Rd 2

L. Hewitt - 28 June
Thursday, 28 June, 2007

 

Lleyton Hewitt defeats Simone Bolelli 6-2, 6-2, 6-1

Q. Was that a step up for you today?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it was good. From what I saw in his first round match, he was quite flashy out there. Yeah, you can easily play into his hands no matter what surface it's on. I had to get a lot of balls back, especially off his first serve, make him play, make him feel uncomfortable out there. I felt like I was able to do that right from the start today. It was a totally different match to what I had to play on Tuesday, getting a target the whole time. I felt like my movement, you know, I got a lot out of today's match.

Q. Is it good to maybe conserve a bit of energy at this stage of the tournament, get an easy one under your belt like that?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, you'll always take those. They're always good to have. You know, a lot different to my second round last year against Hyung Taik Lee where we had to come back and finish off the fifth set, tight fifth set. It's always good to get through these matches. He's a dangerous opponent if I played into his hands. I felt like I didn't do that today. I played a smart match. I served extremely well. I felt like I moved the ball around well right from the start.

Q. I suppose you don't quite know when you will be playing. As it turned out, you haven't been affected by it. Is it important to get your rest days?

LLEYTON HEWITT: No, it's been good. You look at someone like Henman, he said he feels like he's been playing every day when I spoke to him this morning. It's important over two weeks to have those little things fall your way sometimes as well, which is a good thing. To have that bit of routine as well, have a day off tomorrow, do a bit of hitting, work on small areas you want to work on, keep that rhythm going, but not sort of stressing out whether you're going to get your match in or finishing off all the time.

Q. Do you feel at this stage that your game is as sharp as it has been coming into a Wimbledon?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Uhm, today was a big step up. I felt confident out there today. I felt like every part of my game was working well today. In the first round, whether it's nerves, whether it's playing the first round of a Slam, it's one of those you sort of just sort of want to get through. And it's against that guy, I really I didn't know a lot about in the first round. And he was an awkward player. He played totally different to most guys.

You know, today, whether that was the main reason, I was playing someone from the back of the court where I felt like I could take control of the points. He wasn't a massive server out there, but he served 73% I think in his first match over four sets. I felt like I got on his serve and made him go for a little bit more and a little bit more, and that made me more confident.

Q. Of all the things that pleased you, was the second serve one of them?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, my serving in general both. First serve, I felt like I had great rhythm out there today. I was probably going after it a little bit too much on Tuesday. Today I felt like the ball toss, everything, it was just really good rhythm out there. I wasn't overhitting at all. Second serve, you know, I felt like I was putting it in difficult areas for him to attack off or do what he wanted to. He wanted to have some cuts on second serves. Even on a grass court I felt like I was getting a little bit of kick on my second serve, which was good.

Q. Four aces in a game.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, you don't get that too often, especially on grass. It's not common. It was nice.

Q. The match is not finished yet, but Cañas or Mirnyi, what you'd have to do against them?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Well, it's a totally different match up against either one of them. Mirnyi, you know he's going to come at you the whole time. He's going to come in on some good shots and he's going to come in on some junk, as well. A lot depends on how he serves. At the French Open, it's a totally different surface, his worst surface, on clay. I played him in the first round. I got all over his second serve very early on in the match. That made him try to mix up things a lot more. On grass, he's a lot tougher opponent. He's had good wins and good success here at Wimbledon. Cañas, he's a great competitor. He's going to stay back most of the time. He's got a big forehand. He moves extremely well. Yeah, he's got that never say die attitude as well. It's a little bit more like today's match against Cañas. He's obviously going to be a step up in class from the bloke I played today.

Q. If it is Mirnyi, how big a difference does it make when you play from the back court trying to pass him, just his wingspan? How different is it from playing a normal sized player?

LLEYTON HEWITT: He's got great reach. He's got great feel around the net, as well. He knows where to move, whether that's playing a lot of doubles, having a lot of success at doubles as well. He knows how to move on a grass court. He's going to come in always on some great approaches. But he does come in on a lot of junk, as well. You've got to take your time and pick the right shot, sort of go for it.

Q. What does that mean, comes in on junk?

LLEYTON HEWITT: A lot of times he'll just come in on a mid ball hoping that you're going to sort of a chip and charge but not on the right ball all the time. Because he's got such a wide wingspan out there, he's sort of hoping he'll put you off by coming in, sort of being at your face on the net. He did that at the French Open. He's done it the last few times I played him at Queen's. It's important just to pick your shot, stick true to it.

Rd 1 L. Hewitt - 26 June
Tuesday, 26 June, 2007

 

Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) [16] beat Richard Bloomfield (GBR) 7-5, 6-3, 7-5

Q. Was that tougher than you thought it would be?

LLEYTON HEWITT: You never expect easy matches in Grand Slams. I didn't know a lot about the guy going into it. It takes you a few games to work out things. You know I heard a few things how he plays.

