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WIMBLEDON

June 21, 2011

Lleyton Hewitt

LONDON, ENGLAND

L. HEWITT/K. Nishikori
6-1, 7-6, 6-7, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Lleyton Hewitt for you.

Q. How satisfying was that?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Very satisfying, considering what I've been through. Yeah, mentally and physically what I've had to go through to try and even get on the court. He's a quality player. So, yeah, it's pleasing, very pleasing.

Q. Were you surprised how well you moved out there?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, a little bit. Yeah, it's always in the back of your mind. That's the hardest thing about a Grand Slam, playing a big tournament, is trying to get it out of your mind as much as possible and concentrate on what I've got to actually do out there on the court and what's actually going on around me within the match as well and focus on that a hundred percent. That was tough mentally to do out there today.

Q. Did you feel you were in less pain than last week?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah. No, it was good. Feel good.

Q. Can you elaborate more on the journey of the last week or so.
LLEYTON HEWITT: It's been rough, sort of been a day-to-day thing really. Kind of knowing the whole time that it's not just gonna magically disappear overnight. That's the hard thing, you know. You wake up, it's pretty sore.
As I said, I've had to try and block it out as much as possible and still get on with practice and doing all the right things to prepare myself as well as possible.
So, yeah, I think everyone knows if it wasn't Wimbledon, I wouldn't be out there. I'd be obviously looking after my body a bit more. You know, this is what I play for.

Q. It was proper test of your foot, too?
LLEYTON HEWITT: He's a quality player. He's won tour events, made the semis last week. Lost to a good grass court player in Tipsarevic. It was always going to be a tough match.
I think grass is probably his second best surface I'd say behind hard courts. He moves extremely well out on the courts. He's got a world-class backhand. His forehand is flashy. He's dangerous.

Q. What's the medical advice on what you should do with your foot if you weren't here playing?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Don't know. Right now, don't know. We haven't really thought about it because I was always going to play.
Basically just I've told everyone we'll sit back and think about that after the tournament. But right now we're just doing everything we can to, you know, get as close to a hundred percent as possible.

Q. Painkillers today?
LLEYTON HEWITT: You don't need to know that.

Q. What will you do before your next match? A lot of physio as well as having a practice hitting?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I don't know. I'm playing doubles. I might be playing doubles tomorrow. I'm not sure. Yeah, I'll obviously be playing doubles with my good mate Looch. Hopefully gonna have a win in that. Be using that as a practice hit anyway if we are on tomorrow, my day off between singles matches.

Q. You won the Open 10 years ago. A few days later it's 9/11. Do you have recollections of that? Were you already flying home? How did that play out for you?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, no, I've got strong memories, amazing memories. I think I was on one of the last flights out of New York the night before it happened the next morning.
So we were flying obviously back to Sydney, L.A. to Sydney on the plane when it happened. I think the air hostess and everyone had been told what was going on, but no one else knew at the time.
Yeah, when we landed in Sydney and got told what was happening, it was something out of a movie. Incredible.

Q. Could you take a minute and talk about the role of luck in our sport. There's draws, let cords, injuries, the situations you were born into. Talk about the role of luck in tennis and in your career.
LLEYTON HEWITT: Well, yeah. Luck plays a big part, but a lot of things you make your own luck, as well, by preparation and doing the right things. Obviously, during a match there's, you know, things that can happen, net cords, line calls. There's a lot of things that can go your way and go against you. You'd like to think that it evens out over time over 10 years, 12 years of playing.
But, uhm, you know, I'm still a big believer if you do all the right things, maybe little bits of luck might fall your way.

Q. Can you recall a real lucky moment in your career and a not-so-lucky?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Not off the top of my head, no.

Q. Next up it looks like Robin Soderling. Tell us about how that's going to be as a challenge for you with your foot and everything.
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I'll be right come Thursday. It's going to be another tough test. He's another step up from Nishikori. Especially on this surface, he's a dangerous player. He's a big striker off both sides, forehand and backhand, from the baseline, and got a big serve, big first serve, big flat one.

Q. A chance you'll get a decent court, is this the sort of match that keeps you going?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I'll be up for it, that's for sure.

Q. You've beaten him before. What have you had to do on those occasions?
LLEYTON HEWITT: It was quite a while ago. He's improved since those times. We really only played once since he's -- last year in Cincinnati it was an extremely tight match in three sets.
Yeah, I got to go out there and play my game, obviously try to dictate play as much as possible. Then again, I'm going to have to return and move extremely well to put him under some kind of pressure. He's the guy that wants to be playing on his terms and trying to dictate me around.
So, yeah, it will be a good matchup.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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