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MONTE-CARLO ROLEX MASTERSApril 18, 2017Tommy HaasMonte Carlo, Monaco T. HAAS/B. Paire 6-2, 6-3 THE MODERATOR: Tommy wins his first match here since 2004. Questions, please. Q. Do you remember your last win here, who it was against? TOMMY HAAS: I just looked at it. I think 2004 was obviously the last time I played here. Who did I lose to? Geez, I forgot. Xavier Malisse, exactly. I lost to Chela on Court 2. Too much shade on that court (smiling). Q. What sort of satisfaction do you feel because of this win? Maybe when you sent your application, you didn't expect, or maybe you did expect. TOMMY HAAS: I think when you go out there and compete, you hope for the best, that is to try to play well and try to win. Any time that happens obviously in this stage for me, it's a very nice feeling, of course. Just try to build from that. Try to get stronger physically, get more used to playing matches again, points when it counts. You can do a lot of things in practice and off court, but you cannot replicate that for match play. Very happy about that. Very happy to get another chance to go out there again tomorrow and keep working on my tennis game when it counts. Q. Are you surprised there are still so many over 30 years old players, even over 35, who are still capable of winning? Of course, Roger Federer, even Paolo Lorenzi, yourself, many others. At the same time, if you see younger generation coming up, more this year with Coric, others, than the last three or four years? TOMMY HAAS: There's always some young guys. Some do better earlier, some do better a little bit later. I think it has changed at 18, 19 to really break through and get into the top 20, top 10, like they used to 15, 20 years ago, that's tough nowadays. The game has become very physical. It's evolving all the time. It's getting better and stronger all the time. But, you know, you also become smarter over time, healthier. People take the gym work off court very seriously now. There's no more just sort of living off your talent and winning matches. But it's exciting to see. I mean, these guys, when you're in your early, mid 30s, I think you realize how much this game means to you. You want to continue to play well. Prize money has gone up extremely high. Maybe that's another big motivation for a lot of players. But also you try to do it as long as you can because at some point it's going to be over, then you do something else that you hopefully enjoy as much, and maybe some don't. In the younger generation, sure, there's a few guys now that are making a lot of head ways. In the next two years, three, we're going to finally see another Grand Slam champion again. Q. I'd like to know from you if you're more interested to be a promoter, tournament director, if it's more exciting than to play tennis or vice versa? Even if you know you are more or less at the end of your career, what excites you most? TOMMY HAAS: I mean, there is no better, bigger satisfaction than when you go out there competing and winning. In this case for me, it's a big satisfaction. I'm very proud of the fact that I'm actually still out there competing at this age. Due to setbacks and injuries I've had, I could have easily have thrown in the towel a couple times. But I'm still out there trying to, you know, finish this game on my own terms. That's what I'm doing. I'm proud of that. At the same time I'm very passionate about the game of tennis. Very passionate about the tournament that I'm sort of in control now, in Indian Wells. Passionate about trying to keep raising the bar, making sure that we go in the direction that players, fans and sponsors can really appreciate. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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