Tennis Panorama News

March 25, 2012

R. NADAL/R. Stepanek

6 2, 6 2

An interview with:

RAFAEL NADAL

THE MODERATOR:  Questions, please.

Q.  I believe you’ve lost six games in two matches.  How do you feel you’re playing?
RAFAEL NADAL:  Good.  I did good, solid start of the tournament, no?  Two good matches, comfortable wins.  So happy to be in the fourth round.  That’s good.
Just happy to be in the fourth round winning two matches with, you know, positive feeling and with comfortable results.  Just try to keep doing well and try to keep improving a little bit the level.

Q.  You played with Marc in Indian Wells and you’re playing with Marcel here.  Do you know who you’re going to play with in the Olympics?
RAFAEL NADAL:  I said the other day I’m going to play with Marcel, yeah, if nothing strange happens.

Q.  Since the subject came up, are you planning on playing mixed doubles at the Olympics?
RAFAEL NADAL:  That’s very far, three tournaments, you cannot play three tournaments in a row during the Olympics, so you never know what’s going on.  I don’t know if I am gonna be in both competitions competing when the mixed starts.
If that’s happen I will not be able to play, because the rules says you cannot play the three in a row, well, three at the same time.  So I didn’t decide that.  I don’t have any plan to play mixed, but I am open.

Q.  Where do the Olympics fit into your priorities for this year?  How important are you treating the games?
RAFAEL NADAL:  Seriously remain a lot of important tournaments for me before the Olympics.  Olympics is a great event, probably the greatest event in the world of sport, and I am very excited to be back there in the Village, enjoying with the family of sports, family of the world.
But, you know, I am thinking about Miami now; then I will think about Monte Carlo.

Q.  You haven’t won here.  Does that bother you, or are you going to change it this year or try to?  Obviously try to.
RAFAEL NADAL:  That’s not bothering me.  No, no, no.  I don’t gonna win in every tournament.  That’s the real thing.  I don’t gonna finish my career winning all the tournaments of the tour.
I will try my best every year here.  I tried in the past playing three fantastic tournaments, three finals.
So I didn’t play enough well to win.  I will keep trying the rest of my career, but that’s the game.  No, no, you win, you lose.

Q.  You are next opponent is Kei Nishikori.  You played with him last year.  You won.  But I think Kei improved a lot from last year, so it will be close match I think.  What do you think?
RAFAEL NADAL:  Yeah, well, he’s a fantastic player and will be a very difficult match for me.
He has a big talent to hit the ball very early, to play very aggressive.  So, yeah, will be a really tough opponent, no?
If I am not playing my best, I will have not very good chances to be in the quarterfinals.  So I gonna try to play well.  I gonna try to play aggressive with no mistakes.  If not, gonna be very difficult.

Q.  You said many times that you play a lot of golf.  I was wondering how often do you play?  Why?  Is it a way to relax for you to play golf?
RAFAEL NADAL:  I play golf because I love sport in general.  I love all the sports.
Golf today is a sport that the risk for injury is, you know, very small.
I love the game in general, no?  I was watching all the afternoon the last round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational.  I am a big fan of the sport in general, and golf is one of my favorites.
Golf is great, because you are always in beautiful places when you are playing.  Most important thing at the same time is you can spend three, four hours, four hours and a half with good company, with friends, with family.
So that’s makes the round good.  You are not playing with people that you don’t know.  The family is completely different, no?  Spending time with friends, with family, when I am going to play golf and I will play with them, that’s great.

Q.  A question about your next opponent.  You have played him both on grass and also hard court.  On which surface did you feel comfortable when you play against Nishikori?
RAFAEL NADAL:  Every match is completely different, but I beat him two times on grass, I believe.  One time here last year.
I remember all the matches really difficult.  No one match can be easy against him.  I said before, so will be a really difficult match.

Q.  Nice to catch a little break?  You came on a little later so you didn’t get the heat and the humidity that you would get if you played earlier here in Miami.
RAFAEL NADAL:  I am happy playing that late.  For me is not a problem.  I like to play at this time.  Well, if I play before it’s fine, too.
No, no, no.  So I don’t have any problem playing earlier or playing late.

 

A. IVANOVIC/D. Hantuchova

6 2, 7 6

An interview with:

ANA IVANOVIC

THE MODERATOR:  Questions, please.

Q.  Interesting match.  She’s the kind of player you have to beat all the time to get back to where you want to be.  Is that a difficult situation?  Does that make it a little tense out there?
ANA IVANOVIC:  Yeah, definitely.  It was a very tough match for me.
I knew from the beginning that it will be, you know, very tough third round I think for both of us.  We played a lot of times in the past.  We always have tough matches.  Even in practice, it’s always, you know, tight.
So I really tried to stay calm and work and concentrate on what I was doing out there.  I played really well in the first set.
I think I started to rush a little more in the second and I created lots of opportunities, but I started to want to close out the match and wanted to rush and rush.  I was focused more on the end result rather than in the moment what I was doing and then I lost a bit of rhythm on my serve.
But I’m really happy that I managed to keep composed and then win the tiebreaker.  It was a very, very important win for me today.

