US OPEN

August 31, 2004

Lleyton Hewitt

THE MODERATOR: Before we pass it over to the US Open Series champions, Lleyton Hewitt and Lindsay Davenport, we just wanted to provide the background on the US Open Series. The goal was to try to present an opportunity for fans to better connect with some of the greatest athletes in the world, at least here in the United States, and provide better television for our sport. Through the collaborative efforts of the WTA, the ATP and the USTA, our friends at ESPN, NBC and CBS, we were able to launch the US Open Series this summer with 10 tournaments. We're pleased to have two great players, Lleyton Hewitt and Lindsay Davenport, both US Open champions, as the inaugural champions of the US Open Series. The USTA has awarded up to an additional $1.3 million in bonus prize money based on the top three finishers in the series, Lleyton besting Andy Roddick and Andre Agassi; and Lindsay besting Amelie Mauresmo and Elena Likhovtseva over the course of the summer. Both have had outstanding summers. Both Lindsay and Lleyton will compete for up to $1.5 million in potential prize money here at The Open. A million dollars is up for grabs in the main singles draw for men and women. By virtue of Lindsay and Lleyton's success in the course of the summer in the US Open Series, they will compete for $1.5 million. Without further ado, I'd like to throw it over for questions for Lleyton and Lindsay.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Maybe not (laughter).

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Yeah. I mean, I heard a lot of positive things, that it was very easy to follow. They kind of figured out after the first week what time matches were going to be on. And, you know, even for myself, I mean, I'm a fan of men's tennis. You always kind of knew on my weeks off what time it was going to be on, and be able to watch. You know, ESPN did say their ratings were up, which is a fantastic sign for the sport in our country. You know, unfortunately, sometimes the tennis fan in the United States doesn't know that we play tournaments 45 weeks out of our year. I think this really helped them kind of prepare for the US Open and get ready for all the tennis that's to come and to get to know some of the other players.

LLEYTON HEWITT: No, I don't have as many friends (laughter). You know, it's obviously I think the biggest question mark at the start, the way it could help tennis as a sport, was to get more TV time in America. I think that's a huge demand for tennis in America, to try and get in such a big country, and it helps when you got guys like Agassi and Andy Roddick up there in the Series as well. But to try to get that publicity out there, get more air time, for some of the smaller tournaments, not like the US Open is going to need it. You know, Long Island, tournaments like that, get the semis and finals on TV, I think it's a real positive.

LLEYTON HEWITT: I wasn't really, but all the media were. You know, it was like after every match, I was obviously trying to prepare for the US Open as well as possible over the last four or five weeks. For me staying in America and not going to Athens, playing in Washington and Long Island, obviously helped my cause in the US Open Series. You know, obviously it was a good draw card I guess for Long Island to have me there playing as well, knowing if I won the tournament, I'd finish No. 1 in the Series. So, you know, I think it was good in the first year of the US Open Series to have that kind of finish anyway that the media could really build it on.

LLEYTON HEWITT: For me it was more about how I was feeling going into the US Open. Obviously, I didn't enter purely because if I had a good stint through Toronto, Cincinnati and Washington, if I played -- especially in Washington, if I played a lot of long, tough matches in the heat there, then maybe I wouldn't have been able to physically go that whole stretch. At the end of Washington, I really only had one tougher match where it went three sets. Apart from that, every match was just over an hour. I felt comfortable. I felt like I was starting to hit the ball well and just wanted to try and keep that roll going into the US Open.

LLEYTON HEWITT: No, not in my decision to go to Long Island. I obviously heard from the past, I know Pat's played it quite a few times. I know from, you know, what he said in the past that it's a nice, relaxed tournament out there. You know, obviously getting away from that mental pressure of thinking about a US Open coming up the next week, to get some tough matches. That's what I felt like I wanted to continue after Cincinnati and Washington. For me it was good preparation.

LLEYTON HEWITT: No, I don't really think about it like that. You know, for me, this tournament, you know, it's all about trying to win that trophy at the end of the two weeks. You know, I've been fortunate enough, like Lindsay, to have won here before. You know, at the end of the day, the money means very little, if you can hold that trophy up in two weeks' time. That's why we're playing the US Open, is to try to win another major. Yeah, it's a great incentive and it's a great thing I think for the public out there, as well, just to build it up even more, the whole US Open Series.

