TENNIS MASTERS CUP- HOUSTON

November 19, 2004

Tim Henman

THE MODERATOR: First question for Tim, please.

TIM HENMAN: I improved in the second set. I certainly played some better tennis there, but I don't think I really, you know, raised it high enough. I was certainly, you know, starting to put more pressure on him, keeping my serve and keeping my nose in front. But, you know, there's no question that the better player won on the night. I never really felt like I was able to get into his service games. The games that I got into, I was always sort of coming back from 40-15 down, or I never really managed to put some pressure on him early. But, you know, that's the way it goes, you know. I think you sometimes aren't allowed to play your best. In those conditions, I felt early on I was really struggling to make an impact to hurt him. Even on my service games, they were all a struggle. Second set I did a much better job, and I gave myself a chance to perhaps make something happen. But, unfortunately, for me, it didn't.

TIM HENMAN: No, you know, it sometimes happens. There was a couple of opportunities, you know, I missed off the slice. I don't think there's certainly something wrong with a shot, you just miss. But I think when you're playing catch-up like that, the mistakes that you do make, they're sort of highlighted because you know that your chances are few and far between.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, I think I didn't play great, I didn't play badly. Marat played better than me. You know, I think when you break it down like that, there isn't a whole lot to say. You know, I would have liked to have got a little bit more out of my serve. I would have liked to have served a little bit more consistently. And then perhaps if I could have held my serve to start off with, I then might have been able to put some pressure on him because he definitely, having got the break of serve, then it just gives him a, you know, confidence boost, it puts me on the back foot. The first set was a struggle. Having said that, you know, I think that's where I started to do a better job of holding my own serve. I would have expected to create more opportunities, but, you know, I never had breakpoint in the match. A couple of games where I got to, you know, got into some deuce games and could never really create something. So that's a disappointing aspect because I always feel like whoever I'm going to play, I'm going to create opportunities because I can get a lot of balls back. Even against someone like Andy, I felt like I was in probably more service games. But I think that goes to show that not only has Marat got such a good serve, he's so solid from the baseline. When it's heavy and it's pretty slow, it's difficult to find an area to attack because he's so solid off both forehand and backhand.

TIM HENMAN: I better be because otherwise it doesn't say much for the rest of my career, does it? Yeah, it has, it's been a really positive year. I've made some big breakthroughs in the Grand Slams, and that's obviously been an important factor of why I've been able to improve my end-of-year ranking. But I still look back at the year and I see a lot of areas where I can do better. One of the aspects that is really -- I actually did a pretty good job, the first set tonight, was the discipline on my serve. That, has been a dictating factor throughout the year. When I've played well, I have been very disciplined in each and every point, the way I wanted to play it. I still think it's, over the course of the year, I can do that much, much better. That's sort of pretty motivating, pretty exciting, because there's absolutely no doubt in my mind that I can play better next year.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, I don't think -- it doesn't disappoint me, it doesn't frustrate me. That's fact, isn't it? That's something that I've always been judged by, my career. I've never hidden behind the fact that I'll be judged on whether I win Wimbledon or not. I'm sure if I don't win Wimbledon, then that's what will stick in a lot of people's minds. Do I think that's right, do I think that's fair? Probably not, but that's out of my control, so I'm not really -- it's not really the way that I'm going to approach trying to improve my career and see what I can achieve in the next couple years.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, I've done that. I'll say it again. I couldn't have been more disappointed in my performances outside of Wimbledon, because I'd never been past the 16s, and I've never been past the third round in Paris. I've made some big breakthroughs. You know, to make the semis of Roland Garros on clay is something to be pretty proud of; I'm proud of it. But I still think I can do -- still think I can play better, I think I can play more consistently. That's the challenge. That's what I want to try and do next year and, you know, see whether I can do that.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, yeah. It works. I couldn't be happier the way it's worked, and I've got no intention of changing anything. We've already talked about my schedule next year, and, you know, we both feel that it's a very good balance. I don't want someone with me, you know, 24/7. I still like just that element of independence, but there's no question that his input has had such a big factor in the way that I've played and my performances this year. You know, that's why I'm disappointed I lost tonight, and I would have liked to have gotten through to the semis. But as far as I'm concerned, I'm really looking forward to a break and, fingers crossed, becoming a dad for the second time. 2005, I'm excited about it.

