AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 24, 2005

Lleyton Hewitt

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Lleyton, please.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Oh, it's maintainable, I guess. You know, it's obviously something I did in Sydney last week, and I've just been, you know, getting treatment on it every day, working through it, just taking it one match at a time, just making sure that it's fine for that match and not looking too far ahead.

LLEYTON HEWITT: No, it's a little bit different, I think. It's similar. Similar spot, but a little bit different.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, somewhere around there. It's a strain. I think it's pretty deep, though.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Sort of just it's come and gone. There's been times the last couple of matches it's been pretty sore. Just had to put up with it.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it's up there for having to forget everything about my body out there, you know, and just tough it out more than anything, you know, refuse to give in again. You know, it's amazing how many matches I've been able to win throughout my career by, you know, giving a hundred percent out there, that never-say-die attitude. Yet again today, it gets me through another big match.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Whoever. You know, it doesn't really bother me. Nalbandian is probably a little bit heavier than Coria. But Coria, you know, doesn't make a lot of mistakes and works the ball around extremely well. Whichever one, it's going to be an extremely tough match.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Not really, no. No. I just -- even if my leg would have fell off, I would have kept playing. So, you know, I don't think I'd ever, you know, going to forfeit out there - with this injury anyway.

LLEYTON HEWITT: No, I wouldn't have a clue. But, you know, you don't play too many matches over four hours, I don't think. I've played very few, I think. Only one or two probably. Yeah, you have ups and downs during a four-hour match anyway. It's not like you're at your peak or playing your best tennis right through. You know, that's important, but you've got to have, you know, your down moments at the right times, I guess, throughout a long match.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it's good. Feels like I made the quarters of the French Open this year, so it's good (smiling).

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it's good. I love the Australian Open. I love coming, playing here. You know, it's funny, I think this is like my ninth Australian Open now in a row. You know, when you first start, you know, qualified at 15 here in '97. Yeah, it's one of my favorite tournaments. To get through, you know, deep in the second week, it's a good feeling. But, you know, the job's not done yet. It's going to get harder and harder, you know, as the next few matches go on.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Probably this one and Wimbledon, I think. They're my two favorites.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it is a little bit. I heard the boys up in the crowd saying that. A lot of people probably would have been laughing at them after the third set, 6-1. Yeah, I knew they were always going to be prepared to hang out there for a little bit longer, you know, want to support me, try and get me over the line. You know, they're fantastic, they really are.

LLEYTON HEWITT: No, I don't think so. No.

LLEYTON HEWITT: I don't know. Yeah, he's got an amazing game, I think, especially on this court surface, it's very hard to hit the ball through him. You know, he moves extremely well for a big kid, as well.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Well, that just tells you about the court pace, doesn't it? You know, he moves extremely well. He's got a massive forehand - as big as anyone out there. Yeah, he can use his forehand from each side. His backhand's definitely not a weakness, but it's just not quite as strong as his forehand out there. But, you know, he's going to be a tough player to play on any surface, but especially on clay. You know, there's no doubt about that.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Oh, you know, obviously when I was able to pull out of the -- you know, get the fourth set under my belt. You're back two sets all. You know, hopefully I could try and carry a little bit of momentum into the fifth set. But, yeah, I was never -- I don't think in my favor starting the fifth set. It was still going to be a dogfight out there. You know, getting up that early break, it was the first time that he actually probably played a bit of a slack game on his service game. I just kept making him play, put a lot of balls in the court in that first game in the fifth set. That's when I really sensed that, you know, I had the opportunity then. Put my foot down.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I did. That obviously made me feel a little bit better, too. You know, as sore as I was, I just, you know, tried to block it out. You know, had a look at him. His movement was nothing compared to the way he'd been moving for, you know, the first three sets or three and a half sets or so. So, you know, I tried to use that as much of a positive as I could out there.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Oh, I don't really like it either (smiling).

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, when you hit it in. If you hit a fault anyway, it doesn't really matter. But when you hit it in. You just got to try to block it out, though.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Not really. You know, at the end of the day, you know, I know a lot of people have written it up and whatever. But the Australian players aren't looking for an unfair advantage with the court surface at all. You know, we just don't feel like there should be a disadvantage to Australian players. At the moment, it is. It's as simple as that. It's not just me. You know, everyone keeps, you know, wanting to have a crack at me about it because I'm on the front foot. But I'm the one that's got to speak because I'm No. 3 in the world. Wayne Arthurs, Alicia Molik, Mark Philippoussis, Todd Woodbridge, Pat Rafter back years ago. Everyone, it doesn't suit Australian players. To make it slower - this is slower than it was last year. So, you know, for me it just doesn't make a lot of sense.

LLEYTON HEWITT: No.

LLEYTON HEWITT: It's not in my mind. Once I get out there, I'm professional enough to block everything out. You know, I think everyone knows how much -- yeah, how mentally tough I can be out on the court. You know, nothing off the court's ever going to affect me when I get out there. When I've got a job to do, I'm going to go out there and focus a hundred percent on that. You know, I'm not going to let it interfere me. But you've just got to look at my last two matches. If balls keep coming back from five meters behind the baseline, I think I've got a fair case.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Nadal was guessing a lot tonight - a lot. I was actually quite amazed at how often he guesses on the return of serve. So, you know, I don't think he's a great return of server because, you know, if you look at a guy like Agassi, it's totally different to Nadal. Whereas Nadal quite often tonight, he was just guessing one way or the other.

LLEYTON HEWITT: No, I'm all right. I'll go for a 10K run tonight. So I'll be sweet.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Oh, you know, just try and -- basically every day I've just been trying to take one day at a time. You know, getting my body ready for that one match, then, you know, just trying to maintain it in the day off and do everything possible to keep my body ready for that next day. That's all I'm focusing on. I'm not looking towards a semi or a final at this point. You know, I've got a quarterfinal against a tough opponent, no matter who, it's Coria or Nalbandian. I'll just be trying to get my body in as good a shape as possible for that particular match. Hopefully I can get through that match. You know, hopefully I can build on something for the semi.

LLEYTON HEWITT: I don't know. It's obviously -- I think he handles it extremely well. I think while we're both able to succeed at a very young age, it's because, you know, we're hungry out there, we're competitive, we look forward to the big matches. I think, you know, he's very similar to the way I was when I was 15, 16, 17 years old. You know, he's not shy of going out there and putting his best foot forward every time he steps on the court. You know, he's got a great attitude, there's no doubt about that. Yeah, there's been a lot of matches over his time, whether he's on a big court or an outside court, where he shows his emotion, as well, and I think that's good for tennis. You know, what he's done at a very young age and the way he handled himself in the Davis Cup final, you know, it's a credit to himself.

LLEYTON HEWITT: He's a good kid, he really is. You know, we don't talk that much obviously. I don't know how good his English is. But we say hi to each other. You know, he's a nice guy, he really is. Yeah, he's got a big future in the game.