[인터뷰] 마이애미 (~4라운드)

:: 3월 26일, Preview (VIDEO)

Q. How are you feeling at the moment?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I feel all right. I'm physically quite fit, and mentally, obviously, motivated to do well here, to get far in the tournament. I've won this event two years ago, which is quite important for, you know, upcoming 2009 tournament.
It's quite suitable to my game, the surface, and I feel good, even though I had -- the last match I played in Indian Wells was quite disappointing. It was really one of the worst matches I've played in my career on this surface, so I was not happy with the way I performed.
But, you know, life goes on. I'll try to work hard the next couple of days and make things look right, and hopefully now I can get far.

Q. How would you summarize your first few months of the year for you? Are you happy with it?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, yeah. I'm satisfied. I know it could have been better, and I wish something maybe a little bit more, especially in the major events, towards the end of the event.
But I just didn't perform my best tennis when I needed to, and it's just that -- but, you know, I had some decent results, you know. I played quarterfinals of the Grand Slam, semifinals of Marseilles, and then I won the tournament in Dubai, which was really important for my confidence, that I can really come back on the right path. So this is what I'm trying now.

Q. Can you talk about how close the field is, the world's top players? It's not just No. 1 and everybody else. What's that mean when you go into a tournament?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: It means a lot in the first place for the sport, because I think it's -- it's a wish for all the tennis fans worldwide to see more variety of the players, that they can win the major events.
So I think that's what's going on in this moment. You have not any more two or three, you have now four, five, six players that they can really go all the way through. So I think it makes it more interesting for the game, for sport, for everybody.
It's a challenge for us players since we have more candidates, more rivalry, and makes you want to improve more.

Q. Did you see the Australian men's final? Did you watch the men's final?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yes. I did some, yes. Not all of it.

Q. You're an expert beyond any commentator. Was there anything about that match that took you by surprise or the aftermath? Or did it go as you thought it would go?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I thought it was quite a great match. They both played really well. You know, Rafa played more patient, I think better tennis in the important moments. It was just a couple points that it was really decided.
I'm thinking the last couple matches they played against each other it was really a couple of points that really decided the winner. So, I mean, they are the two best players in the world for the last four or five years.
Most of the tennis fans, what they expect from them is always to play a fantastic match. So really high level. That's what they did in Australia.

Q. The Roddick match at Indian Wells, you and Andy have a bit of a rivalry, for whatever reason. Is it that he's playing so much better this year with his new coach and new conditioning, or is it a combination that you kind of didn't seem that fired up for the match?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: He's playing better. That's a fact. He's stepping up more in the court, and he's -- you just feel the improvement.
But in that specific -- specifically that match, it wasn't -- it wasn't only him, you know. He was playing a quite solid, solid match, but he didn't needed to do something extra, because I think I was giving him all the points away. I was just making incredible amount of the unforced errors, and already a break in the first game, you know, gave him a lot of advantage.
So I just wasn't myself that day. But, you know, turn the next page.

Q. Just to take you back to that match in Indian Wells, obviously immediately following it it's difficult for you to understand why you might not have played so well. You've had a chance to reflect now. Do you know why that performance was what it was?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Everything happens for a reason. That day and that match I wouldn't like to remember, of course, but you always try to learn from your mistakes. I didn't do a great job at all. I talked to my coach, and, of course, the team, and tried to figure out the way that I can make some things better.
I don't think it's specifically any shots, forehand, backhand, serve. Just in general, mentally that day I wasn't there. So I think that's what I need to really prove to myself, that I have quality, enough quality that I can be one of the best players in the world. I just need to be confident.

End of FastScripts

 
::  3월 27일, 2라운드, 조코비치 vs 단세비치 : 6-3, 6-2 (VIDEO)

Q. How do you feel today? You felt good?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yeah, I felt good on the court. I think most of my first-round matches this year I haven't got, you know, the right rhythm. But today I was pretty happy with the way I started this tournament.