But, you know, this is his big opportunity every year to play at Wimbledon. Grass courts definitely suit his game. You know, it was difficult to get into the match. He volleyed extremely well. But happy to get away in straight sets.

Q. The way the match was played, rallying from the back court, but also a target at the net, does that give you a bit of everything in terms of getting all the kinks out of the system, finding your own grass court game?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, a little bit. He's probably a lot different to play to 90% of the guys you play nowadays, even on a grass court. Most guys stay back. So it was pretty hard to get rhythm out there against him.

From the back of the court, I felt like nine times out of ten I was going to the longer the rally went from the back of the court, it was definitely in my favor.

But he was flashy as well. Came out with a couple of big forehands up the line when he broke me back in the first set. That's what you can do, I guess, when you don't have a lot of pressure on you.

Q. There was a lot of talk before the tournament that you had a pretty good draw here. Do you look ahead at that, or is that too dangerous to do that?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, never really look ahead too far. At this stage, just trying to get through the first week. That's sort of the main thing at the moment.

Obviously, if you get to the second week, everyone's playing pretty well. If I can get through my first three matches, give myself a chance, you never know what opens up.

Q. How would you characterise where your grass game is right now?

LLEYTON HEWITT: It's hard to say. I lost a tight match at Queen's and actually didn't play that badly. Served pretty well. The guy played a great couple of tie-breaks to beat me there.

It's sort of hard to rate. It was a good one just to get through today. I definitely feel like I'm going to get more and more comfortable the longer the tournament goes.

Q. From a British perspective, what would be your advice maybe to somebody like Richard who has a very low ranking? What did you see today that was good?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Obviously he's got to work extremely hard. He's got a nice basic game. His game suits grass court, though cross court tennis. It's like Jonathan Marray, I played a couple years ago at Queen's. He's very similar. Not quite as strong from the back of the court, but he had great hands at the net and knew where to move as well on a grass court, which was important.

We only play on grass three or four weeks of the year. It's not that easy to get your ranking up, especially when you got to play on clay and slow hard courts.

Q. It's easy to see like some guys, like Federer, why grass courts suits his game. You've had good really results here. It's not as apparent why it suits you. What do you think it is about the grass court that tends to bring out good tennis in yourself?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I don't know. I guess when I started playing well on grass, I started focusing more on my game and not necessarily the serve volleying. I was trying to play to my strengths probably a little bit more. If I take care of my service games, I'm a good enough opportunities to get opportunities against guys.

If I can break down their strength on this surface that really opens the door for me. When I played well on grass the year I won here, when I won Queen's, I serve well, take care of my service games, but pounce on their second serves.

You got to still take your chances on this surface. In the past, I've been probably able to do that.

Q. There's so little grass court tennis. But there's so few guys that are grass court specialists. Is part of the key adjusting quickly? Is it a matter of who can make do in terms of adjusting their games?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, a little bit. The way everyone plays on grass has changed a lot as well since I first started playing here at Wimbledon. There are so many more serve and volleyers and guys coming in now pretty much since I won here, 2002.

Everyone's staying back now. Very few players are serve-volleying at all. Even Roger. He mixes it up a little bit, but he plays 90% from the back of the court. He has some of the best volleys in the game.

That sort of says where the game's at right at the moment, no matter what surface you're playing on.

Q. You have sort of a lower profile here than when you were No. 1, defending champion. Is there any sense you are able to sneak through a bit less noticed than before?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I guess. It doesn't really bother me too much one way or the other. Obviously when you're No. 1, defending champ, or playing at the Australian Open, there's going to be a lot more spotlight on you. You sort of take it with a grain of salt a little bit.

You just need to get out there and get the job done and focus on the guy at the other end of the net.

Q. What do you know about Bolleli, if he gets through?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Not a lot. From what I've heard, a very pretty talented player, pretty good hands, not a bad first serve. I'll try and find out a little bit more.

Q. Wayne Arthurs came back from two sets down against a bloke half his age. We'll see the end of Wayne at some stage over the next couple weeks. How should we remember Wayne Arthurs as a tennis player, his career?

LLEYTON HEWITT: For me the number one thing when I think of Wayne is he's always put his hand up for Davis Cup and playing for Australia at any call. Whenever we needed him, whether it was singles, doubles, yeah, the Davis Cup final everyone remembers when he had to go out last minute and play the fifth match, deciding rubber in a final.

That's why he has so much support out there with the Australians, the last couple games I saw. It's great for him to be able to come through quallies at his age, the way his body is, how sore it would have been, and then come back again today from two sets to love down. It's very fitting, I think.