Q.  She’s a particularly dangerous player to play when she could hit 15 winners in a row and make a lot errors.  Does that make her difficult?
ANA IVANOVIC:  Yeah, she’s tricky player.  She has improved her forehand.  I think she has more on it.  Her backhand has always been her better shot.
She definitely    if you feel her hit, she can hit very, very strong and deep.  This is what happens.  Sometimes I was a little bit too passive.
But, you know, I really tried to stay low and tried to, you know, be aggressive and do that, you know, first hit and put her under pressure.
So, yeah, I’m just really happy I hung in there and stayed calm in the tiebreak.

Q.  Things seem to be coming together for you now.  Any reason you think that things are starting to gel again?
ANA IVANOVIC:  I have been working really, really hard.  Ever since I started working with Nigel I felt like it was a good match.  We actually could see improvements straightaway, but it wasn’t really coming in the matches.  It would come one and not the other.
I thought in the offseason we could put the good in and also focus on my body and getting it in the right shape.  Because I always had little pains and niggles, and I worked really, really hard and I’m really excited to see results.
Because, you know, you can play as well as you want in a practice court, but if you don’t put it in a match, it’s a different story.  You don’t back yourself up.
This is something I’m very excited about and thrilled.

Q.  You get Venus Williams next.  Like I said before, you played a lot of times before.  What are your thoughts about her?  Have you seen any of her play this week?
ANA IVANOVIC:  Yeah, I’ve seen the match before mine.  You know, it’s always tough playing both of them.  You know, it’s good to see her back.  I think it’s going to be an interesting match.
You know, I definitely saw a little bit of today’s match, but once you step on the court and you can feel the ball and the speed of the ball, it’s a little bit different story.
But, you know, still it’s going to be very difficult to focus on what I have been doing and try to apply things I have been working on.  Me and Nigel are going to sit tomorrow and have a chat about the match and make a tactic, make a plan about the approach.

Q.  I know this happened before with you and Daniela when you’re wearing the same outfit on court.  What are your thoughts on that happening or you know it’s going to happen?
ANA IVANOVIC:  Yeah, it’s pretty funny.  We were joking, at least one was blonde and one was brunette.  It would be problem if I played Sorana.
But, no, it is a little bit strange.  You look up and you see yourself (smiling).  It’s like, Is that a mirror?
No, but I think it’s a nice outfit.

Q.  Venus is admittedly obsessed with going to a fourth Olympics.  Obviously the Olympics didn’t work out the way you would have preferred in Beijing.  Is that something that’s a big focus for you this year?
ANA IVANOVIC:  Yeah, definitely.  I’m very thrilled, you know, to have opportunity to play in London.  It’s exciting I think for every athlete.  Even though I didn’t play in Beijing, still, to be part of it was very, very thrilling.
Um, I think this year with Olympics there it’s that much harder.  It makes with so many big events.  We have French, Wimbledon, US Open, and then Olympics and US Open.  So it all feels kind of jammed together.
But it’s very exciting.  I think everyone wants to peak their best.  I hope I can get a medal, any kind of medal.

Q.  Will you played in the mixed doubles?
ANA IVANOVIC:  I will play with Zimonjic.

Q.  Is it hard to keep your faith and optimism this year if you don’t get back where you want to be right away?  You have to change coaches or you have injury and you slip back a little bit.  Is it day to day?  Is it difficult to force yourself?
ANA IVANOVIC:  It is difficult, and especially because I’m a perfectionist and I always want to do everything the right way and I always wanted to make everything perfect.
When it’s not happening, you start to, you know, doubt and start to question so many things.  And to analyze.
Sometimes that’s not good.  You try to make quick fixes and you try    like I was expecting, you know, it to come back like so easy and so fast.
But unless you really put your head down and just take it day by day and actually enjoy the process and, you know, understand that it might not happen as fast as you hope for…
You know, once you accept it, hey it might take a year.  But I’m going to keep at it.  I’m going to be persistent as long as it takes, and that’s when it start happening.

Q.  When did you and Nenad decide you were going to play together?
ANA IVANOVIC:  It was actually I think maybe two years ago.  In April he called me, and he’s like    I was like, Okay, hi.  He said, Do you want to play mixed in Olympics?  I’m like, It’s three years away.  He’s like, Yeah.  Do you want to play?  I’m like, Okay.
So that’s how it happened.

Q.  Before your serve was an issue.  Is it one of the areas you feel is coming back and that Nigel has really helped you with?
ANA IVANOVIC:  Yeah, definitely.  We worked a lot on my serve, and that’s something that needed improvement.  You know, even now, every day I work on it and it’s still not great, not where I want it to be.
But it’s much, much better, and it helps me win more matches and helps me, you know, get out of trouble sometimes.
You know, I felt like that was a big part of my game, because I felt when I couldn’t serve well my whole game was falling apart because I was a little bit stressed about it.
So now having confidence that I can serve well and win my service games, it takes lots of pressures off.