Q. Any reason why your first-round matches have been awkward for you?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Obviously I wasn't focused enough, and today I played the right game. I was really -- every single game I played I want to give my best, and I think I was -- the concentration was quite important key today.

Q. How is the experience to have the ATP tournament in your country?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, it's a new experience for me and my family and everybody, I think, in Serbia. I think never had an ATP event in my country, so we look forward to that.
We have a lot of interest in sponsors and tennis fans around Serbia, and it's already being announced. Everybody is waiting to have a ticket and come to see the tennis stars.
It's the first year, so we're excited. We're going to try to make a great impression on the tennis world.

Q. The ATP is very happy about it as well.
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yeah, of course.

Q. So now are you going to have to do something more than play? Like are they going to make you clean up and fix things and organize?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: For me I think it's a challenge. It's excitement in one way, because I'm a player and this is my job, my life.
I've been involved in the players' council, so I'm really trying, organization-wise, to do some things and to be a part of innovations, let's say.
So being directly a part of the organization of the event is quite important for my tournament, I think. And because there are certain details on the tournament that I can help out, you know, the organization.
From the perspective of the player, it's exciting. So I look forward to it.

Q. Are you prepared, though? Like some players might come to you and go, Novak, there's not enough water, or Novak...
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: No, I'm not going to clean off the court, for sure. No, they gave me three instead of four balls for practice and things like that.
Well, you know it might be. It was funny, because I was not -- you know, not literally negotiating with the players to come to the tournament, but I was just talking it through so they can think about some of the top players.
I know it's not actually easy week, because you have the 2000 events, Rome and Madrid, and we're in between. Most of the top players will probably not come because they want to focus themselves at major events.
We have a 28 draw, which a great thing. It'll help our tournament to survive. Hopefully we going save some wild cards for the top players if they want to come.

Q. Have you convinced anyone special yet?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Couple players. I don't know if you seen, but Stepanek and Croats, like Ljubicic and Karlovic and players like Cañas. So we going to have a decent first year.

Q. Do you have an actual title at the event? Obviously not director.
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Serbia Open, right?

Q. No, I mean you. Do you have a --
BENITO PEREZ: Top seed.

Q. Your uncle is the tournament director, right?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yeah.

Q. If you could be a super hero, which one would you be and why? What kind of super power would you like to have?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, I think it's unrealistic to look in that way. I wasn't really into that too much. I probably like to be invisible. Just sneak into the girls' locker room. That's one of the super powers.

Q. Why did you change the racquet brand this year?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, I already played for a couple of years in my junior years, so I just basically went back to the old brand. So it wasn't really a -- it was a big change, a big responsibility for me, and quite risky in this period to change the most important tool in our sport.
But, look, I look forward to it. The guys did a good job, so I'm happy.

Q. Stepanek, he's not getting paid for it, but he plays with a racquet that's basically manufactured for him. Have you asked him about that at all?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: No. The only thing I know about him is that he played with my racquets his first match in Masters Cup.

End of FastScripts

::  3월 27일, 3라운드, 조코비치 vs 마띠유 : 6-4, 6-1 (VIDEO)


::  3월 29일, 4라운드, 조코비치 vs 베르디히 : 6-3, 6-2 (VIDEO)

Q. Was it as easy as it looked, or not?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: No, look, nothing is easy in these stages of the tournament. I'm playing top 20 player, and a player who won against basically all top players in this moment, so it's never easy to play, on this surface especially.
So I was trying to stick with him all the time, because I knew he's very aggressive, but not really consistent from the baseline. He makes a lot of unforced errors, especially from the forehand side, so I changed the pace and I played a really good tennis today.

Q. Is that what separates the top 10 from maybe the top 20, 25, the consistency? They all have the strokes, but it's just the consistency.
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, it's just the details, I think. It's just maybe mental calmness and confidence in certain moments, important moments in the match.

