인디언웰즈, 인터뷰 모음2 (조코비치)
Novak Djokovic (Battling himself in first set)
Novak Djokovic (Importance of winning first set)
Saturday, March 22, 2008 (SF)
Novak Djokovic (Playing Fish)
Novak Djokovic (Didn't think it'd be so easy)
Novak Djokovic (Plenty of confidence)
Sunday, March 23, 2008 (Final)
Novak Djokovic
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N. DJOKOVIC/S. Wawrinka (7-6, 6-2)
Q. Your reaction to the final point of the first set tiebreak was as though you kind of won the championship. I mean, that was probably the point of the championship. How important was that in the overall outcome?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: It's very important to me. I'm a very emotional player on the court and very emotional person off the court as well. I like to express my feelings, and this is obviously very important for me.
As you could see by the reaction, it was one of the not one of the, probably the most important point of the game.
Q. Why was he giving you so much trouble to start with? Was the problem with you or him or both?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, I didn't play so well in the first set. I made a lot of unforced errors. Obviously he knows that I'm going to try to be aggressive, so he was waiting for his chance. He was playing very wisely.
But it was my mistake in the end of the first set. I couldn't finish it off at 5 3, and I got that first set in a big question. You know, 6 5 he was serving for the set, so it could go either way.
I played well that game and I gave myself another opportunity, which I used. But, again, that tiebreaker was pretty close. It was, you know, point after point and it was really interesting, I think, for the crowd to watch it.
For us it was really difficult, because we had such long rallies and points on a big heat. It is not easy to hold on, but obviously I was a bit lucky in the first set.
Q. In the tournament statistics they said you had about 31 unforced errors that first set. Did you feel like you were maybe battling yourself a lot that first set?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: In one way, yes. As I said, you can't always play on your top level. It's normal to have some difficult stages in the tournament and sets and matches. This was the one. This was really a test for me.
Yeah, I'm happy to win such a difficult match. You know, we played over two hours only two sets. The time is showing that we had such long rallies. But in the end I won, and that's what matters.
Q. Do you regard him as legitimate challenger perhaps for a place in the top 20?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Sure, I do. Even further than top 20. I think he really deserved to be he deserves to be there, but I think his biggest problem is health. He was struggling with the health. If he manages to keep the health, you know, on some good level, he can if he, again, tries to be consistent with the results, he can be a good player.
Q. Thoughts about the next round? You know, both players, who you might play.
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I never played with James, so if I play him it will be a new encounter and new experience. But we know each other for a long time, of course. We been practicing and watching each other for a couple of years already.
The other side, I played against Rafa. I have negative score against him. I been successful against him on the hard courts outdoors, so I can say that I feel pretty confident if I play him. We know each other's game a lot, and we had very a lot of meetings in this the last year.
So it will be it's going to be interesting whoever I play. Again, it's going to be interesting to see who's going to win this match, because Rafa think, he never won against James. So for him, it's going mental fight to get through.
Q. Can you talk about playing Rafa last year in the finals and how that became a great learning experience for you? Because you got him again the following tournament.
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, I did learn a lot. Last year's finals here at Indian Wells was my first finals in the Masters Series. I was still inexperienced, young. Even though he's only one year older than me he had much more experience and many titles, so I think I was really nervous at start of the match.
Then I had some chances in the second set, but I was a bit unlucky. We had a lot of tough matches on a lot of different surfaces, so every time I play him I learn something new.
I'm going to try to figure out the way I have to play against him. He's a big fighter. You know, he's a kind of player who doesn't give you any free points, and he's going to play every point no matter what the result is.
That is what makes him so special, and that's what drives his opponents probably crazy. They don't get so much free points. This is human, and hopefully if I play him I can be myself and aggressive and get the best out the past matches I had.
Q. Do you think you're a little bit hard done by the timing of the umpire's call against you today?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: No. Listen, it's not a matter of the call, it's a matter of timing. I've talked to them a lot in the past couple months, and I said and they're good guys. I don't have nothing against them.
It's just they're not choosing the good timing. It happened the same thing in Australia. I am aware of the fact that I'm late, and there is no problem. I'm going to accept my I'm going to accept my blame and my fault.
But you have to warn me before. You can't just give me a warning like that before without giving me the prewarning and giving me the worst possible moment: 30 40, 5 3, I think. Okay, I went over the limit, but you should tell me before. This is something that I had against him, but okay.
Q. So maybe the previous changeover they should, say You're taking a wee bit too much time here.
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: This is usually what the more experienced umpires do. Mohamed is for me one the best. He always gives me a prewarning and tells me to hurry up. If he gives me a warning afterwards, okay I take it. It's my fault.
