WIMBLEDON

June 22, 2005

Lleyton Hewitt

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Not too bad in patches. You know, for me it's just nice to get through it and into the third round now.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, obviously he's come through quallies and then had especially a good win today against Massu. I know it's not Massu's favorite surface, but he's a tough competitor on any surface. You know, he's hungry out there. He leaves everything out on the court. So Justin obviously had to play extremely well to beat him in a tight four-set match. I look forward to the challenge in the next round.

LLEYTON HEWITT: No, I haven't, no.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it's great to see Mark playing like we all know he can, and that he has for so many years. He had a lot of chances from what I saw and heard out there today against Marat. Marat's a tough player on any surface. He's got so much firepower. Two tiebreaks could have gone either way. Could have been a different story.

LLEYTON HEWITT: I don't know about "fresher," but I feel pretty good. I can't complain right at the moment. The body feels good. Obviously, to get a tough four-set match today under my belt, that's just going to hold me in better stead for the longer I go in the tournament. Yeah, you've got to get out of, you know, some tough matches in the first week of all Grand Slams. Today it was nice to get out there. I got off to a good start, you know, had a couple of lapses throughout the second and third set, but I was able to concentrate when I needed to and play the bigger points well.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Probably hard court.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Well, for most guys, unless you're Argentinian or Spaniard, obviously clay. A lot of guys -- for me, personally, because I grew up on hard court, so movement-wise, ball striking, it gives you a lot of rhythm I think on a hard court. But then again, the clay court specialists, clay is probably the easiest for them to come back purely because they're sliding. For them, that gives them a lot of rhythm, you know, going out there and hitting hundred-ball rallies.

LLEYTON HEWITT: What did he say?

LLEYTON HEWITT: You know, Pat's -- Pat always comes out with some loose comments now and then. Yeah, I was talking to Pat in the locker room just before. He obviously didn't bring that up (laughter). We're obviously pretty good mates. You know, I've got a lot of respect for him as a person.

LLEYTON HEWITT: No, not from me.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Not really. Is that the only thing you guys have won?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Very early days, mate.

LLEYTON HEWITT: I think any Australian likes cricket. We love winning.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Got no doubt.

LLEYTON HEWITT: No doubt.

LLEYTON HEWITT: No, it's not mine. My coach's fiancee actually has a dealership with Holden. Her father has a dealership with Holden in Adelaide. Roger got the car to drive around for a couple of weeks.

LLEYTON HEWITT: I haven't driven it.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, his serve's obviously his biggest weapon. He's going to serve-volley a hell of a lot. He plays with a lot of passion out there, as well. He's a guy that's always going to leave everything on the court. I'm going to have to return well and pass well and be very sharp out there. It's not going to be a long rallies against Justin.