Q. The other day you were saying that you were looking for confidence, in fact, this year. Did you find it back, or you still need some more wins to be sure?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, wins are necessary to get the confidence, and this is what I'm getting lately. Luckily for me, I'm winning more matches then I'm losing. Winning the Dubai event and a couple matches at Indian Wells and here again, so far it's going well.
Hopefully I can continue this way.

Q. The next two, Simon or Tsonga, you've had great matches with both. They're two entirely different players. Talk about the challenge each match would present.
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yeah, big challenge for me. Certainly not a favorite in both of the matches I play, because they're great players. Simon has improved incredibly in the last five or six months. He's been playing very solid tennis from all sides. He's a very tricky player, because he makes you always play another extra shot.
On the other hand, I lost to Tsonga four times in a row, so he has a little advantage probably there. But, again, I think all the matches we played was very close. So if I play him, it's going to be a challenge for me to win.

Q. Have you found this a little bit of a strange year? Because a lot of people are talking about obviously Roger and Rafa, and then there's almost an assumption that one day soon Murray will be maybe No. 3, No, 2, No 1. Does that stiffen your resolve a little bit?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Look, I'm really happy that the people don't talk too much about me now. It releases pressure, and then I can really perform my best tennis. So I think it goes to my favor.

Q. You've kind of grown up with electronic line calling the last three years. Is it something you sort of take for granted now?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I think I've been quite successful with that.

Q. You've been more successful than any other top player.
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Really?

Q. Yeah.
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: That's good. It's not that I have, I don't know, eye of the falcon or something. I just get that feeling. You know, probably I have a good eye, okay, good feeling for the ball.

Q. But does it seem like it's just part of the game now, it's integrated?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yeah. I support it. Some players do; some don't. But I'm on the side of the players who really like it. I think it brings out entertainment for fans, and it's interesting.
On the other side, for the players, it gives them chance to overcome -- to overrule the first call, which is good.

Q. Are you going to bring it to the Serbian Open?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Hopefully -- yeah, well, money, money. We have clay, so that's a little bit different.

Q. The new racquet you have, you have mastered the feelings with the racquet, or you still have something to improve in the feelings you have with it?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: We're working on it, but I think we're -- it's not really 100%, but it's very close. I mean, I was working a lot on the racquet in last eight, nine months.
And it was hard decision for me to switch, but I did, and I suffered a little bit in the start of the season. More mentally than the real racquet because it's a hard switch, but now I'm really starting to get used to it much more.

Q. Can you explain the difference between the two?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Head racquet has a lot more I think swing weight and it's really fast. It's really fast.

Q. You've got the same amount of prize money as the women's event here, but it's configured in different ways. If you were to win, you're actually going to earn less than the women because the distribution is different. Are you happy with the way that the men's prize money is being distributed?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I don't want to go too deep about that. There's been a lot of talks about that. Look, I'm not paying attention on the women's tennis. This is something that's not in our hands.
What is in our hands you have to be concerned about, and that is to increase the prize money and really work on some things that we really deserve. I don't think it's fair to have equal prize money, that's for sure.

Q. I understand that a lot of players did like you, which is to have their early training outside of Serbia. Is that the current trend? If so, why?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: It's because of the lack of professional conditions in our country. We didn't have any tradition and any conditions which - or facilities - which would bring us and develop us to the professional waters of tennis. That's why we had to go different ways abroad.

Q. And now it's changing, or...
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: It's changing.

Q. Are you confident that everything will be ready on time for your tournament? I saw some pictures, and...
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: No, no, no, don't worry. Everything will be on time. They are working on it since the start of this year. I mean, already two months working, and we gonna make a good impression.

Q. Talk Viktor Troiki, your countryman. We don't know much about him.
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yeah, he's playing fantastic in the last two events. He's a physically very strong guy. He's always been like that, even in juniors. He had a little issues with the groundstrokes, with the technique, but now he is improved. His forehand is much better, and his movement has always been very powerful for his height. So we can expect him to do well in the future.

Q. Have you helped him or mentored him in any way?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: He's older. He knows.

End of FastScripts