TMS - THE ERICSSON OPEN

March 25, 2000

Tim Henman

ATP: Questions for Tim.

TIM HENMAN: I think it was the one after. I was waiting to hear an "out" call, but it never quite materialized. I was satisfied with my pass that preceded it.

TIM HENMAN: There were a few close ones. Hopefully they level themselves out at the end of the day. You just hope that it's not one of those doubtful ones on a very big point.

TIM HENMAN: It did feel a little bit lopsided. I'm optimistic about my next match.

TIM HENMAN: I think I was passed a lot today, but it was definitely -- my game plan was definitely to be aggressive. A lot of the time he did hit some good passing shots. That was the game plan; I had to stick to it. Even if he did hit a few good shots, I wasn't going to be deterred.

TIM HENMAN: Not as much as I knew about Rosset, that's for sure. But seeing him play bits of that match, I knew that he's a player that's won a lot of matches recently: qualifying, obviously, I think he made semis after Challenger last week, so he's confident. He's definitely got a big game to back it up.

TIM HENMAN: That's right. Another Argentinian.

TIM HENMAN: That's right. I know a lot more about him. My record is not a positive one. I'd like to try and get a win. I feel like my game will definitely give me an opportunity to do that.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah. I lost to him indoors, in London. But it's a good opportunity, as I said, to get my first win against him. I felt like the conditions were really good today: it was less humid, it was hotter. The courts were playing relatively quick; that suited me.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, I've spoken to him at length. He's watched most of my practices. I think it's good to have him out here, not only to learn about our games and the way we play, but also to see a lot of our future opponents. We don't know who we play yet, but I'm sure they're playing here somewhere. It's good to have him around.

TIM HENMAN: Not really. I can only speak on behalf of myself. I've made it very clear, plainly clear, as it always will be, that Davis Cup is one of the priorities on my schedule. There's been a difficult few weeks with the change of captain, but whoever is sitting at the side of the court, you know, I don't think it will change my attitude towards Davis Cup. I'll be out there giving everything I've got.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, I think I perhaps at some stage could try and help the situation. I desperately want to be playing with Greg. I think it's also fair to say that this is not the time and the place. Hopefully in the next few weeks, that opportunity will arise.

TIM HENMAN: No, not at all. That's his business at the end of the day. At the end of the day, it will be him that makes that decision. You know, I hope it's a positive one.

TIM HENMAN: I think, to be honest, yeah. He seemed a little bit more erratic against Rosset. There were more unforced errors. But very, very powerful from the baseline, you know, just consistently accurate on the passing shots. His serving was of pretty high quality, as well. It was important that I maintained my levels because it wasn't easy to break him. I felt like I wasn't giving too many opportunities away on my serve. Serving first in the third set helped me. I was definitely very pleased to take my first match point and get the job done.

TIM HENMAN: Definitely. It's something that I've said at times, I want to concentrate on what I'm doing and not worry too much about my opponents. I felt like at times there didn't seem to be a great deal of pressure on him. The more I looked over, the more Argentinian players I saw coming to watch. Obviously, they've got a lot of players coming through: Zabaleta, Squillari, Puerta, him, Gumy. There's a lot of them around. A strong nation.