WESTERN AND SOUTHERN FINANCIAL GROUP MASTERS

August 6, 2004

Lleyton Hewitt

THE MODERATOR: We'll open it up for questions.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I don't know. You know, I don't think it probably favored one guy more than the other. You know, it's been swirling and a tough breeze, I think, all week, this week. We've had to deal with it every day and in every match. You know, I just felt like I handled the breeze well out there today, though.

LLEYTON HEWITT: He gets frustrated, you know, if he makes an easy mistake or hits a double-fault or gets a bad line call. But, you know, that's Marat. He's still a great player. You've got to be very wary of him because he's got so many weapons out there.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I felt like, yeah, I played consistent when I needed to. I attacked, I felt, when I needed to. I just tried to make him play extra balls out there and make him move a lot. You know, I felt that was probably my biggest advantage out there, if I was going to win. Didn't feel like I served great out there compared with -- you know, felt like I've been serving well in all the other matches this week. But my ground strokes, you know, helped me hold serve today.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Well, I served extremely well this whole week apart from today's match. Today I didn't serve great, but I was able to back it up with obviously, you know, the first hits. You know, my second serve held up well. I may have only hit maybe one, two doubles maximum today. So, you know, I didn't give him a lot of opportunities to get the first hit in out there, which he likes to do.

LLEYTON HEWITT: It would be nice, you know, obviously with the field that you have and you've got to beat. I feel like, especially the last three matches, I've beaten guys that are world-class players. You know, they're out there and they're capable of beating anyone on any given day, all three of them. That's probably more satisfying at the moment. You know, just trying to take it a match at a time. Obviously the next match is going to be a different matchup depending on which guy I play. So, you know, if I get through to the final, then I put myself in a position to do well this week.

LLEYTON HEWITT: It was a weird match. I dominated probably a set and a half of it. You know, I got the first set under my belt, had all the breakpoints early in the second, wasn't able to capitalize. Then, you know, he made very few unforced errors, he served well. And in the end, you know, he played too good at the end of the match. And, you know, there was only a couple of points here and there when I ended up losing my service games in the second or third set that cost me the match.

LLEYTON HEWITT: It will be a totally different match. Obviously the power play of Marat compared to Fabrice's, you know, finesse around the court and great movement and, you know, using the angles a lot more and that kind. So, yeah, it is a different kind of matchup if I'm playing him.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah. Well, Tommy, obviously, his favorite surface is clay, but he's got a good hard court game. He's an aggressive baseline player. And, yeah, he's done well on hard court in the past. He's had good wins this week against Ferrero, who's a good hard court player, and also Rusedski. So he's handling the conditions well, so...

LLEYTON HEWITT: Robredo would, yeah. But, you know, he hits the ball a lot heavier, too, with a lot more spin off both sides. Fabrice is, you know, more an all-court player but a lot more finesse and angles.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Well, playing Marat, just try and make him play that one extra shot, I guess, with my game against him, and try and move him around as much as possible. He likes dictating play. So there's, you know -- every time I play him, he's going to have more winners but he's going to have more unforced errors, too. That's just the way our games match up.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Not really. Obviously, when I went up a break early in the first set, you know, that helped because I just had the momentum then. I could have broken again at 5-3 that second time at the end of the first set; wasn't able to do it. He came up with a big serve. And in the second set, you know, I broke him early again. So I always was, you know, that one game, one, two games ahead all the time holding that break. It's just a matter of trying to hold serve from then on.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Didn't really come into my mind that that was a good time. I just try to take my opportunities, you know, when I get second serves against him. Obviously if he's pounding big first serves, he's always going to have that first hit and really be able to attack that first shot - that's if I get the ball back. So, you know, if I got into a rally, I just felt like, you know, that was my opportunity there.