US OPEN

August 30, 2006

Lleyton Hewitt

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. First of all, the knee, any problems? You feeling okay?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, not too bad. You know, there's times when I feel it. It's definitely not a hundred percent yet. It was important just to get through today's match and give myself the opportunity. Hopefully, you know, no more damage was done, hopefully. And, you know, see how it pulls up again tomorrow.

Q. You've had so many, you know, great memories, I'm sure, here. This has been a wonderful venue for you to perform in. Just talk about this whole atmosphere, what it does for you as a player?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it's great playing any Grand Slam. You look forward to it. It's always a buzz. I think every Grand Slam has a unique feeling about it leading into it, probably the couple days leading into it.
But for me in particular, you know, the US Open, that's where it started on a Grand Slam level for me, winning the doubles here in 2000, and then obviously the singles the next year.
You seem to always try and, you know, play your better tennis, I guess, you know, at those tournaments that you've played well and had good memories at in the past. It's no different for me. You know, I'm not sure why, but I love the atmosphere here. You know, especially you play big matches on Arthur Ashe Stadium. It's the biggest tennis stadium we ever get to play in front of. It's a pretty awesome thing to be out there, you know, only two guys out there in front of 25,000 people.

Q. You played well on hard courts early in the season. I know the past few weeks you've been hampered by the injury. Is there another good run in you, do you feel?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, at this stage I'm more trying to focus on getting through the first week and the next couple of matches. And then if you put yourself in a position in the second week, then, you know, I feel like I'll be getting better and better with my rhythm and timing and confidence. And, you know, hopefully that can put me in a good position to maybe have another run at it.

Q. When you started out yesterday, maybe a little bit tentative and probably the weather delay didn't help, but really sort of came once you got to 5 2, you really put the pedal down, and then obviously finished it off today. So good for the confidence?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it was good. For him to get 5 2 yesterday, I thought he was playing well. He didn't miss too many balls. His backhand was a lot better than I've seen it in the past. You know, it was a matter of trying to hang in there, 'cause at 2 All I had 15 40 and ended up having three breakpoints and wasn't able to take them. I knew I was gonna get my opportunities, but, you know, it was nice to get out of that set and at least be on an even keel going into today.

Q. Of all the matches you've played in your career, was there one or two matches where everything was working, where it was the best you ever felt on a court? Any of those matches come to mind?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Uhm, probably the semifinal and final here in 2001. You know, everything pretty much went to plan. Yeah, I did everything possible. Yeah, I did everything well those two days. And, you know, probably when I played Kuerten in Davis Cup down in Brazil I didn't do too much wrong down there either.

Q. Just for fun. Boxing match between Federer and Nadal, who do you think would win that?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I don't know. I've got no idea.

Q. Do you think they'd be in the same weight category?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Probably not. Probably not (laughing).

Q. Must have been heartened to see Mark put up a good performance. You probably didn't see a lot of his match, but he put up a good performance against Nadal today. He said he's looking forward to going to Buenos Aires and playing the Davis Cup there. It's obviously good to see him come back?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I didn't see any of his match so...
You know, obviously, it's a rough draw, you know, playing Nadal. I don't think Mark would have played him before, so it's the first time he's seen him. He's obviously pretty confident at the moment, Nadal, on any surface.
I think Mark obviously took a huge step winning Newport, you know. That was gonna give him a huge boost. You know, hopefully for him he can take it into the Australian summer. If he can play well, you know, in January, that sort of sets up the whole year for him; he's not defending any points.

Q. Nalbandian is doing his best to get you down and out. He's gone on record saying he wants to play you on his home court. Does that fire you up?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Not really, no.

Q. Water off a duck's back?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, yeah. Nalbandian always says something, so...

Q. Mark is also quite pumped to team up with you down in Buenos Aires. Does that influence your decision at all?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Oh, mate, right at the moment with everything going on with my body, I'm trying just to focus on getting ready for tomorrow's match. I'm not even gonna get in the debate right now.

Q. So you're still at that point where you're still
LLEYTON HEWITT: I'm not even gonna yeah.

Q. I'm not talking about Davis Cup, but about your body.
LLEYTON HEWITT: Oh, the knee's not a hundred percent, no.

Q. So it literally is day to day?
LLEYTON HEWITT: At the moment, yeah. Obviously, today was a good boost, but, you know, what happened in Toronto was, you know the following day it was useless, you know. After a tough match, that's what I'm more afraid of right at the moment.

Q. What will you do today, put it up, rest, ice?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I've already done some treatment, and I'll do some more treatment this afternoon. Yeah, the last two weeks have been all about doing everything possible just to get on the court yesterday. And, you know, so far I've been able to do that. Got to keep going along with it, though.

Q. When you slipped yesterday, did that aggravate it in any way?
LLEYTON HEWITT: No, but I did feel it. Yeah, it was amazing. It was hardly raining, but it was so slippery out there.

Q. Do you have any idea what caused it?
LLEYTON HEWITT: No, I'm not sure. I think it's wear and tear for the most part, but then the actual patella tendon had something wrong with that, as well, which is probably more so because I was playing with patella tendinitis. And the actual tendon's got a split in it. That was probably came about through playing that tough match against Chela, I'd say.

Q. Playing one set yesterday, two sets today, is that a good thing? Is it like kind of a couple of practice sessions? Or you prefer to get one out of the way?
LLEYTON HEWITT: It would have been nicer to get it all done yesterday, you know. Just to have that in your mind, you know, day off today, work on what you want to do, get your body right, and then know that on Thursday you're gonna have your second round match.
Yeah, similar to Wimbledon, though. It felt like over the first week at Wimbledon I was getting ready to play every day, and it's more psychological, I think. You got to be mentally tough and mentally prepared to play your match every day.
So, you know, I've had to do it enough times, so I don't think tomorrow should be a major problem with that.

Q. You got Berdych. You've played him five times, I believe.
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I think this is our fourth time this year. Yeah, he's an underrated player. He's very tough from the back of the court. He moves sideways extremely well on the baseline. You know, he's got a deceptive first serve. He likes, you know, hitting balls down the line on both sides.
So, uhm, yeah, if I can step it up another notch, that is gonna help me out tomorrow.

Q. What's the prognosis for this split or tear in your tendon in your knee healing itself or getting better especially while you're still playing?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Don't know. Not sure. Ideally, I wouldn't have been you know, if this was any other tournament, I wouldn't have even tried to play. So sort of tried to rush it a little bit to play the US Open, which is you only have four chances of playing Grand Slams a year, and I try and do everything possible to be as close to a hundred percent as possible.
But, you know, only taking two and a half weeks off, you know, probably normally, you'd want a bit more than that.

Q. So you think either way, whatever happens while you're here, you're gonna need some rest?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Don't know. I'm just touch wood, if it gets better and better each day, then, you know, there's no need for that hopefully. But until this tournament's done, I don't know how it's gonna pull up.

Q. So the doctors really just have no there's no answer? It's, Just go out and see how it is?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Well, the doctors have suggested rest is the best thing. They understand, though, the US Open is, uhm, coming up and, you know, they were more than happy for me. They said maybe if it flares up after this, I will need to take a long break to get it a hundred percent right.

Q. Is that the only issue now that they've pretty much guaranteed security?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I'm not going into the Davis Cup right now, yeah, thanks.

Q. In terms of your health, that's really what you're concerned about?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Absolutely.

Q. If they suggested to you an extended rest is necessary after this, you want (indiscernible)?
LLEYTON HEWITT: No.

Q. What about you yourself, what's your guess? You know your body pretty well.
LLEYTON HEWITT: I've got no idea, mate. I listen to the doctors.

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