TELECOM MASTERS ITALIA

May 5, 2005

Tim Henman

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, it's obviously disappointing to lose. But, you know, early on was certainly the best Dominik's played against me by a stretch. He was playing -- serving so consistently, hitting the ball so heavy. I didn't really have too many complaints. I felt like the better player was in front. But then I really felt like I did a good job of turning things around. I was down 1-Love, I think 15-40 in the second. From that moment on I started to play as good a tennis as I played in a long time. You know, my frustration really is once I got that momentum at the end of the second set, I thought, you know, I was playing some great tennis. And it just turns on a couple of -- there's a couple of key moments. 15-Love, first game of the third, and he actually hits a couple of fortunate shots. I should have done better with both. And instead of being up 40-Love, I was down 15-30, and that obviously was -- when he gets that break, that's a big turn in momentum. I'd get back on level terms at 2-All and then, again, you know, had the opportunity on my serve and, you know, was up 30-Love, I think. And, you know, then on the breakpoint he gets, again, a little bit fortunate. So I think those were the two really key moments once it comes down to the third set. And, obviously, they both didn't go my way.

TIM HENMAN: Hmm... Well, I think I didn't execute it as well as I should have done. I'd been sort of behind in the point all the way and then I'd hit a good running forehand and then I was back, you know, running back across to the backhand. And, you know, I felt like it was the right shot to go for it, but certainly the execution wasn't as good as I'd like. But, you know, I think that just really emphasizes the nature of clay. You know, you get these sort of swings in momentum and you just have to try and maintain them for as long as possible, which is difficult, because each and every point is such an individual battle.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, I think, you know, as I said, early on in the match he's dominating and then I did a good job with the second set performance. And then I, again, turned it around in the third. So once you feel like you've turned it around that quickly, you've got to try and hold on to it for a bit longer. To drop my serve at 2-All was going to be crucial because it was then back in his favor. And getting on to the latter stages, it gets more and more important.

TIM HENMAN: I heard a few in French the other day so I said, "Is it acceptable to swear in French and not English?" But I don't think I have a leg to stand on.

TIM HENMAN: I think probably just go straight to Hamburg tomorrow. And, you know, it's one of those -- the way that, you know -- we all know how the conditions have been in Hamburg. I just view that, you know, I've got nothing to lose there because it is, I think that is notoriously the most difficult conditions when it is that heavy and that cold. But I do feel really good about a lot of aspects of my game. The rhythm and routine on my serve has been great in the three matches. It's been really good in practice the last couple of weeks. And it's going to be a challenge, probably something that I haven't done particularly well in Hamburg because it is so slow and so heavy and you feel that you end up just trying to force shots so much when it's not going to do you any good. So, again, I want to try and maintain this because I know that if I do that, then it will become easier again in Paris when the conditions get a little bit quicker. So, you know, I'll certainly go there and, you know, keep things going.

TIM HENMAN: Oh, absolutely, yeah. I think with, you know, the conditions when I played him in US Open, the balls are -- it flies around, it's a little bit harder to control. He made so few real unforced errors today. His first serve percentage is so much higher because he has bigger margin for error so, yeah. But that's, you know, that's all credit to him. He played some really good stuff. One of the aspects which we talked about yesterday, when I play the short slice and bring him in, he really handled that very well. I mean, I still won points, but I had to hit some pretty good passing shots. And, you know, I think he missed very few, very few when he came forward.

TIM HENMAN: Tried to use backhand down the line a bit more because I think his backhand is solid, is very solid. But if you can get him running to his forehand, that's, you know, that's probably a good opportunity. But, still, you know, it's still sort of a risky tactic. But, again, I definitely think it's the right play to pressure him as much as you can on the second serve. He can get a little shaky in that area. But, no, I don't really have -- I can complain about the result, but I can't complain too much about the performance.

TIM HENMAN: It doesn't deter me. It emphasizes the point, but it doesn't give me the opportunity. In the first set he's hitting it that heavy and that deep, how can I get to the net? I can serve and volley, but once we get into baseline rallies, it's very difficult to counter that. That's why, you know, he just played to such a high level. So, again, any second serve, I needed to come forward and needed to come forward on my serve a little bit more.

TIM HENMAN: Oh, yeah, big. It feels like the sort of start of the clay swing really. It was difficult in Monte-Carlo given the conditions, given lack of preparation. So, you know, I was keen to really kick-start things. And from really only just playing that one match and in difficult circumstances, it feels like I've picked up the rhythm of clay pretty well now. But, you know, as I said, I want to just keep trying to build that all the way through, you know, not just on the clay. And then some of the -- you know, the way that I've been sort of disciplined with my rhythm and routine on my serve, which has been so up and down I think at times this year, that's going to be a big, big aspect on grass. That's really going to be a focal point for me for definitely the next eight or nine weeks, however many it is.

