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DAVIS CUP FINALS: SWITZERLAND v FRANCENovember 21, 2014Stan WawrinkaLILLE, FRANCE S. WAWRINKA/J. Tsonga THE MODERATOR: Questions in English. Q. Your feelings first about the match and also if you feel your match preparedness compared to Tsonga helped you deal with some critical points during the match. STAN WAWRINKA: No, my feeling is good. I think I was a really good level. If I see what I have the past few weeks coming late from the Masters, disappointing loss against Roger, but still ready for today. You know, I was looking a lot what I was doing this week, not what they were doing, because we all knew that they are practicing on clay since many weeks. They're getting ready. They all say that. But it's not only about that for today. I think I was just the better player on the court. Q. When was the last time you actually stepped on a clay court? STAN WAWRINKA: French Open, I think. Yeah, French Open this year, because I didn't play Gstaad. Q.  Talk about the crowd, dealing with the pressure of the first match. STAN WAWRINKA: Well, it's a good crowd. I think because of the match maybe we were having more support from the Swiss people than the French guy. I think it's tough to get all the noise from the people really upstairs. It's not the same. In general, much more noise than here. I was feeling good since yesterday night. You know that you have a lot of pressure when you come on a Davis Cup final. You know with everything that happen this week with Roger's back, there is more pressure on me because we can see it's tough for him so far. But I just have a good team around me. I know how to play those matches. I did so many big matches, so many important matches this year. Today it's important to show them that I'm there. They maybe too focused Roger and maybe they forgot about me. Q. Jo said the smaller Swiss crowd was louder than the French crowd. Do you agree? STAN WAWRINKA: Yeah, but they didn't have the chance to do something for him, you know. I think it's maybe a little bit easy for him to say the crowd wasn't support him enough. I think it's just because on the court I was the better player and that's it. THE MODERATOR: Questions in French. Q. Stan, you were saying yesterday that you might have difficulties in the beginning of the match. It was the contrary. How can you explain that? How do you explain this good start? STAN WAWRINKA: I thought I would have more difficulties because I didn't play a lot on clay, and we had less time to prepare on clay than the French team. They were playing on that surface for a long time already. I just went onto the court prepared to do simple things. I think playing as well as I did in the Masters was the best preparation. I was confident. I showed him on the court that I was better than he was. Q. When you went onto the court, you were walking as if you were the boss of that Swiss team. I feel the last days you felt more pressure. You were our trump card? STAN WAWRINKA: As I said in English, yesterday evening and this morning I was not well. It was difficult to withstand the pressure. But I do have a lot of experience on tour. This year I played very important matches. I was able to manage my emotions and my nervousness. I just accept that I'm nervous and I know that Jo on the other side of the net, whatever he says, is also as nervous as I am. So I just focused on doing the right thing, trying to be aggressive all the time, because that could make the difference. Now I'm nervous for Roger (smiling). Q. Did you expect Jo to be more aggressive than he was, especially in the beginning of the match? STAN WAWRINKA: Yes and no. His game is to be aggressive, indeed. But he didn't do that because I didn't give him time for it. I was aggressive. I played fast. Especially on clay, he was a bit overwhelmed and was not able to impose his game on me. Q. You were talking about Roger. Apparently he's not well. How did you feel he was these recent days? STAN WAWRINKA: It was positive because his back was a bit better. He was not feeling as much pain as before and he was able to hit, whereas in the beginning of the week he was not able to play at all. But now Roger needs awhile. He needs to play for a while before he starts really moving. From what I've seen, Gael is playing extremely well, and Roger just hit 20 minutes and 30 minutes before the match, so it was very short. It's difficult to start well a match against Gael, who is playing so intensely. But the more time he will spend on the court, the better it will be for his game. Q. In the Masters, after the semis, you said it destroyed you. On the contrary, it helped you build up your confidence. How can you explain that? STAN WAWRINKA: As I said the other day, after losing in the evening, I was extremely depressed. It was very difficult. I was destroyed, as I said, because of the result and because I had so many opportunities. But I just also could be satisfied with what I did because I did what I had to do. I pushed Roger very far. I made good choices. I was able to approach the net. It was just that he passed me. I played well against Roger, who was really into it and on his best surface, indoors. So it was horrible. On the Monday when I left to come here to play this Davis Cup final, I knew it was going to be very positive because I was lucky to be able to play the final. I was able to get into it very quickly as I played the first match today. Q. Can you compare the emotions you have when you play here for your country to the emotions in the Australian Open, for example? STAN WAWRINKA: No, it's different. I think you can't compare the Olympics or Davis Cup with a Grand Slam. It's very different. I cannot pinpoint exactly what is different, but the stress is different. You're not stressed because of the match only, you're stressed by everything around it. It's a final. I'm representing my country. This is why I hate tennis and I love tennis. It's because the emotions really hurt you when you're nervous, but it's so wonderful when you're playing well. Q. So you want to play the doubles now maybe. Are you going to talk about it? STAN WAWRINKA: I'm always ready to play everything, as you know me. But we'll do like we always do: after Roger's match we'll discuss and see where we are. If with Roger we feel good and we are ready to play three days, we'll try to play both of us the doubles. But many things happened this week. You have to do this quietly. Physically personally I feel very well. Of course, the match was tough because of the environment around it. But I feel good. I can play three days. Q. At 3‑All, Love‑30, how did you manage to play that backhand? Where did it come from? STAN WAWRINKA: Well, it came from the little backhands I have in my pocket for the end of the year. It's simple. It's what Magnus, my coach, keeps saying to me since Shanghai. Between the US Open and Shanghai I had a difficult period. What he's been repeating to me all week is when you go on the court, try to do the right thing. You have to stay positive, push yourself, go and get the point. That's why it was easy to overcome this loss against Roger. It's the same today. I didn't wait for Jo to give me the match. I pushed him and I was aggressive to get it. Q. What was your best match in Davis Cup? Against Hewitt? STAN WAWRINKA: Talking about the level of game, I think this one was one of my best games. First, I'm a better player than three years ago or two years ago. We are playing here on clay against Jo, who prepared like hell for this match. So, indeed, it was my best match. Q. You were talking about the Masters, saying you were doing the right things. Today you played a lot of serve and volley. Was that something deliberate? STAN WAWRINKA: Yes. My strength is playing aggressive. I could not win that match staying on the baseline. I had to come forward. I know when I go to the net, it makes the opponent have many doubts. This shows him that he can't get used to just returning and doing nothing. Of course, I didn't particularly intend to do serve and volley on the match point, but that's the way it was. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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