WIMBLEDON

June 27, 2004

Tim Henman

THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon, everyone. Tim Henman man for you.

TIM HENMAN: Nice positive question to start with. "Well done, through to the fourth round."

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, you know, I give Arazi, you know, a lot of credit. He's making life very difficult, hitting a lot of low returns, some great passing shots, you know, going straight down the middle. It was difficult out there. The conditions with the wind, it was swirling around. You know, you can't always play the quality of tennis that you'd like. And, sure, I think my level had, you know, dipped a little bit. But, you know, from Love-2 in the fourth, and breakpoints down I think in that game, to finish it off 6-2 was, you know, very satisfying.

TIM HENMAN: Thank you (smiling).

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, it is different. It's absolutely phenomenal. I'm fortunate with the atmosphere, when I play here on the show courts, it's great. But this is different, there's no doubting that. I'm so fortunate that I've had that opportunity twice. I played in '97 and, you know, that was a pretty amazing match to win 14-12 in the fifth. And, likewise, today, you know, they're true fans to be out there queuing. It was packed from the word "go." Down Love-2 in the fourth, they definitely helped me sort of get kick started again and to pick up my level. I'm sure there's going to be debate whether this should happen, you know, every year. And I can see from the club's point of view that it's a difficult thing to organize at the last minute, but from a playing point of view, it's a privilege.

TIM HENMAN: English first. Sorry (laughter).

TIM HENMAN: What are you laughing for (smiling)? That will be probably what I bring in.

TIM HENMAN: I'll bring in the middle Sunday when I'm chairman.

TIM HENMAN: I think it's great. You know, I think you really are -- I'm not in any way criticizing the fans that come and support the other 13 days. But when you give those people the opportunity, and they've queued, they've paid, and, you know, they are obviously passionate about the game and supporting me, as it was, today, I think it's something that I think could be capitalized on, to give them the opportunity of coming to the most prestigious tournament in the world. And everybody knows it's not easy to get tickets for this event. I think it's something that's worked unbelievably well. You know, unfortunately at the moment, it's not for me to make the decision. But...

TIM HENMAN: When I'm chairman, I'll bring it in.

TIM HENMAN: I'm sure that's part of it. As we've seen throughout the history of this tournament, you know, there's always been a tradition of the queuing, and it starts on Friday before the tournament. I'm sure those people will say that's part of the buildup. I think for the Sunday, it would be no different. You know, in Paris they have a Kids' Day on Wednesdays at most tournaments, and they get a phenomenal turnout. I'm sure it's a good thing for the game over there. Perhaps this is something that we could use.

TIM HENMAN: I think so, yeah. The anticipation, the expectation, having experienced it in '97, as I said, to have the opportunity again, it was something that I was really, really looking forward to. And it is, when you walk out on the court, just the buzz and the excitement is incredible. You know, I needed it at times. As I said, the beginning of the fourth set, I was struggling. I felt like he was dominating the match, and I really needed to swing the momentum. Not only with my game, but when you've got that type of support, they can do it pretty quickly. My level picked up and I got a break to get back to 2-All, held a good game 3-2. Then you feel like my game has picked up, and then with their support and noise, I think the pressure gets greater and greater on my opponent.

TIM HENMAN: I'm looking forward to it. I think it's -- in some respects it's a much more straightforward match for me. I very much know the way that he's going to play. And, sure, he plays it very well. He serves big. Sometimes there isn't a great deal that you can do. I think on that occasion, he served 35 aces, and was too good for me on the day. But I think the way that I've been playing and perhaps the changing conditions, it suits me well.

TIM HENMAN: I can play better. But I think I will play better, given the style of play that I'm going to play against. I felt that when I played Heuberger in the second round, he was giving me a target, and the quality of my returning was very, very high. Sometimes when you play the guys that stay back and they're mixing it up, not giving you a great deal of pace, it's difficult to really be aggressive and consistent on the returns. But, you know, I'm pretty sure that Philippoussis is going to be coming at me the whole time with his serve, both first and second serves. I think that suits me okay.

TIM HENMAN: Just I think it's a combination. I was definitely -- I was a little bit flat at that stage. I'd been up two sets, lost my serve early in the third, and had very few opportunities to break back. Then I knew the importance of trying to get off to a good start in the fourth. I wasn't able to do that. Again, he hit some really good passing shots and returns. The momentum is very much with him. It's almost like you need to stop that somehow, and I did that by holding my serve instead of going down 3-Love, two breaks. I get a game on the board. It's a very slight thing, but just winning the first point in a service game, suddenly they feel -- the crowd feel that, you know, I could get involved in one of his service games, put pressure on. You know, he misses a volley, and they sense that. They've got something to get their teeth stuck into.

TIM HENMAN: I think so, yeah. I mean, I never played against this crowd. I've always been fortunate enough to have them on my side. But there's no question in some of these stages when, you know, you miss a shot and suddenly there's 14,000 that are cheering, there's no doubt that it has an effect. I think when you're talking over a five-set match, that can, you know, wear on my opponent's mind.

TIM HENMAN: It is different, yeah. I don't really go. I'd watch it more on TV, the football. You know, I've been to plenty of games to have experienced that type of atmosphere. It is, it's a different type of atmosphere here. It's good at the best of times. It's good all the time, but as I said, this is different. They take it to a different level all together.

TIM HENMAN: Are we talking tennis or rugby now? No, they did. I watched it. I have to say I watched it. I'm a rugby fan. And I think the bottom line is that we're world champions (smiling). So many times when we win in test matches, then in the football the French would always say in the locker room, "Yeah, you know, we're European champions. But we're world champions." As they said, we got a bit of an ass-kicking, but bottom line is we're world champions.

TIM HENMAN: I appreciate that. Doesn't happen always.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah.

TIM HENMAN: When they're all shouting (smiling)?

TIM HENMAN: You do hear things, you know, when there's a quiet spell and someone shouts something out. You can be aware of it. But as they're shouting, "Come on, Rooney," you don't pay too much attention to it. But, no, it creates a great atmosphere to play in. I'm sure Arazi, even though the vast majority of them were for me, I think the players appreciate when there is that type of response to the tennis that's being played.

TIM HENMAN: Perhaps. I still don't feel that I've got the balance quite right. You know, it's kind of not a predicament because it's great to know I've got that support. But having said that, I've been so calm and so relaxed and showing so little emotion that I've had the greatest success that I've had in my career, I feel, with my overall performances in the last seven months, and now I feel like I have to do something slightly different. You know, it's a nice problem to have, when you know you're trying to make sure that the crowd are involved as much as possible.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, definitely. I mean, the crowd, they're ready to scream for any point you win, whether you hit a miss-hit volley or put in a double-fault. I certainly didn't have to, you know, try and get them involved as perhaps in other matches.

TIM HENMAN: I noticed that.

TIM HENMAN: When I'm chairman, that won't happen either (smiling).

TIM HENMAN: Again, I think just with his style of play, it's so much more straightforward. When I relate it to my match today, you know, against Arazi, he's mixing up, he's hitting some really heavy slice, taking me out of court, then he's hitting slow kickers to my forehand, then sometimes he serves and volleys. Against Philippoussis, sure, he's a world class player and he's one of the best grass court players. But he's going to hit his first serve hard and to serve and volley, then he's going to hit his second serve pretty hard and he's going to serve and volley. So what do I do? I'm going to try to make him play as many volleys as I can, and if I get second shots, I am going to try and hit passing shots. You know, I need to raise my level, but I think it's much more clearcut, the style of play that I'll need to play.