TIM HENMAN: I'll probably be changing some nappies. My wife's having a baby in three weeks, yeah.

TIM HENMAN: Diapers.

TIM HENMAN: Did we talk about this earlier? I can't remember. I think I mentioned it to Ivan, you know. It wasn't the best match that I played. I didn't -- I did a lot of things wrong. I played badly in the first two sets, but I didn't play the right way, which was disappointing. But to be able to turn that around and then break a trend of losing some pretty tight matches in Slams and save matchpoint, that was one that I, you know, took a lot of satisfaction of coming through. It certainly wasn't the best match I've played by a long way, but I think that match, and on clay, the atmosphere...

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, yeah. That was pretty cool.

TIM HENMAN: Discipline. Discipline on every point, yeah. It's very -- I come unstuck when I'm playing well because my discipline, my discipline goes down. And it's good that I let it happen and I play my, you know, I play my way and I'm attacking and aggressive. But I've got to be more disciplined on the practice court so it becomes more and more habit on the match court, so that when things aren't going quite as well, then, you know, I suddenly won't play three or four sloppy points in a row and then suddenly drop my serve. That's what can prove costly. But I think there's a lot of, you know, a lot more areas to improve in, but I think if there's one, I'd probably pinpoint that.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, it's your mental application, I think. You know, it's the way that you say -- it's very easy to stand up to the line in practice or in a match and just suddenly play the point without really a real purpose of what you're going to do - whether you're going to serve out wide and come in on the second ball, or you going to serve into the body and volley back behind him. Just so you can have that clear thought process. You don't want it to become a, you know, a paralysis so that you're overthinking. But I know that when I've been playing well, I've been very clear, I've been very decisive in the way that I've wanted to play, and that's reflected in the way that I've played. But there are times, you know, the three weeks indoors that I just played, is a good example of that - having no discipline of what I was really trying to do. It reflected in my performance; I played poorly.

TIM HENMAN: Not really, no. I got here early and I wanted to make sure that, you know, I prepared. It's been a while since we played outdoors. You know, I think from a players' point of view, we've been totally spoiled and we thoroughly enjoyed it. The facility and everything they've done has been absolutely first-class. It's disappointing for everyone that the weather wasn't a little bit kinder, but it's been a great, great 10 days for me.

TIM HENMAN: Is it? Wonderful (laughter).

TIM HENMAN: Amazing.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, yeah, I think you're right. I think those guys, and I would say the top three more so. You've got to take into account the whole year. Safin has just won back-to-back Masters. So, yeah, those guys probably are. They've separated themselves. I wouldn't necessarily put Federer in the bracket of the other three, because he's just been absolutely phenomenal this year. But that will change. There's lots of things that will happen. People will improve and people won't play quite so well. There's plenty of those. I think the top, you know, seven or eight were quite a stretch away from the others, but that will change. You'll get someone coming up. Again, I really am very keen to focus on what I'm doing because I think I've just, in my opinion, had my best year and that's been shown in my ranking. But I still think I can do it better, as I've just said. If I do that, then who knows? Can I then be in one of those top four? I don't know. But I really want to challenge myself to do that.

TIM HENMAN: It's, you know, in the short-term, you know, Federer has established that gap and there's no doubt about that. And this year, it's just been phenomenal what he's achieved. I think it will be a better reflection of whether they can close the gap early next year. Because Federer is so confident right now, and he's sort of riding that wave of 2004. There's no doubt that he's been No. 1 by such a big margin but I think, you know, come March time, if he's won the Australian Open and a Masters Series, then I'll probably still say he is a long way in front.