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Lleyton's Press Conference

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#1 · (Edited)
DAVIS CUP - USA vs AUSTRALIA 1-4
16 Jul - 18 Jul 1999


July 13, 1999

Lleyton Hewitt

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS

Q. Lleyton, are you nervous about this? This is your first Davis Cup.

LLEYTON HEWITT: At the moment, it's a bit of daydream, I suppose, for me to be lining up against the States for the Centennial Match, and it's a big opportunity for me playing alongside Pat and Sandon and Woody and having Newk on the side of the court and working with Rochey the whole time. I'm looking forward to it at the moment. The nerves aren't setting in yet.

Q. Do you think you'll get more nervous as we get closer to the weekend?

LLEYTON HEWITT: For sure. Coming out Friday and playing, I'm going to be nervous for sure. It doesn't matter who I'm going to be playing against. It's my first Davis Cup match. I'm going to be nervous, I think, going out there.

PATRICK RAFTER: You can't keep saying that.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Anyway, once I get into the match, I think I'll be all right.

Q. Maybe your grammar will improve, too. (Laughing)

LLEYTON HEWITT: Maybe. You never know. I'll keep having Pat help me over here.

Q. Pat, does this tie feel different, special, because it's the Centennial Tie?

PATRICK RAFTER: Not really. Obviously, we're all feeling a bit of pressure, and we're concentrating more on the job that we have to do. I know I am, and I'm pretty sure Lleyton is and the boys are. We're just trying to focus on our matches, and the Centennial is just something that is obviously big. Maybe we can reflect on that after the tie's finished.

Q. Do you feel more pressure with the changes in the Australian line-up?

PATRICK RAFTER: No, not really at all. I'm very happy playing alongside Lleyton. He's had great performances and he has kicked my butt plenty of times this year. Obviously, without Flip and Todd here, it might make the team look a little bit disorganized, but I think we have enough good players to compensate for that. So we're all very happy with the team we have got.

Q. Are you disappointed that you possibly will not be facing Sampras in a singles?

PATRICK RAFTER: It's not really a disappointment. You know the team, he will be on the team. I think we are thinking that he still might play. But, first of all, I've got Jim in the first match and I'm concentrating all my attention on that. And I guess we'll check on Thursday to see who plays, if he does play. I think Thursday we'll know.

Q. So you don't necessarily believe that he's just going to play doubles?

PATRICK RAFTER: No, not at all.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Do you? (Laughing.)

Q. Would you expect him to play singles?

PATRICK RAFTER: I think you could say that. I don't think he's come all this way to sit on the sideline and watch.

Q. Lleyton, when you were 16 and playing matches, you said that at that time you weren't nervous; you were just excited to be there. At what point did you start getting nervous in matches?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Probably it started when I had to go back into Adelaide. Up to then, I really had nothing to lose and everything to gain. And sort of I started getting a little bit nervous, sort of defending that title, and I had higher expectations on me going into Adelaide. But I think I'm handling it pretty well. (Laughter.) Can you shut up? (Laughter.) I think I'm handling it pretty well at the moment, apart from the media side. (Laughter.)

Q. Pat, I'm just wondering how you feel coming off of Wimbledon. You had a real great Wimbledon. Mark was playing really well. It was a disappointing loss. Where is your mindset now?

PATRICK RAFTER: I didn't look at the match as a real disappointment. I thought Andre played a very good match. So... I had a few days off. I was just really happy to finally crack through at Wimbledon. I'd been on a break there for a few years, now I feel like I can be a real part of that tournament now and in the future as well. I've come off that tournament with a lot of confidence. I had a few days off. I got here, trained with the boys, I'm back on a familiar surface, I like this hard court. It feels good to be on this hard court.

Q. Do you have any preference about you playing doubles?

PATRICK RAFTER: No. Not really. I'm very confident in them doing the job, and then I'm also ready to play if Newk and Rochey want to change things up or whatever. I feel fit enough to do that.

Q. (Inaudible)... What was going through your mind at the time when you went from the 700s to where you are?

LLEYTON HEWITT: No. I was 700 in the world. Just luckily, I was playing a Perth challenger one week. Next thing I knew, I was playing Agassi in the Semifinal. And, really, I suppose it all happened too quick for me to realize that I've jumped 600 spots. But I suppose the biggest part is being the second year, I haven't really fallen down yet. I had a great start for the year and hopefully it continues in the second half of the year.

Q. Lleyton, you went back to Adelaide after Wimbledon. What was your reaction? What was your feeling when you heard you had to get back here quick and you were going to be playing Davis Cup?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I suppose it's a dream for me to play Davis Cup. Once I have that opportunity, I'm going to take it with both hands now. And I only spent three days at home, I came back and played, started training with Rochey here this morning. And, you know, I think it's a big step for me. It's a big step for me. I'm just glad sort of Newk and Rochey put me in the right stead. They've made me work over the years, being the orange boy and that. I know what I have to do to get into the Davis Cup. I feel a part of it now as well.

Q. We might have seen a little bit right there. Is there any kind of hazing that goes on when an 18-year-old kid comes on and is playing his first Davis Cup match? Does he have to carry everyone's bags or anything like that?

ANDREW ILIE: We have to carry the bags out of the car at the hotels.

JOHN NEWCOMBE: Does Lleyton have to?

Q. Yeah.

JOHN NEWCOMBE: He's been part of the Davis Cup Sports since he's been 15. We've had him at nearly every match since then. So he's really been blooded for this occasion, whenever it came. And I think he thought and we thought it would be maybe some time next year, so it's come a little bit early. But he's been totally prepared, and he's seen a lot and observed a lot and he's a great observer, as people who become champions are. So I think to go back to your question, he's going to be nervous, but it will be a good type of nervous. It will be match nervous and settle down after a couple of games. But he'll probably have to play Pete first up, which is a pretty big thing when you're coming in here for the Davis Cup match.

Q. Do you think Pete will play singles?

JOHN NEWCOMBE: I would be very surprised if he didn't.

Q. He's got until Thursday, doesn't he, to really make that announcement -- for them to make that announcement?

JOHN NEWCOMBE: From what the boys are saying, it's a team decision. So if you're on a team and you want to win the match -- I think Jim said it in the paper this morning -- the objective is to beat the Australians and win three matches before they do. Why would you have Pete sitting on the bench? I'm not trying to force him to play, I hope he stays on the bench for three days. (Laughter.)

Q. Could I ask a question of Mark. Does it feel strange to not have Todd here for this one?

MARK WOODFORDE: Yeah, of course it feels a little strange. Todd and I have had a partnership that's extended over many years. The Davis Cup has been an important part of that partnership. It does feel a little bit weird, but then again there's great support with the other guys that are here, and, you know, it's business as usual. Todd's not here, so I've got to play with someone else. Hopefully, I'll be playing with someone else and get the job done.

JOHN NEWCOMBE: Todd was there in '96, was injured against Croatia and Mark played with Pat.

Q. Why isn't he here? Why isn't Todd here?

JOHN NEWCOMBE: He's had a slight arm problem the last couple of months, but that's not the main reason. They're having a little bit of a rough trot in the doubles. His singles ranking has gone way down; he lost the first round in the French and at Wimbledon had a really tight match. Todd had a couple of points there where he -- very important points -- where he had the opportunity to win the point, and he felt that he really tightened up, and he just didn't feel he was up to this. And it's not him as an individual here; it's him as a team and he's playing for his country. He made the decision that he'd rather not put that at risk. So it was his call. He made the call.

Q. Because he's not confident enough?

JOHN NEWCOMBE: He just doesn't feel that he's got enough confidence to weather the storm that will be here.

Q. Mark, was that discussed with you? I assume he talked to you about this as well, about his decision making?

MARK WOODFORDE: Yeah, I guess I had a little bit of an idea, and, I mean, it's not up to me whether he comes and plays or not. It was his decision, as Newk pointed out. He probably had a more in-depth conversation with Newk about where he stands than he did with me. But that's all I can say.

Q. John, how do you feel about this? What are your thoughts right now? How do you feel? Nervous, edgy-wise or confidence-wise with the injuries?

JOHN NEWCOMBE: Well, obviously, Philippoussis was starting to play pretty well there at Wimbledon. It looked like he was heading into his best run. So things were looking very good. Then he went out. And then a couple of days later, Todd made his decision. So most teams wouldn't be able to come up with anything from there, but we've got one of the best doubles players in the world in Sandon, and Pat played with Mark in doubles against Croatia and they teamed up terrific there and won in three straight sets and were an obvious combination, as Sandon and Mark are an obvious combination. So we're very lucky to have that. And then we're lucky to have someone with Lleyton's ability, as yet unproven in Davis Cup, but you never know with a young bloke like that if he's -- he can sort of just go up like that.

Q. He's probably entering with no pressure, especially if he's playing Pete in the first round. If he loses, it's expected.

JOHN NEWCOMBE: He's got nothing to lose. He's not expected to win that one. His big test is if it comes down to the wire on the third day and he plays Jim in the deciding match. That should be fun.

Q. Sandon, your thoughts, your views, the fact that you're likely to play doubles over here? Where would you put this with some of the other results like winning the U.S. Open, et cetera?

SANDON STOLLE: Well, for me, it's a good opportunity. The year's gone well up until this point. I've played with Pat in Dusseldorf when we won that event. That was a great experience. Then coming in and me having a chance to play, it's obviously a dream to play for the country. I'm looking forward to it. So if it happens, I just want to go out and put my guts out on the court and hopefully have a win in the first match.

Q. John, I was just wondering, do you have mixed feelings about this site? I know this was supposed to be in Australia then got changed. Also, this place holds special memories for you. What are your thoughts about coming back here to Longwood to play this match?

JOHN NEWCOMBE: Yeah. It's like coming back 35 years, isn't it? Nothing's changed. (Laughing) No, this was a place where we played some great matches over the years. I think the last time I had the doubles here was in '67, Rochey and I won it. Next year, '68, we played a pro tournament here with the ones that were contract pros there, and I think Tony and I played a really long five setter, I think he won the next two 12-10, 13-11, something like 6-4. And Rocco (phonetic spelling?) beat me in the Final. I think Tony won the tournament here in 70 or '71. We've got a lot of memories in Boston, which are all good ones. Hopefully, we'll leave at the end of this weekend with some good memories that we want to remember.

Q. Has a lot changed since then?

JOHN NEWCOMBE: No way.

Q. You said Todd made his decision a couple of days after Mark was injured in Wimbledon. You've been sitting on that a couple of days. Did you think you could you change his mind or --

JOHN NEWCOMBE: I wanted him to think about it for a couple of days and see how he felt. But if Todd's been there 97 percent of the time since Tony and I have been there and we haven't lost a doubles in five and a half years, since the first tie we had against Russia, and that's with -- mainly with Todd and Mark playing, so we wanted him here. But he had to make the call. And you've got to respect him for making that call. It's a big, big decision. If someone else does really well, it may cost him his spot. So it's a big opportunity for someone else to step up to the plate. It's a big call for Todd, and I respect him for making it and you've got to go with it.

Q. How are you doing up there, Andrew?

ANDREW ILIE: Are you talking to me? (Laughter.) All right. Here we go. (Laughter.)

Q. It must be good for you to be part of this, the whole team and the whole atmosphere, even if you don't get a gig? How many shirts have you ripped in practice, mate?

ANDREW ILIE: I just want to say that, you know, God forbid I get a chance to play... (Laughter.) I really would feel sorry for the fellow that plays me. That's all I have to say. So they better be praying that I don't make the court, because there will be hell to pay for everybody, so... But, no, answering your question, it's an honor, although it's pretty sad that there are a couple of injuries on the team, I'm really glad to be part of the team, and, you know, just practicing with the boys and being on the team. Hopefully, I hope I'm not going to get to play because that means we're going to have other injuries there. So I just hope that this weekend will go well, and we'll see how it goes.

JOHN NEWCOMBE: Andrew and I have been talking about if something happens and he does have to play, I'm wondering how I'm going to talk to him to change his image. He goes through the days like this -- (Laughter.)

ANDREW ILIE: It's all the drugs that I take. (Laughter.)

JOHN NEWCOMBE: He closes his eyes and goes back like that. I don't know how I'm going to get inside his head.

ANDREW ILIE: It's pretty difficult. (Laughter.) I don't know how I get inside my head sometimes. Thanks. I'd like to thank you for putting a question to me. I really appreciate it. You made my day. Thank you. (Laughter.)
 
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#328 ·
L. HEWITT/J. Sousa
6-1, 7-6

An interview with:

LLEYTON HEWITT

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.


Q. Can you just talk a little bit about being back here and just what it means to be back at the Sony and be able to open up the way you did today?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, well, it's always good to be back at tournaments where you've played well in the past, big tournaments, as well, that I have enjoyed playing at.
Yeah, when you're out injured and just had surgery and rehab, feels like a long way away to getting back out there and playing the big tournaments again.
Yeah, you probably enjoy it a little bit more when you're able to come back and bounce back from, yeah, injuries, to be back competing at these tournaments. You know, it's nice to be back out there on center court today, too.

Q. Can you comment on today's match? A couple of opportunities to close it out, and then he came up with some good stuff at those moments.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I never really had seen him play. I watched a little bit of footage of him at the Australian Open this year, but apart from that I didn't really know how he played.
He played way better every time he was behind in the match. Whenever he'd get back on serve in the second set he actually played worse; when he was behind he sort of just went for it a lot more. That was tough because he sort of had nothing to lose, I guess.
You know, the conditions with the wind as well playing up the end that you walk in, it was definitely, you know, into the breeze a lot more, so trying to close out that game at 6 5 wasn't easy.
And to my credit, though, I bounced back early in the tiebreak and got the advantage.

Q. Comment on the conditions. The conditions at Indian Wells compared to here are just so opposite. What do you prefer playing in?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Me, probably Indian Wells suits my game probably a little bit better, I'd say.
These are very heavy conditions here. Balls get a lot heavier quicker. Obviously the humidity as well makes it a heavier feeling out there; whereas the ball flies a lot more in Indian Wells.

Q. You touched on the topic of the injuries and everything you have had to endure. Have you thought about calling it quits, or is this still just a passion for you here?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Obviously when you have surgeries the last surgery I had, you know, if I didn't have it done I would have had to retire anyway. People still thought I wouldn't be able to come back and play tennis anyway when I had the surgery.
Yeah, definitely goes to through your mind before any operation. Nothing is 100%. You know, I just did all the rehab and everything that, you know, I possibly could. And, you know, for me, if you miss it when you are doing rehab and getting back, then you obviously know your motivation is still there.
That's the toughest thing is coming back from the surgeries.

Q. You had a big win in Indian Wells knocking out a top 20 player in John Isner. What did it mean to get a huge win against a player on home soil and confidence coming here to Miami?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, well, it gives me confidence for the rest of the year, really. Isner on those courts and Indian Wells, he's not easy for anyone, as you saw last year him making the finals.
The way his serve bounces, you know, I felt my game matched up with him pretty well last week. I played a smart match, and then, yeah, I didn't play terrible against with Wawrinka. He was just too good on the night.