V. WILLIAMS/A. Wozniak

4 6, 6 4, 7 6

An interview with:

VENUS WILLIAMS

THE MODERATOR:  Questions, please.

Q.  Where did you find the strength to hit that last serve?  Last serve was 119.
VENUS WILLIAMS:  You know, my mentality is to go for broke, and then from there I try to be sensible.  So it’s kind of a mix between that and    that’s the serve I wanted, just a big one to hopefully force the issue, and thank God it went in.  Wow.

Q.  How tired were you?
VENUS WILLIAMS:  Um, no, it was tough out there.  It was tough, but also it was made even tougher because she played well.
I don’t know if I’ve ever seen her play as well as she did.  Obviously she was close to the top 20 so she has that tennis in her.  I have to give her a lot of credit to her.

Q.  Can you compare the feelings after these two pretty different wins for you?  6 Love in the third and very high ranked player, and the other one you fight to save the match point to get out against somebody who is another wildcard like you.  How does the emotion compare?
VENUS WILLIAMS:  She had match point?  Oh.  Oh, no.  Thank God I’m oblivious to the score a lot of times.  Oh, my god, that’s not good news.
Well, you know, every time that    I just kept coming back.  I tried not to let anything discourage me today.  I kept thinking about how I really need this match and I need these points.  I keep thinking about the Olympics and I need my points.
Whenever things look bleak, I think about the Olympics and that keeps me motivated.

Q.  Judging from that last answer, the confidence, does it ever waiver?  Does it waiver like in a match like this where you seem to be down and all of a sudden you pick it up?
VENUS WILLIAMS:  Um, you know, I think everyone has ups and downs.  It’s just all how you handle it mentally.  So I try to handle the ups and downs mentally, especially in a match like today when the opponent is playing well.

Q.  Is it all about the Olympics for you?  Is that like tunnel vision?
VENUS WILLIAMS:  Yeah, well, when I don’t want to get up or, you know, I want to do something different, I want to make an error, then I think about the Olympics and how if I don’t do the right thing I might not be there.
That keeps me on the straight and narrow.

Q.  What is it about the Olympics?  You have been there a few times and been successful.  What about the Olympics is so important to you?
VENUS WILLIAMS:  It’s just the ultimate level in sports.  It’s about participating.  It’s about having that experience.  It’s about having the honor to be good enough to be there.
It’s just, you know, the pinnacle of sports.

Q.  Are you hoping to play both singles and doubles in London?
VENUS WILLIAMS:  Yeah.  I’m just gonna be there, so I need to be there.  That’s pretty much the goal.  I’m not thinking about what event, just that I’ll be there.

Q.  Have you thought about mixed at all?
VENUS WILLIAMS:  I used to think about mixed.  I don’t know if I’m thinking about mixed now.

Q.  That’s a lot of tennis.
VENUS WILLIAMS:  Yeah, it’s a lot of tennis.  Like I said, Olympics.  That’s all I’m thinking about.

Q.  Presuming your singles ranking is going to determine whether you go in or out, is that on your mind?
VENUS WILLIAMS:  I feel like I have some time to figure that out, but I want to play well at the big tournaments.  That makes my job a little easier, and so…
I don’t even remember the question anymore, but basically I’m just giving 100%.

Q.  After the match you said, I needed this match.  Can you elaborate on the way or ways you felt you needed it?
VENUS WILLIAMS:  Yeah, I needed this match so that I could play the Olympics.  (Laughter.)
So any time I think about losing, then I think about that I have to get to the Olympics, so then I try to win even more and try not to get discouraged.

Q.  Have you calculated your ranking now and what you need to do to get there?  Are you sitting there with all the numbers?
VENUS WILLIAMS:  Not really, because that’s like such a rookie move to calculate points.
I try not to do that, but secretly I probably am.  But more than anything it’s about getting the win, so that’s what I’m trying to do.

Q.  When your dad came on court after the match, what did he say to you as you walked off together?
VENUS WILLIAMS:  Oh, um, Great match.  I think he was just proud as a coach and as a dad.
He’s always a dad first, so he, I guess, came to help me a little bit.

Q.  How much self knowledge do you have now about your condition and about how much a match like this could take out of you, how well you might feel tomorrow morning?  Is this all still something you have to deal with on a day to day basis?
VENUS WILLIAMS:  I don’t know.  I don’t know.  I don’t know.  (Smiling.)
I don’t have an answer for that.  I just know that I’ll give as much as I possibly can.  I know I’m not nearly as bad as I was.  That’s already awesome.
I think I have a lot to learn still, but my motto is that I can spend the same amount of time winning the point than I do losing the point no matter how I feel.  That’s pretty much what I try to tell myself.
That works sometimes, and sometimes it doesn’t.  I have a disconnect between my mind and my body.  Like sometimes I don’t get to do what I want to do, but then I have to get myself to do that.
So it’s a mental battle.

