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AEGON CHAMPIONSHIPSJune 12, 2013Lleyton HewittLONDON, ENGLAND L. HEWITT/G. Dimitrov THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. A bit like night and day from the other day to today? LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, all the years I have been coming here, a lot of the times the first match is always tough. The courts are a little bit more worn in now, which is nice. I just found my moving was so much better today. I felt a lot sharper. Return of serves, just about everything I did better today. Q. Considering your history on grass, the fact that you have won this tournament on a number of occasions, and you look at Dimitrov being seeded at 10 over here, would you classify this as an upset? LLEYTON HEWITT: I don't know. You can judge it. I guess on results this year, probably. Yeah, I don't know. In terms of grass court, he's had some pretty good matches at Wimbledon. I saw him play Tsonga last year, year before, a great standard match. So he can play on grass. I've seen him push the best guys out here in the last couple years as well. He's a shot maker, but I kept enough balls in play today. I thought I played a really smart match. But if he's on, he's always going to be tough to beat because he can hit winners from anywhere on the court and he can serve big as well. Q. How much confidence do you take out of this going forward? Do you have a bit of momentum going? LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it's going to help me immensely. I feel like in practice I have been hitting the ball great. It was just a matter of doing it on the match court. My first match here wasn't pretty, but I fought hard and got through it. That's what I needed to do. Then today it was a classy performance. Q. What about Sam next match for you? LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, another guy I've got to get that extra ball back, I guess. I've got to be sharp right from the start. He's obviously got a big game, big serve, big forehand. He's gotten better and better each year on grass, I think, as well. He was lucky to get through yesterday though, but tough conditions on and off yesterday. But, you know, I'm going to have to play well to win. Q. You're playing doubles here with Bernie. Are you surprised how well he seems to roll through things, despite everything else going on around him? LLEYTON HEWITT: I haven't really spoken to him, so I don't really know. You know, I have messaged him a lot. Obviously playing doubles here, but I haven't really seen him, to tell you the truth, so mentally I don't really know where his head is at. He takes everything, as I said before, in his stride pretty well the whole time anyway. I think to him this is, you know, no different, I guess, in some ways. Q. Your victory today is a breath of fresh air back home in Australia, and encouraging some good news, because on the cricket side there is some bad news. I was just wondering ‑‑ I don't know whether you're up to speed about David Warner, whether the whole image of Australia being over here in England, what you think that perception is. LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I don't know about Warner, but, yeah, I don't know. It's obviously leading into the Ashes, so, yeah, everyone's mind is hard. They're obviously playing a one‑day tournament at the moment, which is pretty big, but in the back of England and Australia's mind is the Ashes and wanting to perform well in that. It's two totally different competitions. That's a tough thing. I wouldn't write our boys off. If Michael Clarke gets right‑‑ you know, so far he hasn't played well. I know Michael pretty well, and he will be looking forward to it. Q. The other day you were saying how pleased you were to get off the clay and get back onto the grass. When you're transitioning between the clay and the grass, what is the bigger issue: the mental aspect of it, of going from one surface, two extremes of surfaces, or is it the footwork? LLEYTON HEWITT: I think for everyone it's different. Both is as big as one another. If you go in with the wrong mindset, then it doesn't matter how your footwork is, I guess. If you're positive about playing on grass, then, you know, obviously the footwork is such a big thing, because even though a couple of our boys have been sliding on the grass, normally you have to be a lot sharper on your feet instead of sliding through the shot like you do on clay. Q. How are you feeling with the doubles coming up? LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I feel fine. It was good not to have to play three sets today. I'm all good. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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