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U.S. OPENSeptember 2, 2012Lleyton HewittNEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK D. FERRER/L. Hewitt THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Just couldn't quite get back in it in the end. LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I fought hard to get back into the first set. Yeah, early on he wasn't giving me any cheap points out there. It was tough to get games. His depth was exceptional right from the word go. I was fighting hard to sort of just stay in touch in the first set, and then I started putting a bit more pressure on him. Got back on level terms, and then, yeah, for most of the tiebreak I was on top obviously. Yeah, could have gone either way. Yeah, I'm not saying I was going to win, but if I'd won the first set would have made life a bit easier. Q. Talk about that game in the third set. LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, he got a couple of lucky net cords when I had game points. Yeah, to his credit he picked up his game again in the third set. Afterward I was able to ‑‑I served pretty well through the second set once I got the early break. The third set though he started dictating play again and didn't give me cheap points, especially off his backhand in the rally. Q. Disappointed with the third round, but are you overall happy with the campaign here? LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, second hard court tournament since the Aussie Open. Limited preparation in terms of five set matches, as well. That was probably the telling thing, you know, I had to keep backing up against quality players. At least normally when you go into the Australian Open you have half of November and full of December sort of a preseason under your belt; whereas this time it's just been matches here and there, and, yeah, obviously not a lot of five‑setters. So, yeah, all in all I was, yeah, pretty happy. Takes another quality player to beat me again. Yeah, there are a lot of positives, you know. Even to come out today I thought my ball striking was probably better today than it was in the first two matches. So in terms of Davis Cup‑wise, I think there were a lot of positives to come out of, you know, backing up against quality players. Yeah, today's match was kind of like a clay court match, as well. You know, obviously Pat and Rochey will set sit back and we will have a chat about it. Q. This year do you think Australia can get back into the World Group? LLEYTON HEWITT: Well, we haven't had the easiest draws, you know. This is probably as tough as the other ones that we have had. So, yeah, we are going in as the underdogs, there's no doubt about it. I don't know when Germany would have been ‑‑ the last time they were out of the World Group, but hasn't been for a long time, that's for sure. Yeah, they've got a lot of options singles and doubles, and, you know, we're gonna have to, out of the five matches, we're going to have to have three really good matches to get over the line. Q. Watch any of Bernie's match the other night? LLEYTON HEWITT: I haven't seen it. Q. Have you heard about it? LLEYTON HEWITT: I have heard and seen some of the stuff about it. Yeah, obviously I would have thought it would have gone a little bit better against Andy. As I say, I can't comment because I didn't see. I was stuck in traffic driving back. Q. Pat is obviously the captain, but are you the sort of guy who might get in Bernie's ear? LLEYTON HEWITT: I don't know. You know, I've got along well with Bernie for the last couple of years now, and, you know, we have practiced quite a bit together, nearly at most tournaments we have played last couple years, or last year and a half or so. And then, you know, obviously we were the only two guys in the Olympics on the men's side, so we spent a lot of time together there, as well. In terms of all that, I think he does listen to me quite a bit. Even when he's spoken about things, you know, whether he was playing Roddick or, yeah, his game a little bit during the Olympics when he was down on confidence a little bit. So, yeah, that's what I'm there for. Been around for a long time now. Yeah, he had a disappointing loss here in the second round last year to Cilic, and then he came out and played pretty well in the Davis Cup against Roger and Stan. Yeah, hopefully he can get it together. Q. What's it like to play Ferrer, to try to solve him maybe versus what it was like in '06 and '08? LLEYTON HEWITT: Still very similar. Not a lot of difference. His game is, yeah, it's a standard game for him. He's not going to blow you off the court out there, but he's going to make you work for every single point. It's the same now as it was then for me. You know, he's a quality player. Probably got a little bit better on hard courts and grass than he was back then. But, you know, he's a great competitor, and you're gonna be out there for a long time to beat him. Q. (Question regarding Bernard Tomic.) LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, a little bit. Yeah, absolutely. He's a unique player. His ball striking is unique. Some of his shot selection is unique. Then again, you know, there has been matches probably more so at the Aussie Open that he's been able to turn matches around because of that, you know. Yeah, the Verdasco match for example looked like he was struggling there for a while and he was able to turn that around. And even against Dolgopolov in the Aussie Open, as well. Yeah, that's him and his personality a little bit, as well. Q. Firstly, take off Thursday or a bit earlier? LLEYTON HEWITT: I don't know. Obviously some of the boys have been hitting on clay already. Yeah, I will speak to Pat and Rochey and I'll doing the exactly the same as what everyone else on the team is doing. Q. What are you plans for the rest of the year after Davis Cup? LLEYTON HEWITT: I'll definitely be playing a few tournaments. Most likely probably four tournaments, I'd say, at this stage. I'm still working out exactly where and which tournaments, but I'd like to probably play four after the Davis Cup somewhere. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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