PACIFIC LIFE OPEN

March 17, 2002

Tim Henman

MODERATOR: Questions for Tim.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, exactly right. From my point of view, I, you know, didn't play my best. But that's certainly not taking any credit away from him because I think at times he doesn't allow you to play your best tennis. And I think it's pretty clear, pretty evident, certainly from the other players' point of view, that he's setting the benchmark right now. You know, it's still good to be out there and try and compete because, as I said, you know, that's where it's at. My game has been good enough against everybody else I've played. But at that level, you know, it's clear to me where I need to improve.

TIM HENMAN: Definitely. I think some of the times I was perhaps missing serves by a small margin, other times I would construct a point well, get the shot to come forward, miss the approach shot. But when you see some of your best approach shots whizz past you for winners, then it always makes you hit that little bit better. You know, that's what the best players do, they force you to play better and better. That's when perhaps a few more unforced errors come. But from my point of view, you know, I think I've taken a big step this week. I'm certainly going to focus on the positives. It doesn't seem so long ago that I was 2-Love down in the third against Robredo with things looking pretty ugly. You fight your way through that match, and certainly didn't play my best, but good things happened. You know, I'm very, very positive about, you know, the way my game has been.

TIM HENMAN: Well, I think certainly serving against him is very difficult, to actually choose which is the most successful serve. You know, you think maybe he's a smaller guy, perhaps you can get him out wide. But he's so quick. On the other side of the coin, you go into the body. Being smaller, he's able to adjust and get out of the way. He's setting the standard in a number of areas. Whether it's returning or whether it's foot speed around the court, I think those two stand out.

TIM HENMAN: Well, I think my serving is an area that I worked really hard on. It's made, you know, big improvements against, you know, slightly lesser returners. I think that is an area that is really helping my game become more solid, more consistent, still giving myself opportunities to attack, but at the very, very highest level. I think I've still got to take it one step further to try and get a few cheap points. You know, it's hard to do. You've got to be hitting it in the corners and you've got to be getting in quickly, otherwise he's going to be onto it. I think it's also good from my point of view that that's a very clear, very obvious thing that I go away and continue to work on.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah.

TIM HENMAN: It is. Again, I wouldn't say I served my best. You know, I've served a lot worse against people and had a lot more success. But, again, someone that quick, in those type of conditions, I think, you know, perhaps we're going to have to speak kindly to the tournament and try and get it a little bit quicker next year. You do, you need all the help you can get. You know, that's why -- you know, my serve wasn't good enough today. But, you know, it's certainly come a long way. It would be stupid to get frustrated because it wasn't good enough today. I think I'll definitely concentrate on the positives.

TIM HENMAN: No. Again, I'm not going to think about that too much either (smiling).

TIM HENMAN: I think so, yeah. You look at the way he does return, whether it was, you know, someone that serves as well as Sampras in the second and third sets of The Open. I think before the match, I was trying to -- I certainly tried to look at and evaluate his results and see who has success against him. You know, the attacking types of players, whether it's Sampras, whether it's Rafter, whether it's myself, there hasn't been a great deal of success. But then, you know, different styles of players, Lapentti has beaten him a couple times, Magnus Norman has beaten him a few times. Those are the types of people that stay in the rallies, perhaps don't do so much, but when they get an opportunity, they can sort of hit winners without having to come to the net and give him a target. That really isn't my style of game. That's what's such a great challenge, you've got to find a way to be able to be successful against him.

TIM HENMAN: Well, on grass, you know, he hasn't been too bad, has he (smiling)? Beat me in the final of Queen's and won the following week in, what, Rosmalen. You know, he's capable of playing well on any surface, when you've got such good fundamentals as he has. I don't think he's afraid to play on any surface.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, certainly impressed. I think it's very difficult not to be impressed by his results, his performances, because they do, they totally speak for themselves. It's very difficult to judge how good, you know, somebody's going to be when they're young and up-and-coming. Some people, you know, perhaps had doubts whether he was, you know, too small or didn't have a big enough game. I practiced with him and watched him play in tournaments, you know, a couple years ago. I certainly wasn't one of those that had too many doubts. Listening to the other Aussie players, you know, they said that he was phenomenal, he was exceptional. Now he's proven those people right.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, I don't see any reason why he can't. You know, people have said that his game is so physically demanding and probably mentally pretty demanding as well. Until he shows a weakness in any of those areas, then it's our job to try and break him down. You know, I don't know whether he said it, I read that he said it, but he said, "If I burnout, I burnout." And I agree with him. He's so successful, he's winning so much, you know, he'll just keep playing the way he is, I'm sure. You know, the scary thing is he'll probably make improvements, as well.

TIM HENMAN: Well, again, it's about my performance, isn't it? If I go there and play the way I've been playing, and I lose in my first match, no complaints. If I go there and play poorly, as I did last year, and I lose, that's definitely disappointing. But, you know, you can't -- I'm certainly not going to try and put, you know, a position in the tournament because I believe I can win every match. But when you see the standard and you see how tough it is, you've got to go out there and produce the goods day in, day out. You know, as I said, with my game this week, there have been some really positive signs for me. I've got to keep that going, not just for next week, but for years and years and years, the rest of my career.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah. A couple times, as I said, I felt like I got myself in the position that I wanted to be, having the relatively short forehand. I hit, you know, I don't know, four, five, six approach shots in the tape. You know, that's a shot that I shouldn't miss.

TIM HENMAN: No, exactly. Again, you can't always execute the shots the way you want to. But, you know, it's another one that I'll keep working on.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, definitely. It's funny how it can turn around. Because I've been working hard in practice, I've been playing well, my results have shown that this year. You know, when I was 2-Love down in the third set, I was really struggling with my game, felt like I could hardly breathe out there. Again, you keep in there, stick till the very end, good things happen. That's exactly the case. From that point on, my game has got better and better. It wasn't good enough today, but I'll certainly feel very positive, very optimistic about the way my game is moving.

TIM HENMAN: In all honesty, no, I don't think so. I think it's too early in the year to suddenly start saying that, you know, I'm the second best player. You know, I feel like my game -- as my results indicate, you know, the race doesn't lie. I've played how many events? Five, is it? I've played very, very consistently. I've racked up some really good wins. But, you know, it's not a sprint, is it? It's going to be ten months of hard work to achieve some of the things I want to achieve. Certainly I've made a very, very positive start, because I haven't really done that in the past. You know, one would like to avoid the last-minute scramble for points because it's much harder to play in Stuttgart and Paris when you're fighting for those last couple of spots in Shanghai.