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CHINA OPEN

October 8, 2015

Novak Djokovic

BEIJING, CHINA

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Your opponent, he's already the best player we can get, but still very far from you. Is there any positives you can take from his game? Do you think he has top 100 potential?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, he I think played couple of times pretty good in China Open tournament. This is where obviously he's got support of the home crowd. I've seen him couple times in the past beating some good players. I think he beat Gasquet, as well, Istomin, which is a very good player.
He has obviously the game to be in top 100. Today I didn't give him much opportunities to really play his tennis because I was playing very quick. I didn't give him any chance to step in and to maybe think that he can control the rally.
He's a strong guy. He has a good serve. But just today he was not able to play maybe as well as we wanted.

Q. I'm sure you've answered this question before about your record here. That's 26 wins and zero losses. You've only lost three sets and you've never had a match longer than two hours. Is it purely down to conditions?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, conditions are definitely suitable to my game. I feel very pleasant playing on the center court. The old center court, which is now the second biggest, the Lotus, the Diamond, I guess as I keep coming back each year with that positive record, obviously gives me more confidence knowing that I played so well in the past on this court.
Just keep on going. That's all. There is no particular reason. There's few things that play in my favor.

Q. You played many dropshots today. I was wondering if there was a tactical reason or when it's on you find it fun?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: It just depends. I think he was standing far behind the baseline when I was dictating the rallies and he was trying to get the balls back, not really trying to do too much. I tried to break his rhythm, not give him the same look at every next shot. That's why.

Q. We know you visited the Great Wall this week. Chinese people can make a Great Wall, but cannot produce a tour‑level player. Are you surprised we have players from Japan and Korea, but why not from China?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I was talking about that earlier in the week. I think women's tennis in China, obviously it's more successful than men's. Somebody told me that people generally who invest in tennis, who support tennis in one way or another, believe more in women's tennis players' potential rather than men's. The reason for that I don't know, but that's what I heard.
So I think it's just a matter of dedicating more attention to men's tennis. I was saying before that it's obvious that China, Beijing, Shanghai, are very stable economically cities. I don't think it's an issue for them to bring in experts, coaching experts, or other fields in sport‑related experts to help development.
It's not something that can happen overnight. You need to invest in a systematic planning and development of the men's tennis. It all starts from a very young age, the way they approach tennis, they approach life.
Of course, the fact that only at this time of the year you're playing in China or Asia, for example, and other than that you have to travel, maybe that's also playing a crucial role in their commitments or dedication to tennis.
I would assume that my opponent today is playing most of his challenger‑level tournaments around Asia, which is good in a way, but he also needs to travel around the world, play on clay, hard court, grass. It's one of the probably longest seasons of any sport, tennis, 10, 11 months out of 12. If you want to be at a higher level, say top 50, you need to play well throughout the entire year, kind of dedicate your life to that.
It's a question of commitment, sacrifice. It's a question also of quality of the practice and overall your career, how much quality you're putting into that, who you're surrounded with. There's many factors that can play an important role of success.

Q. After you have competed with so many Asian players, including Chinese players, have you found that Asian players have some physical weaknesses compared to western players?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I mean, today I played against a guy that is pretty tall and he's strong. I mean, I saw him working out in the gym. He's really committed. He's a hard‑working tennis player on and off the court. He gets rewarded for that. He played second round here. Deservedly so. Hard work pays off in one way or another.
But you're right. Maybe if you look at it genetically, the Asian part of the world, maybe the eastern European part of the world, America, there is difference physically. I think the height in Asia, the players are shorter, maybe that's one of the reasons why they're not able to, you know, use that kind of potential than if they would have a height like some guys from eastern Europe, they would have a better serve.
Yeah, it can be the case. But, again, if you look at Nishikori, he's also not that tall, but he's No.5 of the world. I guess all is possible if you are trying to work with what you have. Everybody has their advantages and their flaws. You try to work on them and correct the flaws and try to improve yourself.
Again, going back to the last question, it's about commitment, how much you really want it.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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