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THE STELLA ARTOIS CHAMPIONSHIPS

June 14, 2006

Tim Henman

LONDON, ENGLAND

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Talk about how you played.
TIM HENMAN: Yeah, played very, very well. The conditions were obviously a little bit different from my first match. It was much, much cooler. Yeah, just pleased with the way I made the necessary adjustments. Was very rarely on the defensive. I did a good job of really hitting my spots on the serve, and that, you know, sets up the point so well.
You know, I just think for the first time in a good couple of years I feel comfortable with the style of play that I'm playing. Before I, you know, started practicing this year, I watched a few of the matches from previous years the last couple of years and, you know, I was just trying to play too much like grass court tennis in the past, and I don't think that was the right style for me given the changing in conditions.
Today, that was the most satisfying aspect.

Q. You seemed very, very relaxed and confident all the way through?
TIM HENMAN: Yeah, I did. I think when you're doing the simple things well, and I'm not putting myself under -- I'm not putting myself into too much bother because I'm serving well and, you know, getting up 15-Love, 30-Love, and that's a good position to play from.
So, you know, it's those simple things that are still very, very important. They're important on any surface, but they're still probably even more so on grass. So, yeah, overall, I'm very pleased with the whole performance.

Q. When you say the "past," Tim, how long are you looking back?
TIM HENMAN: Probably 2002. I think that was when probably the biggest changes happened in the conditions. And, you know, in some respects it's a shame it's taken me such a long time to be able to adjust to that. But, you know, I do feel if I'm playing this type of tennis, then it's the balance -- the balance is right. That's what I'll try and maintain.

Q. Is there any reason why it's taken you so long? Is it a mental thing?
TIM HENMAN: You know, I think it, you know, comes as a surprise to everyone when the conditions change so dramatically. But also as well, it's, you know, still trying to play to my strengths. And, you know, my strengths are always going to be finishing the points at the net, but it's about how you go about constructing that. On a grass court before it was about serving and volleying on both balls. You could count on one hand, I'm sure, how many times I serve and volleyed today. But the number of times I finished the point at the net or was looking to come forward was still high. That's an aspect of my game that has changed, I think, over the years and has obviously developed and got better and better. I think it's a necessity on any surface.

Q. Is it as much fun as it used to be?
TIM HENMAN: Much more fun, yeah. I would be the first to admit the last couple of years on grass I haven't enjoyed it because I felt that I, you know, wasn't comfortable and wasn't playing the way that I felt I could or should have. But today, and in my first match against Andre, I felt like it's been a different story. So I'll just try and build on that.

Q. Is it the fact that the grass court season is so short, it doesn't give you time to experiment?
TIM HENMAN: I think so. I think that's a relevant point. You're straight into the preparation after the clay. And, you know, there's always going to be a big difference between the practice and the matches. Sometimes if things don't go quite so well here, it's a difficult balance to decide whether you want to play more matches or whether you're going to prepare.
I think that's been somewhat of an aspect the last couple of years where I haven't been so comfortable and, you know, probably haven't done such a good job of finding the right balance.
But, you know, in the two matches I've played, I felt, you know, very, very comfortable. You know, having said that, if I play Stepanek next match, it's a real step up, I think, because there's no doubt that he's one of the most improved guys I think in the whole of the game in the last sort of year or 18 months, the way that he's played.

Q. The back, was it at all sore?
TIM HENMAN: No, it was great. It was very good against Andre, and, most importantly, I had no reaction yesterday. I felt a hundred percent today.
And obviously being a bit cooler and a bit windier, that sometimes you might think would unsettle it. But, no, I couldn't have been happier.

Q. You were 28 of 31 on first serves today. When was the last time you served like that?
TIM HENMAN: Yeah, it's been a while. Yeah, it's about -- I feel like I'm serving pretty aggressively, but I'm still hitting the spots well. And, again, you know, did I serve -- I don't think -- I served a couple of aces but, again, the number of times where my second shot, you know, I'm looking to step in and he's back-pedaling. That's obviously such an important factor because it's so difficult to play defensively on grass.

Q. Is the old way you used to play on grass gone for good because of the way things have changed?
TIM HENMAN: I think, I mean, for me it probably has. You know, the guys -- there's exceptions to every rule. Karlovic, is he going to stand back? Probably not. But you've got to have an exceptional serve, I think, to be able to, you know, keep hitting it through the court because it is, with the balls and the court, it is much, much slower.
So, you know, there's still times when I need to get forward more than others. You know, last year when I played, you know, Guccione, I serve and volleyed a lot in that match because that was probably the right tactic. But, again, he's one of the exceptions. He could still serve through the court because he's so, so big.
But, you know, I just think it goes to show there's, you know, certainly more than one way to play on grass these days.

Q. When you say change in conditions, you mean slower grass and heavier balls?
TIM HENMAN: Hmm, yeah, yeah. In a nutshell.

Q. Does this, therefore, suit the slightly older gentlemen?
TIM HENMAN: I think movement is a big factor on grass, so I think that's one of the aspects with Andre, with Agassi's game. If you can get him out of position, he probably doesn't recover as well as he used to, but it's still so difficult to make him move because he hits the ball so cleanly and so early.
But that's an aspect that I do feel so comfortable with now. Now I'm fit and healthy. I move, and my balance on grass is very, very good. So I think that's probably even more relevant now because you play more points from the baseline.

End of FastScripts...

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