TMS MONTE CARLO

April 17, 2001

Tim Henman

THE MODERATOR: First question for Tim, please.

TIM HENMAN: A little bit early to start saying that. But, no, I obviously felt like I - irrespective of our previous match - I still know the best way to play him. Unfortunately in Miami I wasn't able to execute that. But a change in the surface, I still knew I had to be aggressive but patient, and with a combination of serving very, very consistently and making very few unforced errors, those are good ingredients for a successful match.

TIM HENMAN: Certainly up there, yeah. There aren't too many to choose from. So I feel like --.

TIM HENMAN: That was a long time ago. He didn't try then.

TIM HENMAN: Did I? I think it's certainly up there with it, whether it's Golmard or Arazi in Hamburg, or, who knows, one of those types of players. But given the history and that the last, you know, big match I played on the Tour was against him, it was an enjoyable day and I'm really, really pleased with the way I bounced back.

TIM HENMAN: I think that's obviously a balance that I have to get right. At times I haven't got that right. In Birmingham, I think probably the standard position and the way we served - or the way I served that weekend - it wasn't, you know, if you're finding the corners, you didn't really have to do a lot of volleying because it wasn't really coming back. But that's not the story here. No, I was very, very pleased with all aspects of my game. I don't think -- I played a couple -- literally only one or two bad shots in the whole match. That's a very, very good sign for me.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah. As I said -- I think I made that clear the first few days. And still, you know, it is a little bit strange. You know, I think that's inevitable. Eight and a half years together is a long, long time. He's watched virtually every professional match I've played and virtually every practice session. And so for him not to be around is a little bit strange. But I think, you know, I'll get used to that and I feel clear in my mind what I need to go out and work on, and it's up to me at this moment in time to do that.

TIM HENMAN: Not exactly. I think Kieren's been very helpful. I wouldn't -- I think it would be difficult without anyone, but, you know, he's taking care of the basics of booking practice courts, finding people to practice with. And having said that, you know, when it comes to what I'm doing out on the court, that's for me to work out. And, you know, I'm enjoying that at the moment. It certainly isn't going to be the case -- it is not going to be the case that I'm on my own for, you know, suddenly because I'm enjoying it now. I think it's a good time to work on things from within, but I certainly do need a coach.

TIM HENMAN: No, not at all. Pressure, I think, is self-inflicted. And the self-inflicted pressure in the States was too much. It affected the way I played. But, no, whenever I'm on the court, irrespective of what's happening outside, I'm playing for myself, and that certainly doesn't change. You know, that's where you've got to be strong enough mentally to put all the other scenarios to one side and concentrate and win the match. I think I've enjoyed that, because there has been a lot else going on off the court, and I've enjoyed getting on the court and trying to let my tennis do the talking. I don't think I can do it much better than today.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, exactly that.

TIM HENMAN: Most definitely. That's what I talked about, making the comparisons with the way I played in the States. I made it clear to you guys what I was trying to achieve by winning the smaller tournaments to help me in the big events. All of a sudden, having won three out of eight, which I think was, in all honesty, better than I expected, it was suddenly, "Well, here are the big events." I think I was so sort of pumped up and probably over-eager to do well in those tournaments, because I genuinely believed that this was the opportunity that I created for myself. As I said before, I was dwelling too much on the consequences instead of worrying about what I was doing on the court. You make that comparison to the clay court, the clay court season expectations from within are less, and I'm more concerned about my performance. I'm not really thinking about the outcome. Win or lose, I want to improve my game. All of a sudden when those are your thoughts and those are your feelings, you start playing some good tennis.

TIM HENMAN: Again, perhaps on a hardcourt or an indoor court, I'd dwell on that more, thinking, "It's a tough draw, I can do well." But here, I'm delighted with the way I played today, and I'll come back tomorrow and try to implement the same game plan and the same quality. And if I do that and I lose, so be it. I can't have any complaints. But if I play as well as I did today, I think I'll be tough to beat.

