WIMBLEDON
Date: 2006-06-24

WIMBLEDON

June 24, 2006

Lleyton Hewitt
WIMBLEDON, ENGLAND

Question (Inaudible.) (Question about Agassi's announcement?
Lleyton Hewitt I just heard it five minutes ago, obviously he'll go down as one of the most guys that changed our sport in many ways; not only the way he played the game, but the way that he conducted himself both on and off the court; the kind of character that he was for us as well. There's not too many more recognizable people out there, I think, in tennis. The sport probably owes a lot to him.

Question What was your reaction to it when you first heard it?
Lleyton Hewitt Not that surprised, you know - was going to happen sooner or later.
From what I understand, it is after the US Open, I think, seems like a pretty good place, obviously, after he made a great run there last year and he had had a lot of success there, so yeah, seems like a pretty fitting place to play your last tournament.

Question Do you have any significant memories yourself; one thing that stands out about Agassi's career?
Lleyton Hewitt One of the biggest weeks for me was my first tournament in Adelaide when I beat him. Not one of his best memories, I wouldn't think. For me, he was an idol growing up; a guy that I looked up to and especially playing on a grass surface as well, a guy that I drew a lot of confidence watching win Wimbledon and doing well here for so many years considering pressure from the back of the court; especially against Sampras and Ivanisevic and these kind of guys.

Question After your chance at Queens, how are you feeling coming into Wimbledon and perhaps you can compare to the last two, three years since you last won the title, how good are you feeling right now?
Lleyton Hewitt I feel like I am hitting the ball well at the moment and it's hard going into Paris not 100% physically fit, but I felt like ball-striking-wise I was hitting the ball well, and yeah, I have tried to bring that same mentality into the grass court. I got better with every match. I felt a little bit rusty in the first match on grass, which is to be expected, but got better as the week went on.
By the end of it, I was playing some pretty good tennis out there. This last week has been a matter of just trying to keep that same rhythm going that I was able to do at Queens and trying to keep the confidence up there.

Question Your thoughts on Volandri?
Lleyton Hewitt Never played against him. I wouldn't think grass is his favorite surface, but me out of anyone I think know that you can't take anyone lightly in this tournament. He's a talented base liner; has got good feel around the court; good hands. His serve, I wouldn't think is his biggest weapon. I will try to exploit it as much as possible.

Question You have won Wimbledon. You know what it takes to win Wimbledon. What do you have to do to do it again this year?
Lleyton Hewitt I am not sure, you know, first week is a matter of getting through it and then, yeah, anything can happen in the second week. Obviously the last couple of years, yeah, I have come close in the quarters and semis. It was just one player was too good. It's a matter of trying to put yourself in that position again and giving yourself another crack at it.

Question Is that one player still too good?
Lleyton Hewitt You have got to keep putting yourself in that position to find out. Yeah, it's going to take -- any person that's going to beat him in the next two weeks is going to have to play an extremely good match, and probably some of their best tennis.

Question Having won it once, Lleyton, how sort of motivated and hungry are you to win it again? Perhaps having won it when you did, quite an early age as well, when you did, did it sort of go past you quickly? Would you like to have another crack at it and maybe absorb it a little bit more next time?
Lleyton Hewitt I think every time you come back here you want to win it. Yeah, every time you walk in the gates, I think it is probably more special after you have performed well here; especially won here, you know, it's probably a more special place to walk into and, you know, the memories, I guess, come back a lot more when you have had good memories at any place. And this being one of the pinnacles of our sport, you want to try to put yourself in the position to be there on the last day, Final Sunday, but it's never easy.

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