Q. On the line of the surgery and somebody suggesting you wouldn't be able to come back and couldn't, how much of your return was to prove others wrong but also to prove to yourself that you still had it very much in you?

LLEYTON HEWITT: It's not so much to prove others wrong. You know, I tried to get the best advice possible.
The thing was the surgery that I had, there is really no other athletes that have had it done and then tried to come back and play. Normally it's someone probably 60, 70 years old that's had it done.
That was the tough thing, trying to find no one could give me 100% guarantee it was going to work and that I'd be able to come back playing. If you look at the dynamics of it, yeah, a lot of the surgeons are probably right. Technically I probably shouldn't be able to keep running around the court.
Yeah, I have always been one to obviously try 100% and do things out there and do it the hard way, and, yeah, probably made me a little bit more determined.

Q. And what about Simon in the next round?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I have never beaten him. He's a different player. He obviously plays with a bit of finesse out there; moves the ball around extremely well. Obviously his movement is a big part of his game, as well. He can pull the trigger when he wants to on his first serve, but also on the baseline.
So, yeah, I lost to him here a few years ago pretty comfortably, so I look forward to it.
 
#329 ·
June 10, 2013

Lleyton Hewitt

LONDON, ENGLAND

L. HEWITT/M. Russell
4‑6, 6‑1, 6‑3


THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You had to work for that one, didn't you?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yes. It's always tough the first one obviously on grass. I felt I could see the ball really well in practice going into it, but the courts are a little bit different as well out there at the moment. It's a bit slippery on the foot and don't probably have quite 100% in your footing.
But also, yeah, I just didn't feel like I was serving great.

Nothing was sort of I didn't have too much rhythm at the start, and the ball was propping a little bit out there, as well, because it hasn't had a lot of play on it. It suited his style of play.
He's the kind of guy you've got to go out there and beat him. He's not going to give you too much. In the end I found my rhythm a little bit better.

Q. Would you have preferred to play the doubles match before that?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I think you always do just to get a feel of serve and return on grass and stuff. Now that I got through it, it's fine.
Yeah, whatever. No big deal.

Q. Why are you still doing this? You have money in the bank, a young family you probably prefer to be home with. Why are you doing it?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I still enjoy the big tournaments, obviously Wimbledon, Australian Open, two of my favorite tournaments.
The Grand Slams and Davis Cup are still what I play for.

Q. How important is the second game of the second set that went forever and ever?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it was a big game. I still wasn't timing the ball that well at that stage, and I was able just to, you know, find my rhythm a little bit more as the game went on.
Yeah, I didn't serve well to get out of the game but sort of just kept fighting hard and hanging in there. In the end that was obviously a pretty big turning point.

Q. You come here, and obviously you've won it four times. Is it still a special place for you?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, absolutely. It's one of my favorite events. I have always enjoyed getting off the clay anyway and onto the grass. I have had such a good record here, as well. Yeah, most times it's taken pretty good players to beat me here.

Q. Following onto the question why you're continuing to play, what are your ambitions as far as Wimbledon is concerned?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I don't know. See what happens with the draw and just take it one match at a time.
I still believe in my ball striking and obviously my movement out there, and, yeah, wait and see what happens.

Q. How much longer do you think you can keep going?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I don't know. I'm not going to keep answering that every day.

Q. Do you keep getting asked it?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Pretty much.
 
#330 ·
June 12, 2013

Lleyton Hewitt

LONDON, ENGLAND

L. HEWITT/G. Dimitrov
6‑4, 6‑3


THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. A bit like night and day from the other day to today?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, all the years I have been coming here, a lot of the times the first match is always tough. The courts are a little bit more worn in now, which is nice. I just found my moving was so much better today.
I felt a lot sharper. Return of serves, just about everything I did better today.

Q. Considering your history on grass, the fact that you have won this tournament on a number of occasions, and you look at Dimitrov being seeded at 10 over here, would you classify this as an upset?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I don't know. You can judge it. I guess on results this year, probably.
Yeah, I don't know. In terms of grass court, he's had some pretty good matches at Wimbledon. I saw him play Tsonga last year, year before, a great standard match.
So he can play on grass. I've seen him push the best guys out here in the last couple years as well. He's a shot maker, but I kept enough balls in play today. I thought I played a really smart match. But if he's on, he's always going to be tough to beat because he can hit winners from anywhere on the court and he can serve big as well.

Q. How much confidence do you take out of this going forward? Do you have a bit of momentum going?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it's going to help me immensely. I feel like in practice I have been hitting the ball great. It was just a matter of doing it on the match court.
My first match here wasn't pretty, but I fought hard and got through it. That's what I needed to do. Then today it was a classy performance.

Q. What about Sam next match for you?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, another guy I've got to get that extra ball back, I guess. I've got to be sharp right from the start. He's obviously got a big game, big serve, big forehand.
He's gotten better and better each year on grass, I think, as well. He was lucky to get through yesterday though, but tough conditions on and off yesterday.
But, you know, I'm going to have to play well to win.

Q. You're playing doubles here with Bernie. Are you surprised how well he seems to roll through things, despite everything else going on around him?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I haven't really spoken to him, so I don't really know. You know, I have messaged him a lot. Obviously playing doubles here, but I haven't really seen him, to tell you the truth, so mentally I don't really know where his head is at.
He takes everything, as I said before, in his stride pretty well the whole time anyway. I think to him this is, you know, no different, I guess, in some ways.

Q. Your victory today is a breath of fresh air back home in Australia, and encouraging some good news, because on the cricket side there is some bad news. I was just wondering ‑‑ I don't know whether you're up to speed about David Warner, whether the whole image of Australia being over here in England, what you think that perception is.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I don't know about Warner, but, yeah, I don't know. It's obviously leading into the Ashes, so, yeah, everyone's mind is hard. They're obviously playing a one‑day tournament at the moment, which is pretty big, but in the back of England and Australia's mind is the Ashes and wanting to perform well in that. It's two totally different competitions.
That's a tough thing. I wouldn't write our boys off. If Michael Clarke gets right‑‑ you know, so far he hasn't played well. I know Michael pretty well, and he will be looking forward to it.

Q. The other day you were saying how pleased you were to get off the clay and get back onto the grass. When you're transitioning between the clay and the grass, what is the bigger issue: the mental aspect of it, of going from one surface, two extremes of surfaces, or is it the footwork?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I think for everyone it's different. Both is as big as one another. If you go in with the wrong mindset, then it doesn't matter how your footwork is, I guess.
If you're positive about playing on grass, then, you know, obviously the footwork is such a big thing, because even though a couple of our boys have been sliding on the grass, normally you have to be a lot sharper on your feet instead of sliding through the shot like you do on clay.

Q. How are you feeling with the doubles coming up?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I feel fine. It was good not to have to play three sets today. I'm all good.
 
#331 ·
June 13, 2013

Lleyton Hewitt

LONDON, ENGLAND

L. HEWITT/S. Querrey
5‑7, 6‑3, 6‑4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.


Q. How do you assess that?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I played pretty well the whole match. First set I came out of the blocks well. I was serving well, was hitting returns well.
I thought it was, for the conditions, it was a pretty high quality match. First set I was unlucky not to be up a break a few times, and then he had a little bit of luck in that game he broke me there, and then, yeah, he started to find his rhythm on his first serve a bit and that made it a little bit tougher.
But I knew if I still kept playing the way I was playing I was going to give myself opportunities. You know, I still had to fight hard on some big points, though, even late in the second set to hold serve. But, you know, all in all, I felt like I played three pretty good sets.

Q. Last game, few swings there, as well?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, yeah, it was a tough one. Obviously it's always tough closing it out, and Sam's the kind of guy that sort of just swings at it a little bit and sort of goes for it.
He got a couple of net cords there that made it awkward for me, but in the end I was relieved to get out of that game.

Q. Do you feel like you're playing the best you have played in quite some time?

LLEYTON HEWITT: The last two matches I have played pretty well. Yeah, at the French I played pretty well, really. First two sets I played, yeah, solid tennis against a quality player.
So, you know, that gave me confidence in my ball striking. I feel like in practice since the French I have been hitting the ball great in practice, so it's just a matter of taking it into the matches.
I sort of pick and choose the tournaments I want to play nowadays. I don't play week in and week out. So for me, going into a Grand Slam, this is perfect preparation where you play quality players and you're a break point down and fighting off big points. And to come through a close three‑setter against a quality player is good preparation.

Q. What is it about grass that suits your game so well? You have had so much success, but you're not a Goran Ivanisevic type of player, you don't serve and volley hardly. Why do you think you have had so much success on grass?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I'm not sure. Early on it definitely was my favorite surface. Over the years I grew to love it. Now it is no doubt my favorite service.
I have always moved well on grass, which is a massive thing. Yeah, I have always had a positive attitude towards it, as well, which is huge, to go out and be positive playing on the surface.
I think I play to my strengths the most part, as well, which is obviously my movement. If I can take care of my service games, I'm still a good enough returner to break guys out there.
Grass court tennis, there's only one or two points sometimes in a set, and you have to take them when it pops up.

Q. How do you get yourself ready for a match like this when you know the conditions are still so slick and you've got somebody with an almighty serve? It comes down to a bit of a crapshoot out there?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, a little bit. I was more worried trying not to get injured out there. Even when we started today there was still some mist in the air.
The court was definitely slippery out there but more dangerous up at the end closer to the centre court because of the shade that it caught, so it's always a little bit wet at that end.
It's always going to be tough, but I felt like I was on his best serves and that I was getting back a lot of them throughout the first set. So that gave me confidence right from the start.

Q. Do you see how Tommy Haas is doing? He's had so much success over the last year. Do you think if you had pretty deep runs in a tournament maybe you could start getting direct entry into more tournaments, higher seeds, byes, make a run like him?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Tommy has done amazing. Like a couple years ago I saw him play at Halle when I was there last, and he was very average and his body wasn't holding up at all at that stage. You know, I thought that was pretty much the end for him.
He's done remarkable to come back and play the tennis he's playing. He's got himself in great nick. I'm not going to play week in and week out, anyway. I pick and choose my schedule when I feel like playing and the tournaments I want to play.
I don't care about my ranking whatsoever. I'll just play the events I want to play.
 
#332 ·
June 14, 2013

Lleyton Hewitt

LONDON, ENGLAND

L. HEWITT/J. Del Potro

6‑2, 2‑6, 6‑2

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.


Q. What was your expectation coming in here this week?

LLEYTON HEWITT: No, just to try to get as many matches as possible, really. And then I have been hitting the ball really well in practice, as I said, all week. I was a bit scratchy in the first match and haven't really put a foot wrong since.
Yeah, throughout today I played great. My ball striking was fantastic. Yeah, even though I was 4‑Love down in the second set, I didn't really do too much wrong. He played incredible tennis.

Q. What is it about certain places that certain players like to play? And why especially do you think you do so well here?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I don't know. It's been a long wait for me. Pretty much once I was out of the Australian Open, I was focused on this tournament and Wimbledon.
So, you know, obviously there is times of the year I look forward to, especially at my age now, the stage of my career that I'm at. Yeah, these four weeks are one of them.

Q. This is the first semifinal I think since you made the final in Newport last year. It's like a lot of stuff in between. Is it like all worth it for the events you really like?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I don't play that many events.

Q. Obviously this is part of the bigger picture to you, but is it hard not to look now only two wins away from another title, potentially?

LLEYTON HEWITT: No, it's not hard. I keep looking just to the guys I've got to play.
You know, Cilic is going to be another tough one, very similar to my match against Querrey yesterday and against Del Potro today. In terms of that, I have had good preparation for playing him, but, you know, he's the defending champ here.
He's obviously beaten Lopez in a tight one yesterday, and to beat Berdych in straight sets, he's going to have quite a bit of confidence going into tomorrow's match, as well.

Q. When was the last time you felt so comfortable on a court where you're playing these few matches, and, as you were saying the other day, the way you even played that match at the French Open?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I don't know. Going into the Australian Open this year, I played really well at Kooyong. My ball striking in the three matches there, especially the semi and final in Kooyong was great.
So, you know, I felt like I was hitting the ball pretty well that time of the year, as well. You know, I have played in patches throughout the year when I've played. You know, against Isner in Indian Wells I played pretty well.
Yeah, so there has definitely been times, but obviously I feel pretty comfortable on the glass.

Q. Probably been a while since you played back‑to‑back matches for a while. How is the body holding up?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I feel fine.

Q. How different is it to have family around? Obviously you're not taking your eye off the ball, having to take care of them all the time, but does it feel a little different just having your little ones here and enjoying the experience?

LLEYTON HEWITT: No, it's second nature now. It's just ‑‑that's your priority. That's what I have done for a while now.
Yeah, doesn't bother me. They weren't with me at the French Open and Nice, so it was good to see them this week when they came over.

Q. Is results like this incentive for you to keep pushing yourself?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Not really. You know, it obviously backs ‑‑you know, I have been practicing great. So it was more just being able to do it on a match court against quality players.
In the back of my mind I knew I could do it. If everything fell together I knew I could play well. Yeah, these are the times that I want to be playing my best tennis and obviously going into a Slam in a week or so's time.

Q. You touched on your age a few moments ago. Do you think about that at all when you're going out to play a match or going into a tournament?

LLEYTON HEWITT: No, no. With the amount of tennis I have missed in the last four or five years, I probably don't put those years on to my age anyway. I just keep telling myself I'm in my 20s.

Q. You mentioned you really look forward to these four weeks. There's going to be that extra week in the future between the French Open and Wimbledon. Do you look forward to there being more grass court tennis? Do you think it should be a bigger part of the calendar, maybe even bigger than that's going to be?

LLEYTON HEWITT: If I'm around, if I'm still playing, that would be great. I love playing as many weeks on grass as possible. Yeah, that's why the Olympics and playing Newport last year was so special to me because I could play a bigger chunk of tournaments.
At the start of last year, though, Queen's and Wimbledon, my foot wasn't ‑‑I wasn't even close to 100%. That was disappointing after the surgery that it took a little bit extra time.
But, yeah, I think it's a unique surface. I think there are certain players that play really well on it. Yeah, if we can get decent weather, yeah, I'm all for more tournaments on grass.

Q. Is there one outstanding memory of your first victory here, one you can bring to mind?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Not really. Probably beating Pete in the final. It was a really hot weekend that weekend when I played the semi, and I then the final was really hot, which is surprising.

Q. It won't be Sunday, I don't think.

LLEYTON HEWITT: No. (Smiling.) And, yeah, I remember in the warmup just the court being really quick, just the ball skidding low and Pete's slice backhand was just knifing through in the warmup and I thought I could be in for a really long day. Played a great, clean match.

Q. Obviously there is the language thing and stuff, but why have you always been so comfortable in London?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I don't know. I really enjoy coming here. Yeah, I don't know if it's ‑‑I have never played on any other surface here.
I enjoy playing on grass, obviously, but I really enjoy coming here and, you know, obviously I'm fortunate, as well, can go to Wimbledon as a member, as well. So for me that's pretty special.