Q. When you practice with James, what about his game has impressed you?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, he's a very aggressive player and he moves so well. He's very, very fast and he has extremely fast hands, so he can come up with some incredible shots from some incredible position that you, you know, least expect.
So that makes him dangerous. If you give him opportunity to play, that's when he steps it up. This is what I shouldn't do.
Q. How do you think you stack up mentally against James in terms of the match toughness?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Me?
Q. Yeah.
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, I haven't played him still in my career. As I said, would be probably a new experience for both of us. But it's already we're coming to the final stages of the tournament, so we're all playing better and better.
I think we going to be both motivated because it's semifinals of a big tournament.
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N. DJOKOVIC/R. Nadal (6-3, 6-2)
Q. Well played.
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Thank you.
Q. Did you think that was going to be that easy, and how well did you think you played?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I played really well. I think tactically wise I played really smart. And I knew that I had to be aggressive and take the control, take over the control of the match, try to go for the shots, which I did.
A bit too much in the start of the match, but the important I think the turning point was that break on 4 3, first set. I had a bit of luck.
Anyhow, looking in the general stats of the match, I was really playing well and serving well. That is the base. It was really important.
Q. Where does this huge confidence that you have this year coming from? I think this is the biggest difference in your game in the last couple months.
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, you know, if you win more and more matches you get more confident. I think that's obvious fact. But I'm trying to remain focused on results and tennis, because I already achieved a lot with only 20 years of age, and I know that people already see me as one of the best players in the world.
But I need to stay calm and just go step by step and try to get to my lifetime goal which is to be No. 1. It's getting closer, but still, I don't want to go too fast and skip some things. I really need to be consistent with my results in the most important events, major events. I started the year in the best possible way, but still, it's not over yet. I need to play finals.
Q. How much better do you think you've gotten this year so far?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, I matured a lot mentally, I think, in the first place. I knew that mental ability and strength comes with time and with experience, of course.
I had a lot of the matches. I think I played most of the matches last year on the ATP Tour, which gave me a lot of boost, I think, and a lot of confidence. So I had some really important wins last year, which proved and made me believe that I can be one of the best players in the world and I have enough quality for that.
Q. This is a maybe/if question: Have you played Mardy Fish before, and how have you done?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: US Open 2006.
Q. You beat him?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yes. It was a really tough match.
Q. Is that the only time?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yes. No, actually we played in Hopman Cup this year. Again, it was 7 6 in the third set, I think.
He's a really difficult opponent to play against. I think the match is still not over, but he's in the lead, obviously playing on top of his shape in this tournament, has nothing to lose. He won against some great players throughout all tournament, obviously has nothing to lose today.
If he wins, he's not going to have anything to lose even tomorrow. No expectations for him. He's just going to go for his shots probably and be aggressive. He's a big server. It takes time. If I play him, I need to be patient and wait for my chances.
Q. It's 5 1 in the second. Does that surprise you?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: It does a little bit. You know, I think his style of the game suits to Roger, but obviously Roger is not playing well today for whatever reason.
But, of course, you can't play always well. I think for Roger it is not so good that he didn't play quarterfinals and he didn't have a tough match. You know, Fish is ready for it. He's obviously deserving it. You know, he plays better.
Q. Let's say Fish does close it out. Would you feel a bit more confident playing Mardy Fish than not saying you wouldn't feel confident playing Roger, but more confident play Fish than playing Roger?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, probably if you play No. 1 player of the world in the finals, in the finals of any tournament, I think it's much tougher than to play against somebody who has not been in so many finals of the major events.
But again, looking at his results and the players he won against this tournament, it's not going to be easy, for sure. You know, winning against best player in the world, 6 3, 5 1, it's just fantastic result.
As I said, he's going to go for his shots. He has a big serve which he can rely on and he improved a lot from the baseline.
Q. Three different Serbians in three different finals this year in Indian Wells.
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Again, Serbian Open, probably. It's becoming a bit boring to see so many Serbians. I think it's just unexplainable and fantastic to see so many Serbs in the top of the men's and women's worlds in both singles and doubles.
We are all doing so great. It's just fantastic to see, as well, how much people in our country appreciate what we do and respect our results and, you know, we can't ask for better.
Q. It's only the been a year. Are you saying you're bored of the Serbian success?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: No. I'm just saying every single tournament the last couple months there's always some Serbian in the finals. For our country, it means a lot.
