Jamie Hampton 19.1.2013

TENNIS - Australian Open 2013 - AZARENKA d. Hampton 6-4 4-6 6-2

Q.  You obviously were in a lot of discomfort out there.
JAMIE HAMPTON:  Yeah.

Q.  Can you tell us about it?  How were you beforehand?  At what point it happened?  How bad was it after?
JAMIE HAMPTON:  Going into the match I was fine.  About 4 2, 4 3, my back started hurting.  I had back problems.  Hurt my back last year at the French Open pretty badly.
It's something I deal with day to day, and, yeah, it was hurting.  Normally when my back starts hurting I start cramping.

Q.  Is it a muscle spasm kind of thing?
JAMIE HAMPTON:  I probably shouldn't be telling you this, but I have two herniated disks in my lower back.

Q.  They act up?
JAMIE HAMPTON:  Yeah.

Q.  You get the treatment.  How much better can it be made in the short term?
JAMIE HAMPTON:  It's tough.  I mean, I play with those shorts, which don't look great, by the way, and then I have my back taped up pretty good before every match.

Q.  Do you get sciatica with that?  Do you get shooting pain down your leg at all with the herniations?
JAMIE HAMPTON:  Sometimes when it gets bad, but that's from    normally I just cramp if I'm playing.

Q.  Was it worse for any particular shots?  Your forehand seemed to suffer.
JAMIE HAMPTON:  My serve, and then just moving in general.

Q.  Did you surprise yourself how well you played out there on Rod Laver against the world No. 1?
JAMIE HAMPTON:  No.  I think that I was really lucky, you know, to get the opportunity to try again considering last year I got thumped pretty good.
You know, I put in a lot of hard work during the off season, so I was not surprised.

Q.  What's the level of pain on a scale of 1 to 10?
JAMIE HAMPTON:  Right now it's kind of gone down to a 3 or 4.  On the court serving it's pretty good, 7.

Q.  It peaks as you hit the ball?
JAMIE HAMPTON:  Yeah.

Q.  So how difficult is that to take a full swing and to really let rip knowing it's really going to hurt?
JAMIE HAMPTON:  I just try to manage it on the court and slow down, take my time.  When I got low it was really hurting, and there's not really much you can do.  I try my best, but...

Q.  What's your plan for how to treat this injury over time?  Something you have to take time off for or get something done, fixed?
JAMIE HAMPTON:  I'm sure in a few days it will be a lot better.  Take some medication, see the doctor and physios, get as much treatment as I can, go home and see my physio, make my core and back as strong as possible.

Q.  You're not going to miss any tournaments or anything trying to get better?
JAMIE HAMPTON:  Probably not.

Q.  This happened at the French Open last year?  Is this when the herniation occurred?
JAMIE HAMPTON:  I don't think that's when it occurred, but it got really bad there.  I couldn't walk there and had to retire in my match.
I went to the doctor, and that's the first time    because I have always had some back problems, but I didn't really know what it was until then.
I went to the doctor and had an MRI, they're like, Well, your back is messed up.

Q.  What were you thinking today when you started to feel it?  Were you thinking, Oh, God, not again?
JAMIE HAMPTON:  Yeah, a little bit.  But I was more focused on the cramping part of it because I have gone into a full body cramp before.  It's very painful.  I was trying to manage that.

Q.  Did you have to change your approach and try and shorten the points?
JAMIE HAMPTON:  Yeah.  Yeah.

Q.  Recently you have played Radwanska.  What can you tell us about her game?
JAMIE HAMPTON:  Agnieszka?  She's a really good tennis player.  I think she's a lot of fun to watch.  She plays good tennis.  She understands you don't have to obviously smack a thousand winners to win a match.
You know, you can let somebody beat themself.

Q.  Azarenka on court said you were ripping winners and she was obviously impressed with your game.  I mean, physical discomfort aside, did you come out of this match feeling you can go toe to toe with anyone?
JAMIE HAMPTON:  Well, I'm pretty disappointed right now.  If you ask me again later I'd probably say yes.  (Smiling.)
Yeah.  I think, like I said, I put in a lot of hard work and it's showing.

Q.  Haven't been much in the way of upsets in the tournament.  Going in against the world No. 1, how did you rate your chances?
JAMIE HAMPTON:  I was pretty confident.  I thought they were pretty good, to be honest.  I didn't go into the match thinking that I was going to lose.  I went in with a lot of belief.
And even though in the first set she won it 6 4 and was up at one point I think 5 1, we had some good exchanges.  There was just a point here or there that was costing me the games, so...

Q.  You have clearly been hampered in your view?
JAMIE HAMPTON:  Yeah, definitely.

Q.  What are the options here?  What can be done?  Because that's not a small injury, the herniation.  Is there some sort of a surgical procedure or something that can be done?  What are your options?
JAMIE HAMPTON:  I don't know.  We are trying to figure it out, physios, doctors.  Yeah.

Q.  Do you feel like the injury comes up more in big matches?  This sort of tension in that situation, does that hurt your back?
JAMIE HAMPTON:  Yeah, I think so.  I think that when there is stress, stressful environment, you know, you're probably reaching for a little bit more and trying to hit it harder, trying to move in a little bit quicker, and, you know, the stress causes some problems.

Q.  When you left the court, what did they do?  What was the treatment?
JAMIE HAMPTON:  Peeing in a cup, doping.  (Smiling.)
Haven't had treatment yet.

Q.  In the middle of the match?
JAMIE HAMPTON:  Oh, in the middle of the match?  Sorry.
Just try to get the muscle to relax.

Q.  Massage?
JAMIE HAMPTON:  Yeah, release my back.

Q.  You hit a pretty outrageous curling back dropshot at 5 4.  Was that a desperation shot or something because you were hurting or something you typically try?
JAMIE HAMPTON:  I think I hit that shot a lot in practice.  And I hadn't made a dropshot yet, I don't think, so just trying to keep her on her on toes.  It was the first point of the game.  I really wanted to hold there, so threw something at her she probably wasn't expecting.

Q.  Did you watch Madison yesterday?
JAMIE HAMPTON:  I did.

Q.  What were your impressions of that match?
JAMIE HAMPTON:  Madison obviously has a lot of game, hits a really big ball, and has a bright future.  Kerber, she runs like a champ.