WIMBLEDON

June 23, 2005

Tim Henman

THE MODERATOR: Good evening, everyone. Tim for you.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, absolutely. I've certainly won my fair share of matches like that in that environment, you know, having got myself back into it. To not be able to, you know, finish it off and come out with a win, yeah, it's disappointing. It's tough to take. But certainly I've got to give him a lot of credit. I didn't think that, you know, he could serve that consistently for that long a period. And I think that was a big, big factor.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah. Then I played a good game to hold onto my serve. Certainly with him having to serve to stay in the match, I felt like that was going to be a good opportunity. But, again, you know, credit to him. It didn't materialize that way. He kept up his level of his serving and also the way that he returned my serve and how aggressive he plays from the back of the court. You know, those factors are why he came out on top.

TIM HENMAN: Absolutely. I mean, there's no comparison between today's match and the way I played in the first round. You know, I knew that I had to pick up my game. It was a struggle in my first round. But, you know, when you break down the nuts and the bolts of the match, it's going to come down to the important points. You know, I think I won more points, but I had -- you know, there were 17 breakpoints that went begging. I think on 15, I couldn't get the ball back in play. You know, why couldn't I do that? Because the guy was hitting aces or hitting the lines, hitting unreturnable serves. You know, you sit here now and sort of feel somewhat numb. But what can I do about that? Can I try harder? It's not about that. You have to -- as difficult as it is to accept, you have to give the guy credit for that.

TIM HENMAN: I think it's perhaps a little bit reflection on my form. I don't think I've played such good tennis. I think probably the conditions have a part to play. But, you know, they are what they are. They're the same for everyone. You know, I certainly didn't play badly today. There's no doubt I've played better. But as regards my performance, I can't have too many complaints. As I said, if he can play like that, then he's better than me today.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, you know, there was a huge improvement. It's pretty tough to sort of talk about improvements when you've just lost. But, you know, I can't -- I can't second guess myself too much. I mean, the way that I started and the quality of my game and the opportunities that I was creating, I could have been up, you know, 5-Love. I think in his first X number of service games, I was breakpoint every time. I would like to have perhaps created a little bit more momentum with that. Instead of just being 6-3, beginning the second set, perhaps if I could have translate d that into a set and a break then, you know, one thing might have led to another. Up two sets, perhaps he gets frustrated and a little bit down. But, again, that's not the way it worked out.

TIM HENMAN: I don't think age. I think the power that he has and the way that he serves, that has a part to play. I'd love to be able to serve 135 in the corners. I probably can't do that. I think when it's that slow and that heavy, that's a big advantage.

TIM HENMAN: Hmm.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah.

TIM HENMAN: Uhm, no, no. I would think about it if all of you who are ninth best in the world and below quit with me. But there wouldn't be many of you left, would there?

TIM HENMAN: Just trying to create that atmosphere. That's something I didn't do a very good job of, you know, in the first match. I was very flat. I was aware of that. I wanted to try and do a better job of that. I think that to a certain extent worked. It was a great atmosphere today. You know, I'd like to have been able to build on that. But, again, you know, I couldn't do it.

TIM HENMAN: Really?

TIM HENMAN: If I said some bad words, likewise, I apologize. You know, these things happen in the spur of the moment when you're out there, you know, competing, wanting to, you know, get fired up. If you say the wrong word, then, yeah, I apologize for that.

TIM HENMAN: No, it's not something that I have any issue with. It's talked about. It's not something that I've had a problem with. I've always had to deal with that. You know, my performances I don't think have reflected that in any way. I've always enjoyed the atmosphere. I think that, you know, my game on grass at Wimbledon has not really progressed the last couple of years, and that's frustrating. But with regards to the pressure and expectation, I've never, never had an issue with it.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah. You know, I think, again, a little bit of soreness in my shoulder. That does happen from time to time. But, you know, it did not in the slightest bit hinder me in any way.

TIM HENMAN: That's difficult. I feel that if I'm going on the speed of the conditions, then I would definitely put the US Open first. You know, Australia and here are similar, I think. But probably the US Open is the quickest.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, it's very, very disappointing. I think still in the circumstances when I lost in 2001, that was pretty difficult to take. But, you know, you have to move on from it. And, sure, it will -- it won't sit comfortably with me for a period of time, but you have to be able to move on from it.

TIM HENMAN: I don't know. I haven't got that far. I wasn't planning on having any free time. There aren't any plans of yet.

TIM HENMAN: Depends in what conditions. You know, I think in the sort of summer hard court swing, then I feel very comfortable with my game because I think you get a little bit of help, it's a little bit quicker, and I still feel then if I'm moving forward and I'm being aggressive, then that's going to give me the best chance. Sure, there's lots of areas that I will keep working on that I think I can improve on. So that's the challenge for me.

TIM HENMAN: You know, I really felt so much happier with the balance of my game, and that hasn't been the case in some of my previous matches. And today, you know, I didn't -- I don't know the numbers, but I didn't serve and volley a great deal. But the number of times that I actually finished the point at the net and tried to make him hit passers I think was quite a lot. And I think that was the right way for me to play. As I said, the way that I executed a lot of shots was a lot better. But, you know, if you don't quite hit the shot, the approach shot or a volley or whatever, if you don't quite hit it perfectly here, it just kind of -- it sits there and they have plenty of time to hit the passing shots.

TIM HENMAN: It's not making it any easier. I can't hide from that fact. But I keep trying. You know, why not? I love what I do. I'm still pretty good at it. So that's all I can say on it.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah. That's what I talked about. You know, it's taken me a while to get that into my head. That's another -- it's another aspect that you have to adapt to. And that's the nature of the game, I think, whether it's indoors or on hard courts or on a grass court now. You're going to say there's -- there's not going to be a serve and volleyer that wins here because there aren't that many serve and volleyers left. But, you know, the way that someone like Federer plays, is aggressive but is coming in behind a second or a third shot, is probably the most effective way to play on grass now.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, it's something that you have to accept and deal with. And I think you can't really pay too much attention to it. It's important that you're strong in your mind of what you believe in and really try and stick to that. You know, there's going to be lots of opinions. Hopefully there will be a lot of positive ones because I think he's got a fantastic future. But just concentrate on his job.