THE STELLA ARTOIS CHAMPIONSHIPS

June 9, 2005

Tim Henman

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, absolutely. It's obviously difficult circumstances. He's, you know, 6'5" and lefty and serving 140, and it's pretty dark out there from the word "go." So it's not easy to try to get into the service games. But I knew that I had to be optimistic and stay very positive, concentrate on my own service games throughout, and I did a really, really good job of that. There was only one game, beginning of the third, where I was up against it and played five good points in a row. So, yeah, at this stage of, you know, my grass court season, it's ideal to get through a match like that.

TIM HENMAN: I don't think to begin with, but it's -- I think it's definitely the darkest I've played in. You know, you know that you're not going to be able to play sort of if it starts going -- if the sets were longer. And then suddenly you're up a break in the second, I win that pretty comfortably, and then all of a sudden I'm up in the third 2-1. One part of your mind is saying, "God, it is, it's really dark, it's so tough to pick the ball up." The other part is saying, "Well, I'm up a break here. If I keep doing a good job, I can finish this off." I think most importantly I felt so, you know, good about my serve and was just going to make sure I concentrated on that. And when I got, you know, an insurance break, that was a good feeling.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, yeah. They probably needed one as well. Yeah, it was a pretty exciting match. And, yeah, just the scenario, we're third match from - what were we? - third match from one, and we go on at six. Five hours for two grass court matches. That's pretty good going.

TIM HENMAN: No, no, no, not at all. Just saying long matches.

TIM HENMAN: No, no, no, that's absolutely fine. I've been saying for years that, you know, we need some more players at the top of the game. And, you know, he's not at the top of the game, but he's playing -- played some fantastic tennis today. I think we all agree, if he keeps doing the right things and working hard, there's no reason why he can't be, you know, direct acceptance into these types of events.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, I would have fancied them, yeah.

TIM HENMAN: Sympathy, not really.

TIM HENMAN: I understand it, absolutely. Yeah, I understand it firsthand. But I know, you know -- I've got to know him better and better, and I think, you know, he's a very good athlete. He's got a really good game. There aren't any, you know, technical deficiencies, I don't think, anywhere. But I think the biggest factor is, you know, his head is soundly screwed on. That will -- I think that will serve him well when he has to deal with the, you know, the pressures from the outside.

TIM HENMAN: That's a good starting point, isn't it? Yeah. It's, you know, it's very difficult to -- it's very difficult to predict, you know, how far he can go. But, you know, I think he can get in the Top 100, you know, pretty quickly and then build it from there. I have absolute belief that he'll get inside 50 and he can go further. But there's going to be, you know - let's say it now - there's going to be plenty of bumps in the roads and there's going to be ups and downs, but he's got the tools to work with.

TIM HENMAN: Much stronger. Much stronger (smiling).

TIM HENMAN: I have spoken to him, yeah, quite a lot. You know, he's one of these guys, you know, you see he's passionate about the game and he loves being in this environment. Watching, I watched his Davis Cup debut. You could tell that he's got that character on the court that he loves the big occasion. And that was evident there; it was evident today. That's a big, big positive, because he's going to be playing in that type of arena more and more.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, I'm always -- not just with him, with all the players, I've always tried to give them some advice and guidance if they've wanted it or required it, and he's no different. But, you know, some of the other players, it's disappointing, you know, I think their attitude towards the game. But he's a different kettle of fish.

TIM HENMAN: No, no. Not many do. But, I mean, that's, you know, I say two matches and we played five hours, grass court tennis is different. I think we have -- we all -- you know, I have to accept that, because I can't, you know -- I did it well tonight, but I think you have to be more selective. You can't just serve and volley both balls unless you've got, you know, one of the biggest serves. You look at the way that Johansson played, you look at the way Andy played, there are many ways to do it. You can stay on the baseline. But, as I said, what you can't do on a grass court is play defense. You have to be the one that's dictating, and he's got the game to do that. You know, he's got a great all-court game, and, you know, he can add to that I think. I think he serves well enough to use a little bit of variety to follow it in once in a while. But those are things that he's going to develop, I'm sure, as time goes by.

TIM HENMAN: We'll give him some stick for cramping on grass over three sets (laughing). No, it's a combination of things. You know, it was a long match. He's been out there two and a half hours. I think the nervous energy adds to it. But, you know, I think he said it himself, didn't he, after he played in Barcelona, that, you know, he wasn't -- didn't really feel fit enough. That was probably evident today. You look at, you know, an experienced campaigner like Johansson, he was fresh, and Andy, you know, was understandably getting a bit tired.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, whether it's been, you know, Greg or -- it's a healthy environment when you've got that competition. You know, let's -- I don't think we should start looking to him to be jumping that quickly, but this has been an important stepping stone for him. Whether it's in the summer or at the end of the year or beginning of next year, if he starts pushing on, it's good for everyone. It will be good for him, it will be good for me, it will be good for tennis, British tennis in general.

TIM HENMAN: Not a lot. Who was it? Was it against Jeremy?

TIM HENMAN: Was it against Jeremy? I think it might have been against Batesy. Couldn't believe I lost. Couldn't believe I lost. I was devastated.

TIM HENMAN: No, it was similar. I remember my first year, I think this might have been my first tour win when I beat Lundgren, which I still remind him about fairly regularly. Then I lost to Todd Martin. Yeah, it's a good -- it's a great opportunity, you know, to play in an event like this and get the experience. It's going to help his ranking. But it's, again, it's a fantastic place to play, a great atmosphere with a full house. I'm sure Andy enjoyed that experience, and it will be a stepping stone to, you know, bigger tournaments, bigger stadiums.

TIM HENMAN: I think experience plays a part. I think, you know, my quality showed through. I think he's, you know, he's got an unbelievable serve, and that can make life difficult. But I just felt over a period of time I was going to make him play more and more and put his volleys under pressure. I didn't really, you know, feel threatened on my serve, because his return game is erratic. But whenever you've got a weapon like that, you're always going to stand up and take note, and you have to do a job to break it down. And, you know, I didn't necessarily do that in the first set, but I hadn't, you know, given anything and was able to dominate two and three.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, you know, his serve is -- you know, he serves all four corners well, so it is difficult. But I just felt that as the match went on, I think his -- not only the speed of his serve dropped a little bit, but first serve percentage went down. And I think then I was able to just put more and more pressure on, and suddenly he doesn't hit the spot so well and starts to miss a few volleys. It's like an accumulative thing. Yeah, it's still a good one to get through.