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N. DJOKOVIC/M. Fish (6-2, 5-7, 6-3)
Q. You took off your cap, and then you pulled three aces out of your hat. How did you do that?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: It was like I pull out three aces from the sleeve, right?
Q. Yeah.
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, yeah, I lost habit playing with the hat but I needed to because of the heat, is really big, so I had to I had to protect myself from the sun, but, you know, that was a crucial moment and it was the turning point in the whole match. If I didn't come up with the three aces, it could go either way.
Q. Should we name it maybe Serbian Wells now?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yeah. (laughter.)
Q. What happened in the second set, Novak? What was the struggle?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, I was break up, and then I was 5 3, Love 30, he served out good, but anyhow, I should have used my opportunities. And I knew before the match that he is a big server and he's going to go for the shots and I just need to calm down, be patient and wait for my chances, which I did well in the first set and start of the second, but then suddenly I was nervous in the moments when I needed to keep my focus and calm down, and of course the result was unforced errors which would be crucial for me throughout the match.
Q. How does it feel when you've won the first Grand Slam of the year, now you've won the first Masters of the year. Pretty impressive start. Why do you think it's suddenly coming together for you?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: It's a big run. Well, obviously I'm getting all things together, and I started believing in myself much more than I used to last year. You know, when you start winning the major events, you obviously have proved to yourself in the first place to everybody else that you have quality to be there at the top, and it's just a matter of mental ability and mental strength.
I worked on that, you know, throughout these two years, and I think I gained that with experience. But on the other hand, I know that to be here and to make such a great achievements, you need to work hard and that's what I'm doing. So I hope I hope I can keep the momentum going.
Q. What would you consider for after this fabulous start a successful year for you? What would you consider a successful year?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, it's been a dream start, of course. Before I started playing this season, I said that my two goals is to be consistent with the results, I reach the Masters and hopefully win one Grand Slam. I did all that in very, very small amount of time.
But again, I don't want to stop here, even though I've been playing fantastic, and I'm lucky enough to have a lot of important tournaments on this surface, which suits me the best, and I just try I'll try to keep going in Miami, and I'm defending champion there. But coming up from Indian Wells as, you know, tournament winner, it's much easier to play.
Q. Do you think that this huge professional success changed you as a person at all?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: No. As a person, no. Of course, there are some things which you can't stop, and things change in the life. Of course you can't maybe do some things and that you want to, that you used to do when you didn't make such a big success in getting popular. But as a person, I'm really trying to stay with both legs on the earth and just be focused on the tennis, because that's what I do, and then just, you know, be around the important people.
Q. What's more dangerous for you in the situation like playing a guy who has a big game and throwing your rhythm out and end points quickly or a guy who can stay up there and grind you with like a Rafael?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, you have a different approach to different players, and Rafa and Mardy are two very differential players. Rafa is a grinder, and he runs a lot. He doesn't give you a lot of free points, and he produces a lot of spin.
Then you have totally opposite, Mardy, who has a huge serve and he plays pretty flat and goes for his shots, and he doesn't like long rallies, long points.
So I knew that today I would have to have a different approach, a little bit, try to be patient and wait for chances. Obviously he didn't serve so well today, as I maybe expected, as he did in last couple of matches. So that probably helped me to win those service games of his.
Q. If someone had told you when you and Ivanovic were practicing together as kids that you would win back to back titles of this size on the same day, what would you say?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: You're joking with me. (laughter.) That's what I would say, probably.
Well, this is something I think that we absolutely deserve, you know. We've been working very hard to throw out all of our lives, and this is just a crown for our work, and it's paying off.
Q. What does all this success do for your country?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: It does a lot. You know, I think professional athletes all over the world represent their country, are one of the biggest ambassadors of their country, and, of course, considering the fact that our country is in very difficult position, they're struggling economically, in economics and in politics, as well, but this is something that I don't want to get involved in, and I just, from my side, try to help my country as much as I can.
Q. Apparently you won first two major tournaments of the year, and we've got players like Mardy Fish and Tsonga beating Federer and Nadal. Do you think there's more equality in the top 10 now or even in the top 20 as far as players go?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I think so. There is more variety of players at the top, which is encouraging thing for this sport. Obviously a lot of people, if I can say like that, got a little bit bored, Federer and Nadal winning and being so dominant throughout couple of years already.
It's always good to see some new faces winning major events, and I think the people like it. And, yeah, the best thing is that all these new faces are young, young players, so hopefully you can see a lot of them in the future.
Q. You don't think people are tired of you winning everything early?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I'll try to be interesting for people (laughter.)
