NASDAQ-100 OPEN

March 28, 2005

Tim Henman

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Tim.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, it was. I was aware early on, obviously, of the wind, but much, much cooler today. That makes it considerably slower. So that, I think, adds to my satisfaction in the way that I played because I knew -- I made a conscious effort not to try to start forcing the ball to get a little bit extra on different shots. But just really was focused on the style. You know, I played solidly up until 3-All, but then I really, you know, really things started to click and I gave him, you know, so little opportunity to get into any type of rhythm. It was, yeah, it was a really, really good performance.

TIM HENMAN: It's been a long time. I've played some good matches, but to be that sort of decisive and just dominate. 3-All, I held serve. I think I held serve to love, I broke to 15. I had a long game to serve it out actually, but then the first three, three or nearly four games of the second set were so decisive. So, yeah, it's unusual against a player of his caliber. But you just, when you feel that momentum, you just want to keep doing the simple things. And when I'm doing them well, especially with my style, it's going to make it very, very difficult for him.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, it was, yep. That's something to take confidence from. And, you know, as was mentioned, in those types of conditions, it's not that easy. You can't just be picking your spots and feeling like you can hit them all the time because the ball toss is moving, and it's moving forward and backwards. So that's an area that I feel, against Chela, he doesn't stand in, he doesn't return as early as some players. He's got a pretty big swing. I think that gives me a little bit more comfort that I'm not trying to, you know, necessarily win the point with my serve, but I feel like I can set it up and use my volleys. Yeah, that was a tactic that's worked well in the past and I've continued to use.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, I think he served second serve a lot more to my forehand. You know, with the grip that you wait with, a volley grip basically, you know you're going to chip the backhand. But when it comes to your forehand, it's going to be more of a drive. Yeah, that's not always an easy shot. With the slice, you feel like you get a lot more spin, a lot more bite on the ball, which gives you that control. Whereas on the forehand it's probably a bit flatter, so your margin for error is less. But I missed so few of them. You know, when you hit that well, the penetration through the court is good. It does, it gives him no time at all.

TIM HENMAN: Well, it's one of those things that is, you know, goes in cycles, it's cyclical. Because in Australia, I think most of the top players were getting through. Then what happened last week, yeah, in Indian Wells, a lot of them got through, I think. But then other times, draws are decimated and the men, the top men players can lose because of the standard. But this week, a few have fallen by the wayside. But, again, you know, Federer, the way he's playing, it's catch-up for the rest of us. But, you know, the others, we certainly wouldn't take it for granted because you know that if you're not quite on your game, then you can struggle against anyone in this type of tournament. So, no, I think, again, you always try and bring it back to one's self. And the two matches that I've played this week, my performance has been really great. Mentally, I talked about being disappointed last week, and I feel concentration has been much, much better.

TIM HENMAN: I think so. Yeah, again, it's not only a physical thing when you're playing to that level, there's an element of the mental side, to make sure that you don't give anything away. Certainly, even the game at 3-Love, I was up 40-Love and then he got back to deuce. You know, I'm dominating the match, but you still give every point the attention it deserves, because you drop serve there and suddenly he holds for 3-2 and it's kind of game on again. But from 3-All until 6-3, 4-Love, that's the crux of the match, and I just dominated it.

TIM HENMAN: I just was embarrassed by my performance, really; embarrassed by my mental attitude on the court. You know, I just said, you know, I basically said to myself there's a couple of basics that I want to focus on. When your concentration is poor, you're concentrating, but you're concentrating on distractions. I wanted to make sure that the thoughts that were in my head were going to be positive and related to my game and things that I could control. There's no magic sort of secret. I've just done a far better job. There's plenty of things that you can get distracted about, with the wind being the biggest factor. I've done a much better job of not letting that happen.

TIM HENMAN: A little bit. I didn't practice for a couple of days. That's the time when I dwelt on it, which sometimes you don't dwell on things, you move on from it. But I certainly know Paul and I talked about it at length and discussed this and different reasons. And then it is, then it's, you know, it's up to me. It's down to me whether I'm going to be big enough to get on with the job. You look at the, you know, the last eight or nine years. I've had bad matches where I've, you know, I've got frustrated and I've had bad sort of mental performances. But to have four in a row like that, I don't think it's ever happened to me. So it was a bit strange.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, yeah, yeah. First two sets were pretty ordinary. Some of that wasn't necessarily that I was getting very frustrated in the first set, but the discipline early on at the way that I was playing points and what I was trying to do wasn't -- I won the first set 6-4, so it can't be that bad; he's 15 in the world or whatever. But I think in comparison to the third set against Robredo, it was a big difference. And, again, you know, it wasn't terrible against Melzer, but I don't think it was good enough. You know, it just came to the boil nicely against Canas.

TIM HENMAN: Not really, no. I think it was very different, I felt, and it was a lot more physical. I hadn't really been able to get to the bottom of the physical problem, so it doesn't matter how good, how tough I was mentally or how good my concentration was, you know, my ability to really compete from the physical side was enough to get me through two matches. But the way Davydenko was playing, I was a distant second.

TIM HENMAN: Therapy, yeah (smiling). Therapy.

TIM HENMAN: Well, I think sometimes. Last week in Indian Wells, it doesn't really make a lot of sense, does it? I mean, I really enjoy the place, great climate, I'm feeling good physically, I've had great results there, good conditions, whatever. And, you know, I have that type of meltdown. And, yeah, you know, Paul and I discussed it on three or four occasions for, you know, half an hour, an hour or whatever over dinner, and you just try and find a few reasons why. I just, you know, for me, I thought it was embarrassing really. I think that's the best way to sum it up.

TIM HENMAN: No, I think a little bit -- I think there was a little bit of self-inflicted pressure that, you know, I want to get going; this is, you know, my first big tournament of the year really. Perhaps there was a little bit of anxiety there to, you know, to play well and get wins under my belt. But I still don't, you know -- it doesn't really excuse the way I was on the court. But, again, now that I feel that I'm doing a better job, the way that I've concentrated on the court, then this is what I'm focusing on. That's sort of in the history books.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah. I think you look at the way Stepanek has played this year. He's really come on a lot. He's a guy that, you know, has got a really -- they've both got very deceptive serves. I've practiced a lot with Morrison and he's got a really good serve. I don't think they mind these conditions either because they keep the points pretty short. Yeah, I'll want to continue in not only the same frame of mind, but the same level of performance. I think first and foremost, if I do that, then I've got a good chance of winning. If you do that and they come up with something better, then all credit to them.

TIM HENMAN: Pretty impressive (smiling). I saw a picture of it, actually. How he got in there, I don't know. But there's a while to go. I think he'll be in Federer's locker next.

TIM HENMAN: I can, but I don't think you can.