EUROCARD OPEN

October 21, 1997

Tim Henman

Q. Was that largely a case of serving coming back to some sort of regularity, thank goodness, at the last minute?

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, definitely, it was. The first set I was serving pretty poorly, but I was hanging in on my serve and I don't think for the first four games I hardly won a point on his serve. But, on fast indoor court, it is important that you do focus on your own serve. I had my chance and I took it. Second set, I served very poorly, but in the third, I really picked it up and it is, it is old cliche: "It is a good match to win," but I don't think I played my best tennis. Having said that, I think in the match this time last year, I would have lost. So, I am pleased to be in the next round, give myself an opportunity to play Ivanisevic.

TIM HENMAN: It is frustrating because I am aware of it and, you know, you think after you missed a few in succession, you think maybe I will take a little pace off this one and just roll it in. But you can't really afford to do that because otherwise you will watch it go by you. But I think for me, personally, I have to make sure that I don't rush it. I have to take my time and just go through a similar routine. Sometimes it can become a little bit quick and on a fast court, you still got to keep going for it. I still believe that I was going to serve -- I could serve well in the third and I think I did. I don't know how many points I lost on my serve in the third set, but I think it was very few.

TIM HENMAN: A little bit, yeah. You start forcing it. You get a little bit tense. And I think in those two sets, I probably missed virtually every first serve in the net. And that is maybe you are pulling down, you are dropping your head a little bit, but I think when it really mattered in the third set, I served very well. So, that is a plus. That is something I have to continue with.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, a bad throat.

TIM HENMAN: Really for two, three days.

TIM HENMAN: Well, I won't even say it.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, I am happy. I think what do they say, you look at a glass if it's half full or half empty and I think this is a case where I am pleased to have come through because you can all see that I wasn't playing my best tennis. But then in the third set, I raised my level from probably second to third. So, there is a lot of improving that can be done. I believe now I have -- once you come through a match, you can try and build from that a little bit.

TIM HENMAN: Definitely. Probably going to have very few opportunities and those opportunities that I do have, I have got to be very alert, very sharp and hopefully with a little bit of luck, I can take some opportunities and continue with the way I served in the third set and against Goran, that is the nature of those matches.

TIM HENMAN: Very much so. It is a real mental battle. Physically, and in all my matches, you know, throughout my year I will physically give 100%, but mentally you can really, really struggle. And, as hard as you might try, some days it can be very difficult and, you know, once in the third set I started to -- on a fast court as well, it is dictated by your serve and I started to serve better; got some confidence on my returns and put some pressure on and played a good set of tennis.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, definitely. It gives you a boost. It puts the pressure on him. You are the one in the driving seat.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, he is. I don't need to sit here and tell everybody that he is a very good player. He is in the top 50. He made the Final last week in Lyon. He is very, very talented, that is for sure. I think he has got so many areas of his game that he will improve and he is going to be around for a long, long time. I think also with Kiefer and Haas, it is probably a pretty good competitive rivalry.

TIM HENMAN: It is not going to die out, but it is something you have to learn to deal with. And, there are going to be -- there are always going to be times when you struggle, but it is how you deal with it. For sure, twelve months ago, it was pretty much the same situation. I didn't play well against Edberg and I lost 3 and 2 or something, but today, you know, I was able to turn that around and come through the match. So it is good to give myself another opportunity.