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WIMBLEDONJune 24, 2014Daniel SmethurstLONDON, ENGLAND J. ISNER/D. Smethurst THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Were you especially pleased the way you contended in the first set? Probably look back at one or two of those chances you had at 3‑All and think, If I would've taken those then it could've been a little bit of a different story. DANIEL SMETHURST: Yeah, definitely. From what I can remember, I hit a good backhand pass at 15‑30 and overthought it a little bit. I tried to think about what he was doing. I though he might cover the lines. I tried to roll it cross, then he was just‑‑ he didn't guess at all and was just there. That was definitely a chance that I had looking back. Yeah. Q. What's that like facing his serve? DANIEL SMETHURST: Yeah, I mean, it's ridiculous. For me, I felt like I had to just try and read the situation and read the point score and like what serves he was favoring and then try and get a read on it. Sometimes I did and sometimes I was out of it. Q. As an experience, is it something you can use? DANIEL SMETHURST: Definitely. I didn't realize the crowd would get into it so much. I was overwhelmed by that. I've never had a crowd backing me like that before. That was a great experience. Q. Where are you from, Dan? Manchester? DANIEL SMETHURST: Failsworth. Q. Is that sort of Bolton? DANIEL SMETHURST: No, it's like ten minutes out of the city center. Q. You were playing tennis way above your ranking in the first set. Have you ever played that level before, and do you think you can now start playing that level consistently? DANIEL SMETHURST: Yeah, this year I've been playing that level a lot. I don't think there is‑‑ obviously his serve is ridiculous, but from the back I knew going in it wasn't going to be a massive difference. If I could concentrate on my serve, I knew I had a chance going into the match. Definitely. Q. Where does life take you in the next few weeks? DANIEL SMETHURST: Not fully decided yet. I think I'm going to go to‑‑ there are a few challengers before the US Open quallies in Canada and the U.S. I think I'm leaning towards that. Q. You obviously made an awful a lot of progress this year results‑wise. Going to Nottingham clearly, as we said, has been a huge thing for you. Where do you think you next need to take your game? DANIEL SMETHURST: Yeah, I think serve and return is a big one for me. We've been working on that a lot over the months. The mental side of the game is big. I felt really relaxed out there today on the ball, and I think it really shows in my tennis when I'm relaxed. That's when I play my best tennis. Sometimes I want it a bit too much and I can't just settle down into the match. We had a long talk going into it just reminding me that's when I play my best tennis, is when I can stay calm and just think about my point construction the best. Q. How do you sort of describe the differences between the tournaments you usually play at and suddenly you turn up here and the comfort levels, you know, everything surrounding it? DANIEL SMETHURST: Yeah, obviously it's brand new experience for me. I think I've dealt with it quite well this week. I've been very relaxed in practice and played well with the guys. It's been helping. I played with guys that were in the main draw for six straight days and been competing with them every single day and felt good. But, yeah, today maybe I let it get to me a little bit. After the first set I think I wasn't quite ready for that kind of like‑‑ I put a lot into the first set, and I think second set obviously I got broken my first service game. I think going forward, if I can really realize that five sets is a long match, and I don't think you can quite put as much intensity and mental effort into one set. You've got to last. I think today mentally, especially at the start of the second ‑‑ I mean, I regained it a little bit after that. Yeah, good experience. I'll learn from it. Q. When people watch on the TV, they see the first round of Wimbledon and that's the first thing they see of the tournament. Obviously completely different for people that have to fight to get there. Talk to us about what it has taken for you to get this far. DANIEL SMETHURST: Yeah, I mean, like any tennis player knows, it's a brutal sport because it's pretty much all year‑round and it's really managing your body and your mental side to last the full year. It's no good having one or two good tournaments throughout the year. Doesn't do anything for your ranking. You've got to try and sustain it throughout. I think that's the key. Obviously you want to‑‑ when it comes to the big stage, you want to put your best tennis out there. That's what we play tennis for. So obviously there is a lot of things that go on training‑wise, practice, to be able to have the confidence in your game to put it out there when you get to the big stage. Q. Financially, has it been a struggle being down in the 200 and 300's, and will being in the first round help you financially? DANIEL SMETHURST: Yeah, every single tennis player struggles if they're in the 200, 300's. We're looking in Britain because we've got the LTA bonus scheme which other countries don't have which this year has been very, very good. It was a bit more than that for me. First Wimbledon I wasn't really thinking about ‑‑ everyone was mentioning it a lot, but I wasn't really thinking about the money side because I was ‑‑ I mean, I been coming to this since I was seven. To play in it, I mean, it was a lot of stuff gone on. So I was just happy to‑‑ I mean, I was focused on getting my best tennis out. I was just really happy that I could play here and try and see what I could do. Q. How come you've been coming here since seven? Dad working here? DANIEL SMETHURST: No, just coming just as a regular punter. Q. Right. In that time, what are your sort of favorite Wimbledon moments that you've seen on the other side of the fence? DANIEL SMETHURST: The one that sticks out, I was very young, was when Ollie Rochus beat Magnus Norman. That was an unbelievable match. It really just homes how many different ways there is to play this game. On the TV, if you don't know a lot about tennis then, it looks like there is one way. But as you get more involved in the sport, it's just like so many different ways. Like touch, massive guys serving big like today, and then Ollie Rochus is 5'6" and has more touch than anyone has ever even thought about. That was stuck my mind a lot growing up. Q. As a seven year old seeing John Isner, you probably would've thought you landed on a different planet. What's that like competing against him? DANIEL SMETHURST: You know, it was tough, because I knew that I would have to start getting a read on his‑‑ I couldn't really read his ball toss and his shape, so I was starting to try and read his body language a little bit. He's just so‑‑ he looks like he's not bothered, and he was the same in the Mahut match. For three straight days looked like he wasn't bothered playing. Very tough to get a read on what he's thinking. Obviously he's competing very hard, but doesn't really show it that much. He's a quite relaxed character. Q. In terms of the financial side of things, obviously it's difficult for everyone. Has there ever been a point where you have had to consider your future in the sport? DANIEL SMETHURST: You know what? I'm just very lucky, the fact I've had a lot of support with my parents. I'm not really ‑‑ my expenditure, I knew growing up how tough it was going to be, so I never really spended [sic] anything on anything I didn't need. So anything I could, I put it back into my tennis. Anything I needed after that, my parents were like helping a lot. So I can understand if the parents don't have the means how tough it would be to carry on throughout the years. I don't know how people do it. So I'm lucky. Q. How old were you when you started putting your money into your tennis? DANIEL SMETHURST: I don't think there was ever a decision. Just I got money and I needed it for my tennis, so just there. Yeah. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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