Q. How often do you take advantage of ‑‑I know it's only four weeks or three weeks of the year that you're in London, but how often have you taken advantage of the membership?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Every time before Queen's normally, you know, as soon as I'm knocked out of Paris.
Yeah, at least I can get on a great grass court straightaway.

Q. Do you get into the clubhouse for afternoon tea, as well?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I have never actually been there. I don't travel with a suit. (Smiling).

Q. Where is the tie?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Next to the trophy.
 
#333 ·
AEGON CHAMPIONSHIPS

June 15, 2013

Lleyton Hewitt

LONDON, ENGLAND


M. CILIC/L. Hewitt
6‑4, 4‑6, 6‑2

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.


Q. How did you pull up? You looked a bit sore with your leg.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, not too bad. I was getting a bit sore. Didn't feel like I could move 100%, which is‑‑ yeah, just a few matches playing on grass, I think, and just a slight strain.
So, yeah, I think, you know, I hung in there and kept trying to track balls down. But when he hit his spots on his serves I didn't feel like I was reacting as well as probably best and pushing off on my serve, as well.

Q. Is it a concern for Wimbledon?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Not really. I don't think so.

Q. What was the scenario painted to you about going out on No. 1 from centre?

LLEYTON HEWITT: It was all weird. We were getting ready to play on centre court again, and we saw the covers coming off, and all of a sudden we got told we could be moving to Court 1 by an ATP guy.
Yeah, just really, really strange. I think the ATP guy really panicked under pressure. Yeah, I've played two matches in one day, semi and final here, in the past. You know, I just said, We can't just go on forecast the whole time, because two days ago we got told we probably wouldn't get any matches in for the day, and we had a full day's play and got back on track in the tournament.
So I think he has to take the blame for a lot of it, because there hasn't been another drop of rain since.

Q. Were you annoyed? Were you angry?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I was disappointed, obviously. To play a semifinal on a tour event, especially one like this, Court 1 in front of a few people is not the ideal situation that you want to play in.

Q. Do you think it was a slight against a four‑time champion?

LLEYTON HEWITT: No, it wasn't ‑‑ it's not that. I think just the semifinal in general. It was more the way it was gone about I think purely because if you're going to go on a weather forecast, then, yeah, you should have probably scheduled us at the same times and we would have been happy to play on Court 1.
You know, because we got told early on today when we were about to go on that we could be on and off five or ten minutes a lot of times today. If you're going to do that, then you're going one with the forecast, but then later on you're calling it because tomorrow it could be average, change the whole schedule and put you on a different court to what you started on, which was ridiculous.

Q. I thought if they were going to move a match you started already, you have to agree. Is that not the case?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I'm not sure, Mate. I don't know. I don't know the rule and I don't think the ATP guy had a clue.

Q. Who was that?

THE MODERATOR: The tour manager.

Q. Do you ever remember that happening to you before, where you started a match on one court and finished it on another?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it's happened once I think at the US Open, but it was because of the court late at night. There was water seeping out of the Grandstand Court, so we obviously had to change courts.
But, yeah, I just don't think you can go off a forecast, because, you know, as they told me, they had 16 different forecasts going today from 16 different places, and they all had a different forecast.
Yeah, that's the tough thing when you get to the pointy end of a tournament.

Q. Did that situation add to your frustration with the umpiring, as well?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Not really. Once I was out there playing it was ‑‑ you know, I was focused on what I had to do. Obviously it's frustrating. We started on centre court where you have Hawk‑Eye, and I feel there were a couple of rough calls on Court 1 and you don't have that.
Obviously that's more frustrating. You're in a semifinal, and you feel like you have a couple of rough calls and you can't challenge. In terms of that, that adds to it a bit.

Q. Would you have taken this at the start of the week in terms of your hit‑out for Wimbledon?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, absolutely. I played great all week. I got better, obviously. The first round I didn't play my best tennis. Throughout the week I played really well. Today was tough conditions, really tough conditions, blustery.
Yeah, I nearly found a way to get back into that first set. I even had two or three break points at 5‑4 when he was serving for it. If I could have got back in the first set and put pressure on him, it could have been different. Yeah, he played well.

Q. (Indiscernible.)

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I don't play that many matches, so the more matches I get before a major, the better for me.

Q. What's the plan for the next week?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Just, you know, get the body right obviously and just try and keep the rhythm going.

Q. Will you practice every day, or will you take the next day or two off completely?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I'm not sure. I will speak to Rochey and Luch and see what they think. Yeah, I don't know. I'm not sure what I will do tomorrow obviously. I haven't thought about that. After that I will try and hit most days, I think, because with the weather, you just don't know. The court time that I can get is important.
 
#334 ·
Lleyton Hewitt gives his Wimbledon press conference following his 6-4 7-5 6-3 first round defeat of Stanislas Wawrinka.

Q. Where does that win rate?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I don't know. When you come straight off the court, obviously the adrenaline's still pumping. Yeah, it's definitely up there. It was a tough draw coming into one of my favorite tournaments.
So, yeah, to get through it in straight sets is a pretty good effort.

Q. Vintage performance for you out there. Felt like old times. Can you describe the emotions you felt.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I guess I had so many things going through my mind. Obviously, I just wanted to try to wrap it up in straight sets. It was getting dark out there. I was up two sets and a break. I was fighting so hard to keep holding serve, weathering the storm out there throughout the whole third set. I felt so close yet so far away from it there for a while.
It was just sort of a matter of battling down. Obviously, everything I've been through as well. The last two years I've come here and I've competed, but, yeah, last year I don't think I was even close to 50% physically.
Yeah, you just enjoy the moment.

Q. When were you last in this form, fitness?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Oh, as I've said all week, going into the Australian Open this year, I was pretty fit, hitting the ball well. Just came up, Tipsarevic played too well on the night in the first round with another tough draw. Could have gone either way.
At the Olympics last year I played really well. Yeah, that was only a short period, though.
But, you know, I don't know. It's obviously been a few years since I felt physically good on the court obviously. Yeah, it makes some of these wins even more special for me, to know what I've been through, to still be here.

Q. Were you aware that Nadal was out while you were playing or before you played? Did that act as some sort of inspiration?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I obviously knew about it only because I was following his court. I had to keep an eye on it. Obviously thought, yeah, it was a tough one. Even when Rafa was down two sets to Love, I thought it was going to go four, five sets at least.
I was a little bit surprised. I think we both sort of, yeah, ended up having to rush a little bit to get ready because we thought we'd still be on a bit later.
When I'm out there, though, that's the furthest thing from my mind. I was obviously trying to concentrate on Stan, you know, trying to get through this match.

Q. What do you know about Dustin Brown?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Not a lot. Never really seen him play. Rochey and a couple of the boys went and had a bit of a look today. I'm sure we'll sit down, speak to them later tonight, but tomorrow more likely, and go through it. I've never hit with him. Never really seen a lot of him.
Yeah, he's a serve volleyer, aggressive sort of player from what I've seen. Big forehand, big serve as well. Yeah, I have to be on my game. But for now I'll enjoy the win.

Q. Obviously beating a seed opens up the draw a little bit. What do you feel like is possible?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I'll take it one match at a time. The moment that you knock off a decent player, then let your guard down, that's when you're going to go out of the tournament.
I still have to stay composed, you know, be confident. Know that I'm hitting the ball well. Still got to go out there
and do the job, though.

Q. What's turned around for you?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I know that I can still play the game. I compete against the best guys. I play well in the big tournaments, I think. That's why I'm still playing.

Q. What was it like? A lot of rowdy Aussies in the stands today. Did that help you?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, absolutely. It's fantastic. To walk out there, you know, I know a few of the Fanatic boys in the crowd. They enjoy the win as much as I do.
Yeah, it's good that I can put on some sort of show that they can get pretty pumped up out there, as well.

Q. When you come here, do you have to make a choice to block out memories because you've had a lot of success here, but you've also been through so much, or do you think about that stuff?

LLEYTON HEWITT: No, I embrace it. Yeah, I've only got good memories from here really. Yeah, as a kid growing up, if someone was going to say you're going to win one Wimbledon, I would have taken it every day of the week, and that being the only tournament. For me, it's always a special place to come back to, and always will be.

Q. When you talk to the surgeons last year about your toe, what was the advice? Did they say something was possible? Did someone say you should retire?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Well, nearly everyone. I think there were two surgeons, the guy who ended up doing it and one other guy. There were probably five, six, seven that I spoke to worldwide. They said if I had it done, you're done.
In all my research beforehand, which was very extensive, I never found another athlete that had it done, or had it done and tried to come back and play any kind of sport.
So, yeah, it's something I'm pretty proud of, as well.
 
#335 ·
Lleyton Hewitt second round
Wednesday 26 June 2013


Q. How do you sum that up?

LLEYTON HEWITT: You know, frustrating obviously. Just couldn't really get my teeth into the match. You know, I didn't serve great. You know, I was just off balance a lot of times out there.
Yeah, he played well, though. He's very unpredictable out there. He served well, especially when he needed to, on breakpoints. You know, 15 30, 30 All points. You know, I didn't quite get a look in. When I did, went up that early break in the second set, couldn't quite keep that break and keep some pressure on him.

Q. You said you didn't know much about him. Did he shock you in a way with the way he played?

LLEYTON HEWITT: No, I knew he was going to play like that. I watched a tape of his first round match. It was pretty much exactly the same.
Yeah, all of that didn't really surprise me today.

Q. How tough is it, you're playing a guy swinging from the hip like that, to get any rhythm going?

LLEYTON HEWITT: It's tough. You don't know what's going to happen next. You have to concentrate on your game, block that out as much as possible.
Yeah, you lose your rhythm a bit out there. Then I started pushing on my serve a little bit too much to try to get a cheap point. Yeah, just lost my way a little bit.

Q. He was serving and volleying effectively at times. Showed good touch at net. Difficult to pass. Talk about his net game. Was that the difference in the match?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, well, his half volley pickups, dropshot half volleys, low volleys were pretty good. His hands, he had pretty good control on tough shots out there.
Yeah, he's obviously got great reach. So it's very hard to obviously lob him. But hitting a passing shot as well. When the ball is skidding through a little bit, it's not easy, as well, because he does get pretty close to the net and obviously covers it well.

Q. A bit more broadly on sport in Australia at the moment. Today here, Woodward said about Australian sport that it seems not to know which direction it's going, the various storms over the last few weeks. Now you're out of Wimbledon. Do you think Australian sport is losing its way?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I'm out of Wimbledon. That's all I've got to say.

Q. But more broadly?

LLEYTON HEWITT: That's all I've got to say.

Q. So when you won that tiebreaker, what was your sense? How did you feel you were positioned in the match at that point?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I still feel like I had a pretty good chance, only because I return pretty well, the second part of the tiebreak. From 3 1 down to win it 7 3. Yeah, it was important to keep holding serve first, though, in the fourth set. I was up in that game 30 15, played a couple of loose points, yeah, got up the break, then it was always going to be pretty hard to chase him from that the way that he was serving.

Q. You've seen a lot of tennis over the years. What does it say about the depth of the men's game today that a guy ranked 189 in the world can play like that?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, you got to be careful and wary of anyone you play against. Anyone on their day is good enough. If they can make the draw in a Grand Slam, there's no easy bits.
Obviously his game style probably suits this surface more than others. But, yeah, there's a lot of guys that, you know, lose in quallies of the French Open that could go deep, as well, if they had the right draw.

Q. Because there's so few serve volleyers in the draw, is it difficult to adapt when you come against one?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, a little bit more difficult nowadays than five, ten years ago.

Q. What does the future look like of the young guys coming through for Australia?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, obviously they got to take that next step and get into the top 20, top 25 in the world. Bernie's obviously got the biggest chance out of that next group of guys. It's good that a couple young blokes qualified here. We had a couple more in the main draw.

Q. Dustin is one of the more eccentric, recognizable characters on the tour. Can you assess what you make of him as a player, as a person, how you see him going forward?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I don't know the guy at all, so I can't comment on that.
Obviously, as a player he's very flashy, yeah, different sort of style of player out there obviously. I wouldn't say orthodox.
On this surface he's dangerous against a lot of guys.

Q. What about going forward?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Who knows.

Q. You've been around for many years. From the start in your career, tennis has been a physical, demanding sport. You've had so many injuries. Talk about, is it getting even more physical? All the withdrawals today. Is that a problem, the sheer physicality of it?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it is tough. I don't think it's changed a lot, though, in my 10 years or so on tour. The last 10 years, you know, it's still as physical as it was then. Certain tournaments are more physical than others.
Yeah, I wouldn't call Wimbledon the most physical tournament, you know, out of the four majors, that's for sure.

Q. What's the number one most physical tournament? Who do you think the most fit player has been of your opponents over these years?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Oh, I don't know. There are three other majors, obviously, and depends on heat, a lot of other variables come into it. Players, there's a lot of fit guys.

Q. About the withdrawals, Azarenka said the court she played on was not in good condition, more slippery. You know these courts better than anyone really. What's your feeling?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I didn't really notice any difference slippery wise. Yeah, the first couple of days of Wimbledon's, you know, it's pretty lush, the grass. There's been very little play on it at all.
So, yeah, you're always going to see guys slipping over the first couple of days, I think.

Q. Are you definitely going to be back here next year?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, definitely. We'll see.

Q. Do you get the buzz every time you come to Wimbledon?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, always.

Q. Some of the commentators were suggesting you'll go away, have a think about continuing. Is that how you see it?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I don't know, Mate. At the moment I'm just disappointed. Have to see where we go.

Q. What were your expectations coming into the tournament?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, obviously I was just taking one match at a time. Yeah, I was happy with how I was hitting the ball coming in. Every match is tough, though.

Q. I believe the last question of your press conference after you beat Wawrinka, someone asked you how deep can you go. You said you wouldn't speculate on that. As soon as you take a guy lightly you're going to be ushered out of the tournament. You didn't do that, did you?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I did my homework.

Q. Do you have a sense about the next couple of months, your schedule, what you're planning to play?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah.

Q. Can you share any of those?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Going to the States, obviously the lead ins to the US Open.

Q. A pretty full schedule?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, most weeks.

Q. Back to the slams and the difficulty. We know the French can be grinding. The Australian heat. The Open in New York can be wretched. In a way is Wimbledon the easiest physically?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, depends on your matches, how many five set matches you have, too. It depends on weather.
As I said just before, Mate, there's so many variables. If you play back to back matches. Every year is slightly different.
 
#336 ·
An interview with: LLEYTON HEWITT
Friday, August 30, 2013

Q. Your best win since?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I don't know. Been a while. Yeah, it was unbelievable atmosphere. I just kept fighting and putting it out there. You know, I kept coming at him the whole night. Felt like I was seeing the ball well. Felt like I played a good game plan for most of the night as well. Yeah, through the fourth set I felt like even though I was down on the scoreboard two sets to one, I felt like I was getting in more of his service games, holding a little bit more comfortable. Possibly he was getting that half a step slower through that fourth set. Was good to get the break, but he played a great game to break me back.

