WESTERN AND SOUTHERN FINANCIAL GROUP MASTERS
CINCINNATI, OHIO
August 2, 2004
L. HEWITT/A. Bogomolov 6-2, 6-4
THE MODERATOR: Lleyton Hewitt advances to the second round. He'll play the
winner of the match that's going on. We'll open it up for
questions.
Q. Is there something you're particularly trying to work on specifically in
this tournament?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Not really. I guess just trying to get some match practice
and get your confidence level up there in a big tournament
against quality opposition going into the Grand Slam in a
few weeks' time. If you're winning matches here, then you're
obviously going to be confident going into New York.
Q. Can I ask you, just off the subject a bit, can you just think back to
when you were with Darren. What did he bring to your game, what strong
points did he bring as a coach when he was working with you?
LLEYTON HEWITT: You know, I guess at the start it was a little bit different
'cause I was, you know, I'd probably only been on tour for
one year when Darren really took over. It was the end of '98,
December '98. You know, I guess just for me, more than
anything, I'd never really -- I was just traveling with
my dad for that year, first year on tour. For me it was more
having someone there who'd been through everything and, you
know, the ins and outs of playing tennis, injuries. You know,
he had a lot of experience, I guess, in that not as a coach
on the tour but obviously as a player. I got along extremely
well with him. We're both from the same state, and same city.
You know, just overall I think he had a good presence.
Q. Do you think it was important to have a mate as well as a coach?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I think all the time for me it is. You know, tennis isn't
like a football team where, you know, one coach has to look
after 25 to 40 guys. You know, it's very one-on-one, and
you've got to get along extremely well. He's got to be,
you know -- for me and I'm sure most guys, you want to have
a mate traveling with you because you spend so much time
just the two of you.
Q. Just one more thing. When you got to No. 1, did your coaching needs
change a bit vis-a-vis not about the split, but just in general, what
you needed from a coach, what a coach could bring to you because he'd
gotten you there?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I don't know. I think there's things, you know, you
can pick up from a lot of people, you know, little different
areas that can help you. And there's no doubt that Stoltz
brought a few different things to my game when he took over.
You know, it was just some fresh ideas, I think, more than
anything. I think that, you know, helped me out those two
years that I worked with Jason. You know, I guess Roger,
you know. I get along, I've been fortunate that I've got
along with three coaches. They've been young guys who have
been able to hit balls on the court. They have the same
interest as me. I've got along extremely well with them.
Q. How close do you think you are to the kind of form that saw you reach
No. 1 for two years in a row?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I think there's been patches. Yeah, it's hard to say.
There's been a couple of matches, I think, here and there.
I think at Wimbledon, you know, right through the tournament
I played pretty well. You know, it was no disgrace losing
to Roger in the quarters. You know, I felt like it was
probably, for me, probably the final out there that day and,
you know, I went into the match like that. I think I handled
the situation pretty well. You know, French Open, I felt
like there was matches. Against Gaudio I didn't play my best
tennis in the quarterfinals. But up till then I felt like I
played as well as I probably ever played on clay through a
whole, you know, tournament. I've had patches in the past
when I was No. 1 that I'd have a good match here and there.
So I think that was a big improvement this year even, even
though I wasn't No. 1.
Q. Do you get more satisfaction from those kind of wins than perhaps you
did towards the second year of being No. 1? Do you get more out of them
because it's been a challenge to get to this point?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Not necessarily. I think, you know, on clay it's a little
bit different probably. It's not my favorite surface, and
it's something that I have to work extremely hard to get
good results on clay, on that surface. This year, you know,
it was rewarding. The guys I lost to, you know, in all the
clay court tournaments were extremely good players and
especially on that surface. I felt like I got better and
better as the clay court season went on. I think that was
rewarding. And hopefully that's gonna be, even though it's
another 10-month break until I play on clay again, hopefully
that's going to be a good stepping stone for next year.
Q. I guess it would help you coming into surfaces like this as well?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I guess just having that confidence that playing on
not your favorite surface and you're competing with the
best guys in the world. So, yeah, definitely gives you --
it's very satisfying, I guess.
Q. This is somewhere where you've had very good results in the past. How
confident are you of kind of taking the title here?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Oh, every match is tough. All these tournaments are the same.
Indian Wells, Miami, Toronto and here are very similar
tournaments. You've got to be able to win six matches in
seven days against, you know, as tough an opponent as you're
going to get in Grand Slams. I feel confident. I've played
well here in the past - you know, except last year probably.
I made a final and a semi. But, obviously, if I play Guga next,
it's not an easy second-round match purely because I've got
so much respect for his game and the kind of player he is
as well.
Q. You've had one or two tasty matches against him in the past. Seem to
remember one in Florianopolis.
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, that one went all right. Yeah, it's always tough
playing him. He's a class player. He's been there and done
that. He likes playing on the big courts with the big arenas
and a lot of emotion out there. He played well last week on
hard court as well. So, yeah, he's won the title here. So if
I play him, it won't be easy.
--
※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc)
◆ From: 220.142.64.94