WIMBLEDON

June 21, 2004

Lleyton Hewitt

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Lleyton.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I felt good out there. You know, I felt like I played the first set pretty well, got out of the blocks well. Obviously, yeah, the second set was a little bit tougher, even though I felt I had the better of him the whole second set. I had a lot of opportunities to break. He came up with some good points at the right time, then he played a bit of a slack game at 4-All, you know. Once I went two-sets-to-love up, I think from then it was going to be pretty hard for him to come back.

LLEYTON HEWITT: That I got off before that rain probably, I don't know. Felt like I, you know, hit the ball well, moved well. Yeah, the court's always going to be a little bit more slippery at the start of the tournament. Skid through probably a little bit more, as well. I felt like I handled the conditions, you know, a lot better than probably he did out there. And, yeah, to get through in straight sets, yeah, he's a tough opponent. He would have beaten, you know, a lot of players I think in the tournament. So, you know, I had a lot of respect for his game and, you know, I went out there and got the job done.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, probably obviously not, I guess, in the media or the public, I guess. But, you know, for me I've still obviously got high expectations of how I can play here and how I'm hitting the ball at the moment. Yeah, I don't think I put any added pressure on myself this year or even last year when I came back at No. 1 seed. Yeah, I feel confident where my game is at at the moment. Just take it one match at a time and hopefully I keep getting through like I did today.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, he shows a bit of emotion I think out there. And, you know, I guess, you know, if you get some dodgey bounces, you've got to be able to deal with those situations, I think. He was frustrated - a couple of lets didn't get called, a couple of bad calls. I'm not sure. But, you know, obviously I just felt like things were rolling along nicely for me and I didn't really have to change a helluva lot out there throughout the whole three sets.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Probably a little bit, I think, going out there. The good thing was, you got to have a positive. Only had one point to defend, so I wasn't worried about my ranking taking a dive anyway.

LLEYTON HEWITT: No, not at all. I think, you know, obviously what happened in 2002 and then what happened in 2003, that's a great example. You just can't get ahead of yourself at all. You know, there's too many tough players out there. Yeah, everyone can have a good day, especially on a grass court I think even more so purely because that service aspect. Only one or two points sometimes in a set, and it can change the whole momentum of a match, as it did in my match against Karlovic last year. I'm pretty much focusing on my next match now.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Labadze, I never played before, another left-hander. A little bit like Melzer, very flashy, I think. Probably hits it a bit flatter off his forehand, probably got a little more power I think in his game. You know, I don't know what his results have been like on grass. Vliegen, I've hit with him quite a bit in Belgium, and he's a very talented player. He probably should have done a lot better than he has, you know, since he made the final of Adelaide a couple years ago when he qualified. He didn't quite go on with it then. But he's got a good game. I think he's well-suited to grass, as well. Yeah, there's both big hitters, I think. I've just got to go out there and worry about my game, see how it pans out early on in the match.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it was -- I think any time you get through, especially in straight sets, I was happy with where my game was at today. So, you know, I can be confident going into the second round now.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I feel like I'm capable of beating anyone on any given day. But, you know, there's a lot of tough players, you know, ahead of possibly playing in a final or holding up a trophy. Yeah, as I say, you keep saying one match at a time, but it pretty much is that. You can't look too far ahead. I think I don't know how many guys there are actually capable of winning the tournament, but there's a lot of guys who are capable of causing upsets throughout the tournament.

LLEYTON HEWITT: I found out before this morning before my match. I don't know the full bit about it. You know, what can you say?