Lleyton Hewitt Quotes

He'll go down as one of the guys who changed our sport in a lot of ways, not only the way he played the game, but also the way that he conducted himself on and off the court.

I wanted to work towards the four majors and the Davis Cup. I know to a lot of people it may not mean too much, but to me (Davis Cup) means an awful lot.

Grand Slams are funny things. You have to try to find a way to get through the first week and put yourself in a position in the second week. A lot of strange things happen.

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 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.

That's what you do all the hard work for, to play in situations that put your body through gruelling times. If you're not up to it, pull out.

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.

Ten minutes? That's the women. It's not for the men; not for the real game, mate.

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.

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.

He's up there. But (Marat) Safin, on his game, is as hard to beat.

That's when you've got to grit your teeth and hang in there and try and find a way to win when you're not playing your best tennis - that's what I can be proud of

Maybe I have to work a bit harder on clay. It's a challenge and I've always liked challenges. Whether I will ever win the French and master playing on clay, who knows? But I'll give it a shot.

I was actually really happy with where my game was at. That's probably the most disappointing aspect.

I'm an outside chance at Roland Garros but my focus is really on Wimbledon where it is realistically between me and Roger Federer to win.

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.

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 think I was as mentally tough as I've ever been. I felt like I handled the situation both on and off the court extremely well. I felt like I needed to.

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

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 feel like when I'm match tough and match hard and played a lot of matches I got that competitive winning spirit going and I can get on some rolls like I did last year. I won San Jose, Indian Wells and made the semifinals in Miami so it can happen for me.

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

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.

Everyone has to call 'time' at some stage.

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.

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'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.

Maybe if you're playing in London or America, you don't feel that pressure quite as much.

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

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.

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 'C'mon' 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.

(Andy Roddick's) a different kind of guy. I don't spend a lot of time with him. His coach in the past (Tarik Benhabiles), I didn't have a lot of time for at all. He was a bigger problem than Andy.

I don't know. Haven't I always been mature?

Grand Slams are different. If you can get through a few matches, the draw opens up and you get confident. You just need a little bit of luck early, you get through those opening matches and you never know what could happen.

Why'd you leave the match, huh?

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.

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.