PACIFIC LIFE OPEN

March 13, 2002

Tim Henman

MODERATOR: Tim moves into the third round and improves to 17-4 on the season with his win today over Escude. Questions for Tim.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, very normal (laughter). I expect you would have -- you could have felt like it was more likely to be in Dubai rather than somewhere like this. It was, it was really difficult. It was very difficult, as well. In those types of conditions, I think you've got to try and simplify things, shorten your swings, play within the lines a little bit. I certainly was able to do that early on. I played so solidly for the large part of the match. You know, I'm just glad that I was able to eventually squeak it out because I haven't beaten him for the best part of three years, lost to him four times in a row, most recently in Rotterdam. It's a good one to come through, especially in a big event like a Masters Series.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, I seem to sort of get caught up in my fair share of delays. The most part, they've been rain delays. I think it's the first sand delay that I've had.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah.

TIM HENMAN: I think the first few games can set the tone, and you've seen it before on sort of the other side of the coin, when you create those chances and you don't take them. You have three, four, five breakpoints, you don't manage to get one. He has one, and he takes it. To get the break in the first game, it sort of loosens me up, puts a little more pressure on him. Just my overall consistency I think was so good because I never really gave him any easy points, I never gave him the chance to settle down. But, as you say, you appreciate that it's going to be difficult, and you want to make life as easy as you can. If I was being critical, you know, when I was up 4-3, I think you can almost feel that there's going to be an opportunity at some stage for him because he never really had any breakpoints. That's when you've got to make those first serves and you've got to make life as easy as you can. Serving at 4-3, you know, I shouldn't really have hit the second serve. The ball toss wasn't in the right place. You give him Love-15, he hits a couple good shots, suddenly the match can turn around. It is, it's great to get through that, because it would not have sat well with me if I'd have come up short.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, likewise. Again, it is such a fine margin. I'm thinking all the right thoughts. You know, I know I've got to make life easy, I want to get that first point, I want to make first serves. The first serve at 6-5 is in the tape. The next one is, you know, probably half an inch long. So, again, it is great that I've got through that match, especially against someone that I've had trouble with. But there's still that area that there's room for improvement.

TIM HENMAN: I wasn't feeling particularly, you know, pleased at that stage. Again, I also knew that 3-All would have been a great result in the tiebreak, playing from that end, I think, because certainly I felt it was easier when you had the wind behind you. You felt like you could put a little more pressure on. You know, a couple of key points, wasn't there? I think the 4-All point was certainly very important. He had a couple chances to put the ball away. Again, in those type of conditions, you make them hit one more, sometimes you get a mistake. Then at 5-4, it was my third real opportunity to finish it off. It just shows, you know, I didn't hit the best of serves at 5-4, but with a little wind behind me, got a good kick on it. Gets up high, got away from him, made another first serve, 6-4. Pretty relieved to get out in straight.

TIM HENMAN: They don't get -- I think that is pretty unusual. I'm trying to think if we've ever had any sort of floodlight failure.

TIM HENMAN: Three days at Wimbledon is pretty tough to beat. That's certainly hard. Yes, sand delays are pretty rare.

TIM HENMAN: Pretty long odds. I'm pretty sure they'd still take a bet on it, knowing the people back home.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, that's true. Nothing springs to mind. There's always a few. We got delayed I think one time in Singapore playing a challenger there. I think it was actually the week that I broke my ankle. Behind the courts, there was -- it wasn't jungle, but a lot of trees. There were a lot of monkeys that were jumping to and from. Didn't delay the match, but plenty of times when you would throw the ball up, then have a second go.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, I was flying. I was trying to go to Miami because we were going to have training camp before we went to Ecuador. I was on my way from London to Miami and got diverted. We were too far out of London to turn around and go back. We were diverted to Bermuda. That was when we heard about it.

TIM HENMAN: We were basically there for 24 hours. We got there like in the afternoon, and then we left the following I think -- I think it was a Tuesday, we left on the Wednesday afternoon, flew back to London, got back there Thursday morning, left Friday morning and went through Europe.

TIM HENMAN: We didn't get to Miami because there were no flights. I went straight to Guayaquil.

TIM HENMAN: There's obvious changes, aren't there, that affect us with traveling and security. But, you know, I think everybody appreciates the reasons why.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, I think it's fairly obvious what I'm going to say. I would certainly say the men's game. But that's not to say that the women's isn't, you know, attractive and improved a lot. I still think the overall standard, the strength and depth of the men's game, I don't think -- it's difficult to compare really.

TIM HENMAN: Not really. I mean, it's better. But you look at some of the results. You look at Agassi going out 6-6 in the first round. I haven't really paid a great deal of attention this week, but someone like Hingis has dropped probably a handful of games. I don't know if she's won that match. You know, the semifinals are the biggest tournament outside a Slam.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah. It is, bar days like this. I don't think it gets much better. The climate, the conditions, are so good. I think this is a great court for everybody to play on. There's normally so little wind. I think personally I'm always going to say Wimbledon is the best tournament, that is my favorite, but outside the Slams, this is my favorite tournament. You know, everything is so well-organized, it's a great facility, hotels nearby, plenty of golf courses.

TIM HENMAN: I suppose beating Greg was pretty exciting in a way.

TIM HENMAN: No, I think definitely this is probably as good a win as I've had this year. Beating Philippoussis in the final, I had a losing record against him. I think Escude, we're both fourth in the race. The way he's played this year, probably is my best win this year.

TIM HENMAN: Again, a guy that's playing really well this year. He's obviously got a big game. But, you know, I think if I can sort of frustrate him a little bit and serve consistently well, you know, I think I'll create some opportunities. Just a question of whether I can take them.