Q.  The other part of it, is it an emotional battle?  As much as you have been training to get back and taking great care with your diet and everything else, how much do emotions fatigue you, or, for that matter, give you energy?
VENUS WILLIAMS:  Oh, gosh, that’s a good question.  I think, you know, fighting on the court is emotional.  You have to be ready emotionally.  Everything has to be hopefully a 100%.
So, you know, I have been fighting a long time, so sometimes you can’t have a letdown and just say, I’m tired.
But, you know, I think about how miserable I’m gonna feel when I have a loss and I still spend that same time having a win, so I just keep try to digging deeper.
In the scheme of things, if I have to spend three hours out of 24 in the day, then I’m gonna spend the three hours and try to win.
It might not work every time, but I just gotta do what I gotta do.

Q.  Was there a time when you thought you might not play again, or you always knew that you would?
VENUS WILLIAMS:  No, I felt like I would    I mean, there would be times where I would be scared for about five seconds, but it’s not    like I can’t spend that time being afraid.  I have to move forward.
So it’s easy to be afraid, and it’s a lot of hard work to come back to this level, especially, you know, with the time constraints.  I need to play now so I can play the Olympics.  It’s like I have to get back.  Something’s gotta give.
So it’s a lot.

Q.  What do you do with the pins?  I know you collected a lot in Beijing, for sure.
VENUS WILLIAMS:  I pretty much hide them around the house to the point where I can’t even find them.  So then it takes me a few months to figure out where I hid them.  They’re my pride and joy.  But I have a pin holder set, Olympic pin holder set.
You unzip it and you open it, and I have 2000 and 2004 in there.  Strange enough, I haven’t put 2008 in there.  I need to get cracking, spend a few hours arranging it perfectly.
It’s crazy, but, you know, it’s all the memories there.

Q.  Talk about the all the people here watching you today and what that meant to you.
VENUS WILLIAMS:  Serena was there, my sister Lynn, my dad, a lot of people who supported me with EleVen who are working in the tent, keep the dream alive, Jess here who is my good friend and works with me as well.
My physio, friends who hit with me in West Palm, everybody who has been with me along the way.  Just so many people because I’m local down here.
So like that really helped for them to be there.

Q.  How would you judge your energy level at the end of the match?  Was it because she was playing so much better?
VENUS WILLIAMS:  No, I didn’t feel that great and I was kind of starting to panic.  I needed to calm down and try to figure out a strategy that was going to work a little better than what I was doing at the moment.
So, you know, she was playing well.  She came to play.  But just hoping for a better day tomorrow.

Q.  (Indiscernible.)
VENUS WILLIAMS:  No, my calf was fine, actually.  The tape worked quite well.

Q.  Ana or Daniela next?
VENUS WILLIAMS:  We’ll see.  Not my choice.  Thankfully I got a win today.  I didn’t ask for much more than that.  We’ll see.

Q.  Your experience with them?
VENUS WILLIAMS:  I think I’ve had, you know, pretty good records against both of them throughout the years, so hopefully that will get me a few games in the beginning.
I don’t know.  They’re both playing well and they’ve been playing consistently, you know, for a while.  And they’re both motivated, as well.
G. SIMON/J. Melzer

7 6, 6 4

An interview with:

GILLES SIMON

THE MODERATOR:  Questions, please.

Q.  You had a little trouble at the end of the first set, I think.  How was that in the end when you had your treatment?
GILLES SIMON:  I have a lot of troubles.  I had some pain in my back the last year.  I had some problem.  I always have some troubles with my back, and I had one more.  I tried to do the maximum after that.
And I think it was hard for my opponent also, because we were playing good tennis at the beginning.  I tried at the end of the set, and then I really thought it would be hard, but he dropped down a little bit.  He didn’t play very good after that.
So was a little bit upset, I think.  Managed to win this one, but it’s not a good sign for me.

Q.  How challenging is it for you now you’re a father and you have your family with you usually?  Is it hard for you when you have to focus in your matches but then you have to give the little one attention?
GILLES SIMON:  No, it’s easier.  It’s easier, because when tennis is difficult, when I don’t feel good, when I lose my match, when I am injured, I am always happy to see my wife and my little boy.  It’s easier to have them on the tour.
So it doesn’t change my motivation.  I still want to win.  I still want to improve, but it’s easier when I lose because I have something else.

Q.  How do you regard your matchup with Andy Murray?
GILLES SIMON:  Well, right now I just want to    I know I have to work hard for the next two days to be ready and 100% against him, because I lost so many times to him already.  I know I have no chance to win if I am not 100%, so it will be my first challenge in this match.
So that’s why it’s not easy to speak about it at the moment, because I have, yeah, some work to do before playing him.

Q.  So you’re just a little anxious about your physical condition; is that fair?
GILLES SIMON:  Yes, I’m always anxious, and because of this I am more (smiling).