Q. That is such a big mental hole. How did you get through?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it was obviously frustrating. He would have known in the back of his mind, yeah, if he went down two sets to love against me it was going to be an awfully long way back against me and he was going to have to do it the hard way. I was frustrated not closing it out then. For the first set and a half he was struggling a little bit with the conditions out there. The wind was going all over the shop. I couldn't tell which way it was going most of the time. Then there was a patch through the end of the second, third set that he started hitting the ball a lot bigger, a lot cleaner from the baseline. I was sort of on the defensive the whole time. Through the fourth set I was really just trying to take care of my service games and wait for any small opportunity I could get.

Q. Could you talk about the fourth set tiebreak.

LLEYTON HEWITT: The fourth set breaker I played really well. Got off to a good start. Played a great first point. Got lucky with a double fault from him the second point, which was crucial to get up a mini break against him. But I didn't put a foot wrong in the tiebreak. Obviously playing a tiebreak to stay in the tournament, it's always a tough position to be in. You never want to get down in that breaker. It was good to get the lead. Then the fifth set, the fourth game was crucial. I was able to save after I'd just broken, I was able to save a couple of breakpoints and fought extremely hard there and got out of that game. That was a massive turning point.

Q. What kind of emotions does it bring back at the end?

LLEYTON HEWITT: It's an amazing feeling. For me, just going back in the locker room afterwards I sort of had to pinch myself. Yeah, keep going back to it, but a year and a half ago I got told I would probably wouldn't play again with the surgery I had. For me, I love being out in that atmosphere, sucking up every second of it.

Q. Aside from that creaky old body of yours, how good do you feel in your mind when you get to a fifth set knowing what you've done before?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah physically I feel fine out there. If I can take guys to five sets, I know it's slightly in my favor sometimes, I think. Especially against some of these bigger, stronger guys who can go out there and try and hit me off the court in three straight sets. I felt comfortable going into the fifth. And, you know, the way my body's been, I've been able to do a lot more training and a lot of other stuff, which I couldn't do a couple years ago because I was in too much pain.

Q. What do you do when you feel anger when you're playing a match? Do you like to get it out or try not to let it show?

LLEYTON HEWITT: A bit of both. It's very hard to keep it in the whole time. Sometimes it's better to let it out a little bit straightaway and move on to the next point and focus on, yeah, forward thinking, the next point.

Q. You looked so focused. Every time you hit a good shot, celebrating quietly to yourself, not loudly. Was that a tactic not to fire Del Potro up?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah. He's a pretty quiet guy anyway. I was more trying to stay in my zone out there. Obviously over five sets there was going to be a lot of ups and downs and moment swings in the match. Yeah, I sort of tried to stay in the moment as much as possible and not get too far ahead of myself. That was really important once I got up that early break in the fifth set.

Q. Is recovery a big issue now?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, tonight physically I probably felt better than I did a couple of nights ago in my first round match. Yeah, I'm sure I'll be a bit stiff tomorrow. We're going to do anything in our power. We'll be doing all the right things.

Q. Donskoy. What do you make of what you've seen of him?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, we practiced the day before my first round match. Yeah, his coach just came up and asked. I didn't really know the guy at all. It was only because we both had Wednesday starts that we hit together. Yeah, he's a typical sort of Russian/Czech kind of player. Good double handed backhand. Very good across the baseline with both his groundstrokes. Hits the ball pretty flat. He's kind of a Davydenko kind of player. He's not going to be easy by no means. I think he beat Youzhny at the Aussie Open this year and had some decent wins. I'll enjoy the win tonight, recovery tomorrow, and start focusing on that.

Q. How different will it be going from playing Del Potro on Arthur Ashe tonight to playing Donskoy? I don't know where you'll be playing, but...

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, obviously it's different, you know, not getting up for probably a featured night match on center court. But, yeah, for me, it's still staying in the moment and getting another opportunity to try to make the fourth round here. That's all I'll be looking at. I'll be doing absolutely everything in my power to prepare as well as possible.

Q. When the schedule came out and you saw it was on Ashe, did that give you a bit of a jolt?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I was happy. I was happy. Yeah, as I said, you know, I don't know how many times I'm going to play here in the future. You never know if you're going to get an opportunity to play out there again. I didn't take it for granted out there tonight.

Q. When you go into slams these days, are you coming in saying, I'm going to win the tournament; I have a shot and I believe I can? Or are you taking it one match at a time, let's see how we do, and rolling with it?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I'm taking it one match at a time. Even when I was No. 1 in the world I was taking it one match at a time. I never was a player to look too far ahead, the way draws can pan out and stuff. Yeah, I think the most important thing in slams is trying to find a way through the first week and then focus on starting fresh the second week if you can. That's still the case nowadays.

Q. Déjà vu, last Aussie, all of that. Does it give you a buzz to be carrying the flag?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Not something I focus on. Yeah, obviously Bernie, would have been nice if he won yesterday. He had a winnable section I think for him to do some damage here. Doesn't worry me in terms of added pressure or whatever. I don't care.

Q. Tell us a bit more about the injuries, how hard that whole stage was.

LLEYTON HEWITT: The foot surgery, as I said before, must have seen seven, eight different surgeons worldwide. At least six of them told me to retire if you have it done. I'm very thankful that I found the guy that I believed in. We went in there and were optimistic about it. But, yeah, we thought I might be able to play doubles, but we weren't 100% whether I would be able to come back and play singles even doing all the hard work for rehab and stuff like that. In the back of your mind, you still got question marks whether it's going to be good enough to go out and compete on the center stage against top players again. When I first came back for the French Open and Wimbledon, I wasn't in a good place in terms of the foot. I was still in a bit of pain after the surgery. The last year has been pretty good.

Q. Trying to hit the ball out of Arthur Ashe. Did anyone manage to?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Not even close. They talk a big game, but a couple much coaches didn't do anything. I don't know if anyone's ever done it here.
 
#337 ·
An interview with: LLEYTON HEWITT
Sunday, September 1, 2013

Q. Different kind of match today. Pretty pleased with how you handled it?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it was totally different. I did my homework on him, though. Yeah, I wasn't surprised by anything that he really did. He's obviously got a great forehand. Hits it well. But I came out aggressive at the start and I played well right at the start to get up that early break. That was sort of the telling point for that first set really. I served a lot better today, as well; hit my spots well. Even my second serve, whenever I was under pressure I didn't give him too many chances to run around and take second cuts on my second serve, which was positive.

Q. I think 31 net approaches or something like that?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I came in right from the start today. I felt his forehand was his biggest strength. His backhand, he was going to make a lot of balls and not make a lot of errors, but I felt like I could dictate play and come in on that side. That's what I did right from the start just to try to set the tone out there.

Q. Is the net rushing because of the opponent or something you're trying to do in general?

LLEYTON HEWITT: If the right ball's there, I think I'm a good enough volleyer to back it up and play aggressive tennis out there. Trying to come in on Del Potro where he's hitting the ball so hard and flat from the back of the courts, it's a totally different prospect. The guy today, you know, if he dropped the ball shorter and hit with a bit of spin then gave me a better opportunity. Yeah, I felt like once I got him slicing out wide, as well, yeah, he took his second hand off the racquet, and I felt like I could sneak in and play that point.

Q. Was there any danger of a letdown for you given how big it was Friday night?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, absolutely. It was a matter of still staying focused and staying in the moment as much as possible. Yeah, I still felt a little bit flat today going out there. Actually felt like I got better as the match went on. That was a good sign physically for me, as well.

Q. With all the surgeries you had, was there any moment you thought, I won't be able to come back?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, when I had the last foot surgery. I don't know another athlete that's come back from it. So, yeah, as confident as my surgeon and I were with everything and it went as well as possible, the operation we didn't know until I actually tried running on it. Then it took a lot longer once I was able to come back on the tour, it took a lot longer to get any kind of confidence and play pain free again. There was definitely a time those first few tournaments that I came back from that last operation where, you know, if it was still hurting as much as it was then now, I wouldn't be playing still.

Q. When Roger was in here he mentioned a hit you guys had on Monday that went for about three hours.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Four hours.

Q. Tell us a bit about that.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, Roger and I have hit quite a bit the last couple of years. I've had some really good practice sessions. Once he was coming here, I just got in touch with Annacone seeing if he wants to hit some balls. I was surprised that Roger was here Monday morning and wanted to hit at 10:00. We hit for two hours, then another two hours in the afternoon. At least I got used to center court, which was a bonus. It was funny, we didn't do any points at all. We just did drills for four hours.

Q. With regard to Roger, a lot of people looking ahead to a possible Rafa/Roger match and talking about who could be the greatest of all time. Any thoughts on that?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I don't know. I think Rafa still has to win some more Grand Slams to catch Roger in terms of greatness. Yeah, it's hard. Roger's been around for so many years and dominated for so long; whereas Rafa dominated on clay for so long now. But, yeah, he's been very good on every other surface, as well; whereas Roger for a few years there hardly lost matches. There were three or four matches where he lost, three or four matches for the year. It's a tough one. Obviously Rafa matches up pretty well against Roger and has the belief in beating him. If they play here, it will be a great match. I don't know if that's going to say who's the greatest, though.

Q. If it would be Tommy Haas in the next round, you haven't played him like in nine years. You both have a lot in common with the injuries, the age, and doing well lately. What are your thoughts?

LLEYTON HEWITT: It will be a tough match either way, Tommy or Mikhail. They're both sort of my era, I guess, both guys. Both quality players. Play similar in terms of single handed backhands. Very smooth from the back of the court. The way Tommy has come back from the last year and a half is fantastic. Went back and played some challengers. He was struggling physically there for a long time. Been pretty amazing how he's been able to turn it around.

Q. Why do you think more and more top players are almost 30 years old?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I'm not sure. I don't know. We obviously want to keep playing we love the game so much (laughter).

Q. Is it nice not to go playing a young buck this time, either way?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it is. At least I know who I'm playing. Half the draw I don't know anymore.

Q. Roger said earlier this year you were sort of a role model for him. Have you heard that?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Do I what?

Q. Have you heard that he said that?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, someone mentioned it to me. I hadn't heard, no. Yeah, obviously he's dropped from 4 to 7. Not quite as low as mine. But, yeah, I've been in the same situation as him. Not on such as great a scale. Obviously when you've been to the top you want to keep playing. The reason you're playing is for the majors. For me, Davis Cup as well. That's the reason I'm still playing. For him, I'm sure it's the majors. I have no doubt about it. Yeah, he wants to squeeze the absolute most out of him. Good on him. If he doesn't play as many tournaments like he has this year so he can play majors for the next couple years, I think that's great.

Q. Before you got here, had you entertained the prospect of being here in the fourth round?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I hadn't thought about it at all. I really took it one match at a time. Yeah, there's no easy matches. Yeah, had not crossed my mind.
 
#338 ·
An interview with: LLEYTON HEWITT
Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Q. It's a cruel sport obviously sometimes. Can you talk us through the emotions of all that, the last couple of sets?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, well, obviously could have gone either way. There was a lot of momentum changes, yeah, right from the start. Yeah, he had a lot of different swings out there where we both played better at certain stages for three or four games. You know, it was hard for both of us to hold our serves at times as well out there. You know, in the end, he played the big games when he needed to. He didn't give me too many cheap errors.

Q. One of the greatest moments of your career obviously came here when you won the title. How would you compare, you know, today? Was this almost as painful as that was exhilarating?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Oh, I don't know about that. Yeah, it's obviously disappointing to lose, but, you know, I left it all out there. There's not a whole heap more I could have done.

Q. Those crucial games, 4-all in the fourth, 5-all in the fifth, and errors are coming, is that just tightness from wanting it too much or is it fatigue? What sort of causes those little hiccups sometimes?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Well, you know, it could be anything. You know, we obviously had some long rallies out there. And, yeah, the game at 5-all in the fifth, I could have easily have won that game. I played a pretty good game. Yeah, I didn't, you know. Just missed a backhand wide on my game point to go up 6 5. It's a game of inches out there, really.

Q. Now that it seems like you're pretty healthy again, what's the biggest difference between you now and you when you won this title?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Oh, I don't know. Obviously back then, yeah, the way that I moved obviously on the court was, yeah, pretty good. Obviously the way I counter punched. The game is always changing as well the whole time. Yeah, I've played through a couple of different generations, as well, I guess. Yeah, you're always trying to work on certain areas of your game. There's a lot bigger, stronger guys out there obviously dictating play with their serve and sort of forehand out there. You know, 1-2 tennis.

Q. People who have been significant in your past here are all retiring: Sampras, now Blake. All these guys are getting older. I wonder, do you have a ceiling? Do you want to be here when they finish the roof when they in 2016, 2017?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I don't know, mate. No idea.

Q. What does this mean to you, this run? You played great tennis and obviously have come back from the surgery and so forth. In general I know it's hard at this point having just lost the match but looking back at the last week, talk about what that's meant to you in terms of your confidence and ambition?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Oh, it's obviously great, you know, to come into the tournament and have tough draw in the second round playing a quality player. To get through that match and then to bounce back, and it was always going to be hard physically to keep coming out match after match, because in the second round that obviously took a lot out of me to get through del Potro. And, then, yeah, every match was going to get tougher and tougher from there on is as well. Yeah, I fought my way through the third round, and obviously I could have gone either way today. It obviously gives me a lot of confidence. It would have been great to have won today. As I said earlier, I left it all out there this whole week, week and a half. Yeah, you don't have regrets.

Q. Who's the best tennis player, Nadal, Sampras, or Federer?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Ah, well, I think Federer, you know, he's the greatest at the moment, for sure, you know, just what he's done in slams and how many he's won. Whether Rafa passes him at the end of his career, who knows? Yeah, obviously on clay Rafa is the greatest ever, so...

Q. You say this gives you some confidence and everything. Talk a little bit about that in terms of the Davis Cup that's coming up, the tie next week.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it gives me obviously a lot of confidence beating quality players. It's going to be on a different surface. So, yeah, Davis Cup is totally different, as well. You've just got to go out there and focus on the one match that you're playing and not keep worrying about, you know, the tournament. Yeah, it's going to be a tough tie for us. We obviously need Bernie playing well and ready, and then, you know, hopefully we can find a way to get three rubbers.

Q. Does the mental aspect of the game in terms of closing out matches at all get tougher as you have been around longer? You're young you don't realize what's at stake as much, but further into your career...

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yes and no. I don't think yeah, when you're young you do anything to be in that position sometimes. It's tougher as well to close it out because you have never been there before. Yeah, it's one of the hardest games to win. It's the last one.

Q. Presumably when you're with a team at the Davis Cup, you're experienced, a little older. Do you relish that role?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, absolutely. We've got a, you know, pretty young and inexperienced team really. Yeah, no, I enjoy it obviously alongside Pat and Rochey. I just try and instill some, yeah, belief into the team in what they're capable of doing. Bernie stepped it up in the last tie in Uzbekistan and played some really good tennis. I think it's a good position for me to be in later in my career.

