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BARCLAYS ATP WORLD TOUR FINALSNovember 15, 2014Novak DjokovicLONDON, ENGLAND N. DJOKOVIC/K. Nishikori THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Normally you write your name on the camera lens. Today you did something different. You just draw a little ball. Why? NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I felt like that was something I wanted to do today. My new signature (smiling). Q. In the match against Kei Nishikori in particular, you played three times, at the US Open, Paris and here, how would you analyze the differences of those three matches, such as indoor versus outdoor, differences of the court surface, so forth? NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, the conditions are obviously different playing indoor and outdoor. Not taking away anything from Kei's win in US Open, he deservedly won that match, he was the better player that day. I wasn't playing close to my best. That was different in particular, analyzing these two matches where we were playing Paris and here, where I was much more confident to play the game I wanted to play against him. Paris was great, both sets. Here, first and third went the way I wanted. Second, I had the break, then I lost concentration. He was the better player. He started making shots that he wasn't making in the first set. He's one of the quickest, most talented players in the world right now. He won many titles, many matches this year. That's why he's very dangerous on any surface. He plays very fast. If you start to hesitate with your shots, he puts a lot of pressure on your serve. Yeah, it wasn't an easy match. Q. I think Kei Nishikori is getting closer to you. Is this a good motivation for you? NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Of course. You always look for new motivations. There's plenty of motivation, honestly, in my case.  I love this sport. I love to compete. I love to be on the court. I was saying before it's a good thing for the sport to have Kei, Dimitrov, Raonic, these kind of players. Cilic now winning also his first Grand Slam a few months ago. New faces, players who now have more self‑belief and are showing to the world that they can win against the best players in the world on the major events. They are getting closer to the top players. But still there is a lot of work for them to be done. On our side, me specifically, I want to look to improve even more because I know that they will try to catch up. They're young. They're, of course, very hungry for the success. It's going to be interesting to see how it all turns out to be in the next couple seasons. Q. Now you're in the final. To be there is pressure for you? How do you manage that? What is your philosophy? NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, it's the last match of the season. Honestly, today I found it a little bit difficult mentally to stay concentrated throughout the whole match. After emotional three matches I had, especially yesterday when I achieved the goal to finish as No.1 of the world, knowing that, I felt a little bit, I would say, flat emotionally today. I needed a little bit more time to kind of give myself a boost. I was fortunate because in the beginning of the third set, he had breakpoints. If he broke me, the match could have gone either way. I managed to find that little bit of strength and get a win today. So tomorrow, as I said, is the last match of the season. Of course, it's one of the biggest tournaments in the world, aside of the Grand Slams. This is already the biggest possible motivation. I will try to give everything I have. Q. You just said you were emotionally a little more flat. I was a bit surprised knowing you as a showman that you reacted a little bit badly when the crowd applauded to Nishikori because you made a double‑fault. NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Why did I react bad? In what way? Q. I saw that you were nervous. NOVAK DJOKOVIC: So I'm not allowed to be nervous on the court? Q. No. I'm just asking because normally doesn't happen to you. You lost a little bit the concentration. NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yes, I did. It was my fault. It was my fault that I allowed it. Q. I'm trying to understand what happened. NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I mean, look, the end of the day, I cannot blame the crowd. The crowd has a right to do what they want, to cheer for whoever they want. Some individuals that were going over the line throughout the whole match, some provocations that I usually don't react on, but I did. It was my fault. You know, I lost the concentration. I lost the break because of that. I allowed myself to be in the situation to lose the set, maybe even lose the match. So, yeah, generally it was my fault and I should know better. Q. Why do you think this particular incident upset you more than usual? NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, look, you know, as I said, everybody is different. Everybody has a choice what they do. I just was not happy with the way that has influenced me and my game after that. I should have let it go. But, you know, when you tolerate once, twice, three times, four times, we're all humans, you react. But it's the way it is. I'm just glad that I overcame that. It's a lesson. Hopefully, you know, tomorrow it will not happen. Q. You do seem quite tired tonight. It is unusual, you've taken so long to come in to see us. NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I'm sorry you had to wait for me. I was doing some other work with media. Q. Is it something that you'll wake up tomorrow and you think you'll feel fresh again with the final in front of you? NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Honestly, I've had these particular situations before in my career. I know what I need to do in order to recover, in order to get myself in the right shape. Of course at this stage of the season, of the tournament, mentally, the truth is that I'm exhausted. As most of the players would say, it's been a long year. It's been a year of many beautiful events in my life. But knowing just that tomorrow is the last match of the season, I'm sure that I will find any necessary drop of strength, mental and physical, to give it on the court. Q. Millions of television viewers saw your gesture at the end of putting that dot or full stop. Why are you so reluctant to share what it meant? NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Because I don't feel like. Q. So it's a message, is it? NOVAK DJOKOVIC: No. There was nothing. It's just a dot. Q. Back to a big event earlier in the year. I'm curious to see if you could draw some lessons from the floods in the former Yugoslavia, particularly with regard to the impact of social engagement, not just public figures, but everyday citizens, whether you think social media had a particular role to play in that and whether it put a spotlight on groups like yours, non‑profit groups? NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, floods have hurt so many people in the region of ex‑Yugoslavia, especially Serbia and Bosnia. There are floods of epic proportions that took away many lives and many homes from people. The consequences to those countries are still feeling and will feel for years to come. I tried from my part to do as much as I can and contribute to some kind of help, spread the awareness about that, talk as much as we can, because we needed a lot of help. And we still need a lot of financial help to rebuild all these homes, make sure people have roofs above their heads. If you can repeat the second part of the question. You were referring to social media. Q. Do you think that played a role? Did you find that your foundation and other NGO's got more attention because of the crisis? NOVAK DJOKOVIC: It's hard to say in these particular moments, unpredictable situations in life, especially when they happen with floods, hurricanes, the forces of nature that you cannot predict or you cannot control. The interest was just to help to the people from my foundation or any other. There was absolutely no other motive behind it. I think there was a lot of good hearts shown out there from people from this region and around the world, as a matter of fact. We received from America over $1 million, $300,000, $400,000 to our foundation, Russia. People recognize the suffering. That's something that is nice to see, that in these particular moments they're compassionate. Q. Some historic rivalries in your career obviously. How is the mentality or the feeling different to play against Roger here at this stage of your career? Is it fair to say that you think that it still has more of an edge than other rivalries in the game? NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, the biggest rivalry I have in my career so far is with Rafa, and then of course with Roger. But both of these rivalries are very unique in their own way. I played a few great matches against Roger this year. I lost more than I won this season. The last one was in Shanghai where he played a great match and was a better player on the court. If I get to play him tomorrow, I'm going to have to deliver my best game because that is what is needed when you play against Roger at this stage of one of the most important tournaments of the year. We all know how good he is in finals. I know what to expect from him. Hopefully I can deliver what I imagine. If I get to play Stan again, which is also possible, I played him in the group already, I'm sure that he would be playing better than he did in that group match in the finals. Q. Talking about playing against Roger and Rafa, did you feel the same kind of spark playing against Kei as when you play against Roger and Rafa? NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I try not to pay too much attention who is across the net because every match is important match. You know, it's obvious that when I get to play my biggest rivals, you have a different feel on the court. You feel more pressure, more tension, more focus, everything together. Not taking away anything from my today's approach to Kei. I was equally determined to win that match. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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