TIM HENMAN: I think they're much more consistent, yeah. I think that's really a sort of a comparison and a reflection, you know, what I said about grass. I think it's a comparison because I've just learnt to enjoy clay so much more because before it was kind of like there was this trepidation. And, you know, today, I think I saw you guys laughing at the end of the second set, it's fun, you know. It's great out there. I'm sliding and hitting some great shots, the crowd are getting into it. So that's where it's changed so much on clay. And I think it's also probably a reflection at my disappointment in my performances on grass over the last couple of years. Because, you know, I've been -- I was in the quarters last year and 2003 I was in the quarters. And, you know, I feel like I've only really played a couple of good matches. That's sort of probably what frustrates me about my performances on grass.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, I started using it I think it might be two years ago next week. Yeah, it's helped me so much, definitely.

TIM HENMAN: It's sort of a plastic string in the mains and then natural gut in the crosses. It's because when I was playing with natural gut I was stringing a lot tighter, and that makes the sweet spot much smaller. It's harder to get spin when the racquet is so tight. Whereas with this synthetic and the natural gut combination, you can string much, much looser. I think it gives you a bigger sweet spot, and you can get so much more spin. And on clay, that gives you a bigger margin for error. You can't always hit the ball perfectly. I think that's what the gut was emphasizing. It was almost like your sweet spot was so small, if you didn't quite hit it perfectly, it was just very difficult. Now, I mean, I would think there's less than five players that use just all natural gut in their strings. You go back three years ago, and I would say that 75% of players used all natural gut. So it's changed.

TIM HENMAN: Probably, yeah. Three or four years ago everyone used gut. But now I think it's changed. Some of the real clay court specialists have always used the synthetic because it broke so quickly, but gut was really so popular. Now, I think so few players use it. They use a combination.

TIM HENMAN: I think there's a little bit more to it than just the string (smiling). I'd like to think that, yeah. The string is good, but not that good.

TIM HENMAN: It helps, yeah. Little bit.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, it's not as quick. Yeah, definitely.

TIM HENMAN: I think so, yeah. I just think we need to be careful that the styles - people have different styles - and I think that's definitely an issue. Because if everybody's just playing the same and serving and hitting forehands and backhands, then I don't think it's so appealing for everybody to watch. I think when you have a contrast in styles, that's what people like to watch. I think the way young players are developing, you know, they're being taught - and quite rightly so given the conditions - it's like come to the net to shake hands at the end. You don't really need to, I think, because it's getting slower and heavier and more difficult to do that. So I think if all the surfaces are becoming much closer together, then I don't think it's so good for the game.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, I spoke with actually the people at Wimbledon. And, obviously, I think it has a part to play with changing the grass from I don't know what it was before, but now it's 100% rye. Obviously, the courts are probably harder now. I think changing the grass, they said, you know, it's so that it wears better. But in my opinion, there wasn't a problem before. So if they were getting a lot of bad bounces, then, sure, then you probably need to change something. But just because it was on television, it was looking a little bit worn, it was still playing very well. And so now I just think it's obviously made it harder and harder to try and play quickly and aggressively. So you just -- it's been for everybody to see. You look at the results and the players that have been effective; we've had that conversation from before, I think 2002, when suddenly there were six real out-and-out baseliners. But that's their choice.

TIM HENMAN: I think so, yeah. Yeah.

TIM HENMAN: I can see sometimes, you know, when we used to play in Rotterdam and perhaps Milan, you know, they were such quick courts. Then it was just -- it was totally service dominated; you weren't going to see rallies. I don't think that's a spectacle. But I think now we've probably gone a little bit too far the other way, so it's very difficult to see the variation.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, I do, yeah. Well, fingers crossed, I'm going to be healthy. I feel, you know, better than I've ever felt. That's not difficult to say that I'm going to feel better than last year, because I did, I felt really so ordinary. I need to keep building on this. I still feel it's been a bit stop-start this year. But right now I do feel very positive about my game. I'm feeling physically good. My shoulder's good. My back's good. And obviously the way that I'm hitting the ball has been important this week. So I've got to, you know -- that's why I really sort of -- I appreciate the challenge next week, because it is, it's going to be difficult because of the nature of the conditions. So it's almost like -- I'm always the type of person that's going to take that challenge on. It's almost like when it's been so bad in Hamburg, when it's been so wet, you almost sort of think, "Shall I just have a practice week and get ready for Paris?" But I've never been one to sort of approach it like that. So I'm going to go there and have some fun, have the right attitude, and see what happens.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, hmm (smiling). I've got to remember those, yeah.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, and thermals.