TMS - FORO ITALICO

May 10, 2000

Tim Henman

Q. That must be pretty disappointing, you played so well for most of the match and have nothing to show for it?

TIM HENMAN: I think that sums it up quite well. I think the only slight criticism I could have was to try and impose myself earlier on in the third set because I did that well in the second set. I got an early break and, you know, fought that out pretty well. But I think in the third set I never really created too many chances, I think 15-30 was my best chance at 4-all. And I needed to try and play those types of games early on to put him under pressure.

TIM HENMAN: No, not at all. Nothing's due to my physical side. It's about trying to create opportunities, and I think especially from the left of the umpire's chair, that end was easier. There was definitely a breeze coming down the court. That's when you have to try to put some pressure on the server because, you know, it was probably playing up from the other end. And on the two occasions that I had return games from the easy end, I didn't really put him under too much pressure. That was the one thing I would like to change.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, that's claycourt tennis for you. It's, you know, it's a difference in if you're playing on a quick court and if I'm serving well, then you can run away from things. On clay, it can turn around very quickly. And as you say, I had some chances. He served the first set, I played a good game to break back, and, you know, it was a close tiebreak that went his way. And, as I said before, I responded well by getting an early break in the second set.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, that's right. There weren't really too many opportunities going around in the third, and I think we would both have liked to put more pressure on the server. Having said that, I think the serving was of a pretty good quality. So on each occasion, we weren't letting the returners get too involved in the service games. You know, you could say that's a good sign, because I think I was -- I served pretty consistently. But, you know, as you say, he was the one that created one opportunity and he took that at the end. And you got to give him a certain amount of credit for that.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, I did. I would have much rather played horrendously and won, but it doesn't work like that unfortunately.

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, it is, as I've said, I've said a number of times to you guys and I'll say it time and time again, it's about winning and losing at this level. Having said that, I do feel like I can't have too many complaints. I played a good match today, and he was fractionally better than me. But I have to, you know, I have to keep -- I still got a couple more opportunities in Hamburg, then hopefully the French, and I've got to be ready to take one of those. The two matches that I've lost, here and in Monte Carlo, you know, I'd like to reverse those, and I feel confident that I can do that in the next couple of tournaments.

TIM HENMAN: No, I think that was fair to say.

TIM HENMAN: That's right. He's unorthodox and he's very difficult to play on clay, he's difficult to play on most surfaces. But I think on the hardcourts and indoors you feel like -- I feel like I can perhaps overpower him with my serve and get a little bit of help from the back of the court. But on a slow claycourt like it was today, runs down, lot of balls and, you know, he disguises all his shots very well. So it's difficult -- he's a very difficult opponent.

TIM HENMAN: He did. No question. He had one pretty good passing shot and I served the first matchpoint, but, you know, he hit a good return, good return --

TIM HENMAN: Yeah, he took it on. And that's why you have to give him a certain amount of credit for that.

TIM HENMAN: I think it's pretty open. There's a lot of people that could. Agassi, I presume he won. And, you know, some of the Spanish guys look, as usual, look like they're playing well.

TIM HENMAN: Not really, no. It's amazing how things can turn around. He, I think, had a lot of first round losses, and all of a sudden he's won two matches in a row.