WIMBLEDON

June 22, 2004

Tim Henman

THE MODERATOR: Tim for you.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, definitely got a little bit frustrated at times on the court. You know, there were some positives aspects and there were a few aspects that I was struggling with. You know, in all honesty, I was, you know, perhaps spending too much time concentrating on the negatives rather than, you know, being optimistic and positive that I'd got myself out of trouble in the second set, and, you know, was a double break up in the third. But, you know, I think upon reflection, having, you know, got off the court and obviously won and got through, you know, a difficult match, I didn't play my best today. But I think Paris was a good example of how I was struggling in the first round. I was in an even worse position than I was today and I found a way to win. Some good things can happen from that.

TIM HENMAN: Get down two-sets-to-love (laughter). Yeah, a little bit. Those types of matches, the one in Paris, you certainly can draw confidence from because, you know, I found a way to get myself out of trouble. When I play well and I'm hitting the ball and serving consistently, then it's easy. These are the matches where, you know, I'm struggling with my timing and not playing as well, quite as well as I'd like, and he's, you know, hitting some great returns and making life difficult. These are the ones that you've got to find a way to get through it. That's exactly what I did. You know, I look forward to trying to play a little bit better on Thursday.

TIM HENMAN: No. Again, anyone that's playing in this tournament is a good player. I think with the nature of the conditions, I think the level of belief of that type of player has changed drastically in the last few years because, you know, they have the opportunity to play their game. You know, 10 years ago, there probably was really only one way to play on grass. You know, now that's not the case. You know, for a guy that has really played very, very little, you know, he played really well. He's a good player. You're not getting into these tournaments unless you're a good player.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, definitely. There's no comparison to the way that I'm playing in this tournament to the way that I was playing 12 months ago. And, you know, as I said, it was difficult today. I didn't play my best. But, you know, my level of confidence and the way that I've been playing, the style of play in the last, you know, six or seven months - as I've talked about pretty extensively - is something that, you know, gives me a lot of confidence and gives me the belief that even when I'm not playing my best, I'm going to win.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah. I think in all honesty, I was. I was definitely taken by surprise at just how slow the conditions were. And, you know, it's the sort of the tricky scenario for the tournament that, you know, the show courts have got to be used for 13 days, and therefore they need to be protected. You get the chance, obviously, to play on the outside courts, and they get a lot more play. And then you come onto a court like that, that really has, you know, one day's play. It was, it was very slow. The ball sort of goes through the court particularly quickly, gives a player of his style time to play. You know, the way I like to play, is to take their time away. Obviously, when the conditions are a bit slower, he has a little longer.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, it's great. His two-handed is a great shot, no question about it. You know, when you're really able to play a good, heavy slice to his forehand with his extreme grip, he struggles. But, you know, you miss-time your slice by a fraction, the ball just sits there, and he can dominate off both sides. You know, it's not where you're just hitting a good quality shot and you can hit through the court. You really have to sort of construct the point. And I guess that's a little bit more unusual on grass.

TIM HENMAN: No, I didn't. But I was pretty grateful when the schedule came out, and obviously was aware that the forecast is not particularly clever the next few days. Yeah, certainly, again, you know, winning's the most important thing. But to win and get my match out of the way, I think the next 36 hours could be a little bit tricky. It's nice to have the first one out of the way.

TIM HENMAN: You know, that happens. It's like the level of my play. You know, you can't always expect to play your best. You know, that's a physical, a technical and a mental thing. And today wasn't, you know, my best performance mentally. You know, there were times when, you know, I got frustrated with, you know, some of my execution, got frustrated at the quality of his shots sometimes because, you know, he hit some brilliant passing shots. But, you know, that's life. And the most important thing is that, you know, I found a way to get through. I obviously feel in very good shape physically. So looking forward to Thursday now.

TIM HENMAN: What? Whether I was going to win or lose?

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, you have to, especially in those tight situations when you get to a breaker and there's going to be some pretty important points. You want to execute and you want to play the points in the right fashion. And, you know, I was able to do that. I, you know, managed to get a return back at 6-4, and then 6-5 hit a great serve into the body, 6-All hit a good second serve and a good drop volley. I think that's probably a big difference from 12 months ago.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, they do, absolutely. And the support is phenomenal. I definitely sense with the way things are going in Portugal, there's a buzz about sort of the general public right now. It was good to get out there and good to have their support. I'm sure I'm going to get that throughout the tournament, and I hope it's for two weeks.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, perhaps sometimes, you know, I think this is an aspect that has changed in the last six or seven months that, you know, today wasn't a very good example, but I have been in general, you know, much more relaxed and probably showing a lot less emotion. But I think having played here for the last 10 years and played some pretty tight matches, I'm sure they've got the hang of things now (smiling).

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, just because they've got one of these, you know, movable cameras. And basically the arm was sort of sticking out. Every time you walked past the umpire's chair, you sort of had to wiggle past it. He gave us another couple feet of room.

TIM HENMAN: I think a small part. Yeah, this is something that, you know, I've talked about. I think, you know, it helps put things in perspective. I think when I reflect on previous years and previous parts of my career, I think there was too much emphasis from within about winning or losing. I think that was where I was putting a little bit much pressure on myself. And now I have more clarity about the way I want to play and playing to my style. And there isn't really that onus on the outcome, it's just about playing my style. And, you know, I think when you have a daughter - as we do - who's not the slightest bit interested in what you're doing, she doesn't care whether you win or lose, she just wants your attention. I think that can help.

TIM HENMAN: She normally talks me through it, what she thinks, how my serve was (smiling).

TIM HENMAN: That's a dangerous question (smiling).

TIM HENMAN: Barnes is too far to travel (laughing). I stay at home. That's one of the advantages of staying at home, I can stay at home. I'm in obviously very familiar surroundings. I enjoy that. Doesn't happen too often with my job.

TIM HENMAN: I was showing too much emotion (smiling).

TIM HENMAN: I did, yeah, absolutely.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, well, he was pretty quick to notify the umpire. But I don't think there was too many that heard. Hopefully not.

TIM HENMAN: I've seen him around for quite a few years. Off the top of my head, I don't think we've played. We might have done. You know, I think he's more -- he's certainly got a great -- played a lot more matches on grass than my opponent today. But he obviously beat Saretta. I don't know what the score was there. Yeah, he's another good player. He played some big matches in Davis Cup obviously with Federer as part of the Swiss team. I've just got to make sure, you know, that I try and play a little bit better than I did today. But, you know, I still fancy my chances.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, again, I'd love to be able to watch the football, but my job's my priority right now. Whenever I play, I'm going to be ready and very focused on that. You know, if I can watch that, as well, then it will be a bonus.

TIM HENMAN: It's a difficult one, yeah. You look at my -- you look at some of my past Wimbledons, the first round has not always been the easiest or the most straightforward. But, you know, in this tournament, you only get one chance, don't you? In a round-robin, you obviously can afford to lose a game. But certainly in this type of event, you've got to find a way to win. You know, I was able to do that. That's a big positive. I think in the past, you know, perhaps I could get, you know, a little bit too frustrated. Sure, I was frustrated today. But I never -- you know, I never felt like the result was going to be in doubt.

TIM HENMAN: I didn't say it to anyone apart from myself.

TIM HENMAN: I can't remember what I said (smiling). No, I can't remember. My memory's not that good (smiling).