[인터뷰] 인디언웰즈
Q. You said on court you were jet lagged and it was cold. Does that kind of sum up the match tonight?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, you know, I definitely had a couple of tiring weeks behind me with Davis Cup and Dubai, so I was really skeptical if I'm going to be able to physically recover from all of that, including the jet lag and time zone change.
You know, I was happy with the way I moved today. I had a lot of ups and downs. Second set, that was just forget about it, I guess.
You know, overall, first and third set were quite okay, so hopefully I can get some good night's sleep and get ready for the next one.
Q. When you lose a second set like that, what does it tell you about your fighting spirit almost that you fought in the third set, or is it tempting to just say, oh, it's a bad week?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, look, when he broke me second time, he served well for 5-love. From that moment on, I was already thinking about the third set.
So I tried to, you know, analyze what I need to do to make my game a little bit better in order to win.
Q. You're sounding very clogged up. Is it a cold or allergies or what?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Allergies, yeah.
Q. Other than that, is that the only thing that you can think of that's negative?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I don't want to sound like I have excuses. It's like these things happen. We're all humans. It's all part of us. We drink water, we eat food like everybody else.
But we have to get used to the conditions much quicker than anybody else, and naturally body itself requires, you know, a lot more days than we actually have.
Q. Never a doubt, eh?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Sorry?
Q. Match was never in doubt?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yeah. It was a comfortable win (laughter.)
Everything was well up a set and 2-love, and then I played a bad game on 2-1 with my serve and suddenly he started missing less and I started making a lost of unforced errors.
We lost nine games in a row, which was very frustrating. But, you know, fighting through. It's another win, so I try to look on the positive side, the things that I did well.
It's a fact that I'm not feeling the ball 100%, and I know that, and people who see the match, they know that. Look, it's a sport. You cannot always play your best. Still, considering the last couple of weeks that I had, it's normal that I dropped the level of game a little bit.
But still trying to find the rhythm and manage to feel good on the court. As I said, set and break was great, and then after that, it was -- it was just pulling up the strings to stay in the match.
Q. When you're down a match point, did your coach tell you how to play or think with a match point, or does that come all from your own brain?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, the way I was playing from 2-Love, 2-Love down, I don't think you could tell me too much how to play. It was a match with a lot of ups and downs. Love-3 down and break balls, and then I was 4-3 with a serve.
I lost that, and then on love-40 I just played a couple of good points. That's it. He was playing well most of the second and third set. But when I needed to, I did the work, served well, made some good approaches from forehand side.
You know, in those moments, you just try to stay focused and work the things in the best possible way. I mean, you know, it's one or two points. One point in a tight match, I mean, he easily could be the winner of this match; and he would deserve it.
Again, I managed to do it.
Q. On that game where you were down three match points, did you pick up the level of your serve, do you think, or what happened there?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I think it happened a little bit that I served more efficient and managed to have more aggressivity in the play and take over the control of the point.
I just don't understand why I didn't do that throughout the whole match. I've changed the concept and the tactics for no reason.
It was all my fault, and I put him back into the play. He regained the rhythm, and he was just a point away from the victory. So these things frustrate me a little bit, but what can you do?
Q. Then when you're down Love-40 like that, do you quit worrying so much? Do you just play more freely because you have nothing to lose at that point?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Somehow, yeah.
Q. Have you decided you're going to run for the council again?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Excuse me?
Q. Have you decided you're going to run for the players' council again?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I have to think about it. But I really -- you know, I got into the council because Rafa and Roger did, and we all agreed that we want to participate in the decision-making and try to make this sport better for all of us, especially the players, because there are things that we're not happy with.
So far it's going well. I think the people who are in charge of ATP and leadership, they understand the players' needs. It's a process, you know. You can't ask, you know, today for tomorrow. There's a lot of things at stake, you know. You have to consider tournaments' requests, as well.
