TMS - STUTTGART

October 18, 2001

Tim Henman

MODERATOR: Questions for Tim.

TIM HENMAN: Did I really (smiling)?

TIM HENMAN: Yeah. I certainly played pretty consistently throughout the whole match. The first set was always going to be important. We both played to a very, very high standard. I had one breakpoint; he didn't have any. That was always going to be fairly vital. It was good to play such a solid tiebreak. I was able to maintain that form. I really can't have any complaints. As was mentioned, I served very, very consistently. There's a lot of satisfaction in that.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, I mean, I really can't -- I think all aspects, I was very consistent. From the baseline, when we had rallies, I was still getting the balance right of moving forward. Obviously, I was attacking when I had the opportunity. As ever, you know, so much of the game can revolve around the serve. I did serve very consistently. That, you know, keeps the baseline rallies down to a minimum sort of thing. Obviously, it means I can serve and volley a lot.

TIM HENMAN: Exactly. I've served pretty consistently in practice obviously. The proof is putting it on the match court. I don't think I've served that consistently for a long, long time. It's good that the work that I've been doing is starting to pay dividends.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah. It's better. They have a few heavy-duty nails in there. It seems to be playing all right.

TIM HENMAN: A lot of the times, you know, when they kneel at the side of the net, when they're waiting, they sort of have a habit of rocking to and fro. So instead of just letting them continue to do it, it distracted me, I felt like if you say something, they stop. That's pretty much what happened.

TIM HENMAN: Sure, yeah. Obviously, made a big impression to him when he hit four first serves and held to love. You can't always expect that, though. You know, like in any profession, you can have good days, bad days, and sometimes you can be a little bit slow starting; other days you can get off to fast starts. I think I certainly couldn't complain with my quality of tennis. Likewise, I think, Nick, for a set certainly, I don't think he can have too many complaints. Second set perhaps he didn't play so well. I'd like to think that I had something to do with that. Sure, it's good when you feel that you've got a very clear understanding of what you're trying to do, then you can go out and try and execute that.

TIM HENMAN: Again, I'm obviously aware of that. But, again, as somebody says, you get distracted by a ball kid. You either let it distract you or you do something about it and get on with it. Likewise, I'm aware that Federer lost, Corretja lost, some of those guys close behind me.

TIM HENMAN: Safin lost. Again, to try and take advantage, you've got to do your job on the court. That certainly has worked well. But you also take into consideration that the matches are going to get tougher and tougher. Even more reason to concentrate on what you're doing on the court.

TIM HENMAN: Pretty fortunate, I think. I don't know exactly, but I think the majority of the matches were looking like they could have been away. That's certainly a good draw for us, to get a home tie. Having said that, with Sweden's past Davis Cup record, their strength and depth, it certainly won't be easy. But I think it increases our chances of progressing to the next round.

TIM HENMAN: Lost in Indian Wells, didn't I?

TIM HENMAN: I've got a good record against him. Again, it's all whether you can sort of dictate proceedings. In the four matches I've won, I've obviously done that. When I played him in Indian Wells, I served very inconsistently. I got stuck on the baseline. That plays into his hands. Hence, I lose 4-4. When I'm the one that's able to dictate play and use my attributes, I think I've got a good chance.

TIM HENMAN: That's a good question. I certainly feel like there have been a lot of changes in my game. That's been evident both on and off the court. But, again, now that I've been working with Larry, I mean, it's still such a short period of time, when you take into consideration I worked with one coach nine years, now I've been working with a coach for, what is it, from August, September, October - three months - I'm so excited that I hear so much sort of input and I think so many things that can help my game. I'm only scratching the surface, but I think it's already helped in quite a substantial fashion. You know, as always, there are going to be ups and downs. I really, really feel that I can gain a lot.

TIM HENMAN: I should think Greg and I healthy, it's probably a 50/50 match perhaps. We'd like to say that it's 51/49 in our favor (smiling). You know, I don't think you can say that going into that match that either team is a clear favorite. You know, as they've shown time after time, they can make the latter stages and win the competition. I think it would be a phenomenal win for us. I think we still fancy our chances.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, definitely. I think the hard work pays off. It pays off that we win that match. Sometimes you get a little bit of luck in your favor. We've got a bit of luck there. Now we've got to try to take advantage of it.