TMS - CINCINNATI

August 8, 2000

Tim Henman

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Tim?

TIM HENMAN: Yeah. I feel like, as I said to you guys sort of last week, I feel like my game is in pretty good shape. And it was disappointing to lose first round last week, but I didn't really feel like I was doing too much wrong; everybody else was playing really well and deserved to beat me. But I've had the chance to keep practicing and I'm trying to maintain that form and, you know, at times it was beginning to show through.

TIM HENMAN: I think I would have liked to have made life a little bit easier for myself in the second set. I thought the first set was, you know, some pretty good tennis. Obviously, I lost my serve at 4-2, but I think -- I mean he hit a couple of, you know, very good passing shots. I would have liked to have got an early break in the second set, and that would have made life more straightforward. But, you know, it went to the third set and I still felt like I was able to move up a gear and assert my authority early on.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah. It's not perhaps his most natural game, to keep coming forward. But he was pretty confident. When he was at the net, he didn't miss too many volleys. But with his sort of athleticism, it's when he's on the run and you're giving him targets to aim at he can be dangerous and, you know, there were a couple of games where he had me in trouble, hit some incredible passing shots. So you've got to make sure that balls bounce twice.

TIM HENMAN: I don't know. I think I was sort of trying to make him do most of the running. You know, whenever I was moving forward, I felt like that was when I had the chance to dominate the match. And as I've said, when I was serving consistently, I didn't feel like I was going to be in too much trouble. But any time I missed a couple of serves, then he's going to be dangerous because he's got good returns.

TIM HENMAN: Not too bad. It was pretty windy yesterday when I was practicing, so it wasn't too bad. But you hope it sort of stays as calm as possible.

TIM HENMAN: Not really. I think we play another -- in other tournaments, I'm just trying to think. Miami can be really windy. So this isn't -- this is -- as wind goes, it's not too bad. It's obviously pretty humid out there.

TIM HENMAN: I think my game matches up pretty well to him. But having said that, he's a guy who's obviously in form. He's won a lot of matches this year. So you definitely can't take anything for granted. But if I can continue to serve consistently and be aggressive -- because I'm not going to beat him from the baseline. I've got to keep moving forward and try and keep the points as short as possible. So if I can do that, I think I have quite a good chance.

TIM HENMAN: Well, you have to look at his -- you have to look at his results all around. And it's inevitable, his clay court results are going to stand out because I think he's the best clay courter in the world. But, you know, how did he play in Miami this year? I think that was a pretty clear statement of the way that he can play on hard courts. He made the final in Toronto and Montreal a few years ago. So, you know, perhaps when we least expected it, he made the quarters of Wimbledon last year. So I don't think too many people would complain with his results on any surface.

TIM HENMAN: No, it's much, much better to be suited for clay and then adjust to the other ones.

TIM HENMAN: I don't think it's quite so lopsided as that.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah. I think it's much harder, in my opinion, to go from, you know, a very fast court oriented player to learn how to play on clay. You know, to tell you the truth, that's something that I've had to do, but it's definitely helped my game, too, to be able to compete and win matches on clay. Because I know that if I can do it on clay, it makes life a lot easier for me on the other surfaces. But I think he's someone that's been brought up on clay, but his game is versatile enough that he can adapt to the other surfaces.

TIM HENMAN: I think they've been pretty consistent. The heat probably has quite a lot to do with it. If it gets hot, then I think it does play quicker. But I think they've been pretty consistent from Toronto to this week. I think that's what the players like, whether it's consistency in the surface or consistency in the balls, I think we're pretty close to it right now.

TIM HENMAN: I think it's pretty good. I think perhaps they've been a little disappointed with the way the colors come up on television because it - more so in Toronto - it looked very purple in the, you know, when you're out there. But on TV, it still came across being a little bit blue. But I'm sure they'll be able to make those adjustments. I think, you know, if you can unify the Masters Series events and make them stand out, I think that can only be a good thing.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, I think that would take a little bit more of an adjusting to, it's probably a bigger change. And I think from the way the players would like to sort of see that it didn't affect it too much. We play on green clay, we play on red clay. Purple clay, I'm not quite sure, but we've got to give it a chance.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, maybe. (Laughter.)

TIM HENMAN: I think probably the nature of the surfaces these days. If anything, whether it's right or wrong, the game has been slowed down. And I think if you're going to serve and volley now, also the standard of the returning, you're going to have to do it very, very well. And I think more people have been brought up on the baseline and, you know, trying to dominate with the returner's serve. Less people are, you know, serving and volleying.

TIM HENMAN: Obviously you've got to develop that as you grow older and try and improve. That was always -- that was always the way I played from whenever I started out. I always liked to sort of be the one attacking and trying to finish points at the net. And, you know, that's where I'm going to have my best results. If I start trying to beat these people from the baseline, it's not going to happen for me.