's the first time he's seen him. He's obviously pretty confident at the moment, Nadal, on any surface.
I think Mark obviously took a huge step winning Newport, you know. That was gonna give him a huge boost. You know, hopefully for him he can take it into the Australian summer. If he can play well, you know, in January, that sort of sets up the whole year for him; he's not defending any points.

Q. Nalbandian is doing his best to get you down and out. He's gone on record saying he wants to play you on his home court. Does that fire you up?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Not really, no.

Q. Water off a duck's back?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, yeah. Nalbandian always says something, so...

Q. Mark is also quite pumped to team up with you down in Buenos Aires. Does that influence your decision at all?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Oh, mate, right at the moment with everything going on with my body, I'm trying just to focus on getting ready for tomorrow's match. I'm not even gonna get in the debate right now.

Q. So you're still at that point where you're still
LLEYTON HEWITT: I'm not even gonna yeah.

Q. I'm not talking about Davis Cup, but about your body.
LLEYTON HEWITT: Oh, the knee's not a hundred percent, no.

Q. So it literally is day to day?
LLEYTON HEWITT: At the moment, yeah. Obviously, today was a good boost, but, you know, what happened in Toronto was, you know the following day it was useless, you know. After a tough match, that's what I'm more afraid of right at the moment.

Q. What will you do today, put it up, rest, ice?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I've already done some treatment, and I'll do some more treatment this afternoon. Yeah, the last two weeks have been all about doing everything possible just to get on the court yesterday. And, you know, so far I've been able to do that. Got to keep going along with it, though.

Q. When you slipped yesterday, did that aggravate it in any way?
LLEYTON HEWITT: No, but I did feel it. Yeah, it was amazing. It was hardly raining, but it was so slippery out there.

Q. Do you have any idea what caused it?
LLEYTON HEWITT: No, I'm not sure. I think it's wear and tear for the most part, but then the actual patella tendon had something wrong with that, as well, which is probably more so because I was playing with patella tendinitis. And the actual tendon's got a split in it. That was probably came about through playing that tough match against Chela, I'd say.

Q. Playing one set yesterday, two sets today, is that a good thing? Is it like kind of a couple of practice sessions? Or you prefer to get one out of the way?
LLEYTON HEWITT: It would have been nicer to get it all done yesterday, you know. Just to have that in your mind, you know, day off today, work on what you want to do, get your body right, and then know that on Thursday you're gonna have your second round match.
Yeah, similar to Wimbledon, though. It felt like over the first week at Wimbledon I was getting ready to play every day, and it's more psychological, I think. You got to be mentally tough and mentally prepared to play your match every day.
So, you know, I've had to do it enough times, so I don't think tomorrow should be a major problem with that.

Q. You got Berdych. You've played him five times, I believe.
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I think this is our fourth time this year. Yeah, he's an underrated player. He's very tough from the back of the court. He moves sideways extremely well on the baseline. You know, he's got a deceptive first serve. He likes, you know, hitting balls down the line on both sides.
So, uhm, yeah, if I can step it up another notch, that is gonna help me out tomorrow.

Q. What's the prognosis for this split or tear in your tendon in your knee healing itself or getting better especially while you're still playing?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Don't know. Not sure. Ideally, I wouldn't have been you know, if this was any other tournament, I wouldn't have even tried to play. So sort of tried to rush it a little bit to play the US Open, which is you only have four chances of playing Grand Slams a year, and I try and do everything possible to be as close to a hundred percent as possible.
But, you know, only taking two and a half weeks off, you know, probably normally, you'd want a bit more than that.

Q. So you think either way, whatever happens while you're here, you're gonna need some rest?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Don't know. I'm just touch wood, if it gets better and better each day, then, you know, there's no need for that hopefully. But until this tournament's done, I don't know how it's gonna pull up.

Q. So the doctors really just have no there's no answer? It's, Just go out and see how it is?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Well, the doctors have suggested rest is the best thing. They understand, though, the US Open is, uhm, coming up and, you know, they were more than happy for me. They said maybe if it flares up after this, I will need to take a long break to get it a hundred percent right.

Q. Is that the only issue now that they've pretty much guaranteed security?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I'm not going into the Davis Cup right now, yeah, thanks.

Q. In terms of your health, that's really what you're concerned about?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Absolutely.

Q. If they suggested to you an extended rest is necessary after this, you want (indiscernible)?
LLEYTON HEWITT: No.

Q. What about you yourself, what's your guess? You know your body pretty well.
LLEYTON HEWITT: I've got no idea, mate. I listen to the doctors.

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