Lleyton Hewitt Quotations

Oh, I get pretty fired up on the court. I try to play with a lot of emotion, especially when I'm playing in front of a large crowd. I want to go out and do my best, and to do that, I have to play with the most energy possible.

I'm not a guy who needs to read motivation books.

Matches are won and lost so many times in the locker room.

I am two different people. What you see on the court is just natural for me. I wear my heart on my sleeve. I have always said Cmon purely to fire myself up. Off the court, I am a lot shyer. I stick to my team and my family and people I trust.

I'm more in that Rafa Nadal high-energy high-octane mold out there. I wear that emotion on the court. That's how I play my best tennis. People either like that or not. And I can't change that: that's who I am on a tennis court.

I don't have too much spare time, but I try to play games as much as possible. I played a little growing up, but I never played any tennis games before.

You always love playing in finals at any tournament. The grand slams and stuff like that are obviously the priorities but any titles go on your record.

My video game character is a bit better looking than me, actually. I don't think he has to worry about his hair getting messed up.

Tennis players go into a press conference, and almost every one of them is the same. We do very little differently on a day-to-day basis.

I'd much rather win in three or four sets than go the distance all the time; I seem to put everyone through the wringer quite a bit.

There are people who love you and people who hate you, but for me, more so, people only think they know me by how I act or perform on a tennis court.

I was lucky enough to win the Davis Cup in my first year in 1999. I won my first slam at the U.S. Open in 2001 and became world No. 1 later that year. By the age of 20, I'd done it all.

I have sometimes played my best Davis Cup matches away from home when you stay in the moment a bit more. But it is tough when half the crowd are spitting on you.

I liked Pat Cash, and I loved Mats Wilander. I went to the Australian Open with my parents, and I used to watch Wilander being cheered on by the Swedish fans, and with his game style being like mine, I drew comparisons with him.

I'm fortunate: I can play as long as I want to play. There's no coach or trainer who is going to say to me that I'm dropped or sacked, it's time to move on. I can play as long as I want to play.

I'm not to eager to play tennis in my spare time. I'm more interested in doing gym work and stuff like that. We have a lot of schools and courts around where I live, so if I really want to play, I don't need to go too far.

Even when I was No. 1 in the world, I was taking it one match at a time. I never was a player to look too far ahead, the way draws can pan out.

I'm one injury away from hanging up the racket at any time.

When I was a kid in Adelaide, I dreamed of becoming No. 1 in the world, winning a grand slam and the Davis Cup for Australia.

I've probably put up with more criticism than a lot of people out there. At the end of the day, you block out everything, especially with your personal life.

When I go out to play, I still believe I'm as good as anyone out there. I don't have to prove anyone wrong. I know what I've done and how well I can play.

When you've been number one in the world for a couple of years and won a couple of slams and whatever else that's been, you look at the big picture and what motivates you.

We felt like the better team out there in the first set but things didn't quite go our way in the tiebreaker and we didn't take our chances.

With my baby due in the next two weeks, it is not possible for me to come. I wish the event well and am sure it will be a great success and I hope to qualify for next year's Masters Cup in Shanghai,

With my baby due in the next two weeks, it is not possible for me to come.

When your ranking gets outside 150 or 200, there's no doubt that it's hard for anyone to come back and play well week-in and week-out,

When he keeps coming at you like that he's a tough player to play against,

Life hasn't changed a whole heap ? it's obviously going to change,

She can probably see the bigger picture a little bit better than I can.

Momentum changes so much and I think on days like today, when it's so hot out there on court, you know once you start getting down on yourself, you can just snowball. When you're positive out there, it's a lot easier to play good tennis and win lots of games in a row.

My focus is on winning this tournament. I'm trying to get points and get my ranking up a little bit.

Obviously off the court there is a lot of difference with my life in general, but once I step on the court it is business as usual,

Obviously, all us young guys have been playing since we were six or seven years old.

Nine times out of 10, I think, if you're going to win the tournament, you're going to have to come up against Federer at some stage at the moment. It's just a matter of getting through your matches.

Nine times out of 10, if you're going to win the tournament, you're going to have to come up against Federer at some stage, ... It's not something you focus on. ... I just want to get the (next) win on the board.

On paper it should have been the final,

I wouldn't wear it, but it made it a lot easier for me to beat him today. I couldn't lose to a bloke wearing a shirt like that.

I would do anything to play that last match (the men's singles final) on that Sunday night at the Australian Open,

I got through today's match, but it wasn't the prettiest tennis. I get through to have another crack and try to improve tomorrow. Hopefully, I can pick it up. I'll need to.

I got out of the blocks well today, ... I went out there with a game plan and just executed it. I did what I needed to do and didn't feel that under pressure.

I'd like to think there's lot bigger matches, you know, around the corner for me.

I couldn't put in first serves and was double faulting. He puts a lot pressure on anyone's service games. He has a good compact return.

I couldn't put in first serves and was double faulting.

I am extremely disappointed as I have always enjoyed playing the Tennis Masters Cup.

I am extremely disappointed, as I have always enjoyed playing Tennis Masters Cup and had a great time in Shanghai in 2002,

I had a tough match in the first round and sometimes that puts you in good stead for the tournament.

I have been looking forward to this since I came off court against Federer in the last tie and nothing has changed,

I felt my game had gone up a notch today even though it was only seven games.

I felt it was a matter of trying to regroup, put my head down, work hard and not to give too many points away in the second set. I wanted to put more pressure on him early in the second set, and I was able to do that. The momentum really swung in my favor and I was able to continue to do that in the third set as well.