LLEYTON HEWITT: I don't know if it's just one thing. I think there have been quite a few good Australians over the years, obviously Rafter and Philippoussis had a lot of success here in America. For me personally I like the court surface. I think it suits my game well. It's the kind of court I grew up on. I feel very at home over here. The conditions, if it gets hot, that doesn't worry my game too much. There's a lot of emotion playing in America. It's an electric atmosphere most weeks. I played a lot of night matches over the last few weeks. I enjoy playing in those situations when you're there under the lights. You know, it's really enjoyable I think for the way I play the game.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: You know, we take lots of great ones. I'd probably have to say my honeymoon.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: We got married in Hawaii and stayed there an extra 10 days.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Well, I mean, it has a lot more to do with that. It has to do with how everyone else is playing, you know, the level of tennis that I bring to the court on that certain day. But physically I felt great for most of the year. You know, my knee is something I'll always have to take care of. But it has been no hindrance to me at all in the last few weeks. The whole summer I've played a lot of matches and a lot of days in a row. You know, I feel good. I think it's more about, you know, being able to play a hundred percent of your best tennis at a Grand Slam through the whole two weeks, and it's something I haven't been able to do in a number of years. I feel confident, though, with where my game's at this summer that this is as good a time as any.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I don't know how it exactly worked on the men's tour. There were a few tournaments on the women's tour that didn't count. I personally was a little unclear of what tournaments were counting and what wasn't. But, you know, I'm sure they'll work on that for next year. Other than that, I thought it was great for its first year. I'm sure that they'll make the improvements for next year for our tour.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I pretty much I guess knew the tournaments on the men's side. You know, I can't really think of too many problems that came along with the US Open Series in the last few weeks anyway. As I said earlier, as long as the TV ratings, as they said, went up, we're able to get those finals and semis and stuff on live TV in the bigger networks, I think it's a good start.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Personally?

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Yeah.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah. Well, you know, it all sort of came out of the blue I guess for us anyway, when the whole US Open Series came out. You know, at the start I wasn't really too aware of it. I was over in Europe at the time. The US Open and thinking about the whole hard court season seemed like a long way away still. You could add that dimension to it with charities and that. It's always going to work in a positive way like that, as well. You know, whether that's the best thing or not for the tennis, I'm not sure, or for the public.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Well, I think over the last three or four weeks, there's definitely been days where I've played as well, if not better. But, you know, there's still days where, you know, you don't strike the ball quite as well as you'd like to. You know, I went through a good run in Cincinnati where, you know, I had to beat three top-class players three days in a row: Henman, Safin and Kuerten there. You know, in those three matches, I played pretty faultless tennis, I felt. But you've got to be able to do that for seven matches here, to be able to put it together. I feel like the year I won here, I got better and better as the tournament went on. You know, if you are struggling in any of these matches in the US Open, you've just got to find a way to win, try to get through to the next day.

LLEYTON HEWITT: I don't know. I haven't faced it (smiling). Yeah, well, Todd's played a hell of a lot of opponents in his time. So, you know, there's some awesome shots out there. I don't know whether mine's any better than a lot of other guys' out there. You know, Todd's obviously had a great career. As I've said, he's played a lot of opponents. Maybe it's the style of game that he plays that made my backhand pass, you know, a little bit better. But, yeah, as you said, Pete's serve, it's hard to beat that. A lot of Andy's serve out there. Different areas. Federer's forehand, stuff like that. Probably depends on the day and the surface as well.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: You know, I see a lot of girls up there as threats. I mean, obviously Venus and Serena have had such a great career in the last five years, winning a lot of the Slams. They've obviously struggled a little bit since they've been back from injury. But I never discount them. Obviously Justine is a great competitor. You know, Amelie has been very close. She hasn't quite broken through yet to win a big tournament. But I think her time's probably coming. And Myskina is a great player. There's a lot of girls out there that are threats.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I don't think so. I think there are a lot of us out there that can play well. Kind of depends who's playing well for these next two weeks.