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PACIFIC LIFE OPEN

March 13, 2006

Tim Henman

INDIAN WELLS, CALIFORNIA

THE MODERATOR: First question for Tim.
Q. Would it be fair to say even the second game was quite an important one, Love-40 and 2-0 make it different?
TIM HENMAN: Yeah, it does. I mean, as we talk about all the time, it's about getting those -- taking those opportunities. The 15-40, what more can I do? I basically hit the baseline with the return, and I'm in perfect position. He just hits it flat, downslope, downwind for a winner. That turned out to be, you know, a big break for him.
I felt like I was playing well. I played some really great games on his serve. But it's a question of trying to get something for it. Until you get the break of serve, then you've got nothing to show.
So, yeah, it's frustrating. That set sort of dictates the match. Those early games can dictate that set, then that set dictates the match. You know, I couldn't get one of those early on.
Then he starts to play his way in. Even the service game I lost, I had 40-15. I hit a good second serve. He backed me up on the return, but I hit a big forehand down the line which I probably shouldn't have missed. Then he came on a good approach, played the dropshot, he runs in and hits a one-handed winner.
Yeah, it's frustrating. That's the way it goes sometimes.
Q. He's yet another of the big guys who move well and hit the ball hard.
TIM HENMAN: You know, he doesn't move that well, but he definitely hits the ball. He hits the ball heavy. And then it's like when -- you know, if I'm a set up, there's more caution in his game. If he's a set up, he plays more freely. He starts to be even more dangerous, goes for his shots even more, as he should do.
Yeah, you know, that's the nature. Nothing that I didn't know already. But I felt I should have been the one winning the first set.
Q. Were you reasonably pleased with the level?
TIM HENMAN: In certain respects, yeah. I was pretty pleased with the level in the first set, but I didn't win it. It's like, well, I'd much rather play worse but win it. I think that's the crux of the match.
In terms of where I'm at, it's disappointing to lose. I want to be winning to start keep getting my ranking back up. There's a lot more tennis to be played, put it that way. And if I'm feeling like this, moving like that, then I've got a chance.
Q. You always knew these two back-to-back were going to be pretty tough considering defending points? You have to try to put that element of it aside?
TIM HENMAN: Yeah, it's not irrelevant because I'm aware of where my ranking's at and I want to start moving it up. In the context of my career and my health, it's certainly not the most important thing. But if my ranking does drop, as it will after this fortnight, it's not something that is going to send me into a great deal of panic. Put it that way.
I know if I stay healthy, I think there will come a stage where it's going to start turning around because my ranking is made up of a couple of months basically. From Wimbledon until the end of Australia, there's no tennis really.
I've got to keep building and I will keep building.
Q. A couple of players have mentioned they felt the balls were fluffing up, conditions were a little slower here.
TIM HENMAN: Yeah, it's pretty slow. I think also the temperature, it's been relatively cool. The courts are abrasive. Yeah, I don't think it is particularly quick. But is that different from the way it is other years? I don't think so. I think it always has been. It's always been that way. But certainly when it's hotter, the ball goes through the air a bit quicker.
I enjoy playing here. It's somewhere I've played well. I don't think that impacts my game, but maybe it impacts other people's.
Q. Looked into the stands and saw a few familiar/unfamiliar faces. He sits there and watches for a few games. You obviously spot him watching. Eye contact? Wearing his shades.
TIM HENMAN: I've spoken to him. You haven't seen him for 12 months or something. But I've seen him and spoken to him.
Q. 12 months ago, he wasn't interested coming to watch.
TIM HENMAN: Now he's investing. Yeah, he must be really bored (smiling).
Q. How much progress do you feel you've made, whether physically or in terms of your game here?
TIM HENMAN: A match like that is frustrating because I played some good stuff to create opportunities, but I didn't take them. That's the crux of the match. You know, if I'm the one that gets a set up, the momentum probably goes with me and it might be a different story. Until you take one of those chances, you don't have anything to show for it. That's the frustrating aspect.
But, again, in the context of my game, my career, this year, I'm feeling good on the court. That is the most important aspect. Because, sure, I didn't play my best today, but I'm going to give myself the opportunity to play my best if I'm healthy. And I'm feeling that way.
I have to sort of pay attention to that and feel good about that because, you know, just the way I played the last couple of tournaments, it was much better, and it will get better. That has to be the priority right now.
Q. You sort of head into Miami in an optimistic frame of mind, perhaps more than you had been a couple months ago?
TIM HENMAN: Yeah. A month ago, it was still very, very frustrating. The unpredictability of it was the biggest aspect. But now I feel like I'm gaining some positive momentum physically.
As I said, you know, my ranking will drop. But at this stage of my career, it's not something I'm particularly concerned about because I know if I stay healthy and keep doing the right things, I've already shown in individual matches, a couple of matches in a row, that I'm playing well. I will build on that.
Q. That confidence you said you needed to find in your back, are you starting to believe in your body?
TIM HENMAN: Yeah, definitely. I mean, you know, I played okay today. I didn't play great. The way that I can serve now and really have no stiffness and move and lunge at the net and change direction, I'm not getting pain. I'm not feeling sore. Even that first match that I played when it was so cold, it wasn't the most strenuous of matches, but I would have -- six months ago, I would have been filled with trepidation about playing in those conditions, and I was fine. That is an important aspect and I feel better about that.
Q. The Borg question about the trophies. Have you talked about it? What is your reaction to the whole story, the possibility of maybe Agassi and some consortium buying the trophies and giving them to a museum?
TIM HENMAN: If you want my opinion, I'd love to see them in the museum. When you're talking about the history of the game, there aren't many greater stories concerning Wimbledon. A guy winning five in a row, it's certainly up there.
For whatever reason, I don't think we should be second-guessing the reasons why, but your gut reaction is that it's sad. If he wants to part with them, then I'd certainly love to see them in the museum.
Q. You saw him play when you were a kid?
TIM HENMAN: Yeah.
Q. At Wimbledon?
TIM HENMAN: Yeah. So, yeah, who knows what's going to happen. I certainly, if I got my vote, that's what I would like to see.
Q. You'd be chipping into the whip round?
TIM HENMAN: Will you?
Q. Yes.
TIM HENMAN: Chip in.
Q. Might be slightly less than yours.
TIM HENMAN: Might help.

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