NASDAQ-100 OPEN

March 26, 2005

Tim Henman

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, it was -- it's really hot out there. It's conditions where you don't want to be out there as long as -- any longer than necessary. But on the positive side, it still makes the conditions pretty lively. It's not that easy to control the ball, and in terms of the wind, it was much calmer than it has been and can be in Miami. I felt like it gave me an opportunity to, you know, be pretty aggressive. I was coming forward a lot. I served very, very consistently. So, yeah, I was very, very pleased with the performance and, obviously, the outcome.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, he is. I've seen him play on a couple of occasions, I saw some of his matches in Sydney when I was already in Melbourne. He was hitting the ball phenomenally well there. I saw his match with Federer in Dubai. He really does go for his shots. Sometimes you wonder whether he's going to go for the right shot, and he doesn't necessarily pick the conventional option, but he's so committed to it he makes a lot of them. And, you know, there were times where I was coming forward on good approach shots and he hit some big passing shots, but I still felt in the long run it was going to pay off. I think in the circumstances, with the heat, that continual sort of pressure, I felt like I'd get rewarded, and I did in the end. But I still had to keep holding my serve.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, he's someone that I've had some good success against. He's not too dissimilar to Canas. I feel that he's someone that I can dictate a little bit to, a little bit more to, whereas Canas is such a good athlete and does run down so many balls, I feel like I can open up the court a little bit more with him. But, yeah, he's one of these guys that if you're not quite on your game, then he can start to dictate. So it's clear-cut. I know the way that I need to play. He knows the way that I want to play. I know the way he wants to play. It comes down to who's going to be able to --

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, I saw that. I didn't know why. He knows that I'm going to come in (smiling). But, no, I'm looking forward to it. I feel that it was an important match for me because I felt in Indian Wells, although I played some pretty good stuff, I was disappointed with my sort of attitude on the court. I was irritable and getting frustrated at a lot of things. Today I wanted to make sure that I wasn't going to get distracted. And in a funny sort of way, when it is that hot, you don't have the energy to start complaining about other things. So just I kept my mind very focused on what I was trying to do, and it was good.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, I think in these -- couple of aspects. I think in the wind, I've been working on making sure that you really stay with each shot, you're not pulling up, you're not moving back to the middle to worry about the next shot. I've had a real sort of purpose of trying to, you know, hit the ball cleanly because you need to in the wind. If there's any slight miss-hits, it's going to be accentuated and the ball's going to fly, and you're going to make those unforced errors. At times in Indian Wells, that was something that I struggled with. Again, I find it easier to, you know, when you are volleying, because it's just so much of a shorter shot, there isn't the big swing that's involved. So it was just another incentive to get to the net.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, it is. I mean, I don't think you -- for continued, sort of consistent weather, it can be so windy. I think if you come in with the wrong frame of mind, then you really can struggle. I think if you come in and you approach it that it's going to be difficult, you're going to miss some easy shots, and your opponent's going to be, you know, missing shots that you wouldn't expect, you're not going to be able to just play perfectly consistent tennis, and accept that and work with it, then there's no reason why you can't, you know, deal with it. But there were times when I played Melzer last year on that same court, it was really, really tough.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, it's just at the last minute -- you feel like you're in the right position, and then suddenly it moves a foot and then you're not in the right position, and then you're not able to just hit the shot and stay down. You're having to lunge at it, you're not quite on balance. Obviously, if it's blowing from one end, you feel like you just touch it and the ball's flying. The other end, you're hitting it as hard as you can and you can't get it past the service line. It is, it's not easy. I've always felt that, you know, when I've played well in Australia, and it's been windy in Sydney and stuff, if I can get forward as much as possible, it's so difficult to hit passing shots because you can't go straight at the line because you know that if you hit what you think is going to be six inches in, just a gust of wind, you'll miss by a couple of feet. It is, I would definitely say that it's one of the toughest places to play.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, absolutely. As you mentioned, you know, with those types of numbers, and not losing your serve, if you're not going to be happy, then you're going to be difficult to please. But I felt when it is a bit quicker and it's a bit livelier, I get into a good routine because I don't feel like I need to force the serve. And, you know, I was serving consistently and setting up the points. I mean, I hit a fair amount of unreturnable serves. But even when he was getting hits on the return, I feel like with my volleys it still leaves me in a very good position. So, yeah, that's always going to be a telltale sign of how my game is.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, it was such a big point, and I couldn't have hit it any better. Then the breakpoint, then I played the chip and charge, and I missed it in the tape by an inch. It is, it's such a fine margin. If I, you know, don't hit quite as much spin on the topspin lob, I miss by six feet; and if I hit too much spin, he's got a smash. And on that approach shot, it's an inch higher, it's really perfect; an inch lower, it's in the net. Sometimes you make them; sometimes you don't.

