TMS - CINCINNATI

August 9, 2000

Tim Henman

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Tim?

TIM HENMAN: Not really, no. It was funny, he's one of these players that my game really matches up well against. And I feel like I had a very clear sort of game plan, where I needed to play, and I actually cued it up pretty comprehensively.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, I mean it's sort of obvious against someone whose ground strokes are as strong as his that you don't want to get into too many baseline rallies. When I played him on clay, I was serve-and-volleying a lot. So I'm just trying to be as aggressive as possible. And on the hard court, it's also a little bit easier for me. So I'm really satisfied with the way I played.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, that's right. I mean you look at it twofold, don't you? If you suddenly, you know, are trying to get to the net, then you obviously feel like you're doing something right because he's moving away from his strength. But I think it's probably something he could do a bit more of. He's serves pretty good lefty. And when he's at the net, he volleys okay. So... But from my point of view, if you get a break in the first game in the second set, I was able to maintain the momentum, so that was good.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah. I didn't want to let him, you know, get back in any stage. I think any breakpoint he had was -- when I was serving at 4-1, he played that point, 4-2, holds his serve, 4-3, you know, it can get close again. But I was always able to keep, you know, quite a distance between us...(Inaudible.)

TIM HENMAN: Yeah. No, I felt like, you know, it was still pretty close. But I thought between them they could have got the angle right. I think it was out. But, you know, it's one call, that's it. It's not going to change the outcome of the whole match. But again at 15-30, it was a good game to get out of.

TIM HENMAN: Definitely. Everybody expects me to play Pete; I would expect that. But we have to wait and see. Having said that, it's been quite a while since we've played. And, you know, it would be nice to play on hard courts. We've played four times on grass which is, you know, is a good surface for me, but I think it's definitely his strongest surface. So I think it perhaps gives me a little bit of a better look on his serve.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, very much so. I think I've got nothing to lose. He's obviously been playing really well. But I have a lot to gain if I go out there and play some good tennis. I definitely feel okay.

TIM HENMAN: Well, obviously the record's pretty much in his favor in the matches we've had. But as I've said, we've had some pretty close ones on grass, last two years at Wimbledon, the Finals in Queen's. So I've sort of been getting closer and closer. Hopefully if I play him tomorrow, it might be maybe my first one.

TIM HENMAN: No, I haven't. He's sort of -- I don't think he's playing too much golf anymore. He had those back problems, and I think he's sort of playing less and less.

TIM HENMAN: ...(Inaudible) If I don't tape them, I get blisters just underneath them.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, I think that's exactly the way I'd describe it. And I kind of sort of felt like after coming through yesterday, I felt like I was going to play well today. And that was the case. It takes sometimes a slightly, you know, close encounter to get -- to come through. Then it gives you a boost in confidence. But I've had a lot of solid results, but as I've said, nothing really spectacular. And, you know, I've got to keep giving myself the opportunity to bring out the best in myself. There's no reason why it can't be this week.

TIM HENMAN: Not really. I'm 100 percent on this tournament. When you're playing in a tournament as big as this one, a Masters Series, if you're not concentrating 100 percent, you're going to lose it. But having said that, you play the event and when that's finished, then definitely you start thinking about the Open in New York.