L. Hewitt Interview
Wednesday, June 30, 2004
Q. What is your overriding emotion out of all of that?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Disappointment, I think, at the moment anyway, straight after.
Losing, you know, the match. Yeah, in the fourth set I guess,
you know, I felt like I had, you know, chances. I was a better
player the whole fourth set, you know, have very little to
show for it now.
You know, one minute you're up a break, 4All I had breakpoints.
On a couple he came out with big serves. 54, I felt like, you
know, I didn't play that bad a game. He just, you know,
attacked and went for it a little bit and it paid off then.
Then you're in the locker room.
You know, at the moment, it's Wimbledon, you're always going
to be disappointed.
Q. Did you feel like you gave it your best shot or does it feel a bit empty?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Mate, I gave everything I had. I felt like I played a good
match. You know, first set, I actually didn't feel like I
hit the ball that badly. You know, he just played incredible
tennis. You know, I had a lot of opportunities, breakpoints
here and there.
You know, even in the first set, I was the first one to have
a breakpoint, wasn't able to take it, missed a return. You
know, when he's got that confidence going, he's a very
difficult player to beat.
Q. Did the score line actually reflect the actual game? It seemed as a viewer
a lot closer than that.
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it was it was tough out there. You know, I felt like
even at the start of the third set, after I won the tiebreak,
I had tiebreaks in the first game, I think at least two
breakpoints in the first game of the third set. At that stage,
I felt like the momentum was starting to swing my way. You
know, I just played a bit of a loose game.
But, you know, he really stepped it up, as well. You know,
you got to give him credit. He's the best player in the world
at the moment. He stepped it up in that second game. You know,
even the breakpoint that he ended up breaking me in the second
game of the third set. You know, I played a pretty good point.
I don't know how long it went for, but he had to come up with
an unbelievable backhand up the line to win it.
Yeah, I played well out there.
Q. Is there any satisfaction that you are playing close to your best, if not
your best tennis, in a long time?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it's not right at the moment, there's not too much
satisfaction. But I'm really happy with the way I've been
hitting the ball. I've done all the hard work. You know, I
feel like all three majors this year, you know, that's what
I focused, with the Davis Cup at the start of the year. I'm
happy with how I prepared.
You know, I feel like I prepared as well as I could for all
three majors so far. And, you know, at the end of the day,
I've been beaten by, you know, Roger in two of them and
Gaudio in the other. The guys were just too good.
Q. Those two sets, 61, 6Love, when you were playing good tennis, is that an
indication of the huge gulf between Roger and the rest?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I didn't play great, I don't think. My worst part of
the match was probably halfway through the third set. You
know, so, yeah, he gets very confident, though. He's a
shotmaker out there. You know, me personally, I felt like
he probably played his best tennis in the first set, not
the third set. He came out and was, you know, right on fire
right from the start.
Q. Is he ahead of everybody else?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Oh, I don't know. I felt like out there I had a lot of
chances. You know, when he's playing that kind of tennis
he played in the first set, you know, he's very tough to
beat. He was seeing the ball very well. His returns are a
lot better than they used to be. He really cut out a lot of
those unforced errors that he used to make two or three years
ago.
But then again, in a fiveset match, you're always going to
get chances here and there. You know, I felt like I had those
chances and I took them a couple of times. There was other
times when he came up with, you know, big serves on
breakpoints. There was very little I could do about it.
Q. Does the fact that you played so well and still lost mean it's even more
frustrating and more disappointing?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Well, I think it's disappointing any time you probably lose
in a Grand Slam, and especially Wimbledon. But, yeah, it's
just more I guess that I had a few chances out there and
just wasn't able to capitalize. You know, against the best
players in the world, and especially against the best player
in the world at the moment, you've got to take those chances.
Q. You're known as you're never out of a match. You're one of the best, if not
the best competitor, on tour. Roger, we've heard a lot about what kind of
talent he has. How would you rate him as a competitor, a fighter? He was
put in certain situations and he got out. Where would you put him in that
category?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, he's a good competitor. He's a lot better than he
probably was a couple years ago, I think. Yeah, he gives a
hundred percent out there. It's not too often I think that he
goes away. I think that's why you know, that's a part of his
game he's probably worked on over the last couple of years
that's really made him be one of the best players around.
Q. What could be the solution to beat him at Wimbledon?
LLEYTON HEWITT: To beat him?
Q. Yes. What could be the solution to beat him at Wimbledon?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Believe it or not, I didn't feel like I was that far away
today, as I go back to, you know, the chances that I had.
You know, first game of the third set, as I said, I felt like
there was a huge momentum swing then, after winning the second
set tiebreak 71. You know, the fourth set, if I could have
gone up 53 and consolidated that break, you win the fourth
set, and the whole moment's with you going into the fifth set.
Yeah, he's going to be a tough player to beat on grass. You
know, he's the favorite now for the next two matches, for
sure. But, you know, I don't think it's impossible.
