WIMBLEDON

June 28, 2004

Tim Henman

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

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, no, I enjoyed that more, I think because of obviously the quality of play from both of us. The atmosphere was incredible again. That's what you put in all the work and the practice and training for I think from both of our point of view, you know. Unfortunately there is going to be one winner and one loser. And when you play to that level, you know, I'm obviously delighted that I won, but, you know, sometimes when you come up short, you have to, you know, say "too good" to your opponent. I think we both played some great tennis, and a lot of important points out there. I was able to, you know, win my share.

TIM HENMAN: I did. You know, as I talked about, it was going to be a little bit more straightforward than my other matches, because I played him before, I know the way he's going to play. I felt like I was seeing the ball well and picking up on his serve. And obviously it helps when you make a start like that. And I haven't made the best of starts in my other matches, but I certainly, you know, started timing the ball very, very well. On my own serve, you know, I was very disciplined with what I was trying to do, you know, mixing up the serve, a lot of variety to make sure that he didn't get into any rhythms. You know, the first three sets, which is a long period of time, I served very, very well.

TIM HENMAN: I'm sure you guys could write it like that (smiling).

TIM HENMAN: No, didn't give it a second thought. I mean, if you want me to reflect on it now, it was probably a little bit of a role reversal. I played some really good tennis that day, and I think he served 35 aces. You know, miss-hit lob on breakpoint at 3-All in the fifth - not that I haven't got over it or anything (smiling). You know, that's the way it goes. Unfortunately, I came second that day, but today, you know, it was a pleasing one to win.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, it was just good quality tennis. I think it's as simple as this. I don't think you sort of really need to read into it any more than that. I felt like even as well and as big as he was serving, I felt like, you know, a lot of the service games, I was getting some 15-30s, a few breakpoints. For the first two sets, I took, you know, three opportunities. You know, I was very dominant on my own serve, as well, which is going to be magnified. When your opponent has the capabilities of serving so well, you've got to make sure you take care of your own service games. You know, the third set, I don't think I had so many opportunities. You know, I kept holding serve. We got to a tiebreak and I lost it. That's really, I think, as simple as that. You know, had to start all over again at the fourth. You know, just wanted to make sure the viewing figures were getting higher and higher.

TIM HENMAN: Say that again.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, it's another, you know, very important stepping stone for me. It's all a continuation of, you know, the work that I've been putting in. I think for me, you know, I've said that my performances outside Wimbledon at the Grand Slams have not been good enough. So to have never been past the third round in Roland Garros and then to put myself in the semis was a big, big breakthrough. You know, that's what I'm building on here.

TIM HENMAN: I couldn't hear anything he said, obviously. But, you know, there's going to be tight calls. We're hitting -- you know, we're hitting close to the lines, and we're hitting pretty quickly. You know, sometimes they go in your favor, sometimes they don't. But, you know, I don't envy the line judges or the umpires. It's a tough job.

TIM HENMAN: I think, you know, both Mark and I, you know, felt there were some dubious serves. As I said, I felt like I hit some serves, and I looked at them. I thought, "God, that looked out to me." There was no call. I think you just want to make sure that the guy's operating the machine correctly. As I said, you know, there's going to be some tight ones.

TIM HENMAN: Absolutely. I'm aware of it.

