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ROLAND GARROS

June 1, 2018

Fernando Verdasco

Paris, France

F. VERDASCO/G. Dimitrov

7-6, 6-2, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions in English.

Q. If you could just take us through the match, it was pretty straightforward, I think.
FERNANDO VERDASCO: Well, the first set I had to save a few set points in one game and, you know, I was just trying to go in that moment point by point and trying to just do the best I could what I thought it was right. And I have been able to pass that game with one of the set points with a second serve ace on the line that I took a little bit of risk, actually (smiling), but it went well.

And then in the tiebreak, you know, I think that I played a little bit better than him. That's why I have been able to win that set that it was very important I think for the rest of the match, because in the second set you could see that I was playing more loose and with a little bit deeper shots. And he start to make a little bit more mistakes than in the first set.

After that, of course, with two sets to love, even that I had break up twice, he stayed in the match and he keep fighting. You know, I needed to push a little bit harder to close the match. But, you know, I did it and I'm very happy that I have been able to beat one player like Grigor and be in the fourth round here in Paris again.

Q. A question not about the match. I wonder, do you know who Roland Garros was?
FERNANDO VERDASCO: Yeah, well, they told me just a few days ago in an interview that I did for Peugeot, and I didn't know before, so now I know (smiling). Thank you.

Q. I wondered what your reaction was to the news from Real Madrid about Zidane.
FERNANDO VERDASCO: Yeah, well, I was kind of a little bit expecting that decision from him. Of course hoping of not, but for some reason I think that, you know, he did something historic and something unbelievable and maybe it was the right decision to leave just winning three Champions Leagues in a row.

So, you know, what can I say? I just hope that the next coach who comes to Madrid will do a great job like he did. Of course it's tough to win Champions League, but at least to have the locker room of all these stars of players together, I think that's the most important thing.

THE MODERATOR: Questions in Spanish.

Q. When you see the numbers, it's a surprise or not, but for those of us who are here, we don't feel surprised. What about you?
FERNANDO VERDASCO: You mean the surprise to have won today's match? Well, I can't say it was a big surprise, because he was the favorite player. And although he didn't have such a good season on clay, he's not at his best and at his sweetest, I can say that I also had a problem this season when I had a problem in Miami that lasted for a few weeks.

But I'm here in Paris, and I have been here quite a few years in a row. I have been playing tough players. And I have enough experience to play these matches. But you have to win them.

And today I was about to lose the first set and maybe had I lost it the match would have been totally different.

I was able to save those set points and do the proper breaks, and I got more and more confident. And I managed to win in three sets, which is very important, both for confidence reasons and for recovery reasons. It was very important to have won this match in three sets.

Q. With your experience, you have had both disappointments and happy moments. You have been a runner-up in a Grand Slam. Do you have time to think about it?
FERNANDO VERDASCO: Well, it's a long road to the end of a tournament. You come to a Grand Slam especially when you have had time to prepare it well, and if you're fit and confident, you have highest expectations.

And when you're not seeded, as in the past few years I have been at best 30th or 32nd, you know that in the third round you're going to be playing one of the top 10s, and from there on, it's going to be top 15s or top 10s and you're not going to play anybody less, which means that you have a right to dream. All human beings dream that their wishes come true. And we work on it on a daily basis, and we make efforts to manage.

But I prefer to do it day by day, giving it my all, and doing as best as possible. We'll see what happens.

Q. We asked you this question in Australia. What do you feel like now that you're married, and does that affect your play on the court, given the fact that you're reaching maturity with everything that you've gone through in the past?
FERNANDO VERDASCO: Well, in my personal life, since my wedding and up until now, it's been about a year now, and a year before marrying my wife accompanied me everywhere. And obviously for sports, stability is essential, and for tennis even more, for individual-game sports.

And in my present situation, since I'm in the same situation for two years now, I think it's even helping me to be more stable mentally, because physically you obviously will always have problems, as any professional sportsman or athlete, and there are times that you feel the shot better than others.

But when you have mental stability and you have a stable relationship or lifestyle, it helps. It helps on the court, because it gives you more stability on the court and you can give much more positive things.

Q. After so many years in the circuit and having gone through good times and bad times, injuries, how do you manage to reinvent yourself, after this injury you had in Miami, for instance, find yourself among the best and fighting top players like today's match? How do you find your motivation?
FERNANDO VERDASCO: Well, as I was answering a while ago, two questions ago, I think that my motivation comes from the wish to achieve good things and play matches like this in this tournament which are the greatest in the world, and this is something that really motivates me to help me train every day and to do the best and be in the best shape to be able to face these tournaments, being almost 100% or as close as possible to 100%. Obviously there are things that happen. That's what happened in Miami; I was injured.

But you obviously have to adjust your training because of that, and the way you face tournaments. But luckily, I had enough time after Rome to train. Maybe not all, as much as I would have liked to, but I did train for ten days 100%, and I think that was a great help to come to Paris in a much better shape than what I was in Rome and achieve the results I have managed to achieve so far. And I hope I will be able to achieve more results in this tournament.

Q. The things you dream about and the things you want the most?
FERNANDO VERDASCO: Well, obviously I have always said so, managed to get an individual championship individually, and I'm not discarding Davis Cup, but I have already won three Davis Cups, and individually I need a Masters Series and a Grand Slam, to be the champion in a Grand Slam.

It would be my dream to win here in Paris or the US Open, although you never know, and obviously fight to realize these dreams that I have had since I was a child.

I may not get there, but I will do whatever I can to reach my goal.

Q. Maybe I didn't understand well, but you seem to have said that you were not surprised that Zidane left.
FERNANDO VERDASCO: Well, we were commenting that if he left, it wasn't going to be a surprise, because after having won three Championships in four years, it's very great, and you have to know how to leave and maybe next year he goes, he'll reach the quarterfinals. And I'm a bit surprised that people were surprised that he was leaving.

So I'm not really surprised. I'm not surprised that he's leaving, because I think that what he did is totally logical.

Q. You mentioned the Davis Cups. You and your tennis group players are part of the most famous ones. What would you say about Ferrer and Nadal who have their own schools and how would you say that these champions are so focused and can pass on the baton in these schools? What do you feel about it?
FERNANDO VERDASCO: I think a good idea for them to bring out new players to achieve things that we were able to achieve throughout our career. It's not easy, because winning a Davis Cup in the years we played in the past 10 years or past 12 years wasn't an easy feat. And Rafael Nadal, somebody like Rafael Nadal is even harder to produce.

But the fact that these players are trying to train young players as good as Rafa or Feliciano or Ferrer is an excellent idea, and one of my ideas in the future when I retire would be to set up a team maybe alone, maybe with Feliciano, but tennis is our life.

And although we won't be playing in the future, we would like young kids to realize their dreams.

Q. This is a forced question: Djokovic or Bautista Agut?
FERNANDO VERDASCO: Well, either will be hard to play. Djokovic is not exactly at the level he was a couple of years ago, because already in Rome and in other matches he started playing a bit better. And Bautista Agut is playing well, and now I think they were -- now they're playing a tiebreak. Okay, so they are playing the second, playing a very, very tight match. And I think that whichever one wins will be a tough opponent.

I will try and be focused and do what I have to do as well as possible and hopefully I will be able to play a match such as today or yesterday, and I will stand a few chances.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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