Q. Pretty tough. New York crowd breaks out the, Aussie, Aussie chant. What goes through your head?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it's great obviously. I had a lot of support out there today. I had a lot of support all my matches this week. Yeah, it's great to come back. I think the fans here, it's an electric kind of atmosphere out there, which suits my personality and my game style.

Q. In 2001 when you won here you were much younger and on your own. Now you're traveling with your family. Does that give you more perspective about the tennis losses?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, probably. Every loss still hurts obviously. Yeah, it puts everything in perspective, I guess, and your priorities have changed. Yeah, still when I'm off court I still do absolutely everything I can to get in and prepare for matches as well as possible, but obviously you don't probably dwell on matches quite as much because you have other things to worry about.

Q. How difficult it's going to be to maintain this level on clay court? What's your thought about Polish team? Not sure about Janowicz; he's injured.

LLEYTON HEWITT: As I said before, it's going to be a tough tie. Obviously they chose clay, but I don't think it's their best surface, either. Yeah, Kubot, I think it's his best surface, clay. It's going to be interesting. They've got a good doubles player. Obviously Janowicz is a quality player. I'm sure he's going to play, though, because if he was that injured he wouldn't have played doubles here. It was one of the silliest things I have seen. Yeah, I will be focusing on what we have to do and we have to try to win three matches.

Q. Cahill was out watching you today. Did you know he was coming? I guess even though you didn't get the result, was it kind of nice to have that kind of support from fellow Aussie?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I had no idea. It's always great to have, yeah, quality Australian people around, and, you know, obviously top athletes. And I try and support as many of the other Australian athletes as well when I'm traveling. Shame I couldn't get the win.
 
#339 ·
September 30, 2013

Lleyton Hewitt

BEIJING, CHINA

L. HEWITT/T. Haas
7‑6, 6‑3


THE MODERATOR: Questions in English, please.


Q. How did you put up with the pollution? Did it affect your performance in any way in terms of breathing, et cetera?

LLEYTON HEWITT: No, it was fine. To me it was the same as the last couple days. I been practicing here anyway, so, yeah, I felt fine out there. No complaints.

Q. The last time you guys played was in 2004. How has your playing styles changed in nearly a decade apart?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, we've both had a lot of injury issues since then. The most part of our games haven't changed, our strengths. Obviously he's always been a great ball‑striker. When he's on, he's very tough to beat, but he's a little bit hit and miss as well. And that's how he was tonight.
But he's a quality player. Probably tries to come in and be a bit more aggressive than he has in the past, I would say. But, yeah, it's still always a tough battle when I play against him.

Q. Does seeing someone at his age be so successful inspire you to keep going at all?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I don't know if I'll be around when I'm 35, but it's great for Tommy. I'm really happy for him. I saw him a few years ago Halle after a couple of his surgeries, and he was really struggling. I thought it was probably the end for him then.
The way that he's fought back and got his body in great shape, good on him. He's missed a lot of tennis in his career with injuries and surgeries.

Q. Early in the second set you guys had four straight breaks to open, and he was really reading your serve well; you the same. How are you able to kind of break through that and get back on track with your serve?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I think he was a bit frustrated after losing that tiebreak in the first set, so the start the second set he was kind of ‑‑ the ball was always in his court in terms of he was just taking it to me.
Yeah, I would either go in for a clean winner or he would make an error. So I was just trying to be more solid and play percentage tennis out there.
In the end, I was lucky I could keep breaking back every time I got broken. I was able to consolidate the break when I went up 4‑2.

Q. During the match you kept looking at the direction of your coach. What are you trying to get from him? Pep talk or not?

LLEYTON HEWITT: No, I guess some players look at their coach and support crew more than others. Yeah, it's more just I guess positive energy and using it in the right way.
Obviously you have a game plan to go out there and execute. By him just nodding or clapping, you know, I guess we're working in the right direction.

Q. Also, do you happen to know you have a lot of fans here, especially girls?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Oh, yeah?

Q. How do you like it?

LLEYTON HEWITT: It's all right. I'm a bit older now and I'm married, so...

Q. After the US Open you go all the way to Poland to play the Davis Cup. Is winning being the Davis Cup trophy a goal at this stage of your career?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I don't know. Obviously I would love to win it again. The most important thing for me was to try and get Australia back in the World Group. That's been one of my biggest goals the last two or three years.
I feel like all my preparation and how I played the US Open was perfect preparation going into the Davis Cup against Poland. I went out there and played great there on clay.
I feel like we've got a pretty young and inexperienced team apart from myself, and so I feel like there are times when I can help the younger guys out. Hopefully then Tomic, Kyrgios, Matosevic, these guys build on that when I do hang up the racquets.

Q. You had some great wins in China, especially in Shanghai. This year you play both in Beijing Shanghai with wildcards. Talk about some of those memories.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it's hard to beat 2002 Master's Cup. Yeah, I was going into it and I could have lost my No. 1 ranking if I didn't do really well in the Masters Cup that year at the end of the year.
You know, it was tough field. I had to beat Marat Safin in the last round robin match to get through to the semifinals. I beat him 6‑4 in the third.
Then I had to play Federer who was undefeated in the semifinals. He won all his group matches, and I beat him 7‑5 in the third, and then had to back up and play Ferrero. That was 6‑3 or 6‑4 in the fifth.
So physically it was an unbelievable effort to claim the No. 1 ranking yet again at the end of the year. Yeah, an amazing achievement to hold it for a whole year as well. Obviously Shanghai means a lot to me. Obviously got a lot of fans from the way that I played back then.
 
#340 ·
SHANGHAI ROLEX MASTERS

October 8, 2013

Lleyton Hewitt

SHANGHAI, CHINA

A. SEPPI/L. Hewitt
6‑4, 6‑2


THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.


Q. Good start. What happened after that?

LLEYTON HEWITT: He played a lot better. He hardly missed a ball after the first three games. I had chances to go up 4‑Love. From then on, he played really well.
He served better than I've seen him serve before. Yeah, he hit his spots. That's sometimes his weaker side, his serve and especially his second serve.
He actually got a high percentage of first serves in. On that kind of court out there, it's the perfect kind of court for him.

Q. Your own serve probably wasn't what you would have wanted today.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I served in patches. Probably when I was down breakpoints and stuff, I didn't get enough first serves in. He's such a tough player to play when the ball is on his terms.

Q. What would your plans be for the rest of the year in terms of tournaments?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I'm not sure. I'm meant to play Vienna next week. I've just had a bit of a niggle in my wrist the last two weeks. I'm going to get that assessed and make a decision from there.

Q. 'A niggle.' Do you have any sort of clues about what might be going on there?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Not really, no. Yeah, haven't had any scans or anything, but I've been feeling it the last two weeks.

Q. Will you do that here before you go?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Not sure. Haven't thought about it yet.

Q. On a completely unrelated event, the Australian Open, record crowds all the time. Do you ever look back and think what might have happened if the move to Melbourne Park had not been made? It's become something that a lot of people never thought it would be.

LLEYTON HEWITT: No, I don't think about it. I've only ever known it since it's Melbourne Park when I used to go and watch. All the Grand Slams have grown over the years. You know, with roof, different stuff, yeah, Melbourne Park was fantastic and now it's getting better and better each year.

Q. Probably grown more than the others, would it be fair to say?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, probably. Obviously now with a third roof on another major court. A lot of different stuff out there. I haven't experienced a lot of it. But from what I hear, it's very fan‑friendly, which is the big thing.

Q. What are your personal expectations over the next 12 months?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Obviously for me the next focus is the Australian Open and then the Davis Cup tie against France straight after that. They're the two main focuses. That's the priority.
 
#341 ·
December 31, 2013

Lleyton Hewitt

BRISBANE, QUEENSLAND

L. HEWITT/T. Kokkinakis
6‑3, 7‑5


THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.


Q. Talented young man?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, he's obviously got fair bit of firepower out there. Didn't see any of his matches in quallies. Heard pretty good reports though from a lot of the coaches as he was getting through.
Yeah, this week is probably a big step up for him qualifying for a tour event and beating the No. 1 seed in quallies in straight sets.
Yeah, it was an awkward match out there tonight for me as well. At the Brisbane Davis Cup tie here when we played Korea I tried to help him out quite a bit on this court actually. I was out that tie with a foot injury, so it was sort of a weird feeling out there tonight playing against him.

Q. Was a good tie for you, good first round? Second set he gave you a bit of a work out.

LLEYTON HEWITT: No, it was good. I'll only get better from now. As I said, it was just an awkward situation really to play him, and something that I just had to hang tough and make him play a lot of balls out there.
In the end, I think my experience sort of told.

Q. Do you think he's got what it takes to be a really important part of the Davis Cup team in the future?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Oh, yeah, he'll be playing not that far away. We saw that year. No one would have predicted Nick to get the opportunity to, one, be in the four‑man squad, and, two, actually play a live rubber as well.
Thanasi is probably at the moment one of the next in line. James Duckworth is another one on ranking who is probably the next guy as well.
It's hard it saying because Thanasi is obviously a lot younger. James' ranking is still a bit higher, and he beat Thanasi only a month or so ago as well.

Q. With Nick obviously battling that injury, there is a chance there may be a wildcard available for the Australian Open. Would you like to see Thanasi get it?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I would think Thanasi would probably get one anyway. I haven't spoken to anyone. I don't decide the wildcards. But if they were to come and ask me, I would be surprised if he didn't get one.
Yeah, obviously would have been nice if he won the playoff. Then he would just get it himself.
But I'll leave that all to the selectors.

Q. Do you dare to dream at all about the next match?

LLEYTON HEWITT: That's still a tough match. He's going to be really tough on these courts. They're playing a lot quicker this year, as quick a hardcourt as I've played on in a long time, and his game suits this kind of court perfectly.
No, it's not going to be easy by no means. I'm going to have to return really well. He's obviously a big lefty, so I'll get, Big Red Guccione out there tomorrow to hit a few serves at me.

Q. Did you watch any of his game today?

LLEYTON HEWITT: No. No. I had my feet up watching Bernie in Perth.
 
#342 ·
January 2, 2014

Lleyton Hewitt

BRISBANE, QUEENSLAND

L. HEWITT/F. Lopez
7‑5, 6‑3

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.


Q. You dug yourself a bit of a hole to start.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, obviously totally different matchup to my first match. You know, Feliciano is so crafty out there and pushes the ball around. He doesn't give you a lot of cheap points.
Yeah, feels like at times he struggles to hurt you with his slice backhand, but moves it around the court really well. Just overplayed on a couple points early in the first set, and then he played a couple good points.
Yeah, you know in end I was just trying to hang on in my service games through the first set and just stay only one break down.
In the end it worked perfectly because I was able to draw a couple double faults out of him and obviously got that break and then broke again at 6‑5.
Once I won the first set, I felt like I was really in control.

Q. Obviously one side of the draw has opened up slightly with Gilles dropping out. Can you dare to dream about beating Roger in a final?

LLEYTON HEWITT: No. The guys that are in the quarterfinals are there for a reason. Yeah, I don't take anyone for granted. Copil will give me all the challenge I need out there tomorrow. Yeah, he's got a big game, so I'm going to have to be ready for it.

Q. Do you know much about him?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Not a lot. I've only seen him play a little bit here and there. He's played a lot of matches and is going to be feeling confident. That's probably one of his best wins in his career he had today against Simon, so, yeah, he'll be ready for it.

Q. Talk about satisfying wins in your career. In the last couple of years, how satisfying is today's win?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it's good. Lopez is a quality player. He's a quality tour player. He's been seeded at slams for a long time as well. He's crafty out there. It's good to beat quality players I guess, especially on your home soil.

Q. You looked like you've really slowed your play down a lot.

LLEYTON HEWITT: On the court or?

Q. Yeah.

LLEYTON HEWITT: No, that's probably how he plays a little bit. He pushes a lot of balls around out there, so it's a matter of waiting and picking the right ball.
He tries to draw you into overplaying out there, and that was something I was doing early and I gave him too many cheap points.
When I chose to come into the net, I didn't come in on the right ball. Against a crafty guy like him, I got to pick and choose the right things.

Q. You've played on courts all over the world. How fast are these hard courts compared to some on the other hardcourts you've played on?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, they're pretty quick. They're as quick probably as anything going around at the moment I would say, these ones are.
I really don't know if Melbourne will be.

Q. As quick as Arthur Ashe Stadium during its quickest days? That fast?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, close. I think on a hot day with these balls. These balls are definitely different to last year for sure.
Yeah, Arthur Ashe Stadium‑‑ the US Open courts have changed since I won there. When Rafter played, there was really like a sort of like nearly a glass top on it. It was really shiny out there. Now there is a lot more grit in the court which obviously slows it up and makes the balls heavier.
That was what these courts were like last year. They were a lot heavier with that grit. There's very little grit out there on the court. I think it does play a little bit slower at nighttime and obviously in the humidity a little bit.
Some of the outside courts during the day in the heat, it's pretty quick.

Q. Is that suits you pretty well. You like quick courts, no?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, you're just not used to it more than anything because you don't play on it that often. Yeah, once I get my eye in it I don't mine it, yeah.
Shanghai is probably the only other one that's probably reasonably quick, I would say.

Q. Would you like the same speed in Melbourne?

LLEYTON HEWITT: It doesn't worry me. I was surprised when I hit on this court. Few people originally thought ‑‑ they were worried that it could be slow, and then I came up a few weeks ago and had a hit on it and I said, You don't have to worry about it being slow. That wasn't a problem.

Q. Two matches in. How are you feeling physically?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Physically I feel fine. No problem.

Q. Rusty at all, or you feel yourself coming along as you would like?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I'm happy. I've snuck out of both matches in straight sets, which is good. Been tested in both matches, which is good as well.
You want to have those little mini fights out there, I guess, to save break points and hang in there and hold close service games, especially going into a Grand Slam.

Q. You set yourself any specific goals?

LLEYTON HEWITT: No, no. Too old for that.

Q. Just your general take on Edberg and Becker, coming back, Bruguera, guys who played, coming into the coaching game. Just your thoughts on that.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I think it's good for the game. Yeah, whether Lendl's success had something do with it, I don't know, but, yeah, a lot of those guys are guys that I grew up idolizing. The more we have them around the game, whether it's commentating or Davis Cup captain or coaching, whatever, it's good for the game.

Q. Federer was saying he's a bit surprised to see Becker back in. Talk about Djokovic though. He went undefeated at the end of the year, playing at a high level, and brings in another coach. Why, in your opinion?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Not really sure. That one is probably the biggest surprise, I would say, out of any of them. I don't know. I read somewhere that Marián is only I don't even know if he's coming to Australia or not.
Yeah, that's a little bit strange to me. I would have thought even if Becker was there and he was going to help out in ways, you know, Marián has obviously done a pretty good job and the success rate at Melbourne Park is pretty good.
Yeah, I don't know. Obviously Novak knows his game pretty well. He just want that little bit of outside influence, and he thinks Boris can do it.
 