Q.  How would you say that the Penn balls at this tournament play relative to the balls at other tournaments?
GILLES SIMON:  Too long.  Um, no, I have just a bad constitution in the back, and so I have troubles happening in different parts of the body.
Now after my knee injury, right after it, I start to have it, and it’s almost now two years.  It’s almost two years now that I cannot trust my body.

Q.  I mean the balls, tennis balls.
GILLES SIMON:  Oh, the balls, sorry.

Q.  How do the Penn tennis balls play relative to the balls at other tournaments?
GILLES SIMON:  It’s because I don’t hear you with the…

Q.  How do the Penn balls at this tournament play?
GILLES SIMON:  Well, we start to be used to it.  We have the Penn balls in all the Masters Series on hard courts since, I don’t know, four years, five years now.

Q.  But compared to like Wilson balls.
GILLES SIMON:  Ah, they are different.  Yeah, of course.  They get big here.  They are not always reacting the same, but here they get big, so I feel they are flying less than before.  I don’t know why.  I don’t know if it depends on the court also, which is slower.
But I feel like I have more time and that I control them better than usual, better than the last years, yes.

Q.  You are one of the best players in France and you have injuries.  You usually play the top players really close.  So do you feel a lot of pressure not being physically well when you have just to step it up against the best players?
GILLES SIMON:  Well, I just feel sad because I know that when I defeated them I was 100%, and that was the only reason I was able to win or to be close sometimes, even if I lost it.
But not only against help them.  I had a very bad month last month in South America because of it.  I didn’t play the top players, but I didn’t win any match because everybody’s playing very good.
You really have to be 100% to have a chance to win no matter who is in front of you.  So I just hope it will be okay, because I had a very good tournament last week.  I feel good on the court.  I played a long match, and I was ready to fight for three hours every time.
For a long time I didn’t feel that good on the court, I mean physically, and this week, yeah, I was, as I said, playing good.  I hope that tomorrow will be okay.  It’s not easy because I just finished it, but I hope that tomorrow will be fine and I will have a good practice and then be 100% against Andy.

 

An interview with:

GUSTAVO KUERTEN

THE MODERATOR:  Questions, please.

Q.  So it’s such an honor to have you in the Hall of Fame.  What can you tell us about that?
GUSTAVO KUERTEN:  First, that soon was kind of surprise for me.  I just finish playing three, almost four years ago.  The time flies, eh?  Seems like it was yesterday.
But once I got to know, it was like a big emotion to over the years, getting deep in good times, hard times I had on my way through.
A great influence from my father that I had in the beginning, even knowing that it was for a short term of my life.  I think is more enjoyable right now, because I can understand better my career and the impact that I could bring to tennis.
So it was pretty happy.  Became my special, very special years since I just got my first baby and being accepted to the Hall of Fame.  So could not be better.

Q.  When you do look back, is there one moment that you think tells the whole story of your career?  Is there one special moment, do you imagine, that you can reflect on?
GUSTAVO KUERTEN:  I think the immediate reflection is hard to understand how this really happen.
If I start to look at the facts, it’s basically 100 or 1000 of you can call coincidence or lucky or fact that happen to be able to get this far.
Perhaps of course the crucial one, the main one was to lose my father in the tennis court.  This could be a drama for me to just get out of any closet and then tennis.
So since I have this experience very early, I think that what we did well was I learned from that time being able to take advantage even on hard situations.
So doesn’t matter.  I remember around 17, one week before getting tests in Brazil, we have to do tests to be able to go to university   my mother is still waiting for me to go to university (Laughter.)
I have to undercover her, don’t let her know that I would not doing the test, you know.  Then I call her four days before.  I call her from Argentina, No, mom.  Mom, I am not coming back.  Forget.  She want me to be a doctor until 17 years old.
So it just kind of 100 or 1000 situations like this, and that’s why it feels great flavor.  I pass over I believe most situations, but a player can pass    I never get a step forward without passing all these stages.
Only once I got    when I won the French Open on ’97 that I really like overpass a couple of stage.  But until that time I played all the juniors, I played all the satellites, I played even team tennis.  I did everything in my career.
So it brings you a really special feeling once you have all these experience on your back.

Q.  When you look at the top three players today, are you happy you stopped playing or do you wish you were playing so you could try that?
GUSTAVO KUERTEN:  A little bit of both (laughter.)
I’m happy mostly because I truly believe that these guys that I considered some genius, they are better than the best to have.  They are one of the best ever.
Perhaps Djokovic still a little bit more have time for us to be sure of this.  But Rafa and Roger, they are completely one of the best five players all times.
I think I contribute on this way.  Even knowing that they are like kind of super heros, they are very    they have the access for the people.  They are around.  You can feel them more close to a human being.
If you go outside, perhaps they can believe they can play the same as them even though it’s impossible.  I think that was a big contribution that I did to bring the tennis a little bit more close to humanity, you know, more easy to understand than all classes around.
In Brazil, for me it’s a great pleasure for me when I see guys sometimes having hard time to write or to count, and they know 15 30, 30 All, break point.  (Laughter.)
It’s hard to understand how it’s possible, but right now I can go this deep and feel this pleasure of contribution to tennis.
So that’s why these guys I think would be great for me.  Would be amazing time to be connected with them and be related of these special moments to tennis.
I believe on this, it’s like a golden era again.  We can compare perhaps for another time it happens on Connors, McEnroe, Borg.
But it’s really a circumstance that tennis, it’s becoming more popular every year.  I believe much more on this way.  We are not only talking about the class A or rich guys.  We are talking about regular people that seen on them an inspiration and a person that it’s more touchable.

