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THE STELLA ARTOIS CHAMPIONSHIPS

June 17, 2006

Tim Henman

LONDON, ENGLAND

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Tim, please.

Q. I've never seen you call a supervisor on the court during a match before.
TIM HENMAN: You weren't in Paris, then.

Q. Pardon?
TIM HENMAN: You weren't in Paris then. I got the supervisor on the court there. Two tournaments in a row (smiling).
Yeah, I think first and foremost, you know, the line calling was appalling today. But it's gonna go, you know, sometimes against you, sometimes for you. But the problem is when there are as many bad calls as that, it's going to have an impact because it's going to happen on a big point, and you just hope that, you know, it's gonna go in your favor on a big point. Today perhaps it, you know, didn't.

Q. There was one particularly bad one. I guess you don't need reminding. The guy called it good and then changed his mind.
TIM HENMAN: Hmm, hmm.

Q. HawkEye showed it in.
TIM HENMAN: Yeah. I mean, there's very little to be said. You know, there was probably seven or eight calls were, you know, just mistakes. You know, it's very difficult to play like that when you sort of lose all confidence.
But as I said, it goes, you know, both ways. I'm sure I had some in my favor. But I think when it comes on a breakpoint like that, it obviously does have an impact. That went against me and, you know, in all honesty I wouldn't say I then dealt with it very well because I think it frustrated me. He started to turn the match around, and it ran away quickly.

Q. What did you say to Thomas?
TIM HENMAN: I just said it's not good enough.

Q. Did you ask him to change the crew?
TIM HENMAN: No, he's not gonna do that. Very little he can do.

Q. Is that the worst you've experienced over your career?
TIM HENMAN: Yeah, it's -- I'm not, you know -- it is what it is. Yeah, it was poor today. It was very poor. But, you know, it's one of those things that, you know, what can you do about it?

Q. Where do you stand on using HawkEye then officially?
TIM HENMAN: I've always -- yeah, I think it's a great tool for the fans as well. It's great for their involvement, and I think they enjoy watching it.
But when you're in a match like that where there's so many mistakes, it's obviously going to clear up the vast majority of them on. On both accounts I'm in favor of it.

Q. Do you think Lleyton tried to influence the line judge?
TIM HENMAN: No, no.

Q. On the plus side, you were playing well at that point.
TIM HENMAN: Yeah, that's it. I don't really want to get, you know, drawn on the whole officiating issue because the positive thing is I've been playing so well. Sure, it's disappointing today. I would have loved to have gone into the final again.
But it's been a fantastic week. It gives me a great foundation to build from for next week's practice and obviously Wimbledon.

Q. Did you get a signal from the BBC commentary box?
TIM HENMAN: Yeah, yeah. I'm not going on about all the calling. Yeah, I did. But, yeah, that's it. Nothing we can do about it now.

Q. You mentioned yesterday being unseeded. Do you think the people that are seeded will be worried about getting you in the first couple rounds?
TIM HENMAN: I'm sure, yeah, I think that's fair to say that there's going to be a lot of people that, given the way I'm playing, given the environment at Wimbledon, with the support that I've always had, I'm sure they'll be looking to avoid me, and that's something that I've got to use to my advantage.
But the most important thing is the way that I'm playing. You know, the crowd support and, you know, my record at Wimbledon is one thing, but it's so good to be playing this well. We're going to see how I can do.

Q. It's hard to break performances down to games, but the first game of the third set was exemplary. What did you say to yourself sitting in the chair at the end of the second?
TIM HENMAN: Yeah. Well, it's momentum, I think. Obviously, we had a couple of key games at the end of the second set. And, you know, I think when you've got the momentum and you play my style of game, uhm, I think you want to, you know, even be more aggressive.
And, you know, I haven't come to the net perhaps as much as I used to but, you know, that is still a time where on any surface at any given time that they don't want to hit passing shots. I chip and charged on a couple of occasions. I hit a couple of good early, aggressive returns. I think that's just awareness of the situation and, you know, it did get me off to a good start.

Q. Is that just confidence, when you started coming into the net more?
TIM HENMAN: It's not necessarily confidence. I think I didn't get the chance to come into the first set because I didn't serve quite as well and he was hitting the ball deeper and more aggressively from the baseline and he missed, you know, very, very few first serves. So I didn't, you know, get the chance to attack too many seconds.
That's, you know, what we talk about on grass, you know. It's who can be offensive first. The first set, I think it was him. He played fantastically well. The second set I was able to, you know, slowly turn the tables. And, you know, again, I was able to take that over to the beginning of the third, but not the end of it.

Q. What are you most pleased with this week?
TIM HENMAN: Uhm, I'm pleased with quite a few things. I just think that my overall, you know, standard and level of play, and probably just as importantly the style, because I think that the balance is something that I've struggled with a lot over the last couple of years, and I feel very, very comfortable with that. You know, I've got to just keep doing that in the practice over the next week.
And, you know, sure, there's always going to be a few things that you can do a little bit better and keep working on. But as long as I stay healthy, then I'll be excited to start the week on Monday.

Q. Are you annoyed with yourself in the way you possibly let whatever happened that we're not going to talk about anymore affect the rest of the match?
TIM HENMAN: Yeah, yeah, I think so. You know, sometimes you play well, sometimes you don't; sometimes you handle things well, sometimes you don't. And, you know, I don't think I did handle it particularly well today.

Q. Is it almost impossible not to react to that type of thing? There were six dodgy calls. You suffered five bad ones.
TIM HENMAN: Yeah, yeah. But it's much easier to sit here now and say, Well, you know, there's nothing you can do about it. They're gone, they're not going to change, so get on with it. But when you're out there in the heat of the battle, and, as I said, when they're on a big point, sometimes it's not that easy, it's not that sort of black and white.
You know, today, you know, I probably did dwell on it a little bit.

Q. Is that some of the best tennis you played all week?
TIM HENMAN: Yeah, I think that that sort of latter spell in the second set and beginning of the third, that's the way that I want to keep playing. That's the way that I did play in certainly large parts of my matches early on in the week.
But, you know, you still got to give him credit. I think he, on a grass court, is still capable of playing very, very well. I'm sure he fancies his chances in a couple of weeks.

Q. If you could summarize your emotion now in just a couple of words, what would it be?
TIM HENMAN: There's frustration. But, you know, I do feel, you know, very good and very confident about my game.

Q. Could it possibly work as a good bit of a reminder to you to know that if things goes against you in a couple weeks' time, you have to keep focused?
TIM HENMAN: Yeah, it's always a good -- yeah, I'd be the first to sort of say that you've always got to keep learning. It's not to say that I didn't know that before, but it's a good reminder. You know, it will certainly give me something to focus on and be aware of next week and obviously when I'm playing at Wimbledon.

Q. How do you normally learn about the Wimbledon draw, and as a nonseed, will you be (inaudible)?
TIM HENMAN: No, no. You know, it will -- I'll get the sheet like everyone else and see where I am and see who I play in the first round. I'm sure I'll be aware of the possibilities.
But, you know, the first match will have my main attention.

End of FastScripts...

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