#343 ·
January 3, 2014

Lleyton Hewitt

BRISBANE, QUEENSLAND

L. HEWITT/M. Copil
6‑4, 6‑2

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.


Q. Hot enough out there for you?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I like the conditions. It was nice. It was good conditions to play in. It didn't feel overly hot. You know, I guess with the roof and a bit of breeze coming in as well it was nice conditions to play in.

Q. It looked like overall once you sort of settled in and sort of he worked out his game a little it went pretty well.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, in the end my ball striking was great. Felt really comfortable. Felt like I controlled all of the points from halfway through the first set.
I hadn't seen a lot him play before. I knew he had a big and explosive game. I was sort of trying to feel my way early on, and he sort of just jumped on a few shots and really took his chances to go up a break.
Then, yeah, even from the first game I felt like I was pretty sharp with my return of serve. It as just trying more trying to find out where he was going, especially on big points, stuff like that.
In the end I felt like I put pressure on nearly every one of his service games.

Q. Serves were coming through at 220 in the second set.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, no, I returned well. I made him play a lot of balls. In the end that was sort of the telling factor. He felt like he had to start going from more and more, and I was able to draw a double fault out of him at 4‑All to get the break to serve for the first set.
Yeah, he didn't really want to get in a tally with me, so he tried to obviously go for a big second serve.

Q. How long since you felt this good physically?

LLEYTON HEWITT: A lot of last year I felt good physically. You know, took a while to get over the latest foot surgery I had.
But apart from that, last year, yeah, there was times. US Open I played great, moved really well, felt good physically. Even Queen's, Wimbledon times.

Q. The benefit of the pre‑season I guess as well.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, absolutely. I feel sharp at the moment. Yeah, I feel like I've been able to do all the hard work. I did every training session that my trainer and coach wanted to put me through. Didn't miss a beat.

Q. I know you've been on big stages before, but is it still exciting?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, absolutely. This is still why you play the game, to have a crack at the best guys out there. Obviously every match gets tougher. Nishikori tomorrow is going to be tougher again. Another step up in class. He looks it can hitting the ball well at the moment and really clean out there.
It's obviously great preparation for the Australian Open, but I wanted to do well here this week. So far so good.

Q. You played him before?

LLEYTON HEWITT: In played him once at Wimbledon maybe two, three years ago.

Q. He said you played him in Japan recently?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Exhibition, yeah.

Q. How was that?

LLEYTON HEWITT: It was okay.

Q. Cold?

LLEYTON HEWITT: It was indoors, so it was cool weather.
But it was a year ago, so more for the Japanese crowd I think to see him.

Q. What are your thoughts on his game?

LLEYTON HEWITT: He's a great ball striker and an aggressive baseliner, I would say. He serves in patches. Doesn't have the biggest serve, but it's kind of underrated.
He will hit his spots well and might give me couple opportunities on second serves, but his return of serve is very good.

Q. Did you feel like you're getting sort of just the right amount of match practice?

LLEYTON HEWITT: It's perfect so far, yeah. I want to keep winning and get as many matches as possible obviously. I'm happy to win in straight sets.

Q. Three Australians in the quarters of tournament for the first time since '04. Is that a sign of a revival?

LLEYTON HEWITT: It may be. Obviously in Australia it's probably the biggest opportunity, because with wildcards and stuffwe I don't know how many, maybe six in the main draw here? Something like that.
Obviously with wildcards and stuff we get more guys in. Grothy has had good wins, but obviously a little bit lucky not playing Kevin last night. He's improved a lot. With his style of game he can cause an upset against anyone.
Marinko, obviously I'm really happy for him winning his first couple matches in Australia. I think that was really important for him.
He's a quality ball‑striker. He got to 39 in the world last year, so...

Q. Do you talk to him about the mental side of his game?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, a little bit. You don't want to over complicate things. I'm sure a lot of people are talking to him.
For me it's more I don't try and dwell on it as much. I've probably tried to work more his mental side with Davis Cup and handling that situation more than playing in Australia or Grand Slams.
 
#344 ·
January 4, 2014

Lleyton Hewitt

BRISBANE, QUEENSLAND

L. HEWITT/K. Nishikori
5‑7, 6‑4, 6‑3


THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Hasn't anyone told you you're supposed to be the old bloke?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I don't know. I keep putting myself through it. Must like punishment.
Yeah, it was tough conditions. Really tough to play out there for both of us today. It turned into a mental battle.
Throughout the second set there were times I could've easily gonna away. He wasn't giving me any cheap points at all out there. I had to fight through a lot of my service games.
Yeah, even late in the second set. Had a lot of chances in the second set, so I could have got down on myself a bit. To my credit I kept hanging in there and ended up getting a few errors out of him in the end of the second, which was nice.

Q. Have you ever played in tougher or hotter conditions?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I don't know. I think when you just come off the court it feels like it's the worst you've played in.
Yeah, when I played my first Davis Cup tie in Boston it was bloody hot as well. Probably a drier heat. Today was humid and muggy in there.
Even when I warmed up. I was sweating just walking out to have my warmup this morning out there on center court. It was a really heavy humidity feel out there.

Q. Do you think that worked to your advantage in the end, just that you're a bit more acclimatized to it than him perhaps?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I don't know. The end of the first set I didn't feel like it was working for me. Could have gone either way. I think we were both feeling it at different times throughout match. End of the second set he was feeling it a little bit serving to stay in it.
I felt pretty fresh actually. There was a little bit of breeze coming through throughout the end of the second and start of the third set; whereas through that first set there was really no breeze out there at all.

Q. The crowd was enormous. Terrific atmosphere out there. Being at home in the end help you as well?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, absolutely. It's a great center court to play on. It's a great atmosphere out there. Every one of my matches the last two years have been really, really good out there.
So, yeah, obviously a semifinal as well. Having an Australian get through to the final, it's nice.

Q. Roger is obviously up a set. Talk about playing him again tomorrow in the final.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, be good. You want to play against the best players, and obviously Roger and I have a good history and a lot of tough matches in the past in slams and Davis Cups and everything.
So, yeah, he's been great obviously for this tournament and ticket sales and promoting tennis in Australia again.
Yeah, if it's him, I'm going to enjoy it.

Q. How important has your performance this week been as you head into the Australian Open?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it's important. Obviously you come off a couple months not playing any matches, so just to get that self‑belief and match toughness back and, yeah, to beat quality players match after match. The last three days I've had to do it back to back as well. It's good.

Q. Was it a surprise that you had fight like that you?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Not really. I think the US Open I outlasted Juan Martin in the fifth set there. Yeah, there's definitely been times I still feel like I can go the distance with a lot of the guys.
Hopefully I bounce back well tomorrow.

Q. Is that a concern for you, the need to back up tomorrow?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I'll do all the right things and then hopefully I feel good. Yeah, as you get older I'm sure it gets tougher.
Yeah, I'll do all the right things recovery‑wise and what I need to, and hopefully I'll be pretty sweet.

Q. As far as your rivalry goes with Roger, there was a stretch where he got you a bunch matches in a row and you were able to break that in Halle. When you have that kind of streak going, looking through the lens of Serena and Sharapova now, who beat her 14 straight times or something like that, when you do get the duck off, is it about more mental? Is it a matchup thing? How did you see that skid ending for you?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Well, I reckon nearly everyone had some kind of run against Roger those years. He lost two or three matches for the year. Apart from losing to go Rafa a couple times, he didn't lose too many matches.
Yeah, you look at Jarkko Nieminen, and it was 13 or 14 to nil. Roger is obviously through that period where he dominated. He was very tough for anyone to beat.
In Halle I got a little bit lucky, but I did play a really good three‑set match there.

Q. If you had to give advice to Sharapova for how to finally break through, what would that be?

LLEYTON HEWITT: There is no secret. Obviously mentally it's tough if someone has always had the wood on you. But you got to go out there and keep giving yourself an opportunity.
Sharapova is top 4 or 5, whatever she is in the world. She's only going to play Serena in semis and finals of slams. She's doing okay.

Q. He was saying he hasn't played you in a final in Australia. How big is that for you to have a chance to raise a trophy after beating him on home soil?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, we wouldn't have played too many times in Australia. Only a couple in the Australian Open and obviously Davis Cup.
Yeah, it's obviously good. It's always good to play Roger. I prefer to play him in finals rather than round of 16 or quarters or third round of slams, so...

Q. (Question regarding 2003 Davis Cup match.)

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it has to be. Yeah, in the conditions and over five sets and he was the reigning Wimbledon champion only a couple months before that as well.
But I beat him in the Masters Cup in the semifinals in 2002, which was a hell of a match as well. 7‑5 in the third. So probably couple of my bigger ones.

Q. How fresh can you be tomorrow?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Hopefully close to 100%.
 
#345 ·
January 5, 2014

Lleyton Hewitt

BRISBANE, QUEENSLAND

L. HEWITT/R. Federer
6‑1, 4‑6, 6‑3

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.


Q. Congratulations.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Thanks.

Q. How much confidence does a performance and victory like this give you going into the Aussie Open?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, a lot. Obviously today I wasn't focused on the Australian Open. It was more about today. Playing the best players in the world and finals of tournaments, always it's exciting. That's why you still play the game.
For me, it was motivation enough just to try to get the win out there and obviously win another title. It's been a couple years. So I was just ready for the challenge today. Played great obviously at the start, really well. Took Roger little bit of time to get into the match.
Then I just had to fight hard at the start of the third set.

Q. Did it surprise you a little bit how he started?

LLEYTON HEWITT: A little bit. I'm not sure if he was totally set sort of on his game plan and what he was trying to do at the time. I was rushing him a little bit as well.
For the first set I was seeing the ball like a football. Didn't really matter where he served, I was on it. I felt great out there.
As the match went on, you know, I think from yesterday I started getting a little more sluggish as the match went on just after obviously backing up from yesterday.
Roger obviously picked up his game and cut out a lot more of those cheap errors, and then he started serving a lot better towards the end of the second set, and especially the start of the third set.

Q. When he's misfiring like that, what do you do to try to keep him misfiring, I guess?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I didn't want to go back into my shell too much, though, because I came out and I was pretty aggressive right from the start. Even on his first serve, second serves, I was having a crack at everything.
Even when he was up and he wasn't making that many balls out there, I didn't want to give him an opportunity to play into form either.
It was a Catch 22 for me. I could go after it a bit and also make a few errors. If I just try and rally and keep the ball in play, he's going to step around and sooner or later he's going to use that lethal forehand.
It was a tough situation to be in because I did win the first set so comfortably.

Q. What does this title do for you, beating Roger Federer?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, the pleasing thing is how I backed up. Obviously had my first match on Tuesday night, and then after that had one day off and after that had to play four matches in a row since then.
At my age and then to come through and do that, the last two wins have been big, quality players as well.

Q. Do you get any sort of benefit from the practice sessions with him?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Not really. We've practiced a lot over the last probably two years now, year and a half, two years. We've practiced on grass, US Open, Shanghai, a lot of different places, Aussie Open.
So, yeah, a little bit we both know what we're going to get from each other for the main part. It's only little things here and there. Once you're on the practice court you're working on small things as well. It's not exactly how you're going to play on the match court.

Q. After the last few years, how much does coming back and winning a title sort of mean to you? You seemed pretty emotional talking about it after the match.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, means a lot with the caliber of players here as well in this tournament. Look at the start of the week. It's not an easy tournament to win. I wasn't one of the top four seeds, so I had to win all five matches to get through. Roger only had to play four to win it here.
There are pleasing parts and massive positives to take out of it.

Q. What would be a good Australian Open for you? How do you set the bar?

LLEYTON HEWITT: A lot depends on draws and how I play. I'm not looking at what round or whatever. I go out there an I'll compete exactly the same as I've competed here this week.
If I play like I did this week, then I have a chance of doing some damage against serious players.

Q. The win today also, I'm pretty certain, will lift you above Bernie. How much does the Aussie No. 1 ranking mean to you?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Not that much. It's not something I've thought about at all. Yeah, the only thing that it does any difference is who we may have to play in Davis Cup tie, because the No. 1 plays the No. 2 on day one. For me that's the only difference.

Q. What was more satisfying: Winning a title in Australia at 16 or 32?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Good question. I don't know. Yeah, I don't know. Obviously that's where it all started for me. I was 16. I was in my hometown. Yeah, it's hard to beat that.
But then winning here at a new tournament and it's only the second time I've been up here as well. I've won nearly every tournament there is to win in Australia.
Yeah, to beat possibly the greatest player in the final means a lot. So it's very hard to split 'em.

Q. How satisfying is it at this stage of your career to still play matches against Del Potro, Wawrinka, and now Federer and beat them?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I think the most pleasing thing is what I've had to come through and the tough times in terms of surgery. Before the last surgery I made no secret. There was no guarantees I would be able to play again at all.
There were still times when I came back from that surgery and played that Wimbledon straight after it and I was still doubting whether I was ever going to be pain‑free again. For me that's the most pleasing thing.
I look to my bench and the guys on my team, and they know exactly what we've all been through with it. That's the most pleasing thing.

Q. How would you rate Roger's chances in Melbourne?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I think most of his other matches he looked pretty good I thought this week. Yesterday I only saw a little bit. There was a small patch where Chardy was able to get on top for a little period there.
For the most part this week I would say Roger's serve, he's hitting his spots pretty well. That's important for him. Yeah, he's always going to be very tough to beat, especially in Melbourne over five sets as well.
At the moment, it's really only those top three guys that are sort of ahead of him, I guess, in the chances to win it.

Q. What if you come up against one of those top three now that you've beat Roger?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, still going to be as tough as ever. Just gives my a lot more confidence going out there believing in how well I'm hitting the ball at the moment and that I can matchup with the best guys.
Obviously it's a different stage, winning three out of five against those guys. That's why I still play the game.
 
#346 ·
Lleyton Hewitt 12-01-14

Q. How are you feeling going into round one?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I feel pretty good, as good as I could have hoped for. Yeah, this week has been good. Obviously relaxing for me, but still being able to get the hit outs that I want. Spent quite a bit of time on center court, so it's been good.

Q. Big news with you and Pat in the doubles. What's the story there?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I don't know. I think he still thinks he's got it in him, so... Hope I don't have to carry him too much (smiling).

I actually asked him a little while ago. Yeah, he still hits a lot at the Davis Cup ties, works us out a bit. Yeah, it's just a bit of fun. It will be nice on my off days, hopefully I'm still in the singles, on my off days to go out and play dubs with Pat.

He's hitting the ball well enough. Beat Ivanisevic and Henman and those guys over in the seniors tour. Just going to be a bit of fun for both of us.

Q. Is there a more serious side to it or just a bit of fun?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Not really. Just a bit of fun.

Q. Is this something you have always wanted to do?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Not really. Not something I really thought about.
No, it's good fun for both of us obviously. Yeah, I obviously looked up to Pat a hell of a lot growing up. He really helped me out. It's great that he's Davis Cup captain for me now, as well. Most likely I'll finish my career with him as Davis Cup captain, which is fantastic for me as well.
While we're still able to move around the court together, it's nice we can go out there and play in a Grand Slam.

