TMS - CINCINNATI

August 10, 2000

Tim Henman

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Tim.

TIM HENMAN: It's very satisfying. It's been a long time coming. I felt like I've had some pretty close matches against him in the times that we've played. But I gave myself another opportunity, and this time I was able to take it.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, I was. I think it's something that perhaps I did a little bit differently this time. His first serve, you know, he's hitting the corners, there's not a lot you can do. I was getting looks at his second serve, I was standing in closer, trying to take the ball earlier, giving him a little less time to get to the net. As you said, I did return really well and kept the ball low. But I think it was the overall sort of consistency of the number of returns that I made.

TIM HENMAN: No, you need all the help you can get. And I think this year at Wimbledon was a pretty good example of, you know, how fit Pete was - I don't know. He obviously wasn't anywhere near 100 percent fit, and I think players put a little bit of extra pressure on themselves. I think, you know, perhaps this is my chance to beat him. Whereas, you know, I was prepared to take everything I could get if he wasn't playing quite as well as he obviously can. You know, that was all good for me.

TIM HENMAN: Well, I think if you make life difficult for him, then obviously he's not able to hit shots that he wants to and doesn't have so many easy volleys behind his serve. I lost my serve in the first game. I admittedly didn't play the best game, but hit a couple of good shots early on. I felt like I was on to his serve in that first game. You know, he came up with some more good volleys. But I felt like if I could keep giving myself some good opportunities, there's no reason I couldn't play him.

TIM HENMAN: I don't know. It wasn't really the center of my thoughts. I was far more concerned with what I was trying to do. If I start worrying about his game and shots that he's missing or making, then I'm distracted. That's the last thing that you want.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, it's difficult. I mean Pete's not -- I think Pete's pretty laid back at the best of times, and sometimes his practice sets are not too much to go by. So I think I won my fair share of practice. Having said that, you know, the record coming into this match was pretty emphatic.

TIM HENMAN: It's a good problem to have obviously, because I knew the match was right there for the taking. Having said that, you know, I wasn't going to start thinking too far ahead or thinking about previous matches. My only thought at 5-4 was, you know, let's get plenty of first serves. When I missed the first four, I wasn't too pleased. But, you know, I got through it.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah. Unquestionably. And I said to you guys earlier that I've had a pretty solid year. I've played some good tennis but, you know, nothing spectacular has happened. And hopefully this can be a, you know, it can kick-start things for the second half of the year. Having said that, you know, it's so important that, you know, I come back strong tomorrow because it's great - it's great that I've beaten Pete, but no good coming back and wasting the opportunity tomorrow.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah. I think it is. Whether I like it or not, that unfortunately is the nature of the British media and it's something that you have to get used to. It's not really worth dwelling on because, you know, there are so many opinions out there. I think I've learned to -- learned a pretty good lesson, that I just listen to those that are close to me and those opinions that I value. And, you know, you don't really pay too much attention to the rest.

TIM HENMAN: You got to try and avoid that. I said earlier I don't think it's anything to be ashamed of, to have lost a few times to Pete, because that's the scenario for most people. But no, I felt like I've had some opportunities against him. You know, both the semifinals of Wimbledon have been pretty close. I've been, you know, I've been in the final of Queen's, and we finished that off. So I knew that I was getting closer. And, again, you know, if I hadn't have won tonight, the only way I was going to beat him is by giving myself another opportunity. So you just got to keep putting yourself in that situation.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, I think there were definitely things that I've learned and tactics that I had to try and implement tonight. But, you know, sometimes you're not -- it's not possible to do that because he's capable of playing at such a level that I don't think anyone can compete with. He didn't play his best tonight, but I certainly took advantage of the chances I had.

TIM HENMAN: I think so, yeah. I think if you give Pete service returns in his sort of hitting area, that's when he's going to be very dangerous. Or if you're not aggressive, if you let him come at you, you're going to be in trouble. So I take the middle way most of the time and try and get the ball either close to his body or, you know, up around his -- over his shoulders.

TIM HENMAN: I felt like I was playing some really good tennis. As I said, it wasn't the best start, but at 1-3 I felt like I was hitting the ball pretty well and I started to take those opportunities and got better and better. And it is, from his point of view, it's probably a question of just trying to hang in there. From my point of view, I created chances, I've taken them, and now let's not give him a second chance. Because if you do that, then, you know, I'd probably be down in the third set right now. So it's good to finish it off in straight sets.

TIM HENMAN: It's a combination of, you know, me raising my level - no question - and perhaps Pete missing one or two shots. I think it was 2-3 when Pete served. He missed the, you know, relatively comfortable backhand volley only by an inch or two. The next point he served a double-fault. All of a sudden it's Love-30, I hit a really good forehand pass to give myself breakpoint and then hit another really good pass to get back on level terms. So I'd like to think that I played, you know, a lot of good tennis to get me through.

TIM HENMAN: I definitely played -- I didn't do as well as I have done at Wimbledon. But the quality of the three matches that I won at that stage, it was definitely better than other years. I think you look at my Wimbledon record and it's pretty good by most people's standards. But I've had my fair share of tight matches. For me, it's almost more satisfying if I can just win in a very consistent fashion. That's been something that's happened this year. I've been winning pretty consistently. But I wanted now to take it to the next level, and hopefully that can be this week.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, I think the end of last year was a pretty critical time in my career and it was pretty well-documented back home. I definitely made some changes, a few little changes on my serve and on my fitness. And I have to remain patient because it's not going to change overnight. And that, at times, has been frustrating because you want things to happen quicker. But I think slowly but surely I'm moving in the right direction.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, it's something you definitely have to get used to. But, likewise, with a number of things there's not really much I can do about it. Whether I like it or not, it's always going to be there, and whenever I've played at home and the spotlight's been on, if you like, I've, nine times out of ten, I've thrived in the atmosphere. I always enjoy the support. It's my favorite place to play, is at home. So people have to remember that I want it. They want it a lot; but I want it far more. So I'm sure that if I keep doing the things I'm doing, one day I'll, you know, achieve what I want to achieve.

TIM HENMAN: I have a long way to go. You know, I'm pleased that I got through this -- I got through this match. But the matches are going to -- I can't say they're going to get harder, but they're not going to be any easier. Santoro is obviously playing well, beating Safin, who won last week in Toronto. I have to come back and be prepared for another tough match.

TIM HENMAN: I don't know. I think there's so many great players throughout the world. The guys you've had at the top of the game, they've dominated for so long. I'm sure Pete and Andre can still be around for a few more years. But, you know, you need -- I think you need the next generation of American players to move through. And you look at the guys coming through from South America, there are so many, so many good players out there. It's inevitable from time to time you're going to have sort of turns in countries' results.

TIM HENMAN: I think it's pretty fast. I think it's a pretty fast surface. Whatever you're going to do, you're going to have to do it well. If you're going to serve and volley, you have to be making a lot of first serves and you've got to be able to back it up with your volleying. Likewise, if you're going to stay on the baseline, you have to be aggressive. You can't really keep the ball in because people are going to be able to hit you off the court.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, definitely. It will be a different type of match. I think the match, you know, it's probably a little bit more dictated by myself because I'll be the one that's being aggressive. And Fabrice is great at mixing things up, and he's got a lot of variation to his game. I lost the last time we played in Hamburg -- in Rome, that's right. But I've beaten him a couple times before that. So it's going to be an interesting one.