Q. Do you feel that he knows that when he comes to play you, it's never going
to be three sets, it's never going to be easy, and there's going to be
peaks and valleys, and at the end when it gets to five sets, it doesn't
matter if he played two brilliant sets, but somehow when it gets to five
sets, there's always that chance you can beat him? Do you think he knows
that? He had periods where his confidence seems to have gone today.
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, he was up and down a little bit out there today.
Whether he knows that or not, I'm not sure. But, you know,
I'm sure he knows in the back of his mind, you know, that I'm
not going to go away. I'm going to try to make it as hard as
possible, as I possibly can, for him to win the match.
Yeah, as I said, you know, he played pretty incredible tennis
against me in Hamburg a month or so ago. But it's over
bestofthree sets. Bestoffive sets, you're always going to
get those opportunities, and it's just a matter of taking them.
Q. He hasn't served and volleyed much this Wimbledon. Did that surprise you?
Were you trying to draw him in?>
LLEYTON HEWITT: Not really, no. You know, I'm not sure how much he really I
didn't see much of last year, but how much he served ad
volleyed then. But he doesn't have a Roddick kind of serve
with brut power. He serves to set up the point with his
strengths, which is obviously his forehand.
He's got great variety out there. He can servevolley. That's
what makes him such a great player, because he's got so much
variety in his game.
Q. Would you consider Roddick to have one of the best second serves in the
game, if not the best? Where would you put it?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, is got to be up there. For a guy that hits his second
serve that hard, he doesn't hit a lot of double faults, and
especially on big points. I think that's one area of his game
that when he came on the tour, you know, at the start he
served a lot more double faults going for that second serve.
He's got a pretty reliable second serve for as hard as he
hits it.
Q. Can you take us through the rain delays, what you think it did to you, to
him, to the flow of the match?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, well the first one when we just warmed up didn't do a
lot for anyone (laughter). After that, you just sit in there,
relax. You try not to focus on it too much. It's pretty hard
when you're in there and once the covers came off we saw on
the TV, we're getting ready, and the next minute they're back
on again.
I just tried to, I guess, stay sharp and be ready because,
you know, as soon as they take the covers off, we're told we
got about 10 minutes before we're on. You got to stay alert,
stay ready, and not relax too much in those breaks.
Q. Did you think he perhaps wasn't quite as sharp in the second set when he
came out as you were? You seemed maybe a he wasn't as sharp as he was in
the 61 set.
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, he played incredible tennis in that first set. But, you
know, as I said, it would be awfully hard to keep that up,
especially on a grass court, when you're getting some dodgey
bounces. I was making him play a lot of balls out there, as
well.
He'd be an incredible tennis player if he could play that
standard that first set right through the whole of the match.
Q. What are your goals for the rest of the year?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, well now, you know, for me, look forward to the US Open,
the last major of the year. I feel like I got a good game to
play at Flushing Meadows. Every year I seem to play well
there. Obviously, I like going back to somewhere that, you
know, you've done well and won the tournament.
But it's not going to be easy either. There's a lot of good
players, and especially on that kind of hard court.
Q. Have you had any second thoughts about the Olympics, Lleyton?
LLEYTON HEWITT: No.
Q. Will you miss them when you're at home watching the game?
LLEYTON HEWITT: No. I'll be in America getting ready for the US Open, so.
Q. One thing you did win today was the crowd support. Did that feel strange,
having a largely British crowd supporting you? >
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, no, there's a lot of Aussies here, as well, I guess.
Q. You still did have a lot of British support. They seemed to be right behind
you.
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it's good I guess. You know, I guess it's always tough.
Roger and I have both won here before. You know, I guess they
more wanted to see more tennis more than anything. Especially
in the fourth set, I had a lot more crowd support I think to
try and get me back in the match.
Q. How bad was the quad injury?
LLEYTON HEWITT: It's very sore.
Q. Were you fit coming into the match with it?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I did it against Moya the other day, two days ago. Yeah, I've
been struggling the last two days. Probably wasn't able to
practice as match as I'd like to yesterday. It definitely
affected me out there today.
Q. Was it something that affected your serve in terms of your kickoff?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, my serve was the worst.
Q. That's where it hurt the most?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah. It got worse and worse as the match went on.
Q. People especially in the media are quick to coronate Federer as a multiple
Grand Slam winner, other than the two or three he's won. Do you think
that's a legitimate posture or do you think the media is perhaps a bit
quick to award him trophies before he wins them due to their hunger just
to have someone kind of chosen or anointed that way?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I think, you know, personally I can't see too many guys
beating him, you know, this week now. So, you know, I'd be
very surprised if he doesn't win his third major on Sunday.
So, you know, there's another one to him. That's two in one
year, I guess.
He can play on all surfaces. You know, the way that he played
in Hamburg on clay, on a very slow clay court, which really
shouldn't suit his game that much. Beat Moya, Coria in the
final. I think he's going to have chances at every major.
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