Q. Any nerves?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Sure I'll be a little bit nervous. He's been doing a lot of hitting. I've been concentrating more on my singles, so I have to get ready for doubles as well. It will be good.

Q. If it does go well, any chance of you playing in the Davis Cup?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I doubt it. We won't have anybody to sit on the side of the court. We can't do that.

Q. Can you compare form and fitness as to how you feel coming into this Australian Open compared to the last couple years?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Obviously the form this year, I haven't lost a match, hitting the ball well, done all the right things. Had quality wins as well, especially the semi and final in Brisbane. That gives me a lot of confidence moving forward.
Last year I felt like my ball striking was good coming out of Kooyong with the three matches there as well.
A lot is going to depend on Tuesday, how you go out there and play over the five sets. Last year's draw wasn't easy. This year's isn't going to be easy either. You have to go out there, play your game, and hopefully I'll be ready.

Q. The forecast for Tuesday is 41 degrees. How do you feel about that?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it's going to be tough for everyone, whoever has to play in the heat of the day. Doesn't really worry me. I've obviously played in really extreme heat on the Saturday and Sunday in Brisbane. The semi and final, had to bounce back two days in a row in tough three setters in both matches. That was good preparation.
It's going to be a dryer heat here. Not as humid as up in Brisbane. You still have to do all the right precautions as well going into the match.

Q. How do you see Nadal and Tomic?

LLEYTON HEWITT: It's obviously frustrating for Bernie having to play against Rafa. The biggest thing is to get that out of his mind and not focus, that it's just a first round match. He does get up for the big matches, playing the big names. I have no doubt he's going to play a good match.
Yeah, it's going to be tough for him, though, to go with Rafa for five sets. That's the tough thing. It turns into a physical battle. That's what Rafa does to everyone out there. You know, the kind of pain and stuff that Novak had to go through to win a few years ago on center court, that's what it takes. That's why it's so hard to beat Rafa.

Yeah, it's going to be a big ask obviously. I can definitely see the first couple of sets with Bernie, he'll get his chances.

Q. How do you see your match against Seppi?

LLEYTON HEWITT: He's a tough competitor. He plays well from the baseline, doesn't miss a lot of balls out there. There's going to be a lot of long, grueling rallies. I've just got to play my game, though, and execute the plan that obviously myself, Looch and Rochey will come up with.

Yeah, my ball striking at the moment is as good as it's been in a long time. I feel confident with what I'm doing down my end. I just got to go out there and execute it.

Q. You haven't lost a game. Seppi hasn't won a game.

LLEYTON HEWITT: But he made Round of 16 here last year and beat quality players and lasted five set matches as well. I know he beat Istomin. He can last the five sets.

Yeah, in the back of his mind he's going to be happy to be coming back here. Then again, he probably didn't want to play me in the first round. We'll just see what happens.

Q. Rochey is not upset that you didn't ask him to play doubles?

LLEYTON HEWITT: No. He would have gone all right. Newk is probably more (indiscernible).

Q. Most of the fans are really cheering for you. In your future, what are you hoping to achieve? What are you hoping to fight for? What is your dream?

LLEYTON HEWITT: As I said, obviously Grand Slams and Davis Cup is the pinnacle still, means a lot to me. The goal last year was to try and get the boys back in the Davis Cup World Group. We were able to do that on the back of some of my efforts, and obviously Bernie played extremely well there, as well.

Yeah, that was a massive goal. We've given ourselves an opportunity at least to be in it. That's still part of it, trying to help the Davis Cup boys out.

We have a pretty young list now of guys coming up. They are improving. Hopefully in the next couple years they can move on that and get in like a few more guys in the top 50, top 70 in the world.

Personally, the Australian Open and Wimbledon are probably my two biggest events that I try to prepare as well as possible for. I just pick and choose my tournaments where I want to play.

Q. How exciting is it for you to see the young Aussies all making their debuts?

LLEYTON HEWITT: It's great to see those young guys. Nick obviously had a big win in the French Open as well when he got that late call up really, that wild card there, and he took advantage of it, which is great to see.

Yeah, it's good for those guys because there's not a lot of pressure on them either at the moment to go out there and they can play against these guys. It's a good time of the year for them.

Hopefully they can build on it. If they don't, they can at least learn and use the experience moving forward. But Jordan Thompson has obviously stepped it up the last couple months, as well.

Q. 18 straight Australian Opens. Can you quite believe that?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Not really. When I stop playing, it's something I'll be pretty proud of, wherever it stops, whatever number. 18 in a row, and in singles main draw as well. I wouldn't have dreamt of that as my first one in '97 as a 15 year old, that's for sure. I didn't think I'd be playing anywhere near 30.

To still be going just before my 33rd birthday is something I'm happy with. There's a period there I had to battle injuries just to get out on the court here as well. That's the pleasing thing and why I'm feeling mentally fresh and pretty good because I did spend quite a bit of chunks of those three or four years off the court.

Q. What memories do you have of being 15?

LLEYTON HEWITT: It's the only time I never played on Rod Laver Arena. My only singles match on an outside court.

Yeah, I was obviously pretty nervous. Just qualified. Drew Sergi Bruguera who had won a couple of French Opens. He hit spin on his forehand that I'd never seen before. Yeah, as a 15 year old, it was a great learning experience, though, for me, what it takes to compete against the best guys. Obviously build on that the next few years.
 
#347 ·
Lleyton Hewitt 14-01-14

Q. Just how tough were the conditions out there today?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it was obviously hot. As the match went on we got a little bit of cloud cover. And with the roof, you know, just a bit of shade I guess across the court, which is a bit more pleasant to play in.

Q. How important is it in conditions like that to monitor what your opponent is doing and how his body language is? How did you find his body language in the fifth set?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it's important to keep an eye on it. Obviously there's a lot of ups and downs over a five set match.

Yeah, I think throughout the fourth set I felt like he was struggling a little bit. He wasn't reacting quite as well. Then in the start of the fifth set he came out sort of with all guns blazing.

Played a great game to break me the first game of the fifth. He sort of went for it. He could have easily made four errors and gave me that first game, so...

Q. You must be happy with your fitness to be able to sustain it for 4 hours and 18 minutes?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, no, I felt not bad. Even towards the end, a little bit flat as the match goes on.
But, yeah, there was only one or two points in it in the end.

Q. Where does this rank in terms of your tough losses?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Every Grand Slam loss is tough. There's no easy ones. You know, obviously if you come close to winning, even though it's a first round match, it's still frustrating.

Q. What turned it around in that third set after being two sets down?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I was probably a little bit more aggressive as the match went on. Started hitting my forehand down the line a little bit better. My inside out forehand was running away a little bit.

He served pretty well for the most part, for a guy that doesn't have the biggest serve out there. He hits his spots pretty well. But, you know, I was able to just sort of hang in there in the third set and somehow able to turn it around.

I was down an early break in the third, fourth, and fifth set.

Q. You're out there on the court, the match is on your racquet, but the fanatics are up in the stands chanting. Do you hear them? Does that boost you?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it's obviously great having them there anytime. They were up in Brisbane a couple weeks ago. All the Australian tournaments have been a lot of fun, as well as the Davis Cup.

Q. Do you actually hear their chants?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, you hear some stuff, yeah.

Q. You're down to play doubles on Hisense tomorrow.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Is it Hisense? Thanks.

Q. Still going ahead with it?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, at this stage.

Q. Have you talked to Pat about it?

LLEYTON HEWITT: No, I haven't spoken to him yet.

Q. At this stage you'll play?

LLEYTON HEWITT: That's what I said, yeah.

Q. If you and Patrick teamed up with the other players and the legends that they're associated with, like Murray and Lendl, Roger and Edberg, Djokovic and Becker, how do you think that would come out?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Playing a match?

Q. Yeah.

LLEYTON HEWITT: I don't know. I'd say that right at the moment Pat's probably the best out of all of those guys. He's probably in the best shape. You know, Stefan is still in good shape. I don't know how much he hits, though.

Q. Tonight you equaled the record for the most five set matches in the Open era. Equaled Andre Agassi with 41. Must get sick of putting your body through constant grueling, five set matches.

LLEYTON HEWITT: It would be nice to, yeah, get through a bit more comfortabler [sic] and get through. With that said, I didn't have a lot of choice after being down two sets to love today. That was the only way out of it. I had to try to keep fighting, find a way.

You know, ended up one point from coming back from two sets.
 
#348 ·
Lleyton Hewitt & Pat Rafter 15-01-14

Q. How did it feel to be back out there together?

PAT RAFTER: Listen, it's always great fun being back out there with Lleyton. Having a player like him, you know you're going to get a few games. Outside of that, I was a little worried how it was going to go.

No, so when we spoke about it, we sort of joked about it, in the last Davis Cup tie in Poland, when I made a few more returns, he thought he might go okay. Maybe have a bit of fun at the Aussie Open. I don't think it will happen again, but it was good fun while it lasted.

Q. Did you go better than you thought?

PAT RAFTER: I served better than I thought I would. I volleyed okay. Gee, I wish I returned a bit better than that. And my second shot was just forget it, it was horrible. It was actually laughable. At a certain stage, I was just laughing.

Q. What did you think of Pat's form?

LLEYTON HEWITT: As he said, he served very well. After so many shoulder problems and surgeries, sometimes that's the toughest thing.
That was obviously his strength today. Sort of kept us in it today, holding his tight service games.
Those guys played well, though. They served well to both of us. He played well. A bit of fun. It was a good crowd atmosphere out there. It was good for the tournament, I think.

Q. Pat, how was it to hear the fans cheering?

PAT RAFTER: It was good. Yeah, it was nice. But those days are sort of over, too. Lleyton's the one there. It's sort of a strange one. I'm going out with someone who's an Aussie icon, as well. He's so big in the game. I'd like to think that it was for both of us and we both enjoyed that atmosphere. It was fun. I think we both enjoyed it, yeah.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it was good.

PAT RAFTER: I'm not even asking him. It was good for me. It's fine. It's sort of embarrassing to him a bit, too.

Q. I notice Goran was behind your game.

PAT RAFTER: I was waiting for him to heckle me but he didn't.

LLEYTON HEWITT: I think afterwards he heckled you.

PAT RAFTER: He gave it to me afterwards. He couldn't believe how bad my return was.

Q. What did he say?

PAT RAFTER: He said it was F ing bad, not just bad, it was really bad. I said, Yeah. He said, You served okay, so I don't know how he talks. He's Croatian.

It was just fun. Goran and I have been hanging out. We played a fair few tournaments with each other in Europe. We got to spend a fair amount of time with each other. He takes the piss out of me and he thinks it's funny.

Q. Australia has a tough Davis Cup tie coming up against France. Could be without Tomic now. He's injured. Comment on that.

PAT RAFTER: Yeah, no, I heard about that. I've been talking to Bernie and the doctors, as well.
We'll be looking to make a call on that tomorrow.

Q. Who would be the most likely replacement?

PAT RAFTER: I don't know yet. We need to sit down as a team. We have a few options, but nothing we really want to talk about just yet. We're keeping it pretty close to ourselves within our camp.
But if Bernie thinks he's gone for a couple of weeks and the doctors think that, we can't risk taking him.

Q. How about your preparation for this doubles match? Did you practice a lot before the match?

PAT RAFTER: I probably should have practiced a bit more. I just don't return. I knew that was going to be the worst part of my game and it was.

Q. The last couple of weeks you made a lot of practice sessions?

PAT RAFTER: Yeah, but we've just been working with other guys. I haven't worked on any returns, as you could see.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Feeding balls to other Davis Cup players.

PAT RAFTER: We work with the other guys on their games. That's been the format over the last few weeks. It certainly wasn't getting someone on the court serving to me so I could work on returns in my doubles game (laughter). Probably should have.

Q. Lleyton, how was it for you to play a match where there was so much focus on your partner?

LLEYTON HEWITT: No, it was just fun. As I said coming into it, it's not always about getting the result. As you could see, the buildup, the media and press and public and everything once we got announced in the draw, I think it was just good for the tournament, Australian tennis.
Yeah, as I've always said, Pat helped me out when I first came into the Davis Cup team as a 15, 16 year old. He took me under his wing, helped me out. We obviously played some massive Davis Cup matches together as well. We got a pretty good friendship.
Yeah, it's just nice to be out there. We still enjoy it, have a bit of a laugh.

Q. Pat, Kokkinakis and Kyrgios, what do you make of them?

PAT RAFTER: I think we all collectively as the Australian development squad and Davis Cup team just think these two guys are part of our future, a big part of the tennis future in Australia.
I want the media to know they're a few years off. They're going to have some good results, but it's going to take a while for their bodies to develop and strengthen and probably understand the game more as time goes along. But they are super talents. It's great to see them having a couple of wins here.

Q. Do you think Australia has locked a real solid doubles pair in the Davis Cup?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, well, I think in the past, obviously me and Gooch are undefeated in Davis Cup doubles. Nearly beaten Federer/Wawrinka, quality teams as well.
Gooch has only lost one match ever in Davis Cup. So he's sort of our go to guy in the doubles. Obviously a lot depends on me physically. Pat, me, Rochey, Josh Eagle, sort of make a call after day one if I'm going to team up with Gooch in the doubles or another option is better and saving me for the singles.
There's opportunities. We have a lot of individual good doubles players. Right now I think Gooch and I team up the best out of anyone.

Q. What do you make of the last 24 hours for Bernie? Do you feel for him?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, tough situation. I didn't see any of the match whatsoever. I was in here talking when they started, so...
Yeah, I only saw him before the match. He looked pretty focused to go out and play in the locker room.
I have no doubt he had a bit of a tightness, though, in that particular spot before he went out and played last night. Whether he jagged that a little more just in that first game yeah, it's a tough situation to be in. He's a young guy, as well. You have Nadal out there pushing you side to side. It's really tough.
So, you know, obviously he would have liked to have finished the match. I have no doubt about that.

Q. Pat, your thoughts on that?

PAT RAFTER: I thought Lleyton said it beautifully.
There's not really much to report on, you know. As you said, he was tight and sore before he walked out. He got tighter and tighter. Didn't know what the end result was going to be.
No one knows the pain he's going through except Bernard. It's very hard for us to judge and make a call on that. Maybe he could have done a lot of damage to it, so...

Q. How are you going to recover from the match? Ice baths?

PAT RAFTER: You talking to me?

LLEYTON HEWITT: We both can now. (Laughter).

PAT RAFTER: Yeah. Davis Cup preparation. A few days of boys in camp now. I drank a couple liters of water, so I'm hoping I don't cramp. I was thinking about that on the court, too, If I cramp, this is going to be bad.
 
#349 ·
March 20, 2014

Lleyton Hewitt

MIAMI, FLORIDA

L. HEWITT/R. Haase
3‑6, 6‑3, 6‑3


THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.


