|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
AUSTRALIAN OPENJanuary 18, 2018Dominic ThiemMelbourne, Victoria, Australia D. THIEM/D. Kudla 6-7, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 THE MODERATOR: Questions in English. Q. What were you thinking when you were down two sets and you had to face the big uphill battle? DOMINIC THIEM: Of course it's very tough. Not easy mentally, but, yeah, from that moment on I was a break up in the third set, the mind was again positive. Also in the first two sets it was close sets. I think I had my chances in both sets, so I always knew that if I play well and if I keep it up that I could turn it around. Q. You said it was tough mentally. How important would you say is mental strength, especially in this heat? Would you say it's more important than the physical strength? DOMINIC THIEM: No, it's not more important. Especially in these conditions. The physical fitness is the most important. It was 3 hours 50, I think, and almost 40 degrees. It's very tough. Also, if you are physically fit, you stay mentally fresher, for sure. Q. In the first set you had the exchange of breaks of serve. Can you explain what was going on and how you were feeling and how it got much, much better? DOMINIC THIEM: Yeah. I got a pretty stupid break. I think until then the match was in my hands. And then it got a little bit out of my hands. Yeah, he broke back, I broke again, and then I was a break down, I broke again and lost a set in the tiebreak, which is of course pretty tough to lose that one and to go 0-1 down instead, I knew that I should actually already made it 20 minutes earlier, so that was not easy. Yeah, I didn't play too well the first two sets. I changed a little bit my game in the third one, and from then on, it was way better. Q. Your draw is quite open. So what do you feel about your chances in this tournament? Do you think you can go all the way? DOMINIC THIEM: All the way is very long but I'm just looking on the next round. It's gonna being tough. I think Mannarino is two sets up. I played him six times and never lost against him, but it was always pretty close matches. So gonna be again one of these kind in two days. That's all what I'm thinking about. Q. You have lost to him in the past, so are you planning to do anything about the few changes in your game to counter what happened the previous time? DOMINIC THIEM: What? Q. Are you planning to bring about a few changes in your game or to, for Mannarino, especially, considering you lost to him previously? DOMINIC THIEM: No, I didn't lost -- I didn't lose to him, so I'm not going to change anything. Q. Kudla is ranked 180 but he's been almost top 50. What's the difference between players ranked 200 and someone top 50? Do you feel like it's very close? DOMINIC THIEM: It is very close, and it's also different if somebody is ranked 180, and he was never up there. But Kudla it's very different, of course. I think he had this disease, mono or something, before he dropped and before he was, yeah, close to top 50, fourth-round Wimbledon. So he's a really good player. On his way back he play a great tournament, qualified and beat Johnson, which is a very good effort. I was not really surprised that he played well. 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
|