US OPEN

August 30, 2002

Tim Henman

THE MODERATOR: First question, please.

TIM HENMAN: Definitely. There was a lot of uncertainty at the beginning. It's difficult to get any sort of rhythm when you're going on and off the whole time. It's tough to get rhythm against a player of his style. I think the first set was always going to be pretty important, so I was obviously pleased with the return game I played at 4-3. You know, after I got the first set under my belt, I felt pretty comfortable out there.

TIM HENMAN: It's sort of more fatigued, I think. It just, as the match progresses, it just sort of feels like it stiffens up and gets pretty tight in and around my shoulder. So, again, I think, you know, it's important that I make sure that I do the right things with the icing and a lot of stretching to make sure it's as loose as possible.

TIM HENMAN: I don't know. I'm just going to have to, you know - as you always do - take one match at a time. We'll just have to see, you know, how it does react if I get into a very long match. I feel it will be -- I feel like it should be okay when I'm playing. I would say the concern is the recovery.

TIM HENMAN: I don't think it's good enough really for someone of my ability, and certainly that the way my game is suited to this type of surface. You know, I'm trying to improve that this year.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, I would have definitely taken it. There was a lot of uncertainty, I think. A week ago I didn't really know how it would react when I really had to push it. I felt like it's obviously made a lot of improvements. It's got a lot better. But I suppose there is still somewhat of an unknown, as I said, if I have to play a really long match.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, I like the sound of it (smiling). No, underneath the court where we were, there's four or five sort of small waiting rooms.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, yeah. I feel like I've learned my lesson from Miami, really. So my left shoulder does a lot more of the work these days.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah.

TIM HENMAN: It's definitely going to be a step up. You know, he's a quality opponent and he's playing very well on hardcourts this year. I think he made the final last week. I practiced with him a little bit in Cincinnati and he was playing really, really well. But, again, I think my game does match up well against him. It is going to put my serve and my shoulder under, you know, quite a lot of scrutiny, if that's the right word. You know, I'm not going to start changing my approach, because I think I've been -- you know, I've been pretty relaxed on the court. I'm just going to take it as it comes. If I play well and everything holds up, then I think I've got a good chance. If my shoulder suddenly, you know, blows up, then so be it.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah. I just felt like playing someone like Norman, he's capable of, you know, flashing a couple of returns past me. I felt like if I was just playing consistently and solidly, it was certainly in my favor if we got into those baseline rallies. I felt like I was hitting the ball pretty well and I was able to exploit his movement or lack of it. But against Chela, that's, you know, that has to be revised because you know he is very, very strong from the baseline.

TIM HENMAN: He's got such a good reach. As some of those guys are, they're prone to getting very tight on the net. Even though he is so tall, it doesn't always have to be the best lob. Certainly you get a few over his head early on, it puts a bit of doubt in his mind. I think overall, I was, you know, I was pretty pleased with the returning. I felt like if I could make enough balls, put him under some sort of pressure, he was vulnerable.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, I'm 99.9% sure. I suppose you could do damage to a knee or an ankle or whatever. So I think with this related - with this problem, you know, I'm not going to do any drastic damage. But it's certainly, you know, it's not something you want to keep playing with on and on. That is when you might start having some serious problems.

TIM HENMAN: Sure.

TIM HENMAN: Well, there's still, you know, fingers crossed, you know... If I were to have a great run here and get through to the final, I would still, you know, be able to rest for seven or eight days. I think going indoors, I don't need to practice a great deal. So I think there's plenty of time. But, again, we'll just have to wait and see.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah. It was -- I didn't practice yesterday, but I came in and spent a lot of time getting treatment. I was treated twice and then doing a lot of sort of stretching on my own. Definitely I'll come in and keep that pattern going.

TIM HENMAN: No, it's more -- I mean, to begin with, you sort of warm it up and then go through a lot of stretching to try and make it as flexible as possible. But then there's, you know, ultrasound and stim, that type of thing, to try and get rid of the inflammation.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah. I think, as I said, when I was in Cincinnati and having lost there and then before Indianapolis, you know, I was practicing a lot - practicing, you know, two, three hours a day. Really working on my game. But, you know, I felt in that practice that, you know, sometimes I was getting a little bit critical and almost getting too analytical in my game. All of a sudden, I got through the match in Indianapolis and then I wasn't able to practice for seven, eight days. It totally changed my mindset. Suddenly, I wasn't even interested in the way I was playing, I was just interested in whether my shoulder was getting better. Suddenly I would spend 40 minutes on the court hitting balls and trying to test out my shoulder with no emphasis on the way I was playing. I was hitting the ball twice as well as I was when I was practicing three hours a day.

TIM HENMAN: It was more because of the rain. I was going to come in and hit some balls and certainly not overdo it, but, you know, I expect to come in and practice tomorrow.