NASDAQ-100 OPEN

March 29, 2005

Tim Henman

THE MODERATOR: Ladies and gentlemen, Tim Henman. We'll open it up for questions.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah. Yeah, it was. It's one of those matches where I've obviously set the tone in my previous two matches where I've been so aggressive and I've come forward on everything, and I think there was adjustments to be made on two grounds, really. Obviously, totally different conditions. It's much cooler and playing heavy and pretty slow. When I've been successful against him in the past, I've mixed things up a lot, I haven't given him a great deal of pace, I've played a lot to his forehand, and that's paid off. But, yeah, it did, it took me a little bit longer to really find my rhythm. Obviously, losing my serve in that game when he had the fall, it wasn't ideal. But I still felt pretty comfortable. If I would have lost that set, it wasn't ideal, but I think having beaten him on three occasions and felt like I got the right game plan, I could still, you know, turn things around. And it turned around quicker than perhaps I was expecting.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, I have. But I haven't always -- I remember in Rome one year I was in a similar situation. I'd been at the courts all day. You know, I went out to play my match. I was playing Julien Boutter, the French guy, and I ended up winning the first set 6-2. But I felt like I was -- I just felt pretty mentally exhausted. As the match went on, I didn't deal with it. I think, again, playing him, you know, he's not the most straightforward of people on the court, and I knew that I've got to worry about my own game, not be distracted by what he gets up to. I think that sort of helped me with regards waiting for so long because I wanted to be focused, and... Yeah, certainly I can't say it's the best I've ever played. But in the situation, it is about getting the result.

TIM HENMAN: Not really. I'm probably a little bit slightly cynical with some of his antics. I didn't see him. I obviously heard it, but I was sort of trying to will my volley over the net..

TIM HENMAN: No. Breakpoint, 4-All, I don't want to delay things even more. And, you know, to his credit, he actually got on with it. I thought we were gonna -- I had given the balls back, I was ready to sit down, and he said, "No, I'm okay." At the change of ends he said it was more the shock of it. He tapes, I think, both his ankles before he plays every match. It didn't delay things as long as I thought it would, and I can't blame, you know, him on playing a poor next point.

TIM HENMAN: Yes. I felt that there's, again, there's a balance of playing the aggressive game and still playing solidly against someone like him. I felt early on in those first nine games the balance of things was a little bit too passive. I felt like I needed to get forward a bit more. He serves well. I couldn't chip and charge as much as against the other guys. But still, I think the second half, if you like, I was a little bit more aggressive. I felt that was where I played my best tennis.

TIM HENMAN: Now what? I got a day off tomorrow.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, against Federer. You know, as Paul and I were just talking about, you know, this is the -- I feel that this is the situation that you've got to go out there and really, you know, enjoy the opportunity because his record speaks for itself. I don't think he's played perhaps to the level that he set himself. You know, what have I got to lose? I feel like I've beaten him on enough occasions in the past. I appreciate that, you know, he's beaten me the last couple of times, but there will be definitely a couple of things that I'll want to focus on from my point of view. If I do that, then I do feel like my style can unsettle him.

TIM HENMAN: I was down a break, broke back.

TIM HENMAN: I think when you look at all these guys - and there's plenty of guys that have got far better ground strokes than me - and, you know, he dominates them. That just emphasizes the point that when I take his time away, I think it gives him far less opportunity to show the repertoire of shots that he's got. You know, that's where I think in the past I've had success. You know, the last two occasions there's no complaints; he was better than me on the day. He's been better than most people that he's played for a while. But, you know, I feel that I've created a good opportunity. I've got some good matches under my belt, and I'll certainly be really, really looking forward to it.

TIM HENMAN: Uhm... private jets (laughing). No, all sorts of things. I mean, South Africa and safari and all sorts of things. I mean, I do, I spend a lot of time with him. I get on well with him. You know, I think for a guy that's achieved so much, you know, he's so down-to-Earth. I think he's very -- I expect, you know, he's pretty accessible from your guys' point of view. I think he enjoys like his role, his position at the top of the game. So, yeah, I do. He was hanging around, we were in the locker room beforehand, and while he was waiting here, he had quite a long time to wait. But as always, it doesn't detract from what's going to happen when we get on the court.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, yeah. I introduced him, but I get a kickback for introducing him to the company.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, I mean, different personalties. You see Roger and you look at his schedule from Houston last year to going to Doha and then Australia. He spent four days at home, you know. He loves to travel. He loves to, you know, go to places. You look at his schedule from Rotterdam - Rotterdam, Dubai, South Africa, Indian Wells. And, you know, good luck to him because that's a big part of what we do, and he enjoys that aspect of it. I think he enjoys many things that go with it, and that certainly helps. Whether that will remain over a long period of time is a difficult part of it, but I think that does help him deal with the aspects that go with it.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, I've played enough times there. I practiced here before the tournament. It does, you know, when you play on Court 1, as I did in my first match, it's very small surroundings. Then actually when you go out to the Grandstand Court, it's so much space. It does give you a different sort of view. But, you know, I don't think it will really make a great deal of difference.

TIM HENMAN: I'd definitely like to play in the warmth of the day, yeah.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, European TV. It's got to be. Got to be, hasn't it?

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, we were scheduled 4 o'clock though, weren't we?

TIM HENMAN: Yeah. I hear what you're saying. But then from Morrison's point of view, if Morrison wins, he had to play doubles last night. But, yeah, I would certainly hope that it's during the day.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah. Sometimes when you've seen his other performances, he's been on a roll, I think he's not playing at the level that he set himself. I mean, it's all things being relative, he's still winning. He's been still winning for such a long time, since really the Olympics. So, you know, I feel like my game needs to go up a level, obviously. But there's no reason why it can't.

TIM HENMAN: Just, yeah, I mean, I think continuation of the mental side of things, being focused, not getting distracted and, you know, the rhythm of my serve. I think those will be two important aspects.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, to a certain extent, yeah. I think when you -- I feel that the aspects or the matchup, if you like, it's fairly clear. I want to be aggressive and take his time away, and so if I can keep doing that. Again, there's that fine line. You don't want to be rushing everything so suddenly you make a whole host of unforced errors. But be aggressive and really have that feeling of going for it. Because, you know, it's like, Big deal, you know, if I lose, I'm his 44th victim in a row, or 44th out of 45. It's not the end of the world. But I think I want to have that attitude to play freely and nothing to lose, a lot to gain.

TIM HENMAN: I think it does, yeah. I think with my style as well. It wasn't so tonight because I didn't come forward as much. But I think definitely in the wind, you know, I can shorten up my shots a lot and come in. And when the guys are trying to hit passing shots, it is so difficult because your margin for error needs to be so much greater. Even tonight, you know, it's so much colder. A lot of times, you really felt in the hot conditions you've got to be so delicate with volleys. Tonight, you try to play some of them, they nearly hit you on the toe because it just doesn't come off the racquet. So that's not easy. But I do feel, you know, these -- when it is a little bit variable, a little bit inconsistent, I can deal with it.

TIM HENMAN: Better than most, yep.