WIMBLEDON

June 28, 2003

Tim Henman

MODERATOR: Ladies and Gentlemen, first question for Tim, please.

TIM HENMAN: There was perhaps a little more uncertainty than in previous years, for obvious reasons. But I felt like, you know, it was a struggle in the first match. It sometimes is. But just the start of play was a little bit awkward. But, you know, really at this stage, I couldn't be happier with the way I played in the last two matches. I feel the biggest improvement has obviously been my serving. I've served very, very consistently and aggressively. You know, if I'm going to progress further in this tournament, that's got to continue. So I feel, you know, very good about that.

TIM HENMAN: Oh, absolutely. No comparison. I thought I played very well against Bachelot in the first round, last year, that is. Besides that match, the other four that I won and five that I played were just a struggle from start to finish. I'm trying to think who I played, working backwards. Hewitt was obviously a lot better than me on the day. Sa was a break down in the third. Kratochvil was just -- "struggle" is not the word. I don't remember playing particularly well. The last two matches this year certainly bode well for the next week.

TIM HENMAN: I don't think so, no. I think the conditions are very similar. I haven't sort of looked at the draw particularly closely. I know where I've stood in it. I don't think there are too many serve-and-volleyers around.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, he's obviously got a lot of ability, and certainly, you know, I didn't know a great deal about him. You know, it was important for me to get some sort of idea watching his previous two matches. But, you know, his attitude when he came out on the court, he looked pretty relaxed. You know, he's got a big serve, and he's got big groundstrokes. But, you know, I felt on his serves that he didn't have so much variation. So I felt like once I got into the rhythm of the pace of the way it was coming, then I felt like I could, you know, get stuck into most of his service games. You know, the way I was serving, I felt like that was having an effect on his service games, because I was holding pretty easily. You know, the first two sets were some really good tennis. Third set, I didn't really enjoy so much because I felt like I was just -- my rhythm in between points was getting a little bit quicker. You know, I was eager to try and finish it off. You know, that sometimes doesn't help you.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, I've never been particularly interested in women's tennis, but I was certainly willing Capriati on. When she was a break down in the second set, I was actually trying to get her motivated and get her game back on track (smiling). When she won in straight sets, that's probably the most pleased I've been for a women's result in a long time.

TIM HENMAN: No, I don't think so. I mean, my game is moving in the right direction. But on the other side of the coin, you know, I still haven't played as much as I would like. But I hope that's not going to have any bearing on the second week. I feel like, you know, my form and performances in the last two stand me in good stead.

TIM HENMAN: (Inaudible) any worse. The matches, you want to try and save some sort of energy. You don't like to be in a match as long as that. Hopefully, come Monday, he can still be a little bit sore. But the way he plays, he looks so fresh out there. I saw the fifth set. He was still moving very well. I'd be surprised if it had any impact on Monday.

TIM HENMAN: Never beaten him. I lost to him twice in two really tight matches. You know, Wimbledon finalist I think says enough about him. You know, he's very, very comfortable on these courts. You know, I got to find a way to, you know, beat him.

TIM HENMAN: Marveling at that (smiling)? What do you mean by marveling at it?

TIM HENMAN: Yes and no. It's something that has happened more and more regularly over the years, and certainly the first time that it was happening in '96 was a pretty big shot. But, again, I pay less and less attention to it. So I'm probably less and less aware of it because it's not really what's important to me. You know, it's much more important that I'm winning my matches on the court. You know, if they're going to put me on the front page of the newspaper, so be it. But it's never really appealed to me.

TIM HENMAN: He's said that the last four years, hasn't he (smiling)?

TIM HENMAN: If anything, I've had big buildups in previous years. You know, if anything, I'm trying to stay away from that personally, because I think you can start getting a little bit ahead of yourself. You know, I realize I've got a lot of work ahead of me. I feel like, as I said, my game has taken a couple big steps in the right direction. But, you know, there's lots of battles to be played and hopefully won in the next week.

TIM HENMAN: I feel, obviously, very fresh. But I would say honestly there were a couple of question marks internally with my form coming in because, you know, I got through to the semis at Queen's, and it was important to get three wins under my belt and four matches on grass. But I really felt like I needed to pick my form up. The way I played in the first round, you know, again, I was pleased to win. The reality is, if you're going to progress further down the road at this tournament, you need to play better. That's why I'm pleased with the way I've played in the last two, because it does -- I feel more confident that I can keep that going.

TIM HENMAN: I'm not keeping my fingers crossed because it definitely feels absolutely fine. But, again, there's a lot of maintenance work. On the off days, I've been in the gym doing the little bit of weights and maintaining the strength work. That's obviously important, you know, to keep it strong.

TIM HENMAN: Again, it's kind of a day off for the tournament, but it's not really a day off for the players, you know, who are still in. You know, it won't be anything different. It will be a pretty light session and just try and certainly keep the rhythm on my serve and keep doing the same things over and over again so it becomes second nature.

TIM HENMAN: I know his game well enough. But certainly I'll talk with Larry about it and discuss, you know, areas that I feel that I can exploit, and areas that I need to, you know, do well.

TIM HENMAN: It's different. I've never played him on grass. But I'm sure there are areas from the previous two matches that I can learn from, and obviously pretty eager to get a different result.

TIM HENMAN: I think experience helps, definitely. But it wasn't the most sort of comfortable waiting experience today because, you know, Agassi and El Aynaoui played such a great match, but it certainly took some time. It wouldn't have been a particularly enjoyable weekend if I would have got stuck mid match and had to come back on Monday. Hopefully, if I won that match, then I would play Tuesday, won that, played Wednesday. There was definitely an element of relief to get things out of the way. But going back to your original question. I'm not really the type of person that gets the big highs and then there's, you know, a big dip afterwards. I mean, I definitely don't need any motivation. But once the job's done, then I'm pretty relaxed and looking forward to a bit of practice tomorrow.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, probably.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah.

TIM HENMAN: TV and probably the public, yes. No point worrying about it. That's fine by me. Just make sure they speed up in front of me (smiling).

TIM HENMAN: Absolutely. You look at the way I think Ferrero has been playing. You know, I saw some of his match against Escude. I shouldn't say he looks as comfortable as he does on a clay court, but for a guy that hasn't played so much on grass, he looks in pretty impressive form. Certainly with his win in Roland Garros, he's pretty relaxed about things. I don't think he feels like he's got too much to lose. You know, a slow, high-bouncing court is obviously, you know, a pretty good thing for him.

TIM HENMAN: Absolutely. There's no comparison. I think the results last year certainly were a big change. And then it changes a lot of other people's expectations and beliefs, if you like. I think in the past a lot of the Spanish guys and a lot of the clay court guys didn't want to come and play here because they didn't believe they were going to do any good. But now when they see six baseliners in the quarterfinals last year, it's been talked about for a while , you know, these guys asking how the courts are, how the conditions are going to play. Again, you look at how the tournament I think is dominated by baseliners, it's changed a lot.

TIM HENMAN: I think if I was still playing with the gut and stringing it a lot tighter. But I think changing back to the strings that I used on the clay for the last couple of weeks, chalk and cheese difference. It's much looser, much more forgiving on my shoulder. But actually in a bizarre way, I seem like I get more power and more control. I'm pretty happy having made that change.

TIM HENMAN: No, no, it feels great. No complaints.