Q. What do you consider your biggest accomplishments on the council?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I think our biggest advantage and accomplishment is that most of the top 10, 15 players are sharing more or less the same opinion. In 90% of questions and tasks, we agree.
This is an improvement. This is something that as far as I know didn't happen for a while, and we should use that and we should be together.
It's individual sport, and everybody has his own thinking and his own requests and directions in career. But if we are managing to keep all those thoughts together and fight our way through, we can accomplish a lot.
Q. When the hat came off, what was that all about?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Hey, it's one of the frustration moments when everything is bothering you. If I could pull my hair off, I would do it in that moment. (Laughing.)
It doesn't surprise me with me anyway.
Q. Apart from the win itself, what other positives do you take out of today's match?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Like the first match, I got into both encounters with a lot of focus, and you could see that in the first set against Fish and today against Kohlschreiber.
So I will try to maintain this focus, but I really for next match want to maintain it up to the end and not have any mental breakdowns, you know, in the middle of the match.
Nine games in a row, this is something that I cannot allow anymore to happen.
Q. The other night Pete Sampras did an imitation of Andre. Have you seen that?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: No, I haven't seen it. I was planning to go to watch that match. Actually, I was very happy to meet Pete, which is my lifetime idol. I met him for the first time in my life. I've seen him for the first time live just a couple days ago, which was strange, you know, because I've seen most of the guys except him. I've seen him in La Quinta and we had a little chat.
You know, I fulfilled somehow my childhood dreams, you know, because he's the one that gave me a lot of motivation to become a professional player. I've seen him winning the Wimbledon when I was four, five years old.
Because I didn't have anybody playing tennis in my family, I had to do it myself. So he's one of the persons that I admire a lot in the sport, and to be able to meet him was just amazing.
Q. He obviously has a lot of strengths, but what was the one thing that really inspired you? Was it his strokes? His commitment to being No. 1?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Definitely commitment and just mental mindset. Mindset and the way he approaches matches, tournaments. He's just one of the biggest ever that played this game.
Q. Did you have a good conversation? Did you learn anything about him?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yes. You know, when the kid meets an idol -- I surprised myself. I thought, it's not going to be a big deal. I'm on the tour for many years. I'm grown up. But it was incredible, you know.
I mean, you looked up to somebody and you just meet him and shake hands with him, and he tells you you win with your mind and your heart, and that's something that is very true.
I wish one day I can hit with him. He promised me he's going to hit with me, so I'll keep him for the word.
Q. Did you meet at an organized event, or was it just randomly around town?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: No, he practiced with Federer just before I did in La Quinta. That's how we saw each other.
Q. If you can take anything from Pete's game and put in your own game, what would be it would it be?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Serve, man, serve.
Q. Not the net game?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Net as well. Definitely.
Q. Talk about his serve. What, is it from a different planet, or what makes it so special?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: His serve?
Q. Yeah.
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I thought my serve. (laughter.)
What makes it so special? Wow. Well, I think a lot of double faults make it very special. No, he's -- let's not get to the biomechanics of the serve too much in details, but I think it was just his mindset.
I mean, his ability and confidence in the right moments. Whenever he needed to serve well, he did, you know. Break ball, 30-All, he always pulled up an ace, a winner.
With a big serve -- his serve was not that fast, but it was so precise, and he gave himself a lot of opportunities for easy next shot.
Q. Ivan already gave you a lot of trouble in Dubai. Was today a very different match?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, I don't think any match that we play is different. It's more or less based on the, you know, service and returns. You know, as long as -- as much as I get to the rallies, I think I have more chances to win the point. It wasn't the case today.
I think he -- I had a lot of opportunities, and I didn't use many of them. Actually, my execution was very bad, and, you know, he played well when he needed to and he served well when he needed to.
I mean, I was aware of his qualities before the match, and I was aware that, you know, if he serves well, then he can play relaxed on the return games.
So that was the case. I played a terrible game on 4-3 for me, the first set. I think that was one of the turning points in the whole match.