Q. Going into Australia, Roger was still the favorite to win the tournament. You win it. So you come into Indian Wells this time and it could have been argued at the start of the tournament that maybe you're the favorite, so was it a different type of pressure for you to come through here and actually win it?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yes, this is something which comes with success. You make obviously pressure is a part of the sport, but I think it's challenge and a privilege for all the professional athletes to have this pressure.
And now, the difference between the top players obviously in there, everybody else has the mental ability to cope with the pressure under certain moments and certain tournaments, especially tournaments with a value like this.
You know, with only 20 years of age I've achieved a lot in my life, but as I said, tennis tennis season is long, and tennis career is long, so hopefully I can have this kind of life in the next 10, 15 years. I'll try to do that and just be focused on that.
Q. There are some players who play the sport who I think would probably die rather than give a point away. I mean, you gave him a second you gave him a first serve somewhere during the match today. That's fairness, as well. It was appreciated by the crowd, as well. Did you sense that as you were...
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yeah, I sensed that. I'm happy that the crowd and the player of course, my opponent recognized the gesture I made and they appreciate that. I felt in that moment I should do that, so I just did it without any concerns.
Q. Would you be kind to tell us little bit more about the tennis center that your family is building in the heart of your country and the city of Kragujevac, please?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yes. We have finally, after many years of trying, we have good news now. We have license to build up two tennis complex, two tennis centers, one in Belgrade and one in Kragujevac, as you mentioned.
We're trying to create a family business in the firsthand, and the other hand try to help all the kids that really wanted to improve and to develop into the professional tennis players.
As I was saying before, Serbia doesn't have still a tennis center, national tennis center, and it's very much needed, considering the results that we are making. So I think we deserve it and we're going to try to help those kids.
Q. As has been mentioned, you've had this great start. In your own mind, do you think you're the best player in the world now?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, I'm still not thinking that direction. I'm aware of the fact that people started talking about that, and looking at me as best player in the world this moment, which of course looking at the results I think I deserve to be, but again, I don't want to think in that direction, because it creates an extra pressure, and I have enough of the pressure and expectations behind my back.
I just want to think towards the continuation of the season, and I know that there's still a long way to the end of the year, and I'm coming closer, though, to the second place of the world, and people started talking about it three players instead of two now, which is encouraging thing and great thing for me. But I'm still not thinking of myself as the best player in the world.
Q. You've struggled through some hard times growing up, things like that. Have you allowed yourself any luxuries since you've become a big player and obviously making a lot of money and having a lot of success?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, this is something private, you know, which I think everybody enjoys. Money is important, but it's not most important thing, and I was never trying to be materialistic.
I always appreciate now, because of coming through such difficult times and coming from the country which never had big tennis tradition, you know, I turn around and look at my past and I think it helped me to be grownup person now and to think in some other way and to appreciate the value of life in some other thinking.
Q. At 4 2 in the second set you had control. Can you tell us kind of what happened to maybe lose that set and how you regained control in the third?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: As I said, I was nervous in that moment, and it resulted with some unforced errors, and I gave him opportunity to come back into the match, which he used, and I think that was that was crucial.
Q. Although it's a late hour, do you think there's some celebrating going on back home in Serbia?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Whew, might be, yeah. But they've had enough of our success last year, so...
I'm not sure. I haven't talked to anybody except you guys after the match, so hopefully but they always appreciate what we do and they respect our achievements, so it's nice to see that.
Q. You said that you don't want to get, I guess, pulled into the political situation at home, but you gave that video speech last month and also, I guess, what happened the last couple of days ago with Milorad Cavic and getting banned from the swimming championship.
Were there any repercussions from the speech that you gave that maybe made you hesitant, and is there any sort of attention that athletes have to go through?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: No, I still haven't got any negative comments on that. Of course, my life is tennis, my life is sport. This is my job.
This is what I do, and this is what I try to keep focused on. I know that the people obviously look at me as a very successful athlete and the man who can bring up a lot of positive energy to their country.
This is what I do, but as I said before, I'm not trying to get involved in politics, and this is period. This is the final sentence from me. And even though I'm young, I gave that speech, because I felt in that moment very bad and very disappointed in what's going on in our country, and the people who know my past and they understand what I'm saying, my father and my aunt, my uncle, they all grew up there, they were born in Kosovo, and my family used to live there for 30 years. I was there many times. So it kind of touched me in that moment that this was my quest to give support to my country.
Q. There were some fans up in the upper deck today with flags and everything, and one had a Serbia Kosovo with Serbia banner, and they were asked to take it down. How do you feel about that?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: This is a decision of the organizers. Obviously it's a very touchy task to talk about it now, so I don't have any comment for that.
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