Q. What does 600 match wins mean to you?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Well, it's not something you focus on. To tell you the truth, I totally forgot. Sharko came up to me in the locker room. Today was just like another match and an opportunity to go out there and play well.
Yeah, obviously afterwards, you know, a great milestone. Not many people get to achieve that. Not many people get the opportunity to get close that, so means I have been around for an awfully long time, as well. I'm getting old.
Few years ago when I had the last couple lot of surgeries I probably would have doubted I'd get to this stage anyway. I'm still grateful I'm out there and able to compete with the best guys.

Q. After 600 wins, do you remember No. 1?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, pretty much. Yeah. Well, it was in my hometown, so, you know, I was lucky enough to get a wildcard at the Adelaide event. I won the tournament. Yeah, I beat my good mate‑‑ well, turned out he was my good mate probably six months, Scott Draper, another Australian Open in the first round. We always joke about that.

Q. Has anybody called you or texted you about this huge accomplishment?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Not yet. My phone doesn't work in the locker room (smiling).
No, I have only spoke to my wife. Yeah, that's it so far. All my mates, my coach, Peter, and all the boys in the box today. I had a few guys from the Bahamas come who I live with in the Bahamas. They came across for the match today. No, it was nice to enjoy it with those boys.

Q. In that second set you were down 3‑1 to Robin, and then halfway through when you got those two straight games you switched shirts. Was that kind of a choice, I need to change things up or trying to right something up with that shirt?

LLEYTON HEWITT: No, I was just sweaty. (Laughter.) It's bloody humid out there. It was just getting too humid to compete out there. It had nothing to do with superstitions or the stage of the match.
But obviously, yeah, I felt like he played great the first set and a half. He was really explosive. He served well. He moved really well, especially to his forehand. Yeah, he came up with some good passing shots when he needed to. I sort of had to weather the storm with him, and in the end I found a way to be able to get through.

Q. Would you consider the five‑game streak kind of a turning point?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, well, the biggest turning point, I was struggling to break his serve. I was getting into the games. I was getting the 30‑All and deuce, but I just couldn't break serve.
When I was able to get back on level terms in that break for 3‑All, yeah, that was a big momentum key for me. And then I was able to hold straightaway to go 4‑3‑up.
Then felt like I was playing on the better end with the breeze after that, as well.

Q. Is it in the back of your mind when you're playing that you have a night session with Rafa if you win? And what are your thoughts on the match coming up?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it was a little bit in my mind. Yeah, I still play the game to have an opportunity to play against the best guys in the world, and, yeah, Rafa is. No doubt about it.
Yeah, I look forward to the challenge. This is, you know, obviously a really tough draw and frustrating, you know, you don't get to have a crack at him later in the tournament.
But, yeah, I'm happy to get to go out there and play against Rafa.

Q. Are you hungry?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Hungry? Yeah, my mates were with us, for sure.

Q. We stalked to Federer today, and I know he's 32 now; you're 33.

LLEYTON HEWITT: We were born in the same year. I have him by a couple of months.

Q. He was talking about, you know, if you take care of your body, there is no reason you can't play for a long time. Can you kind of talk about how you feel about that? And also, you know, what he's done now, you know, and kept up his tennis at this age?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I think some people are luckier than others with their body. Some guys, you know, you just can't go on. You know, something breaks down you just can't come back from some kind of surgeries or injuries.
Yeah, for me it was tough coming up. The start of my career, the first three quarters I had no surgeries or big injuries at all. Then I had five surgeries in four years, and that sort of was tough to come back from.
Yeah, and then you're grateful to be back playing. Obviously I do all the right things and right preparation for my body, but it does get harder.
But, yeah, Roger, what he's done and the way that he competes still at his age and pushes the best guys in the world week in and week out, and the pressure that is on him, you know, he's a target every week as well just because of who he is and what he's done. He's remarkable.

Q. What keeps you motivated at this point?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I think for me, you know, obviously the Grand Slams and Davis Cup are a big thing for me. But also, yeah, the tough times coming back from surgeries, that's motivation enough as well to know it's only really my close group know what we had to do to get back out here and compete again.
There were times when you doubted whether you were going to go out there and play again.
Yeah, that's motivation enough. When I do retire, I will be retired for an awfully long time.
It's still fun going out there and playing against these guys.

Q. When you see 600 match wins, does that give you that encouragement to say, Well, let's try and put on another 100 or something?

LLEYTON HEWITT: (Smiling). No, not at all. I won't keep playing just for that goal, that's for sure.
 
#350 ·
March 22, 2014

Lleyton Hewitt

MIAMI, FLORIDA

R. NADAL/L. Hewitt
6‑1, 6‑3


Q. You get into the match and he's totally on fire for at least a set and a half. What do you do in that situation?

LLEYTON HEWITT: It was tough. I was sort of caught between trying to be too aggressive and being to passive and then obviously leaving the ball hanging for him to obviously dictate play, especially with his forehand.
Yeah, he has such good footwork getting around and using his off‑forehand.
Yeah, even when I felt like I was able to push him around he was able to find a way to get back in the point.

Q. How frustrating was it getting that he was coming up with some of those inside out forehand crosscourt winners that he was coming up with?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Oh, he hit the ball really clean right from the start. Yeah, if I could of held one of my first couple service games and got my teeth into the match a bit, but that's why he's the best player.

Q. Crowd was trying to encourage you.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah. I hung in there. Did everything I could. He was too good.

Q. A situation like that, does it get do demoralizing in the middle of a match that you have to really focus even harder than you normally do?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Not really. Yeah, you got to try and think through it as much as possible and try and come up with some kind of game plan to get yourself back in it.
I was really just trying to take care of my service games as much as possible. He played his service games really well.

Q. What do you do from here?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Couple weeks off and then Houston.

Q. Was he just a little bit too much?

LLEYTON HEWITT: He was too good. Absolutely. Yeah.

Q. Did the time delay affect anything? Your timing or anything?

LLEYTON HEWITT: No. I've been around long enough to handle most, yeah, delays and whatever happens.
 
#351 ·
May 27, 2014

Lleyton Hewitt

PARIS, FRANCE

C. BERLOCQ/L. Hewitt
3‑6, 6‑2, 6‑1, 6‑4


THE MODERATOR: Questions in English, please.


Q. You played well in the first set, but you were not able to keep that level in the next sets.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it was always going to be a tough match and I was going to have to go out there and try and be aggressive. The first set I did that well, but it's a very fine line how aggressive to play, especially in conditions like today, really slow and heavy out there, and he can obviously get a lot of balls back.
I was going to make some errors out there, but I still feel like that was my best shot at winning.

Q. How do you feel and how your body is reacting? How many seasons do you feel you have left in you?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, my body feels fine at the moment, which is good. Yeah, obviously I started really well winning Brisbane, and then, yeah, only played a couple more tournaments on hard court after that, and obviously didn't play that much on clay, whereas my least favorite surface. Coming onto the grass now.
The grass, preparing for Wimbledon, and then obviously the U.S. hard courts, leading into the US Open, is, you know, where I'd like to play my best tennis.

Q. Talking to Venus Williams, and you and her having similar generations in terms of when you come up on the tour. She was saying she still, even though results haven't been quite the same as they were ten years ago, still goes into every tournament thinking she can win and you can catch lightning in a bottle on some level. Do you still think that when you show up to, maybe not the French, but when you get to Wimbledon in three weeks that things can click and magic can still happen?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I feel especially at Wimbledon there is not as many guys that have a realistic articular shot, and, you know, guys that can go out there and compete against the top guys who possibly can win the tournament. I think I'm one of those guys who can go out there and push those guys.
If I, yeah, execute everything, and my ball striking, yeah, I'm feeling pretty good about it at the moment again.
So that's one area that, going straight onto the grass gives me a lot of confidence. Yeah, with Wimbledon coming up that's obviously the next main focus.

Q. One question about your Davis Cup teammate, Tomic, he's playing now, but I think he's lost the first two sets quickly. Just your thoughts on his season and progress and what you think the near future will hold for him.

LLEYTON HEWITT: There's nothing much to talk about his season. He obviously hasn't been able to play too much.
You know, I know what it's like to come back from two hip operations. I had mine at different times. He obviously had them, his basically at the same time, very close together. It's not an easy thing to come back from.
Yeah, he obviously tried coming back too early on the hard court season in Miami. But then even the clay, it took me a little while to push through that and get your confidence back in your movement. I'm sure ‑‑ you know, my movement is obviously different to Bernie, but it's not going to happen overnight.
But from what I saw in Madrid, he was serving really well, which is obviously one of the big keys for him, I think, moving forward.
Yeah, he'll feel a lot better on the grass.

Q. You two carry yourselves very differently. You have a lot more visible sort of fire when you play. Is it hard for you to relate to him almost and his mode of operating as being pretty much 180 from yours?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, but there is a lot of guys who have been totally different than me and I have played Davis Cup with them and stuff. I think with Bernie and I on the same Davis Cup team for a few years now I understand him a lot better, anyway.
I feel like I'm probably one of the closest guys on the team to him now anyway. We practice a lot together at normal tournaments.
And, yeah, it's a tough little time for him at the moment. He's got to try and find a way through it, and I have no doubt he'll be back up there, though.

Q. What's the biggest thing you take out of a match like today looking ahead to the next phase of the season?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Probably my ball striking, I think. I was pretty happy with how I hit the ball. Return serve well. My net play was fantastic. You know, I came in on the right balls. Occasionally lost a couple, but I felt like, you know, my volleying, that was really good today.
I think moving forward obviously for the grass is such a key aspect of the grass.
So, yeah, it's obviously disappointing right now, but, you know, there are positives. My body feels good and I played over three hours and I feel like I could keep playing. Yeah, there is a few positives.

Q. A question about football. Do you follow soccer?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Soccer? Yeah, a little bit.

Q. Can you give me a quick outlook on the Socceroos for the World Cup? What do you think they can do?

LLEYTON HEWITT: We're definitely the underdogs, that's for sure.
Yeah, I was in South America end of last year when they did the World Cup draw, and I don't think it was too favorable for us (smiling).
But then again, I think that's a good position for us to be in. I think our coach is very good. He's done really well in their local competition. And I know Tim Cahill a little bit, and he's a fantastic leader. Hopefully he can score a few goals for us.

Q. Can you give me a result prediction for Australia versus Holland?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I don't know. I'm not sure. I'd be a brave man to say we beat you, but I think we will be pretty aggressive and try and take it to you. See what happens.

Q. And the results?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I don't know. We'll win just on heart.

Q. By three goals?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I hope so.
 
#352 ·
AEGON CHAMPIONSHIPS

June 9, 2014

Lleyton Hewitt

LONDON, ENGLAND

L. HEWITT/D. Gimeno‑Traver
6‑3, 6‑3

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.


Q. Pretty straightforward, wasn't it?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, nothing is real straightforward. It got off to a good start, and then he saved those three break points at Love‑40 in that third game to consolidate the break, which was important.
I wasn't 100% sure how he'd play on grass. Obviously I have seen him play a little bit on hard court and clay, but, yeah, he's dangerous. He served better than I thought he would, hit his spots well and a high percentage of first serves. He's got a really nice forehand.
Happy to get the win in straight sets.

Q. What pleased you the most about the way you played?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I just felt pretty sharp out there. I have been hitting the ball really well in practice. Didn't take me long at all to get straight on the grass and felt comfortable, which is good.
Yeah, everything's been going well in practice leading in. So, yeah, had a good week hitting. Was able to get enough time on the grass.
You know, I felt pretty confident. Yeah, even my footing‑‑ a lot of guys were slipping over there today. I didn't really slip at all out there, and I felt like I wasn't sliding like everyone else on the grass courts. I was pretty happy with that.

Q. How long does it normally take you to get your footwork at a high end on the grass when you're coming off the clay?

LLEYTON HEWITT: The last few years it hasn't taken me long at all. You know, even my first hit I felt pretty comfortable on it.
I'm fortunate in that way. I come on with a pretty positive mindset, as well. I find the first match though on grass, you know, just getting back into that routine of‑‑ you know, obviously the serve and return is so important.
They are, you know, the two big keys on grass; whereas on a clay court the serve and return is pretty much, you know, thrown out the window a lot of the time.

Q. Bernie was saying in Paris that the French Open is a tournament that he does not like at all.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Who was saying that?

Q. Bernie Tomic. And that he's thrilled, thrilled that he was all over and done with it over there, that he could get on to the grass over here. Has your mindset changed at all about that sort of attitude? I'm talking about yourself and going away from the clay and coming on to grass.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Well, you know, for me obviously I have just you know, I'm sure Bernie means it like, you know, clay's obviously his worst surface, so for him, coming on to the grass ‑he's had his most success obviously at Wimbledon for a Grand Slam.
Yeah, for me, me and him have a lot more positive outlook when we get on the grass and start hitting, because purely the surface suits our game. There's probably only 10 to 15 guys that probably feel that way when they get on a grass court. Most of the guys look forward to the clay court season.
He's obviously just come back from surgery and frustrated. It's pretty tough obviously moving on clay straight after surgery.

Q. Do you always like the French? Because what he actually said was, I really like Paris. I like Paris and the city. But I hate the French Open.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I don't know what he means.

Q. But what about yourself?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I play for all the majors, obviously. Yeah, for me, obviously Wimbledon and the Australian Open are pretty important, the Australian Open for obvious reasons and Wimbledon because, you know, I sat up for so many late nights as a kid and idolized Pat Cash and those guys climbing into the stands and winning the tournament.
Yeah, there is a buzz, and, you know, when you've been able to win there it's even bigger.

Q. Is this place closer to you in terms of enjoyment?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Oh, yeah, absolutely. I love coming back here. Yeah, I just love the surroundings. The setting today was a fantastic crowd for a first day at Queen's where, you know, a lot of the top seeds have byes, as well. It was a really good atmosphere out there.

Q. You won your first title in four years at the start of the year. You're close to your highest ranking in about three years. Do you set yourself these landmarks, targets during the year to keep the motivation going? What are your targets for the rest of this season?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I don't set anything over that. Couldn't care less about my ranking, and, you know, obviously every tournament I go in I want to win. Every match I play I want to win.
But the majors are still what I play for. In a couple weeks' time, one of the big ones for me. Yeah, that's still the motivation. Nothing has really changed.
Obviously Davis Cup in September, as well, and then the Australian summer will come around. In terms of ranking, there are no big goals.

Q. What about your history here? Obviously you have got a great record here. Does that sort of color how you approach it? Does it add to it?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Not really. I think I have won the most matches here already of anyone. I'd love to win a fifth title here.
The run that I had last year was great, you know. I felt like I got a lot of confidence out of that. That set me up I think for a good U.S. summer and good US Open beating Del Potro there as well.
I really love coming back to this tournament and playing well.

Q. With Andy announcing Amélie as his coach through this grass court season, what are your thoughts on that?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Everyone to their own. He obviously thinks she can make a small difference. And when you're as good a player as Andy and those top guys, it's only half a percent sometimes that can turn something. He's obviously spoken to her and feels that she may have a couple of different ideas.
But, yeah, coach and player, the biggest things are mutual respect.
 
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