Q. Is it fair to say that you never really sort of felt comfortable or found your groove this tournament?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yeah, that's true. I mean, this is a tournament where I definitely didn't feel comfortable on the court. It's not because of the tournament itself. It's just because I had a very tiring couple of weeks coming from Davis Cup, which was emotionally very exhausting for me.
I had to travel the next day, you know, already, and came here, so I was not -- I am not happy with the overall performance that I had in this tournament, because I know I could have played better and could have done better.
But, look, you know, under decent circumstances I still made it to the fourth round, which is quite okay. And life goes on. I will get ready for Miami as best as I can.
Q. Are you glad to have a little bit of rest, even if it means you had to lose that you get that?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yeah, very much. I am very glad that I'm now gonna have, you know, at least three, four days without any practice. And I need that, you know. People don't realize that you need equally to be rested as you need to practice, and this is the balance that, you know, I'm still trying to make, you know, with the schedule.
It's really difficult. But, you know, I'm going to take it easy now.
Q. Probably you don't have any regrets, but any regrets for playing Davis Cup or not?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: No, there's no regrets. There is no regrets for anything I've done in my life.
I went through a lot of positive emotions there. It took a lot out of me, obviously, and wasn't that great for Indian Wells. But I was very satisfied, and I still am, for winning that tie, you know. It's something else.
Q. Will you look forward to playing him again in the next round of Davis Cup?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yeah, I mean, he's playing really well. Couple of years ago he was No. 3 of the world, and he showed today why, you know.
He can hit the ball very well from the back court. He has a great anticipation, and has one of the best serves on tour.
He was struggling a little bit with injuries and dropped a little bit, but now he's back, you know. He's back in top 20, and he deserves to be there.
Q. There's one more tournament before the clay court season. Is it gonna be important for you to make a statement there at Miami before we switch over to the clay?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, look, now Miami is my priority, so I will try to focus and get as ready as possible for that tournament.
I really, really want to go far there, because -- still, even though I lost today, I still feel that some things went better. I think I served better even though I was broken a couple of times. But still my first serve was working better than was the case in the first couple matches here.
So this is what I want to work on, and then clay, you know, which is generally one of my favorite surfaces. So again, the transition between hardcourts and clay, there's not much time. Again, you have only a week, but...
Q. Have you rescheduled? Last year, I mean, you had a great clay court season, and you came into Roland Garros a little bit tired.
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I can't do much, unfortunately, because I have to play Monte-Carlo. I live there, you know. It's one of my favorite tournaments. Then I go to Rome, obviously, and then I have my hometown tournament, Belgrade. Then I have, you know, Madrid and then Paris.
Q. So it's the same exact schedule as last year?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yeah, yeah.
Q. Talking about schedule, I mean, can you just talk about your thoughts about the Davis Cup scheduling? Putting it so close to a big tournament like this and having you have to make that decision or push to prioritize?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, I wish some things could have gone a different way. If I could change something, I would. But it's not that easy, you know, obviously.
It's my individual opinion that, you know, I wish, you know, I could have a bit more time between surface changing, you know, so I can adjust a bit slowly without any pressure. But this is the way that tennis is, and it's been already like that for many years.
I mean, I'm not going to be the black sheep, the one who is gonna, you know, be the stubborn one and say, you know, this is not right. We are working towards some issues, and the guys agree definitely there are some periods in the year that we want to work on and make the schedule work better for us, for our health, and that's the main priority.
I mean, you don't want to risk your health for -- I mean, tennis is our life and it's something we do and we love to do, but, again, health is the most important.
Q. Now how does it work? Will you fly to Miami tomorrow? Will you take a couple days off?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I never been in LA during the day, so I really -- LA is so close, so I want to pay a little visit to LA before I go there.
Q. Anything you want to see in particular?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Oh, let's keep that secret, please.
Q. It's better at night.
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Some private things.
