|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
DAVIS CUP QUARTERFINAL: USA VS CROATIAJuly 16, 2016Zeljko KrajanIvan DodogMarin CilicPortland, Oregon DODIG-CILIC/Bryan-Bryan 6-2, 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Can you guys talk about the difference in the match today? What was the difference? CAPTAIN KRAJAN: The difference was that Marin and Ivan played I would say really unbelievable tennis today. Both just are on the top of their game, and Marin played the best doubles match of his life. Even though it's against Bryans, just tough when he is serving the way he is and returning and everything is coming back and from the baseline there was no mistakes. I would say I don't know who would beat them on a day like this when they play. Maybe just the Bryans didn't play the best match of their life, but it was just too tough for them today to face these opponents. Q. How quickly did you make the decision to put Marin in? Last night? This morning? CAPTAIN KRAJAN: We started to talk about it last night and we made a decision this morning. Q. And why? CAPTAIN KRAJAN: I mean, everybody on the team, we talked about it to see how the way is it possible to beat Bryans. Ivan played many times against them, and Draganja also. We thought that we need to put somebody who plays tennis like Marin does: a little bit out of the doubles specialist tennis. This is the best chance because he's playing better from the baseline than Draganja. We thought if we put him, it's going to be tougher for Bryans to face somebody very dangerous from the baseline. Q. Marin, you've played some doubles in Davis Cup, but how much have you and Ivan played together? MARIN CILIC: We played few times. Not too many. He has his partner all year-round so he's doing absolutely really well with his partner. Me and Ivan played few times also in Davis Cup; we played in Olympics in 2012. We played there really well. But we know that when we are on a good day we can play amazing tennis. That was today the case. We came up to the match with good tactics, good mindset, and we knew that if we play well that we are going to be able to beat them. Obviously the positive thing was that even I have beaten Bryans before and Ivan did also I guess few times, so that was a mindset that was giving us good strategy and we were able to prepare good for the match. Q. Ivan you guys looked like you were in pretty good sync today. Did you feel good playing with Marin? IVAN DODIG: Yeah, we really felt great on the court. Was important to return and serve good today, which me and Marin did quite well today. Like he said, we really felt great today. We was feeling good ball and trying to set up good tactics, which was working today, and pulled out very good match. Q. Marin, how are you feeling physically after five sets yesterday and doubles today? MARIN CILIC: I feel pretty much fine. I had nine sets in two days, but the conditions here are not too difficult. The weather is favoring the players and the fans in the stands, so it's not too humid and not too hot. Not too demanding. Obviously in Davis Cup it's more bit tougher dealing with emotions as you are a little bit more pumped up and adrenaline kicks you in when you start the matches. That can take some energy. I feel pretty much fine. I played today great, and tomorrow I feel I'm going to be in good shape, too. Q. Marin, also on that note, you feel fine physically; you had two tough five-setters in the last ten, eleven days. How much confidence does that doubles victory give you for your match tomorrow also? MARIN CILIC: Well, it gives a lot. I was thinking a little bit after yesterday's loss that I was maybe a little bit mentally drained from my loss from Wimbledon. It still left a small mark in me and I wasn't as, you know, emotionally pumped as today, which is obviously giving me good sensation for playing and good feeling. I can lift my game when I'm playing like this. I usually enjoy to play in Davis Cup because the team atmosphere, the energy, lifts my game up. Hopefully tomorrow I can do the same. Q. Zeljko, how are you feeling going into tomorrow needing to take both singles matches? CAPTAIN KRAJAN: Well, we feel fine. Marin plays few times against Isner and he won every time. As he said, today's match is going to help him. Even though it was doubles, he closed it out and served for the match, so it gives him confidence after having the two singles that he lost before having two sets to love down. So we are pretty positive. If before the tie on the paper it would maybe look that after the second day 2-1 for them -- I mean, yesterday didn't look great after 2-0, but today we kind of got unexpected win, let's say, on the paper. We're still positive about tomorrow, we still have chances in both singles matches tomorrow. Q. Considering any other substitutions for the singles matches tomorrow? CAPTAIN KRAJAN: No, I still didn't think about that yet. Q. For the second match tomorrow, what would Borna need to be comfortable? Fast start? Young player, potential fifth decider. What would he need to do to be comfortable if the crowd is loud and everything for him to use his advantages? CAPTAIN KRAJAN: Well, for sure he would need to raise his level much more than he did play yesterday. So the crowd, it's not going to really disturb him I guess too much because that's the thing that even -- I mean motivates him even more. Especially playing for the Davis Cup and having crowd against him, he already had it few times in Davis Cup and he performed really unbelievable. He played Sock before. He lost, but I think that after yesterday it was also tough for him to play Isner. Tomorrow on 2-All it's not going to be easy for Sock also, so this is going to be an open match. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|