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BNP PARIBAS MASTERSNovember 2, 2014Novak DjokovicPARIS, FRANCE N. DJOKOVIC/M, Raonic THE MODERATOR: Questions in English, please. Q. Well‑played. Congratulations. First man to win here successive years. That's something different. NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yes. Well, since it's last Masters event of the year, I guess over the years you could expect that, you know, top players maybe rest for the World Tour Finals. Or it happens so many times that, you know, you have some surprises, you have some players who are not expected to win and then they win. So to be able to win it two, three years in a row, with, again, a final tournament of the year ahead of me, it's great. I enjoy playing in Paris. Played the best match of the entire week today when it was most needed. I got a lot of returns back and just overall extremely happy with the performance. Q. Yeah, it was great. Almost 100% except for eight points you suddenly lost in the middle there. What happened there? There was a period of eight consecutive points that you lost. NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yeah. Well, I think it was Love‑40, 4‑1, Love‑40, and then he got five points in a row, and then it was Love‑40 for him in my service game. You know, it happens. It's all sport, and you go‑‑ thank God it was the only little crisis that I had during the match. I managed to save the service game, which was probably the crucial turning point of the match. I didn't want him to come back on even terms. You know, after that I started swinging through. It was a great match. Q. With London coming up, does it matter to you who's in your group or anything with the way you're playing, especially indoors or anything? Do you feel pretty much ready to go against anybody and everybody? NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Best eight players in the world in the whole year, so, you know, there are not many preferences, to be honest. But definitely encourages me the fact that I have played so well this week and that I have won four last indoor tournaments in the last two years that I've played in also four events that I played. From the outdoor hard court that was my most successful most preferable surface, and now I guess it's an indoor court. I do feel very comfortable playing, returning, serving in these conditions. And two successive titles in London in last two years gave me reason to believe that I can do well. Even this year I will have a week off to recharge my batteries, recover a little bit, spend some time with family, and get on the court. I'm excited to be there, because I think it's one of the most spectacular tennis venues that we have. People as well here in Paris ‑ also in London ‑ love tennis have appreciation for this sport. Also because of Wimbledon and the long history, so I look forward to that. Q. Do you wish there was more of an indoor season now? There used to be a lot more indoor events than there are now. NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yes. Well, the only periods of the year where you can play indoor tournaments are after Asian swing and ‑‑sorry. I think even before Asian you have a few. So around after September/October after US Open is done, and after Australian Open, between Australian and Indian Wells. And usually, after Australian Open my schedule in last four or five years was such that I was playing only outdoors Dubai event and then going to hard court in America. I like playing indoors and I enjoy it. If there should be more or not, I'm not so sure. I mean, I think there are quite a lot of events indoors as well. Maybe not at the highest level. Q. You received some treatment on your calf at 5‑2. Is it something that happened during the match? What happened? NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yes, it's just in that game I had one extreme slide. Just felt a strange sensation in that part of my leg, so Hugo, ATP physical therapist, helped me. After that I felt pretty good. No concern. Q. You still have two main goals: London and the No. 1. How do you see this battle with Roger for the No. 1? NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, I see it better now than one week ago, that's for sure. It helps that I won the title in Bercy, that I'm playing well, and that I'm feeling good about myself on the court playing indoors. That encourages me, as I said before, prior to the last event of the year. Now I cannot affect his own matches. I can affect only what I can do in my own matches. So I'll try to, you know, kind of stay determined to what I need to do and play well in London. Every match that I play, every match that I play and win, gets me closer to holding No. 1 the end of the year. Q. You obviously returned really well today. Was that the focal point going in? And also, I think Bozovic was here helping you a little bit, helping you on the return. Was that special for you guys, too? NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yes. Well, the key points of the match today was to get as many returns back in play. It's easier said than done when somebody serves regularly around 220 kilometers an hour. He uses that as his big weapon. Throughout the week that was his best shot. He relies on the serve very much in his game. I knew if I can, you know, make him play an extra shot, maybe he's going to drop the percentage of first serves and I can step in and maybe take initiative on the second. That's what happened. Early break in the first and second set were exactly what I needed. And Bozovic, yeah, is a long‑time friend of mine. When he was 14 he was already 1 meter 95. I remember we played junior event. We won under 14 European Championship together, doubles and team, as well. He lives in Switzerland, so he came to see me for the last two matches. I used his height to practice my returns a little bit. He was serving well on the warmup. Q. If you can answer in French it's better for me, radio. Davis Cup final. How do you see this tie, this exciting tie? NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, I mean, it's an open match. I think you have France that is host nation, and in Davis Cup that serves as a great advantage because of the support and because of the conditions of play that you can select and you can choose. But in the other hand, you have‑‑ on the other side, you have Roger and Stan that are a great team. It's going to be very exciting to watch who's going to prevail, because I feel like home advantage is maybe giving a little edge to the French players. But, again, you know, Swiss guys are at the top, and I'm sure they are very motivated to win this title. Q. Back in January, how surprised would you have been if someone had said the man challenging you for No. 1 would be Roger Federer? NOVAK DJOKOVIC: You know, I was answering the question about Roger, and was I surprised the way he's been playing lately. I said not too much. To be honest, I think it's the same answer for you in your question, because I always considered him, regardless of his age or speculations or his season last year that wasn't up to his standards, I still considered him ‑ even last year and this year, of course, and every year ‑ that he's going to play as one of the top players. He is one of the top contenders to win all the major titles and to compete for the top spot. Obviously he got used to the racquet change, and I think he's swinging through the backhand shot much better now. He improved his game a lot since last year. I think maybe he's playing some of the best tennis of his career, in my opinion. I don't think age really matters in his case. Q. Are you going to play the ITPA after London? NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yes. Q. Do you think that this these kind of events, exhibition tournaments, can become a threat for the ATP Tour? NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I don't think so, honestly. It is a new concept that we will see if it's going to work or not. I'm excited, as all the players who are supposed to be part of the ITPL League, to see how it's going to go. We are kind of exploring the new market for tennis. As I said, it's a new concept, and, you know, people will be able to see the top tennis players performing some great, high‑level tennis. But also not having so much pressure of, you know, winning all the time. So these exhibition events actually are allowing us players to enjoy while playing as well and not to think too much about pressure. And it's a team concept, which is interesting, because you're going to have also former players and going to have different matches, like singles, doubles, mixed doubles, and so forth. It's going to be fun. I look forward to it. I don't think honestly that it can harm in any way ATP Tour. Anyway, the season is over and this is in off‑season. It's scheduled to be. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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