Q.  You obviously are remembered for your Roland Garros.  Do you feel yourself you made another step by winning the ATP finals in Lisbon, not on clay, and if you hadn’t been injured you would have been able to go on and play at that level on hard surfaces, as well?
GUSTAVO KUERTEN:  Yeah.  This was perhaps the last step through I did.  Either in 2001 I still went a little bit farther than that, but I was a little far away from my best, that’s for sure.
Once I got to that stage, I was playing    I had myself comfortable to play in different surface.  The tour was going in a way that would give me advantage, you know, to bring the game a little bit slower, with surface more equal.
And to have a good example, I played first time on    and this was one year before against Pete.  On Hannover I lost 6 1, 6 2, and one year later I could beat him.  One of my best matches ever.
So I can   only in my imagination   but I can see very easily that my game would have developed a lot, even on clay, and I’m sure in different surface.
For me, will always be a pity that I didn’t have these opportunities the same way as I thought at the beginning.  Was too much farther than I can still right now can believe it.
So it’s a conflict there, but I prefer to look on the positive way.

Q.  Five years ago in this tournament you played doubles with Kei Nishikori, and back then he was 17 years old and his ranking was around 600.  Now he is 16 in the world.  What do you remember from that doubles match?  Any thoughts on his achievement?
GUSTAVO KUERTEN:  I could see he would be at least top 50, top 30 player on that time.  He played already in a good level.  He’s very talent, as he’s showing right now.  Just depending of how far he want to go.  I think he can go still a little bit more.  He will have to work hard, develop a lot.
But as I saw before, he was very focused, good discipline to play, understanding the game.
So it’s not a surprise for me that he breakthrough to that far.

Q.  You played with Luxilon string.  What do you think it did for you and for the game?
GUSTAVO KUERTEN:  Three French Open, one Masters Cup (smiling).  It gave me a lot, so much.  I believe I was the first to have on this gray one.  Albert Costa start with the purple.  It’s a little bit more thick.
I played the thinner one on this gray.  I remember little farther on, 1999 or 2000, that Agassi was complaining.  If he could not adapt himself to play Luxilon, he would ask ATP to forbid this string because he could feel it not so good, but sometimes it doesn’t fits to your game.
So this was a funny story about it, but I think it bring the    it brought the game to a different level.  That’s for sure.

Q.  Simple question:  Why do you love playing tennis?
GUSTAVO KUERTEN:  Why do I love playing tennis?  Because the relation, I think love    you have maintaining.  It’s not you just love and it is like this.
Every day you have like a flower.  You have to go there, put some water, have to appreciate it, what’s around it.  I start to understand the game and loving the competition around and being by myself at the court, traveling.
The only hard thing for me on tennis, it’s massive competition as everybody is trying to reduce now.  We are playing too much for too long all the time.  This is hard, especially for a Brazilian who has to be out of the continent for 80% of the year.
But even the relation with the crowd, how to appear in the central court with thousand, thousand of people, every single thing I was able to adapt myself.  I just like and then love, and it’s maintaining like this.
Hopefully it can continue.  I don’t play more than three, four matches a year because my physical condition, but still once I’m in the tennis courts, always great feels.

Q.  So you start talking about your father, and he was a great influence for you.  And you have, you know, both of your brothers in the beginning.  You had your coach, Larri Passos.  How much was all this important for you to have all that support?  What’s the role in your career?
GUSTAVO KUERTEN:  It was crucial.  I have these typical Brazilian culture and customs.  I’m very related to our way of living, and it’s very social.  I had to create a formula to bring more people to the court when I was playing.
So I had the feeling   even being by myself at the tennis court   I have the feeling of the support of everybody, of being fulfilled with many different persons.
And these ones that you just spoke are the ones more important to my life, on the court and outside of the court.  So this    I couldn’t never manage to get through without them.
That’s why even at the beginning I was very clear on a way of distribute my achievements, my titles, to the people surround me.
Because as a Brazilian, being individual and just to feel the flavor by yourself, that’s no fun at all.

 

 

 

An interview with:

MILOS RAONIC

THE MODERATOR:  Questions, please.

Q.  What actually happened?
MILOS RAONIC:  Yesterday at the end of practice, we finished doing an hour long practice, and I was just moving back and I rolled over my ankle and ended up spraining it.

