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BRISBANE INTERNATIONAL PRESENTED BY SUNCORPJanuary 2, 2014Lleyton HewittBRISBANE, QUEENSLAND L. HEWITT/F. Lopez THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. You dug yourself a bit of a hole to start. LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, obviously totally different matchup to my first match. You know, Feliciano is so crafty out there and pushes the ball around. He doesn't give you a lot of cheap points. Yeah, feels like at times he struggles to hurt you with his slice backhand, but moves it around the court really well. Just overplayed on a couple points early in the first set, and then he played a couple good points. Yeah, you know in end I was just trying to hang on in my service games through the first set and just stay only one break down. In the end it worked perfectly because I was able to draw a couple double faults out of him and obviously got that break and then broke again at 6‑5. Once I won the first set, I felt like I was really in control. Q. Obviously one side of the draw has opened up slightly with Gilles dropping out. Can you dare to dream about beating Roger in a final? LLEYTON HEWITT: No. The guys that are in the quarterfinals are there for a reason. Yeah, I don't take anyone for granted. Copil will give me all the challenge I need out there tomorrow. Yeah, he's got a big game, so I'm going to have to be ready for it. Q. Do you know much about him? LLEYTON HEWITT: Not a lot. I've only seen him play a little bit here and there. He's played a lot of matches and is going to be feeling confident. That's probably one of his best wins in his career he had today against Simon, so, yeah, he'll be ready for it. Q. Talk about satisfying wins in your career. In the last couple of years, how satisfying is today's win? LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it's good. Lopez is a quality player. He's a quality tour player. He's been seeded at slams for a long time as well. He's crafty out there. It's good to beat quality players I guess, especially on your home soil. Q. You looked like you've really slowed your play down a lot. LLEYTON HEWITT: On the court or? Q. Yeah. LLEYTON HEWITT: No, that's probably how he plays a little bit. He pushes a lot of balls around out there, so it's a matter of waiting and picking the right ball. He tries to draw you into overplaying out there, and that was something I was doing early and I gave him too many cheap points. When I chose to come into the net, I didn't come in on the right ball. Against a crafty guy like him, I got to pick and choose the right things. Q. You've played on courts all over the world. How fast are these hard courts compared to some on the other hardcourts you've played on? LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, they're pretty quick. They're as quick probably as anything going around at the moment I would say, these ones are. I really don't know if Melbourne will be. Q. As quick as Arthur Ashe Stadium during its quickest days? That fast? LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, close. I think on a hot day with these balls. These balls are definitely different to last year for sure. Yeah, Arthur Ashe Stadium‑‑ the US Open courts have changed since I won there. When Rafter played, there was really like a sort of like nearly a glass top on it. It was really shiny out there. Now there is a lot more grit in the court which obviously slows it up and makes the balls heavier. That was what these courts were like last year. They were a lot heavier with that grit. There's very little grit out there on the court. I think it does play a little bit slower at nighttime and obviously in the humidity a little bit. Some of the outside courts during the day in the heat, it's pretty quick. Q. Is that suits you pretty well. You like quick courts, no? LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, you're just not used to it more than anything because you don't play on it that often. Yeah, once I get my eye in it I don't mine it, yeah. Shanghai is probably the only other one that's probably reasonably quick, I would say. Q. Would you like the same speed in Melbourne? LLEYTON HEWITT: It doesn't worry me. I was surprised when I hit on this court. Few people originally thought ‑‑ they were worried that it could be slow, and then I came up a few weeks ago and had a hit on it and I said, You don't have to worry about it being slow. That wasn't a problem. Q. Two matches in. How are you feeling physically? LLEYTON HEWITT: Physically I feel fine. No problem. Q. Rusty at all, or you feel yourself coming along as you would like? LLEYTON HEWITT: I'm happy. I've snuck out of both matches in straight sets, which is good. Been tested in both matches, which is good as well. You want to have those little mini fights out there, I guess, to save break points and hang in there and hold close service games, especially going into a Grand Slam. Q. You set yourself any specific goals? LLEYTON HEWITT: No, no. Too old for that. Q. Just your general take on Edberg and Becker, coming back, Bruguera, guys who played, coming into the coaching game. Just your thoughts on that. LLEYTON HEWITT:  Yeah, I think it's good for the game. Yeah, whether Lendl's success had something do with it, I don't know, but, yeah, a lot of those guys are guys that I grew up idolizing. The more we have them around the game, whether it's commentating or Davis Cup captain or coaching, whatever, it's good for the game. Q. Federer was saying he's a bit surprised to see Becker back in. Talk about Djokovic though. He went undefeated at the end of the year, playing at a high level, and brings in another coach. Why, in your opinion? LLEYTON HEWITT: Not really sure. That one is probably the biggest surprise, I would say, out of any of them. I don't know. I read somewhere that Marián is only‑‑ I don't even know if he's coming to Australia or not. Yeah, that's a little bit strange to me. I would have thought even if Becker was there and he was going to help out in ways, you know, Marián has obviously done a pretty good job and the success rate at Melbourne Park is pretty good. Yeah, I don't know. Obviously Novak knows his game pretty well. He just want that little bit of outside influence, and he thinks Boris can do it. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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