US OPEN

September 9, 2004

Lleyton Hewitt

THE MODERATOR: First question, please.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it was -- I would have said before the match they're the toughest probably conditions I ever played in were probably here when I made the semis against Enqvist at night. I don't know. I felt out there equally as bad as that night.

LLEYTON HEWITT: It was windy. It was like a hurricane had come up, I think, as well. Similar conditions. It's always -- the present's always going to feel worse, I guess, at the time. But it was tough conditions.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I don't know. I think the wind today, obviously, you had to go out there with the right mindset, you had to be very patient, mentally tough out there and not let it affect you and realize that it was going to be the same situation for both players. I tried to stay as positive as I could out there. I reckon I did that extremely well today. I really didn't let it worry me at all. I took my time when I needed to and played percentage tennis.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I was happy with the way I played. It's tough to go from playing one end compared to the other end with so different margins for error out there, going for your shots and choosing the right ones to go for. Knowing that Tommy is a real shot-maker out there, I was just trying to put pressure on him, make him come up with that extra shot all the time.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, when I broke him in the first set. I think it was to go up 3-1. Yeah, I could sense that he wasn't enjoying playing in the wind. He couldn't play his free flying game. And, you know, as I said, he's a real shot-maker out there. He started chip charging, coming in to serve-volleying, mixing up his game a lot more, which he doesn't feel comfortable doing all the time. It's not his A game. For me, that was a good sign that I was playing my game, getting on top of him. As the match turned around, he had patches where he tried to have little bursts here and there. I just really had to keep on top of those situations.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it's always nice being, you know, in the last two or three days of a Grand Slam. And, you know, I've always played well here in New York. You know, I felt good coming in. It's not going to get any easier, I know that, and especially going back-to-back Saturday, Sunday, if I can go through. But I haven't put a foot wrong just yet.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I don't know. Today was -- you know, depending on the conditions, if you get a day like today again, it's going to be awkward. You've got to play percentage tennis. But if we get a calmer day, you can go for your shots a little bit more, obviously getting his serve back and trying to make him play as many balls as possible. He's playing extremely well and very confident at the moment, so he should be - defending champion here, going through the draw quite nicely. It's going to be a tough match and, you know, I just got to counterpunch extremely well and move extremely well.

LLEYTON HEWITT: I don't think so. You know, I don't think it will make a huge difference. You know, I think he enjoys playing the night matches. Last year when it came to semifinals and finals, he had to play during the day and he handled it pretty well. I think he's played one day match this tournament and he came through that pretty comfortably.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, not really. This week there's been a lot more, I think, than there's been in the past straight over center court, but there's not a lot you can do about it. Just block it out. Just one of those things.

LLEYTON HEWITT: It's satisfying getting through, you know, with a score line like that against a class player that I've got a lot of respect for. You know, I knew it was going to be a tough match going in. Obviously, the conditions, only this morning did I know that it was going to be those conditions, and make it that little bit more mentally draining, I guess, or mentally tougher out there. Yeah, it's satisfying to come through, but, you know, in the past I think one huge positive I've always had is my mental toughness out there and again today it didn't let me down.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it would be strange playing him in a semifinals of a Slam. I've practiced with him a lot. He's got a lot of fire power, as much as Roddick. It's going to be an interesting match for him tonight purely because he's never been in this situation before. It was really just a matter of time. He can play. He plays well obviously on quicker courts. This suits his game well. I think he looks forward to big matches.

LLEYTON HEWITT: It's hard to say. We both know probably each other's games pretty well. I'm sure that me doing some training, Roger and I doing training with him over Christmas and stuff the last few years has helped his confidence, helped his ranking, I think, the last couple of years. That's good for him. His last six months have been pretty impressive.

LLEYTON HEWITT: I don't know. We'll have to wait and see.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, there's no doubt he's a better player now than he was then. Andy has a Slam under his belt. He's been No. 1 in the world. So, you know, he's got a lot more confidence and self-belief, I think, in himself from when he first came on the tour. He was probably a little bit more hit-and-miss. Whereas these days, week in and week out, he's reaching the semis and finals of most tournaments. So he's going to be tough in these conditions. He's going to be tougher than probably I've ever played him in the past.

LLEYTON HEWITT: I haven't watched that many of his matches against guys that play similar to me. I've only played him once in the last couple of years and that was Queen's. Grass is a little bit different circumstances. I had my chances in that match. Was up an early break, served for the first set. Wasn't quite able to come through. And lost a first set tie-break. He's going to be a tough opponent purely because he's got a lot of fire power out there.

LLEYTON HEWITT: I don't think it fires me up any more but I've had to play in those situations a lot through Davis Cup ties. Obviously, when you play Andy and Pete and Andre here at the US Open, in the years past, so it's something you really just have to block out and focus on your game and, yeah, it's good to have a lot of emotion out there anyway.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, maybe I guess. He's improved a lot since then, I think. You know, at the moment I'm playing as well as I did, especially the semiand final, if not maybe a little bit better. It's building into a good match. But his results have really picked up the last couple years.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Oh...

LLEYTON HEWITT: I don't know if I can read his serve, but, you know, Federer obviously handles it pretty well. There's not that many guys, especially over the last week and a half, that have handled it very well at all. He's obviously got a great serve and it's something I think he's improved as well in the last couple of years.

LLEYTON HEWITT: It will be up there, I think. I haven't played too many draining matches. It's probably more mentally draining, I guess, than physically at the moment. My body feels good and you've got to feel good if you want to compete, you know, two days in a row, best-of-five sets against -- you know, look at the guys left in the field, they're some of the best guys playing, going around at the moment. If you're going to back it up two days in a row, you've got to be feeling very mentally and physically fresh.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Not a lot, no (smiling).