Q.  What did they tell you about it?
MILOS RAONIC:  I don’t know too much about it right now.  I haven’t really looked that much into it.  Yesterday in the doubles it wasn’t getting better, and then this morning it was a bit painful on pretty much every movement.
And playing the caliber of player I’d be up against, to play at 40% really didn’t make much sense.

Q.  Do you have any doctors that you can talk to about it?
MILOS RAONIC:  I’m contacting the doctor back in Spain.  I’ve spoken with him a bit.  He doesn’t think it’s anything big.  It probably just needs a couple days of rest, but active rest.
With treatment and so on, it should be okay within a week or so.

Q.  Puts you in your next match where?
MILOS RAONIC:  Monte Carlo.

Q.  How frustrating is this for you?  Just when things go well, suddenly there is another hiccup, whether it’s minor or bigger injury or anything like that.
MILOS RAONIC:  No, it’s frustrating, but I think you take it from the big picture.  Everything is going well.  Obviously it would be more frustrating if things were going poorly.
When these things do happen, I have been pretty good at    even though if I might miss or have some worries about something, I’m pretty good at coming back pretty quickly.
So it’s nothing too bad.  It’s just something to deal with, put your head down, do the work, and let it take its time and come back ready to play when the next event comes around.

Q.  Are you heading straight to Europe?
MILOS RAONIC:  No.  I’m going to go home a few days.

Q.  Is this going to affect in any way your preparation for the clay court season?
MILOS RAONIC:  No.  Um, I had plans on anyways after I finish here going to Europe probably five to seven days after and starting my preparations.
So now I’ll just have, I guess, a few more days because I will be there beginning of next week.

Q.  Can you say your decision was partly influenced by the caliber of opposition you were going to be up against today?
MILOS RAONIC:  Not really.  I put myself in that position.  Am I competitive?  Am I going out there with an opportunity to win?
And also another factor is am I going out there with the risk of doing something worse about it, making more of an issue than it already is?
With all that calculated, it wasn’t, by any means, the right choice to go out there today.

 

G. DIMITROV/T. Berdych

6‑3, 2‑6, 6‑4

An interview with:

GRIGOR DIMITROV

THE MODERATOR:  Questions, please.

 

Q.  It’s your first win over a top 10 opponent.  Talk about your feelings breaking over that threshold.

GRIGOR DIMITROV:  Well, I mean, definitely today was a great match, a great day for me.

I didn’t expect to play that well.  I mean, I was a little tired.  And especially playing against Tomas, it’s always a pleasure to play against him.  I think he’s an amazing competitor, a good player as well, and good person off the court.

So I really have a lot of respect for him.  It’s always nice to have battles with him and all that.

On the other side, I played very well.  I didn’t make enough first serves, though.  I had a couple of things that I knew if they were not going in the right way I would have lost the match.

Got a bit lucky at 4‑All in the third, and, yeah, I was happy to close the match.

 

Q.  What was the key for you today to win?

GRIGOR DIMITROV:  Well, I mean, definitely winning in the first set was very important.  I was pretty often down on break points and stuff.  I was really happy to get back and try to find my game again.

Yeah, he made also a few errors that cost him a little, and, you know, I got there in the right spot and the right time.  So after that it was all about how I’m gonna get ready for the third set and all that.

I didn’t feel too well, but, you know, just fighting all the way and hope that he’s gonna crack somewhere.  That’s what happened.

 

Q.  Will you do anything special to celebrate your first top 10 win?

GRIGOR DIMITROV:  I don’t know yet.  I mean, I haven’t ‑‑ I’m starving, by the way, right now.  (Smiling.)

No, I haven’t thought of anything so far.

 

Q.  Could you give us an idea of how difficult it is playing the senior tour as opposed to the junior tour and making, you know, back‑to‑back wins?  Because you can have a good result and then you have got to be able to rebound the next day and do it all over again.

GRIGOR DIMITROV:  Yeah, I mean, it’s always tough.  I remember myself playing juniors and then coming up to these guys and thought it was going to be a walk in the park.

But obviously it’s not.  Actually I’m pretty happy that I’ve got so far.  It’s one of the first tournaments that I’m pretty consistent on my practice days, on my matches, and on the way I handle myself during the days and the way that I find myself to manage everything.  So I’m pretty happy with that.

But I think it’s very tough to hang.  Nowadays I think the tennis is getting really competitive and a lot of ‑‑ you know, it’s like a physical sport, as well, so you’ve got to be on top every time.

Of course you have your bad days, and you try to escape a little from them.  But, I mean, there’s no such thing as, Oh, I had a bad day today.  That’s why I lost, you know.

 

Q.  Has your new coach have an influence on that win?

GRIGOR DIMITROV:  Yeah, yeah, definitely.  I’m working with Patrick Mouratoglou since, I mean, quite a long time.  It’s actually our first tournament that we started traveling together.