TIM HENMAN: Well, that was kind of the disappointing thing, because there's been issues physically. And, you know, my back wasn't great for, you know, three or four months. Then I've really felt 100%, I felt great physically on the court. Then I have an attitude problem for four matches for some reason last week, and that was disappointing. But I couldn't really put my finger on it, on the reasons why. I've just made sure that I'm, you know, not going to be distracted by some of the things that - whether it's people moving or whatever - just concentrate on the things that I can control, and that's, you know, that's the way it should be, and that's going to give me the best chance of playing like that.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, it was definitely -- when I played against Clement, it was a bit of a struggle. Sometimes that happens first round, but you get through it. I felt like after the Robredo match -- because it was so windy against Melzer, that was just win at all costs. When I played the third set against Robredo, I really felt like I'd got the rhythm and the routine in between the points. Third set was as good a set as I've played in a long time. I came back and played against Canas. From about the second game on, I was just irritable. I don't know why. It just happens.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, it is. Yeah, Over-30 Syndrome. I was disappointed. But you play badly some weeks, some weeks you feel bad I guess physically. That was a bad week mentally. But I still got something out of it. I got some good matches. And this week, I gave myself a talking to, to say, "Whatever happens, you know, you're going to be mentally better," and it showed.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, I guess it's been a while because even, you know, Masters Cup there was, you know, I was still very stiff and I wasn't really bending and moving as well as I could. I mean, then you sort of backtrack from there. It was an ongoing issue after US Open and Davis Cup. I started -- when I played Hewitt in Cincinnati, I was struggling. Toronto wasn't great. Probably was on the grass where I felt really 100%.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, yeah. Probably.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, absolutely, because, you know, it's what I love to do. You look at it in Andy's case, and you say struggling a little bit. He's struggling a little bit because his ranking has gone from 1 to basically 2 or 3, and now you're comparing him with Federer, and Federer is playing, you know, phenomenal tennis. You actually look at it, you kind of look at the way Andy has played. He's been in the semis of Australian Open, loses an unbelievably tight match to Hewitt; he was in the finals of Wimbledon; probably for him, he played a poor match to lose to Johansson in the US Open. Things aren't too bad, are they? But it just depends what you're going to gauge it by, yeah.

TIM HENMAN: I think he'll be gauging it by his own performance. I think that's what you can control. If he plays the right way and he plays to his capabilities, yeah, he can still win pretty much any tournament. So, you know, in terms of winning a Slam, yeah, he's won the US Open. He hasn't won one since then, but I certainly wouldn't bet against him winning another Slam.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, I mean, with his serve, you're going to build your game around his serve and -- his serve and his forehand. You know, I think there's always aspects that you want to try and improve, and I'm sure -- you know, he's done that. I think he's done that already; he does move forward and try to get to the net a little bit. But, you know, in terms of him suddenly becoming a serve-and-volleyer, that's not the way that he's going to be successful.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, yeah, I've been disqualified (laughter). Yeah, mine was much better. Mine was much better.

TIM HENMAN: 1995, 29th of June - no, I don't know the date. 1995. I battered a ballgirl.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, same referee as this. Threw me out immediately.

TIM HENMAN: No way I should have been defaulted (laughing).

TIM HENMAN: Malisse's?

TIM HENMAN: I don't really know what he said or didn't say.

TIM HENMAN: Nothing (laughing)? They just deefed him (laughing)? If that was the case, then it's pretty tough. Sounds like he was hard done by. He didn't say anything?

TIM HENMAN: But it's not, you know, it's not like it's -- let's look at it. How many people have been disqualified in the last five years? So one guy gets deefed, why are we even having the conversation? It happens, I'm sure. I'm sure there's two sides to the argument. But don't start trying to change rules when it only happens once in a, you know, in a very long period of time.

TIM HENMAN: Speak Croatian, you'll probably be all right (smiling).