TIM HENMAN: I can't say it's on purpose (smiling). But having said that, you know, the atmosphere was just incredible. It's a lot of fun out there. Sure, you're going to be tight. We're both tight. There's so many important points at the end. You know, I'm up two sets to one. I'm in a breaker. Sure, I want to finish it off tonight so I don't have to come back and play a set tomorrow. You just got -- and I think this was a big difference today. In the fourth set tiebreak, I just was very much focusing on, you know, trusting my serve and playing each point. You know, that's basically all you can do. There is a lot of tension, absolutely. I'm aware of it. You can feel it in the crowd. But the only thing I can control is what I'm going to do. If I were to, you know, be too concerned with what everyone was feeling, then my job would be even harder.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, well, I think again, they're going to feed off what they see. And when they're seeing that sort of quality of tennis, then they don't need any encouragement because they're excited about me playing well and hitting good shots and winning games and sets. You know, in the other, you know, matches I've played, it's been, you know, a little bit more of a struggle. But that's where, again, I can use them to my advantage. I can really try and, you know, swing the momentum with their help.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, again, I think, you know, it will have similarities to today's match. You know, he's a big guy, big serve, likes to come forward. I've got to, you know, continue the good things that I did today, you know - make him play a lot of balls on the returns, I've got to take care of my own serve. I think, you know, I've got a good chance the way I'm playing.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, yeah.

TIM HENMAN: No, my confidence in sports -- I think a lot of sports are about confidence and I feel confident with my game now. "Expectation" is a word I'm asked to talk about quite a lot at this time of year. I've always had my own expectations. My expectations are high because I think I'm a good player. You know, I'm playing some good tennis. You know, that's what I'm focusing on. And, you know, there's always the outside expectations, but that's another thing that's out of my control.

TIM HENMAN: At this tournament?

TIM HENMAN: No.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah.

TIM HENMAN: It was good. You know, I don't think -- you know, it was good stuff. I was doing the basics very well. You know, irrespective of whether he's hitting first serves or second serves, I'm hitting good returns. But I think, you know, that's my level. It wasn't -- it wasn't like I was just hitting clean winner after clean winner. I'm making him hit volleys. It's not easy to sort of stick the volleys and hit winners. So it was good, don't get me wrong. But I don't think I feel -- I don't feel it was anything out of the ordinary.

TIM HENMAN: No. I think it's -- you look at the other matches that I've played. You know, Flip's got the power, but he probably doesn't have the agility. So some of the times I can get him off balance and volley to the open court. I think, you know, against some of the other guys I've played, you know, they've been, you know, really good, very, very quick, and agile at the baseline. They run down a lot more shots. Whereas today, I volleyed well. You know, conditions were probably a little bit easier. It was great out there to play in those types of conditions. And certainly I volleyed better. But, you know, I think that's playing a big guy, you want to make sure you, you know, get him off balance. Did that.

TIM HENMAN: No. No way we would have played another game. I felt like when you threw the ball up actually, it wasn't really easy to get your depth perception. I felt that once the ball was sort of down at sort of court level, if you like, you weren't looking up into the sky, then visibility was pretty good. But it wasn't easy, I felt, when you were looking up. So, again, absolutely delighted to finish it off tonight.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, it's -- you know, I'm very pleased with my performance tonight. I played some good tennis. But, again, my feelings haven't changed from any of the other matches. You know, I didn't play great in my first and third rounds. I played pretty solidly against Heuberger. But just because I played better tonight doesn't change my thoughts, my feelings, my expectations. You know, I'm going to, you know, enjoy this one for another couple of hours and then, you know, tomorrow when I get on the practice court, I'll be ready to start thinking about Ancic.

TIM HENMAN: I got asked that by Gary Richardson also, with regards to my parents, as well. You know, there's exterior and interior. The exterior might look calm, but the interior isn't.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, definitely. I think a lot of them do. I think that's one of the aspects that my former coach, David Felgate, he got absolutely spot on, was the schedule. You know, we played, we competed so much. From my first -- you know, when I stopped playing junior tournaments, when I sort of was 17, turning 18, you know, we played all over the place. That's how you learn your trade. We played in, you know, Zambia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Morocco. We played a lot of places. You know, traveling on a team, with a coach, five or six players, it was great. I have a lot of really good memories from that.

TIM HENMAN: If I were the chairman?

TIM HENMAN: I wouldn't be surprised if I'm second.

TIM HENMAN: What time does it start? 1:00?

TIM HENMAN: First. Does that cover all bases (smiling)?