WIMBLEDON

June 30, 2004

Lleyton Hewitt

THE MODERATOR: Lleyton Hewitt.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Disappointment, I think, at the moment anyway, straight after. Losing, you know, the match. Yeah, in the fourth set I guess, you know, I felt like I had, you know, chances. I was a better player the whole fourth set, you know, have very little to show for it now. You know, one minute you're up a break, 4-All I had breakpoints. On a couple he came out with big serves. 5-4, I felt like, you know, I didn't play that bad a game. He just, you know, attacked and went for it a little bit and it paid off then. Then you're in the locker room. You know, at the moment, it's Wimbledon, you're always going to be disappointed.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Mate, I gave everything I had. I felt like I played a good match. You know, first set, I actually didn't feel like I hit the ball that badly. You know, he just played incredible tennis. You know, I had a lot of opportunities,, breakpoints here and there. You know, even in the first set, I was the first one to have a breakpoint, wasn't able to take it, missed a return. You know, when he's got that confidence going, he's a very difficult player to beat.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it was -- it was tough out there. You know, I felt like even at the start of the third set, after I won the tiebreak, I had tiebreaks in the first game, I think at least two breakpoints in the first game of the third set. At that stage, I felt like the momentum was starting to swing my way. You know, I just played a bit of a loose game. But, you know, he really stepped it up, as well. You know, you got to give him credit. He's the best player in the world at the moment. He stepped it up in that second game. You know, even the breakpoint that he ended up breaking me in the second game of the third set. You know, I played a pretty good point. I don't know how long it went for, but he had to come up with an unbelievable backhand up the line to win it. Yeah, I played well out there.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it's -- not right at the moment, there's not too much satisfaction. But I'm really happy with the way I've been hitting the ball. I've done all the hard work. You know, I feel like all three majors this year, you know, that's what I focused, with the Davis Cup at the start of the year. I'm happy with how I prepared. You know, I feel like I prepared as well as I could for all three majors so far. And, you know, at the end of the day, I've been beaten by, you know, Roger in two of them and Gaudio in the other. The guys were just too good.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I didn't play great, I don't think. My worst part of the match was probably halfway through the third set. You know, so, yeah, he gets very confident, though. He's a shot-maker out there. You know, me personally, I felt like he probably played his best tennis in the first set, not the third set. He came out and was, you know, right on fire right from the start.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Oh, I don't know. I felt like out there I had a lot of chances. You know, when he's playing that kind of tennis he played in the first set, you know, he's very tough to beat. He was seeing the ball very well. His returns are a lot better than they used to be. He really cut out a lot of those unforced errors that he used to make two or three years ago. But then again, in a five-set match, you're always going to get chances here and there. You know, I felt like I had those chances and I took them a couple of times. There was other times when he came up with, you know, big serves on breakpoints. There was very little I could do about it.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Well, I think it's disappointing any time you probably lose in a Grand Slam, and especially Wimbledon. But, yeah, it's just more I guess that I had a few chances out there and just wasn't able to capitalize. You know, against the best players in the world, and especially against the best player in the world at the moment, you've got to take those chances.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, he's a good competitor. He's a lot better than he probably was a couple years ago, I think. Yeah, he gives a hundred percent out there. It's not too often I think that he goes away. I think that's why -- you know, that's a part of his game he's probably worked on over the last couple of years that's really made him be one of the best players around.

LLEYTON HEWITT: To beat him?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Believe it or not, I didn't feel like I was that far away today, as I go back to, you know, the chances that I had. You know, first game of the third set, as I said, I felt like there was a huge momentum swing then, after winning the second set tiebreak 7-1. You know, the fourth set, if I could have gone up 5-3 and consolidated that break, you win the fourth set, and the whole moment's with you going into the fifth set. Yeah, he's going to be a tough player to beat on grass. You know, he's the favorite now for the next two matches, for sure. But, you know, I don't think it's impossible.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, he was up and down a little bit out there today. Whether he knows that or not, I'm not sure. But, you know, I'm sure he knows in the back of his mind, you know, that I'm not going to go away. I'm going to try to make it as hard as possible, as I possibly can, for him to win the match. Yeah, as I said, you know, he played pretty incredible tennis against me in Hamburg a month or so ago. But it's over best-of-three sets. Best-of-five sets, you're always going to get those opportunities, and it's just a matter of taking them.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Not really, no. You know, I'm not sure how much he really -- I didn't see much of last year, but how much he served ad volleyed then. But he doesn't have a Roddick kind of serve with brut power. He serves to set up the point with his strengths, which is obviously his forehand. He's got great variety out there. He can serve-volley. That's what makes him such a great player, because he's got so much variety in his game.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, is got to be up there. For a guy that hits his second serve that hard, he doesn't hit a lot of double faults, and especially on big points. I think that's one area of his game that when he came on the tour, you know, at the start he served a lot more double faults going for that second serve. He's got a pretty reliable second serve for as hard as he hits it.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, well the first one when we just warmed up didn't do a lot for anyone (laughter). After that, you just sit in there, relax. You try not to focus on it too much. It's pretty hard when you're in there and once the covers came off we saw on the TV, we're getting ready, and the next minute they're back on again. I just tried to, I guess, stay sharp and be ready because, you know, as soon as they take the covers off, we're told we got about 10 minutes before we're on. You got to stay alert, stay ready, and not relax too much in those breaks.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, he played incredible tennis in that first set. But, you know, as I said, it would be awfully hard to keep that up, especially on a grass court, when you're getting some dodgey bounces. I was making him play a lot of balls out there, as well. He'd be an incredible tennis player if he could play that standard that first set right through the whole of the match.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, well now, you know, for me, look forward to the US Open, the last major of the year. I feel like I got a good game to play at Flushing Meadows. Every year I seem to play well there. Obviously, I like going back to somewhere that, you know, you've done well and won the tournament. But it's not going to be easy either. There's a lot of good players, and especially on that kind of hard court.

LLEYTON HEWITT: No.

LLEYTON HEWITT: No. I'll be in America getting ready for the US Open, so.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, no, there's a lot of Aussies here, as well, I guess.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it's good I guess. You know, I guess it's always tough. Roger and I have both won here before. You know, I guess they more wanted to see more tennis more than anything. Especially in the fourth set, I had a lot more crowd support I think to try and get me back in the match.

LLEYTON HEWITT: It's very sore.

LLEYTON HEWITT: I did it against Moya the other day, two days ago. Yeah, I've been struggling the last two days. Probably wasn't able to practice as match as I'd like to yesterday. It definitely affected me out there today.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, my serve was the worst.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah. It got worse and worse as the match went on.

LLEYTON HEWITT: I think, you know, personally I can't see too many guys beating him, you know, this week now. So, you know, I'd be very surprised if he doesn't win his third major on Sunday. So, you know, there's another one to him. That's two in one year, I guess. He can play on all surfaces. You know, the way that he played in Hamburg on clay, on a very slow clay court, which really shouldn't suit his game that much. Beat Moya, Coria in the final. I think he's going to have chances at every major.