TENNIS AUSTRALIAN OPEN – 22nd of January 2015. B.Becker d. L.Hewitt 2-6, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2. An interview with Lleyton Hewitt
Q. What caused the turnaround in the match?
LLEYTON HEWITT: He definitely raised his level. The first two sets I felt like I was dictating play the whole time. Yeah, he obviously tightened up some of his errors start of the third set. He started serving a lot better as well. I couldn’t get into as many of his service games to build pressure on him. He served, and then, yeah, he played a good game to break me halfway through the third set. He seemed to really get confident after that.
Q. When you left the court, did you take an extra moment tonight at all?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Not really. You know, it sort of happens that quickly when you walk off. Obviously, a great reception. But you probably don’t take it in as much as you should.
Q. I had a look at your five-setters. You’ve lost five of your last six. Does that come into your thinking? Were you aware of that?
LLEYTON HEWITT: It doesn’t come into my thinking when I’m out there. Obviously I’m aware, though. I lost to Seppi last year. Lost a tight one to Janowicz at Wimbledon. I think Simon at the French. Been decent players, though. Obviously frustrating tonight because I was playing so well for the first two sets.
Q. You said you didn’t look around when you left the court. The television replay showed at the last sit-down, changeover, you were looking around, taking everything in. What was going through your mind then?
LLEYTON HEWITT: You know more than me then. If I looked at every TV changeover, I’m probably doing exactly the same thing. There was nothing different going through my mind. It was more just trying to work out the situation. I was trying to bust my guts to get the first couple points, put some kind of pressure on him. Nothing else entered my mind.
Q. As usual, there will be a lot of speculation about your future now. What’s next for you?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I’ll sit down and think about it. As I’ve said the whole time, I haven’t thought about anything. But obviously the Davis Cup is the next main thing. Now that we’ve got some guys playing really good tennis at the moment, it’s an exciting time. Yeah, we have a good chance to possibly pull off an upset away. That’s the next focus.
Q. Does that make you want to stay on longer, not thinking about retirement, but…
LLEYTON HEWITT: No, not necessarily. Obviously it would be great to play when Nick and Bernie and Thanasi are possibly top 10, top 20 players, you get a free ride winning Davis Cups (smiling). That ain’t going to happen straightaway. You know, I’ve always said that for me to stick around in Davis Cup is to help these guys more as a mentor, teach them what Davis Cup’s all about. So far I’ve been able to do that from I guess my dedication on the practice court and the match court playing for Australia.
Q. 19 consecutive Australian Opens is an incredible record. 20 has a nice look to it. Is that a lure at all?
LLEYTON HEWITT: For some people I’m sure it is. Yeah, I don’t know. As I said the whole time, I haven’t been kidding anyone, really I don’t know. I’ve just tried to focus on what I’ve wanted to do, to get the best out of myself this year. I’ll sit back and assess everything after this tournament.
