NASDAQ-100 OPEN

March 26, 2002

Tim Henman

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Kind of not what I was, A, expecting, and, B, obviously hoping for. But last night it was just getting stiffer and stiffer. When I woke up it was pretty uncomfortable. And, you know, I wasn't really sure whether I'd play at all when I came to the courts. Then I hit some balls with Larry fairly statically and I was a bit more optimistic than when you actually got to get out there. I didn't really serve much because I knew that was going to be the biggest problem. But then when you've got to actually move and the jarring and... It was pretty evident.

TIM HENMAN: I don't think -- I don't know whether I could have done some serious damage. But, you know, you could see the way I could serve.

TIM HENMAN: I can't really look up. So that rules out serving. To begin with, from the ground, I felt like I might be able to compete a little bit. But once he starts moving you around and you're lunging and you're having to make adjustments, it was just getting worse and worse. Going down my back really.

TIM HENMAN: I don't know. Just right -- you know, right up in the corner. We didn't actually collide. We were both going through the door. I was looking down. And we both sort of -- I had my bags on my shoulders and I just sort of flinched out of the way. Immediately I felt it right at the top of the neck. But having got through yesterday, I knew it wasn't ideal, but I thought -- I definitely hoped that it would settle down and be looser today. But it was the opposite.

TIM HENMAN: I think there's so much sort of spasm around my neck and my back, I just need to, you know, let that settle down. And, you know, fortunately there isn't really an immediate rush, Monte-Carlo being my next event. So, hopefully I'll be able to, you know, get it sorted out in due course.

TIM HENMAN: No, I think probably tomorrow or the next day I'll see. Because I'm going to be here, so I might as well take advantage of the facilities.

TIM HENMAN: Exactly. I don't think flying would do me much good.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah.

TIM HENMAN: I've had different problems with my back and sometimes with my neck, but not like this. This is obviously a little bit more of a freak thing. But it's something that -- like my elbow, I pay particular attention to my elbow. I've had problems there in the past. I've always been, you know, pretty cautious of making sure that I stay loose and stretch. But, you know, it's difficult to prevent something like that.

TIM HENMAN: I mean, from seeing the doctors here and explaining to them the scenario of how it happened, I don't think it can be, you know, anything long-term. But it's just very, you know, very frustrating right now having been playing the way I've been playing and certainly feeling very confident in my game. It's very disappointing, in this sort of tournament, it comes to an end in this nature.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, certainly I don't think I can complain too much with my performances, because I think I played a lot of -- I've played a lot of really great tennis, and as indicated in my results. You know, Race, position and ranking is certainly moving in the right direction. Right now it's just frustrating that you can't get out there and compete. That is the -- at times you take it for granted, don't you? I think everybody can be guilty of that. You take your health and your fitness for granted. Then something like this kind of knocks you back, and you have to make sure that you, you know, remain healthy. Because this game's tough enough at this level when you're healthy. But when you're injured, you got no shot.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, yeah. We were just talking about that actually, I think. That was certainly the last time that I had to stop during a match.

TIM HENMAN: I thought that was probably going to be a good thing. Because after practicing, I felt like if anything it loosened up a little bit. But that was all sort of fairly static. But, you know, once you get the running into it and more and more serving, then, you know, I realized that it wasn't going to be any good.