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ROGERS CUP

August 11, 2017

Robin Haase

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

R. HAASE/D. Schwartzman

4-6, 6-3, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. From the quallies to your first-ever Masters 1000 semi. How does it feel?
ROBIN HAASE: I didn't play quallies. I played first round against Ramos. But, yeah, it's my first semis, that is correct.

Yeah, I'm really happy. I played a lot of good matches, especially yesterday against Dimitrov. It's tough to come back and play that same level. I didn't, but I managed to win because I kept fighting.

You could see that we were both mentally... It took a lot of us. We beat good guys. We've been playing really well. Then to do it on this stage again for your first semis, it's not easy.

Q. Whether it's a Grand Slam or a Masters 1000, there's always the best-of-the-best players. You see all of them reach the quarters, semifinals after 10 years as a pro. Did you ever think at one point that you may never get this far in a Grand Slam or a Masters 1000?
ROBIN HAASE: Definitely, yeah. I always believed that I could, but I got injured in my early days of my career. I didn't even know if I could ever play tennis again. After one and a half years, I got back. I came back really fast, from zero to 60 in eight months.

However, from that moment, I wasn't the player I was before my injury. I was not as fast. I was insecure. I had a lot of problems with other injuries after.

Then this kind of eats you up inside mentally. It drains you because you know you can do better, but actually your own body is not letting you. That took me, honestly, a couple of years to get more calm in my head, that I have to deal with it.

I've been working on it a lot in the past few years. I started to believe more and more again. My game is better. Then I started this year winning back-to-back against really good players.

Then you're thinking, Okay, it might happen again. That it happens, it's just awesome.

Q. You've been playing mainly on clay after Wimbledon in Europe. Now you come back here, probably your first hard court event since Miami or Davis Cup.
ROBIN HAASE: Yeah, we played Davis Cup on hard.

Q. How quick is this court?
ROBIN HAASE: I don't think it's that quick, but it's also not slow. I look at courts different than many other players. I believe when the ball bounces high, I call it a slow court. Although some actually then say, Yeah, but it's so fast, it goes up and everything.

This here, the ball doesn't jump that high. That means if you can attack and you can come to the net, it's a little bit quicker. But it's not a quick hard court.

Q. After your forehand winner on match point, there was a second, then you let out a yell afterwards. What are you thinking that second as you're screaming to the heavens?
ROBIN HAASE: When I hit that forehand, I wasn't sure it was going in. That's why it took me probably a second (smiling).

But then it was just a relief. All the adrenaline, the nerves, I just screamed it out. Just excitement, yeah.

Q. The conditions have changed quite a bit from the start of the week, which was pretty cold for summer here, to extremely hot and heavy. How did it affect your play today and yesterday?
ROBIN HAASE: Yeah, and actually one more thing I have to add, in the beginning it was very windy, which made it actually really, really tough. Of course, the ball is different in the air if it's hotter than in cold weather. But, for example, yesterday it wasn't that windy. You feel the ball much better than the beginning of the week.

In the beginning of the week, you're really more adjusting. Yesterday and today, you can really play your game that you want to play instead of thinking, Oh, I might have to hit a different shot because of the wind.

I think the wind is more the issue. Because it laid down, the wind, the matches have been better. The cold and the warmth, it's more physically. I don't think it will affect the game as much, yeah.

Q. You mentioned the mentality that you had to have after coming back from injury. Having some wins brought more confidence. Is that still a process or are you at the point where you think that's 100%?
ROBIN HAASE: Oh, it's never 100%. Nowadays you maybe have two, three - Rafa is one of those - that can play every single point like a match point. One is on court, another Spanish player, Bautista.

For me, it's something you try, but I will never be like them. I also don't want to be like them in that way. If I do that, like, how they do it, it won't benefit my game. I sometimes have to let it be a little bit looser, make a joke or something.

But it's something where I look up to them, and I try to see how I can improve. That's an ongoing process. I even believe that Roger would give you the same answer, even how good he is, how much he won, that he's still actually trying to get better in every single way.

Q. You and de Bakker came together. Can you give some information on him. You played him recently at a challenger event.
ROBIN HAASE: Yeah, I think I was, like, two, three years already professional when he came up. But we are about the same age. It was me and Igor Sijsling, as well. Us three, we were going up the rankings together.

They're both struggling mentally, physically. It's not easy. If you've been 40 in the world, you drop all the way to 600 because of injuries, then maybe you go up to 100, then you drop again because of injuries to 300. That's also the ongoing process for him.

He's doing a little bit better now. But guys can play. Doesn't matter if it's a challenger or future, it's really tough out there. I think he feels that, that it's not as easy as it was for him maybe 10 years ago where he had more, I'm better than them, had that good arrogance in a way, that confidence to beat them.

Now he actually sees these guys have that confidence, and he actually doesn't. So he's working on that. I will see him shortly after US Open with Davis Cup again.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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