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SHANGHAI ROLEX MASTERS

October 15, 2015

Novak Djokovic

SHANGHAI, CHINA

N. DJOKOVIC/F. Lopez
6‑2, 6‑3

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Roger loses first match, and Nadal wins in tiebreak, Kei lost in two tiebreaks, you're winning real easy. What's your secret?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: There is no secret. I guess it depends how do you feel on a given day, depends how well your opponent is playing, how well you're playing. It's a combination of things. You can't just expect to win all the time very comfortably, but I've been doing so for last week and a half. Obviously it's giving me more confidence. Any time I come back to the court, I feel good and I start off well.

Q. Today you spent 70 minutes on the court, yesterday 62 minutes. In the first three rounds in the China Open, they were less than one hour. When you have matches as short as that, do you spend more time in the gym, practice more?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: No, I mean, I'm not going to go too much into what I'm doing 'cause you obviously want to keep some things for yourself and for your team.
Generally most of the work that is done is done before I start tournament. You're just trying to keep this fine‑tuning and good feeling on the court. Obviously it's better to win comfortably in two sets than staying too long.
Again, result is not in your hand, but you can always do your best to prepare yourself for the battle and try to perform your best.

Q. The facilities here for the players are amazing. You have your own locker room. Do you think now the Masters 1000s have reached their peak, the players are happy everywhere?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Some places more than others. It's not guaranteed and it's not the case that you have your own locker room in the other Masters events. As a matter of fact, I think this is the only one.
This is definitely one of the best Masters Series events in terms of organization, in terms of overall players' experience and feelings. The only downside is literally the time that you spend in transportation from the city to the site. But other than that, everything works very efficiently.
What's very important for the players is the comfort, food, having enough courts, gym, facilities to work out, and to recover as well after. This tournament is fulfilling all its demands and that's why it's one of the best for many years.

Q. Do you think it should be the standard?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Absolutely. No doubt. This facility hosted the Masters Cup in the past. That's why they have these facilities, because there's a higher criteria, standard for the Masters ‑ World Tour Finals as they call it now ‑ than maybe other tournaments. I think that was the advantage already.
But I would absolutely support the idea to set up a standard as high as this one.

Q. The other day we talked to Nishikori about the treatment he got in Japan, quite like some boy band. In my opinion, the treatment you get here is not far from that. Do any fans do anything crazy that scares you?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I wouldn't call it crazy. I think they're very enthusiastic in every step of the way. They show their appreciation for what you do. They're very loyal. I was saying before many times in the previous years, and this year as well, we don't get to experience this kind of treatment from the fans many places around the world. As a matter of fact, just a few, depending on the player and where he comes from and so forth, the treatment he gets in his country, other countries.
China definitely knows how to treat the top players. They give us this unconditional really love and support. They stay in front of the hotel for hours just to see you and to wish you luck and to make a photo. That's something that you don't get to see often.
I really respect that. That's one of the big reasons why I think all of us, we keep on coming back to China, keep on playing these tournaments, keep having also success.

Q. Anything they have done that has stood out?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Just tons of presents. One of the fans, I think he changed his name into a Serbian name. He can sing by heart the Serbian national anthem perfectly. That's an effort, I must say. That's really an amazing thing. That's something that comes to my mind.

Q. Do you feel you're equally popular here in Shanghai and Beijing or are you more popular in Beijing because you're even more successful there?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: It's hard to say. It's hard to judge really. I'm experiencing some really loyal support in both cities. I haven't been really thinking about where I'm more popular, but I've had more success in Beijing than Shanghai. This tournament in the past for me has been always quite successful.
I don't know exactly. It's hard to judge.

Q. You're clearly playing the best tennis of your life. Is there a potential for even improving or is it a question of maintaining this as long as possible?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I think it's a combination of the two: maintaining the high level, the performance, the tennis I have right now, and also working on certain parts of the game that I think can be improved.
I was brought up that way and thought to always look for some room for improvement. I still believe there are shots in my game that can be better. I think that's one of the things that keeps me going. It motivates me to play more.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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