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MUTUA MADRID OPEN

May 7, 2019

David Ferrer

Madrid, Spain

D. FERRER/R. Bautista Agut

6-4, 4-6, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions in Spanish.

Q. We were a little bit worried because we saw that you were taking a pill or something, or they were assisting you on court. Are you okay?
DAVID FERRER: Yeah, I'm fine. I was a bit dehydrated. I have suffered quite a lot. On the first serve, two key points, I managed to recover a little bit better. It is nothing important. I just need to hydrate myself, I need to relax and I need to recover. That's all.

A few weeks ago, I was a couple of days in bed because I was a bit ill, so maybe physically it's difficult to adapt to the conditions here.

Q. Now you have to play against Zverev. You beat him recently, is that helpful to face the match differently? Or is it still a tough task?
DAVID FERRER: The fact I beat him in the last match, I don't know. It's a difficult match ahead of me. I don't think about that. I'm trying to enjoy the moment I have right now. I try to win a match against a good friend and a very tough opponent. I want to be with my family and try to enjoy as much as possible the time that I have to play in this center court.

And tomorrow I have another opportunity and I'll go out there to try to enjoy every single feeling that I might experience out there.

Q. Have you already thought what you are going to feel, what are you going to experience when you are playing that last moment? Today, did you have that feeling that if I lose today's match, what am I going to do tomorrow with my life, or what am I going to feel in the last moment?
DAVID FERRER: No, I don't know because I still have not left that last moment. I just think about every match as another match in my career and I don't think about anything else.

I feel really good because that makes me be very competitive and I'm able to play these matches to the very end. That was my goal today, to play good tennis and try to be focussed till the very last point of the match. And whenever I finish the match, the tournament, I'll surely have a lot of feelings. It will be a good moment. And I don't think about those things. I just think of the matches that I have won, like moments like today's.

They are nights and afternoons that I know I'm not going to enjoy in the future anymore, so right now I try to experience them as much as possible and enjoy them.

Q. You were saying that you still don't feel that it's your last match. You don't have that feeling. But all of the people were supporting you. Even though two Spanish players were playing, I think the vast majority of the people were supporting you. I don't know if you have had the time to talk with Roberto because I guess it is the bad news out of this match, now that Roberto is out of the tournament?
DAVID FERRER: Well, it's true that this week, everything is different because I've had a lot more things to do, a lot more tasks and it's not just like a normal week because it's my last week. So it's difficult to have a normal routine. So, I think both of us, we have played a little bit nervous today. Today, because I wanted to do it properly and well, Roberto, because he was playing against me and I know these kind of matches are not easy for him.

Well, after the match, nothing really. It's the bad side that he has lost because he is a great friend. We train very often together. We have a very close relationship. And I know that now is a tough moment for him, a tough day for him in that sense.

But it's nothing more than tennis match. Let's not think more about it. And Roberto is doing a great season. The match today is nothing more than another match and he's going to have a lot of good matches.

During my career, Ferrero left me a good legacy and I hope I'll leave the same legacy for other players.

Q. When you told the physio to come on court to assist you, when you laid down, I don't know if you had a flashback to what happened to you in New York and you just thought I'm not retiring today?
DAVID FERRER: I didn't think about that. I just wanted to finish today's match and I knew if I was treated properly on court, and if I was hydrated, I knew I could turn it back.

It is true I had done a break and I had to play for three more games if I was lucky. I just believed in myself that I could just finish the match properly and just get the initiative from the first ball and, luckily, finally, I managed to do this and everything worked out properly.

Q. How did you face today when you woke up this morning thinking the match you had today at 4pm? Maybe it could be your last match. Did you change your routine? What was going on in your head? Do you have another feeling right now, now you have been able to win today's match?
DAVID FERRER: Well, today I tried just to do another day, just to be a normal day, and that is what really makes you play properly and well and then you are able to face these kind of matches.

It is true I was a bit more nervous than normal because I was talking with my team and when I was warming up everyone is looking at you. Everyone has come from Javea, my home town, to look at me and it's been a different feeling, it's true.

But very soon I started to be with my team, talk with them, and we just face it as a normal match. I did my routine and at the beginning, I felt a bit different but then I just started playing and I accepted and I was improving step by step so before the match I knew that was going to be the way. I knew the beginning was going to be tough because there were going to be a lot of emotions but then it was all fine.

Q. Out of all of this support of the people that have been reaching you, is there any special one moment that you are going to remember for the rest of your career because of this, a message they send you or something?
DAVID FERRER: There are many. I can tell you the picture that a lot of tennis players took a couple of days ago because it was a surprise for me. We have our routines, our schedule and many top players came and they took that picture. Maybe I don't have such a close relationship with a lot of those players and that you see that at this moment many of those players support you, both as a tennis player and personally. It is really good for me and it felt good to see the players that came yesterday to take the last picture with me.

Q. You were saying that you would like to have that last match against Roger Federer. You are on different sides of the draw, but you could have, you could play that match against Rafael Nadal. Are you dreaming about that match right now?
DAVID FERRER: I'm not dreaming about anything, I'm dreaming about trying to rest, rest as much as possible and not dreaming anything and be able to do a good match tomorrow. That is all I'm thinking about right now.

(Presentation made)

DAVID FERRER: I want to say thank you to Lotto because they have been my sponsors since the beginning and I want to thank them for this present. Thank you.

(Applause)

DAVID FERRER: It's my family. It's a book full of my moments lived during my career. I will go through it tonight. Thank you very much.

(Applause)

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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