I felt like I played pretty solid. I put pressure on nearly all of his service games. I was trying to dictate as much as possible and get him on the defensive.

I felt I was the better player in the first set and should have won it, ... But he obviously became the better player once he had won that first set.

I felt a step slow, a little bit sluggish, ... It was just a matter of trying to stay tough mentally and put myself on level terms.

I feel like if I can beat Juan Carlos on day one it gives Australia a huge advantage,

I feel good and hopefully can raise my game for the French Open next week.

I feel like I'm hitting the ball just as well as ever,

I feel like I've been playing pretty well for a while now, and here I have been putting results together day in and day out,

I don't think it should be too bad. I've seen back home in cricket, you have the third umpire for run-outs, stuff like that. It all happens pretty quickly.

I don't think I've ever seen a guy play that well in my life.

I don't think Paul saw eye to eye with a lot of people.

He doesn't give you cheap points the way he did four years ago and that's the reason why he's improved so much and he's the standout No.1 at the moment,

He came out swinging early. Once I got a feel for the match, I was in control.

When I played him in (London), I didn't find a huge difference from grass to hard court,

To come through these situations is very important because Davis Cup can make or break guys' careers in a lot of ways.

He's a tough player, especially on this kind of surface. I just had to hang in there, try and grind him down. It wasn't the prettiest tennis, hopefully I can pick up on it.

He's a tough competitor out there. He's got a lot of flashy shots and a lot of weapons out there. I'd never hit a ball against him, so it took me a while to get in and read his game a little bit...I thought he'd make a lot more errors than he did.

He's going to have a lot more pressure on him as well this year to try and back up what an incredible year he had last year. That's not going to be an easy thing for him to do.

He's going to be tough. I'll have to step it up again.

There aren't going to be any easy matches, but it would be great to win here. I still have three matches away from there.

He was just bunting the serve back, waiting for a short ball to pounce on and I got the perfect reply that I wanted, ... If I had served better it would have given me more opportunities to mix it up a lot more.

He wasn't making a lot of easy mistakes so I tried to put more pressure on him and I was able to do that.

He's played enough big matches and his record in finals against top 10 players over the last two years really speaks for itself. I don't think it's really going to cause him a lot of havoc.

He spat in my direction; he apologized at the net after the match, and I accepted his apology. I don't think it's the right thing, and it's not good for the game. It's unfortunate because we were having a good dogfight match out there. We were going for it. It's sad that something like that happens. But I said, 'Just forget about it, mate'.

I always feel pretty comfortable when I get to Flushing Meadows. I really like the atmosphere and the court surface there. I think the whole tournament really suits my game and my attitude as well.

I was just trying to clean up my service games and wait for an opportunity -- and I got it,

I was just struggling a little bit with my movement. Just felt a step slower, a bit sluggish out there.

I think the way that the whole region really took to tennis in that week was pretty amazing.

Physically, I felt great out there. He didn't put me under that much pressure.

Players can't be expected to drink water out there. When trainers give you a drink on court, you have to trust them, week in, week out.

Paul came out and played extremely consistent. Early in the second set I tried to step it up a little more and dictate play.

That didn't take a lot out of me physically. I felt fine today. I got off to a good start out there, and I've been returning well all tournament.

Mark's always going to be dangerous in any tournament - especially on hard courts or grass, in the Aussie Open, the US Open, or Wimbledon more so,

I won't be watching the women's final, that's for sure. I'm not into women's tennis any more.

I was happy the way I hit the ball. I think I moved a lot better, as well.

I was giving everything I had out there. You know, I just wasn't up to it tonight.

I think she's pretty calm. She's sort of learning the ropes a little bit. She's probably a little bit nervous out there for me.

I think Roger's got to go down as one of the biggest favorites of all time this year. I think Roger is probably cruising through right at the moment.

I still felt like there was a lot of areas of my game that weren't quite clicking today. It was more a matter of trying to find a way to win today and get in the locker room and look forward to the next round.

I still feel like there's areas of my game that I can work on if I want to make any real inroads into this tournament and be a serious contender,

I still feel it out there. It's just when I jam my foot off during matches. It's something you can't test before a match. So I'm just trying to build it up.

I still feel it out there. I really felt it when I jammed it about four times. But it's just something that I have to work through.

I think I just handled the conditions so much better than he did today. I don't think those kind of conditions suit has game at all.

I think I just handled the conditions better. I don't think these kind of conditions suit his game.

I think he comes off pretty well on hard courts as well. He still gets a few aces and cheap points on hard courts as well.

It definitely helped him out. There's no doubt about that. You know, he still played extremely well, and he didn't give me a lot of opportunities out there, but the court surface, it's very hard to dictate play out there. It's slower than last year. There's no doubt about that, whether it's the balls or not.

Maybe I should have used them a bit earlier, ... It was nice just to get through the fifth set. A lot of the games were tight ... and a few just went my way.

Maybe I should have used them a bit earlier, but it was easier to get through the fifth set.

The 2002 final was one of the greatest matches I've ever played. I have good memories of San Jose. I saved a lot of match points, and Andre was in his best shape ever.

That says a lot about where their passion lies and it's not going to be an easy tie at all. I know Max, he loves this kind of competition. I lost to him in the Sydney Olympics when (he was) playing for Belarus. He played extremely strong that day and he's a great doubles player, so I don't think any of the live rubbers are going to be that easy.

I was moving extremely well, able to dictate play. I was seeing the ball really well. It helps if you're in the zone like that.

When Taylor chip-charges and hits deep balls, he's tough to pass. He's a big guy and he's got a lot of reach across the net. The conditions made it tougher as well.