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WIMBLEDON

June 28, 2007

Lleyton Hewitt

LONDON, ENGLAND

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Lleyton Hewitt.

Q. Was that a step up for you today?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it was good. From what I saw in his first-round match, he was quite flashy out there. Yeah, you can easily play into his hands no matter what surface it's on.
I had to get a lot of balls back, especially off his first serve, make him play, make him feel uncomfortable out there. I felt like I was able to do that right from the start today. It was a totally different match to what I had to play on Tuesday, getting a target the whole time. I felt like my movement, you know, I got a lot out of today's match.

Q. Is it good to maybe conserve a bit of energy at this stage of the tournament, get an easy one under your belt like that?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, you'll always take those. They're always good to have. You know, a lot different to my second round last year against Hyung-Taik Lee where we had to come back and finish off the fifth set, tight fifth set.
It's always good to get through these matches. He's a dangerous opponent if I played into his hands. I felt like I didn't do that today. I played a smart match. I served extremely well. I felt like I moved the ball around well right from the start.

Q. I suppose you don't quite know when you will be playing. As it turned out, you haven't been affected by it. Is it important to get your rest days?
LLEYTON HEWITT: No, it's been good. You look at someone like Henman, he said he feels like he's been playing every day when I spoke to him this morning. It's important over two weeks to have those little things fall your way sometimes as well, which is a good thing.
To have that bit of routine as well, have a day off tomorrow, do a bit of hitting, work on small areas you want to work on, keep that rhythm going, but not sort of stressing out whether you're going to get your match in or finishing off all the time.

Q. Do you feel at this stage that your game is as sharp as it has been coming into a Wimbledon?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Uhm, today was a big step up. I felt confident out there today. I felt like every part of my game was working well today. In the first round, whether it's nerves, whether it's playing the first round of a Slam, it's one of those you sort of just sort of want to get through. And it's against that guy, I really I didn't know a lot about in the first round. And he was an awkward player. He played totally different to most guys.
You know, today, whether that was the main reason, I was playing someone from the back of the court where I felt like I could take control of the points. He wasn't a massive server out there, but he served 73% I think in his first match over four sets. I felt like I got on his serve and made him go for a little bit more and a little bit more, and that made me more confident.

Q. Of all the things that pleased you, was the second serve one of them?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, my serving in general both. First serve, I felt like I had great rhythm out there today. I was probably going after it a little bit too much on Tuesday. Today I felt like the ball toss, everything, it was just really good rhythm out there. I wasn't overhitting at all.
Second serve, you know, I felt like I was putting it in difficult areas for him to attack off or do what he wanted to. He wanted to have some cuts on second serves. Even on a grass court I felt like I was getting a little bit of kick on my second serve, which was good.

Q. Four aces in a game.
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, you don't get that too often, especially on grass. It's not common. It was nice.

Q. The match is not finished yet, but Cañas or Mirnyi, what you'd have to do against them?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Well, it's a totally different match-up against either one of them. Mirnyi, you know he's going to come at you the whole time. He's going to come in on some good shots and he's going to come in on some junk, as well. A lot depends on how he serves.
At the French Open, it's a totally different surface, his worst surface, on clay. I played him in the first round. I got all over his second serve very early on in the match. That made him try to mix up things a lot more.
On grass, he's a lot tougher opponent. He's had good wins and good success here at Wimbledon.
Cañas, he's a great competitor. He's going to stay back most of the time. He's got a big forehand. He moves extremely well. Yeah, he's got that never-say-die attitude as well. It's a little bit more like today's match against Cañas. He's obviously going to be a step up in class from the bloke I played today.

Q. If it is Mirnyi, how big a difference does it make when you play from the back court trying to pass him, just his wingspan? How different is it from playing a normal-sized player?
LLEYTON HEWITT: He's got great reach. He's got great feel around the net, as well. He knows where to move, whether that's playing a lot of doubles, having a lot of success at doubles as well. He knows how to move on a grass court.
He's going to come in always on some great approaches. But he does come in on a lot of junk, as well. You've got to take your time and pick the right shot, sort of go for it.

Q. What does that mean, comes in on junk?
LLEYTON HEWITT: A lot of times he'll just come in on a mid ball hoping that you're going to -- sort of a chip and charge but not on the right ball all the time.
Because he's got such a wide wingspan out there, he's sort of hoping he'll put you off by coming in, sort of being at your face on the net. He did that at the French Open. He's done it the last few times I played him at Queen's.
It's important just to pick your shot, stick true to it.

End of FastScripts

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