I mean, so far it’s been amazing, you know.  We have good relation, which is the most important, and we practice the right things.  Feel good on court, and I think that’s what any player wants.  You know, just to be happy and work the way that you think is good and of course the way that your coach is telling you to.

 

Q.  You had a very serious training during Christmas.  Seems like everything’s coming together now, right?  How much has to do with this kind of training and start the year and do well?

GRIGOR DIMITROV:  Well, I mean, I think the preparation was one of the best I did so far as I was officially playing on the tour.  I think it was amazing.  Everyone was there.  We had a just an amazing time also, you know.  It’s not only about the preparation.

So, yeah, I mean, definitely I think it paid off a lot.  I was expecting also to play maybe a little better at the earlier ‑‑ beginning of the year, but obviously it wasn’t the right time for me to, you know, to sink in my way.

You know, I felt pretty comfortable by building up all that.  Of course that encouraged me to practice more and get ready for the next tournament and see how I would play the different surface, indoors or outdoors.

And plus, I really ‑‑ and this tournament in particular brings a lot of good memories in me.  When I was juniors I played it so many times, so it’s always happy to come back and experience that but at the higher league.

 

Q.  Looking ahead to the next match against Tipsarevic, what do you feel about that?

GRIGOR DIMITROV:  I played Janko a couple of times.  I think it’s a fair match.  I don’t think there is so much to say about it.

 

Q.  Is there another top 10 win coming up with him, do you think?

GRIGOR DIMITROV:  Well, hopefully.  I would hope for that, of course (smiling).

Yeah, I hope I’m gonna play a good match and I’m gonna just be ready, you know, just be ready physically.  Then I’m gonna feel mentally, as well, on the right state of mind, and, you know, play well.  This is all I’m asking right now.

 

Q.  We saw Serena up there rooting for you right now.  Can you talk about that friendship a little bit?

GRIGOR DIMITROV:  What do you want to know?  No, I’m kidding.

No, she’s a good friend of mine.  She came after in the locker room ‑‑ not in the locker room, the fitness room to congratulate me.  It was very nice of her, yeah.

 

Q.  Just getting an insight into what you expect of yourself and what you feel you need to improve the most ‑ because anybody watching you thinks this guy’s got all the shots ‑ what do you think separates you from where you are now outside the top 100 and where you want to be?

GRIGOR DIMITROV:  Like 2,000 points.

 

Q.  What do you need to do with your game or your approach?

GRIGOR DIMITROV:  Yeah, well, that’s a good question indeed.  Well, definitely I got ‑‑ I feel like I’ve got to practice, you know, a bit more, be more consistent as well on each day, and do the things even better in terms of, you know, everything in a proper way, to be, you know, as professional as it can be.

You know, you go on court, you know that you’ve got to do your two hours of practice.  You know, you got to do like hour in the gym, hour and a half in the gym after.  You have to do certain things that are kind of mandatory for the day.

Of course, being consistent on the matches.  That’s one of the things that, I mean, every player wants and every player strive to get it.

I mean, it’s not easy, of course.  But I think you’ve got to stay on the ‑‑ I think, you’ve got to stay on the right track no matter what, you know, no matter how you feel and, you know, in terms of who you’re playing and all that.

I personally think if you develop your game the way you want, I mean, you can ‑‑ even if it doesn’t work in the moment, you can succeed with the time and just with the things being consistent.

In terms of shots and all that, I mean, I think everyone nowadays has a shot, so it’s not like something hidden, you know.  But of course you’ve got to practice.  You’ve got to make certain things, certain situations.

You know, sometimes hope for the best during the match, yeah.

 

Q.  The Australian Open it was very hard for Patrick because he had you and Jeremy Chardy playing.  It was a spectacular match, so tough.  How tough was it for you to play a friend and somebody…

GRIGOR DIMITROV:  It’s always tough, especially to play against Jeremy.  He’s a good friend of mine.  We practice together in Mauritius.  We’re together in the academy.  We live next door to each other.  It’s kind of funny, but of course it’s never pleasant, no.  We both know that.

When the draw came out, we, you know, had dinner the night before the match together.  Yeah, you know, I think you have to pass through that period.

But it’s, yeah, tough for us.

 

Q.  Do you think maybe a lack of motivation in the past has caused you not to realize your potential?  Is this the kind of win you need to get motivated to get to the next level?

GRIGOR DIMITROV:  Well ‑‑ nah.  I’m always motivated to do something better and to improve certain areas in my game or, you know, outside the court or anything that it’s related to tennis.

I think you never know when you’re, you know, when you’re luck and when your inner voice will come up during the tournament.  All of a sudden you can start winning one, two, three, four matches in the tournament, and all of a sudden you can win the tournament.

That turnaround completely changes everything around you, and, you know, one day to the next, all of a sudden you’re like top 20.  Then you’re like, Oh, my God, I can do it.  Next day you come back even stronger and better minded.

You know, everything kind of develops, and all of a sudden you become like who you really are.

Courtesy of ASAPSports and Sony Ericsson Open