GREAT AMERICAN INSURANCE ATP CHAMPIONSHIP

August 11, 1998

Tim Henman

Q. You weren't able hold serve on that first shots?

TIM HENMAN: That was probably more his doing than what I was doing wrong. I think if you compare the two matches that we've played, you know, today he really returned my serve in a different way to the way he returned it in New York. I think I had a similar type of game plan today because it worked very well in New York. But I think the balls were a lot slower here than the -- than the Open. And, you know, he was able to -- to hit a lot of low returns and set up passing shots.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, I think, you know, it was definitely an important game. I think up until that stage I was down a break in the second and I got back and starting to put more and more pressure on his serve. But having said, yeah, there's you know a couple of close calls that go against you and, you know, suddenly he was serving for the match and that's the way it goes sometimes. But you know, from my point of view, fundamentally, there's nothing wrong with my game. I'm still hitting the ball,, still hitting the ball very well. Obviously, playing Muster in the first round, it's not an easy start for the tournament. But I definitely won't -- I definitely won't dwell on this. I think it gives me a chance to have four -- four or five days before I play in New Haven just to -- to continue to work on a few things and hopefully have another good run in New Haven. But it sure is disappointing to lose but I still -- still feel very positive about the way I'm playing.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, I think it is. After L.A. And Toronto, making the final in the semis -- obviously played my fair share of tennis. Having said that, I felt very fresh coming in -- coming into the match today. But who knows, it may be a blessing in disguise, I can have a couple of days to rest and recharge the batteries and I'm looking forward to next week.

TIM HENMAN: I felt my game was strong pretty much all the time. If you look at -- if you look at what happened in the first set, I think he hit a lot of great shots to win the points. I don't think it was so much of my own fault. So I had -- I had a game plan and I stuck to it. And sure, I think it's 4-3 in the second set, I had a couple of break points and I couldn't get one of those. But you know if I had, then, you know, I would have fancied my chances but he definitely played a good match.

TIM HENMAN: I think age is irrelevant. I think, you know, he is -- he is definitely one of the older guys on the Tour but I'd also say that he's one of the fittest, one of the strongest guys.

TIM HENMAN: I felt very comfortable when we were in the rallies but I think that -- I think if anything, that's you know if I were just -- try to beat him at his own game. And you know, I was -- I was definitely creating opportunity to move forward and I think a lot of the time I took them and I think that was definitely the most effective way to play. You know, having said that, he did hit a lot of really good passing shots across the line.

TIM HENMAN: The main person is not something that I agree with. I've always enjoyed the -- I've always enjoyed the one-on-one sort of, you know, individual -- individuality of the sport. But having said that, I was sort of on the player counsel at the time when we decided to choose five tournaments to give it a go and I think it's been a good idea to try that. And I think fairly shortly we get the feedback from all the players and their thoughts on it, and if everybody says that, you know, no, we don't like it, well then we've given it a try and it can be binned. But I think we just have to wait and see, not only the player tournaments, the fans, their opinions.

TIM HENMAN: Thank you.