TIM HENMAN: Sure.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, definitely. I'm not going to suddenly profess I can stand six feet behind the baseline and out-rally these guys. That's not the way it's going to work for me. But I have to implement my game plan and my style of play as much as possible. There's no good serve and volleying on every ball. Then he's going to get into a rhythm, and that obviously makes it too easy for your opponent. You've got to choose the moments to say, "Well, actually I'm going to pitch my tent behind the baseline. I'm not going to miss this rally and probably not going to take shots on him." That's the nature of the tennis. You have to be selective. Other times, you're going to take an educated guess, an educated guess. The balance today was spot on.

TIM HENMAN: No, you guys are suddenly trying to make a big issue that I had a bad loss to him. I was the first to admit that. I wasn't pleased with the way I played. But having said that, A, I like my record against him. B, I like the way my game plan matches up against him. And that's why I felt comfort going out there, and I think that, again, that showed in the way I played.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, I beat him easily on clay last year. (Laughter.)

Don't laugh.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, yeah. Straight sets.

TIM HENMAN: In a word, no. But I can understand, you know, exactly why he's doing that now. I hope the clay court season isn't two to three months. (Laughter.) That's all. But, no, I think it's a good idea. It's tough to practice in London, because, A, the conditions, and, B, the courts at Queen's become a car park shortly. So... It's not ideal. But I, you know, spend some time in London doing the physical stuff and just --.

TIM HENMAN: I focus more probably on the physical stuff, but then it just means going really to Rome earlier than I usually would because that's where, you know, that's where the facilities and the conditions are.

TIM HENMAN: Probably, yeah. Something like that.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, no, we were -- all four of us were going on center court. And so, you know, 4-3 with a break to Rios, we're suddenly getting ready to go on. All of a sudden they say we're going to hold on, if that's straight sets, Kuerten and El Aynaoui, you'll go on center court. So it was a delay. Then all of a sudden he gets the break. Then all of a sudden we're back out on Court 1. So it was a little bit unpredictable if you like.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, no question we got to make sure we got our preparation right. You know, it's certainly, from playing on the hardcourts and that type of play, it takes time to adjust. So we need to make sure that we're on the clay probably, you know, the Thursday, Wednesday, Tuesday, before the week before we actually go there. So I feel very sorry about Brighton, it doesn't bode well there. It's very unfortunate. But there's nothing we can do about that.

TIM HENMAN: Sounds fairly likely, doesn't it?

TIM HENMAN: No, it's true. Everyone says you learn a lot more from your losses than your wins. I did. It added insult to injury, really, with the way I played on that American trip, and I was very, very frustrated with that. But, again, you know, I felt like I learned some lessons from that match, and, you know, I try and put those mistakes right. It doesn't always work out, but I think it did on this occasion.

TIM HENMAN: Probably the last clay court season. (Laughter.) It does, I certainly have a different approach, and I enjoy it. And, you know, perhaps this is something I should learn from in the bigger picture throughout the year. There's never been a question mark, there never will be a question mark about my commitment and my effort towards the game and the way I play matches, but, you know, I think if I had this type of attitude, perhaps, at other times of the year, it, you know, it might help me.

TIM HENMAN: Well, I've been on it since Monday. So I've been on it for eight days. I had plenty of practice playing in Estoril. It wasn't, you know, I can't say it was what I really wanted to do after Davis Cup indoors, to go out there and play a match on Tuesday. But as it was, it worked out well for me. Again, I had no expectations going into that tournament, and it was very much the attitude of "what will be, will be." And, again, I took a lot of confidence away from that. So I've probably made the adjustment a little bit quicker than I have done in the past, and, you know, I've had a good win today but I have to try to come back tomorrow and back that up.

TIM HENMAN: No, yeah, I have to.

TIM HENMAN: No, he's basically working with -- doing a lot of physical stuff with Kieren. He's going to be playing, I think, in Edinbourg and one other tournament on clay. And, you know, it's good for him to be out here and practicing with a lot of different players because we give him someone to work with physically. So, no, just purely for him to work and to improve.