US OPEN

September 2, 2005

Lleyton Hewitt

THE MODERATOR: First question, please.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, in patches, I guess he's a tough competitor out there. He's got a lot of flashy shots and a lot of weapons out there. I'd never hit a ball against him, so it took me a while to get in and read his game a little bit. You know, he served extremely well, especially the first set and a half. Then he started, you know, missing quite a few first serves, giving me a bit of a look in. But I thought he'd make a lot more errors than he did.

LLEYTON HEWITT: It was good. I still feel like I can improve on today's match, but they're the kind of matches you just got to find a way and get through them and put yourself in a position to have another crack at someone in two days' time.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I know what I'm going to get. It's just a matter of executing, going out there with a game plan, you know, and executing what I need to do out there on Sunday. You know, it's never easy playing against Taylor, but, you know, he's going to give me a target and I've got to take my chances, you know, when I get them.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Well, it's not quite, you know -- not harder than taking on Federer (smiling).

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it's tough in its own way purely because they may not be in the same, you know, in the caliber of Federer or Roddick or Nadal or Agassi, but you just haven't seen them play. So sometimes, yeah, it does take you a set, set and a half, to get into the match and find out what their weaknesses are and try and exploit them as much as possible. So in some ways, you know, it is tougher.

LLEYTON HEWITT: It's the same situation week in and week out now, for me it's been for the last four or five years. All the top guys, Agassi I've been playing for a number of years now. That's what you got to deal with, and the pressures and expectations of being in the top, you know, three or four in the world. So it's just a matter of handling that and, you know, going out there, not taking any opponent lightly and, you know, even if you're one of the top guys in the world you've got to expect that you're going to get a pretty tough challenge every time you step out there.

LLEYTON HEWITT: It was probably one of the more comfortable four-setters I've played against Taylor, I would say. That whole match I felt pretty comfortable. I think I lost the third set in a tiebreak, if I recall correct. It was a tight, tight third set. I bounced back and played well in the fourth again. Yeah, it was a tough match, but I was on his serve early. You know, in the past it's maybe taken me, you know, a little bit of time sometimes to get on his serve. You know, Taylor's got a great serve and volley game. It's a matter of me going out there and making him play tough low volleys and half-volleys and, you know, making him play as many balls as possible.

LLEYTON HEWITT: I don't think so. It's more -- tomorrow it will just be another light hit and just try and keep the rhythm going more than anything. You know, I've played enough guys, you know, to know. Obviously grew up playing with Rafter, and a number of serve-volley guys anyway. So I don't think that's going to take me by surprise.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Uhm, I don't know enough about it, to tell you the truth. Obviously, the doubles guys are pretty disappointed. It's a hard situation because tournament directors still have to look at what's the right thing for their tournaments that they're putting so much money into. I can't speak on behalf of them. Me, as a player, I don't play a whole heap of doubles because the singles tour is hard enough as it is. I just pick and choose my weeks to play. You know, there are obviously -- the tournament directors, whoever, the ATP, are obviously in the structure of trying to make it less and less doubles specialists kind of guys; whether that's right or wrong I'm not sure.

LLEYTON HEWITT: I don't think so. For me, personally, I pick and choose the weeks that I feel like I need another match or two, and whether it's practicing for Davis Cup doubles or, you know, little things like that. I don't think in a whole heap that would personally change my thinking a whole lot.

LLEYTON HEWITT: I think a lot of the players have actually been asked to donate racquets, shoes, shirts and whatever. So the ATP is trying to -- or the US Open is trying to do as much as possible, so I'll be a part of that.

LLEYTON HEWITT: It doesn't faze me a whole heap. It's still a matter of me going out there Sunday and playing my game and not worrying about who's at the other end too much. So it's sort of water off a duck's back.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Not really. I just wasn't sure what was going on. Obviously, Jose, my opponent, had no idea what was going on either. It was more a matter of trying to clear up what the actual ruling was for that particular line call. It didn't help either of us, both our cases weren't held up. So that's when they decided to play (two/too?).

LLEYTON HEWITT: I don't know. I enjoy the conditions here. I think obviously the heat suits me. I pride myself on being one of the fittest guys out there, so I think that's always helped me a lot here. Yeah, it's a great atmosphere. Obviously, the court surface and the conditions, I think, are probably the main key there. You know, it's a hard court that I feel like I grew up, you know, in Adelaide growing up. Tennis lessons at local clubs are on hard courts similar to this. So I think it's sort of where you grew up and played a lot of your junior tennis on.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I think I can. I think it's more maybe strength fitness more than anything. My stamina is pretty good. Hasn't let me down on too many occasions. I think there's always room for improvement. Maybe it's only marginal, but it could be something that you need in a big match.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Not really. I haven't noticed myself slowing down yet, so I'm okay.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Well, Melbourne Park had that year, I think, it was 2000 when it was pretty quick. It had gone from one extreme to the other. Since then it's been a lot slower, higher bounce. You know, there's no doubt that it's a fair bit slower than playing here, I think. Whether the balls have had something to do with that in the past or not, you know, who knows? But conditions here in the past have been pretty quick and, you know, the ball seems to fly off your racquet quite a bit.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Here?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I think the balls might not quite be feeling as quick as in the past this year. Yeah, the court surface, I'd struggle to see there's too much different year by year.