|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
THE CHAMPIONSHIPSJune 29, 2019Novak DjokovicWimbledon, London, England THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Did you ever play on a grass court in Serbia? Can you address how you got so good on grass sort of from a technical point of view. NOVAK DJOKOVIC: We don't have a grass court, grass tennis court, in Serbia. I think I was 17 when I played on it for the first time. It was here, obviously, in England. Just before my first grass court tournament, which was actually qualifications for Wimbledon. Never played in juniors. I don't know. To be honest, I did struggle a little bit at the beginning, in the first couple of years of my career on the grass to really understand how I need to move on the court, how I need to adjust my swing and my game in general, tactically what I need to do. I've always been a baseline player, but grass is the quickest surface in sport and very unique. It makes you come in more, try to use short balls and slices and chip returns. You need more variety in your game, so to say. Everything happens very quickly. I think this surface requires more hours spent on the court training than any other, really, to get used to it. Probably the most radical change coming from clay to grass. But over the years I guess you learn how to get used to it. Just have some form of a subconscious programs from before that you try to unlock and remember and use it for the season every year. Q. Is the comparison to hard court accurate or not? NOVAK DJOKOVIC: No, no. It's very unique surface. I mean, it has been the most common surface we have in sport. We have three out of four slams played on it not so many years ago. A lot of things have changed in the modern tennis since then. Now we have only a month a year, maybe five weeks a year that we play on grass. It is the most historical surface and the one that is most traditional. Of course, this tournament is a sacred tournament for our sport. That's why you do feel special and probably different than any other surface or any other event on the tour. Q. What do you think it means for the sport to have the three winningest major tournament winners playing so well at the same time for so long? NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I think there is a lot of benefits for the sport because of it. I obviously have not been so happy to be part of Federer, Nadal era at the beginning of my career. I wasn't winning much of the major events. It's a different story right now. I think I'm very grateful to be part of this era. It made me better player. I've talked about this numerous times, that they complemented my game. They made me understand what I need to do in order to surpass and overcome the biggest challenge, and that is to win against these guys in a major event. I think the rivalries we have between three of us, and Andy, of course, has kind of highlighted probably the last 10, 15 years of professional men's tennis. I see a lot of positives out of it. I think that the sport has benefited a lot because of these rivalries, all of us winning that much. Q. What are you looking to gain out of practice sessions in these days leading into a Grand Slam tournament? Are you fine-tuning things, looking ahead to particular styles of play you might face? Is what you do in these days any different from practice sessions any other time of the year? NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, as I was saying before, grass court is really different from any other surface that we have in tennis, indoor, outdoor. It's very unique. It requires, as I said, more time in my opinion - I think many, many players would agree - more time spent on the court fine-tuning, understanding what makes you feel comfortable, how you can really highlight your strengths on this surface. For a lot of players it takes a lot of adjustment. For anybody really, especially coming off a three, four months long clay court season. Yes, I am fine-tuning. I'm working on my movement. I'm working on being in a right balance on the court, trying to execute the shots, take short balls, come in. It's quite different from any other styles of my specific game that I use on the other surfaces. I mean, you just have to rely more on your serve here. So you're hoping that that part of your game will work in your favor, and you're always looking to have free points on the serve. The more free points on serve you have, the more confident you feel, so the more pressure you can put on your opponent in the return games. I'm not looking that far in the draw to adjust to any particular opponent's style. It's so early right now. I'm just focusing on primarily my game, perfecting it. Then Kohlschreiber obviously is my first opponent. Q. In the four wins you've had here, you've gone through the first week pretty comfortably. How important is it for you to save energy in the first week of slams? NOVAK DJOKOVIC: It is important. In the back of my mind, of course I always have the big goal, why I'm here, trying to get to that final match and fight for the trophy. As you said, it's a two-week-long event. The more efficient you can be, if I can call it that way, in the first week, the better it is. It is kind of tricky because you can't really think about what happens in the second week. You need to balance it. In order to win straight-set matches against, for example, Kohlschreiber, my first-round opponent, very good, quality tennis player on grass, or any surface for that matter, he won against me earlier this year in Indian Wells, you need the right intensity. You need to kind of be in the moment, focus only on the next challenge. At the same time, yes, an ideal scenario to conserve energy is welcome, of course, for the later stages. Q. It's a busy time of year on the court. There's been some off-the-court matters happening in the last couple of days. Weller Evans being appointed till the end of the year, now a flurry of resignations from the player council, with a couple more to come. Robin Haase was one of them. NOVAK DJOKOVIC: A couple more to come? You have information that I don't have. Interesting. Q. He said: I think that our representation is not at the right level to move tennis forward, and says that you and the council have not addressed a lot of issues he feels are important. NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Who are you talking about? Q. Robin Haase. NOVAK DJOKOVIC: He stated I personally? Q. Not you personally, but the council as a whole. NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Then why are you pointing me out? Q. 'You' plural. NOVAK DJOKOVIC: It's a major difference, okay. Q. What is your reaction to him saying that about the council not being right to take tennis forward, and generally about these resignations? Are you disappointed? NOVAK DJOKOVIC: First of all, I understand resignation from Robin, Jamie, Danny, especially after the last couple meetings, and the one that happened last night, which went on post-midnight and started 5 p.m. For all of us taking part in this tournament, staying for seven hours and not going through the whole agenda yet, is quite tiring. But there's a larger picture and larger issues that Robin was addressing. I think it's a system and a structure that keeps on failing us. I've been saying this before. We are all here as volunteers, as guys that are trying to do the role responsibly and also make sure that players are represented, different groups of players are represented. I've been now part of the council, including the first couple of years of my career, the last six, seven years, I've been quite active. So over eight years I've been part of the council. As president of the council, I can say that the last group that we have, or we had, is the most active one, the one that was dedicated the most, devoted the most. They wanted to make the difference, really cared about issues, constantly communicated between us as a group. But I think there are positives of being on the tour with tournaments. Back in '73 when ATP was formed, it was a player association, then it turned to become a tour between, so to say, a merge between players and tournaments running the ATP. There are positives to that, absolutely. But there is also some downsides to it, which is a conflict of interest. Unfortunately the governing structure is structured in such a way that it does not allow us to make any significant changes at our will. I've experienced that in the past when I was also not part of the council, when I was one of the 14 out of 15 players signing the document, you know, that had three points that we requested from ATP management and our representatives to consider and follow up on; nothing was done. I'm just giving you one example of the struggle that the players have to really accomplish anything. I think in any industry, having seven-hour meetings regularly is unacceptable because it's not efficient. Obviously it says enough about the efficiency, which lacks obviously. But, you know, it is what it is. I'm still in the council. As I said, I support and I understand and, you know, I thank also Robin and Jamie and everyone who resigned recently for their contribution. I think they've done a great job. They really tried. I think one of the triggers as well was leaking of information that has happened so often in the last nine, ten months. We had probably four or five major leaks from literally every single meeting that we had, major meeting. We had information being leaked during or just post our meeting. So yesterday during our discussion on America's player board representative, where we were still discussing and voting, there was a tweet from someone that has said there is a deadlock, that the council is undecisive, there will be no one of these two candidates as pointed out for representatives. These are some major concerns. I'm not a politician. I'm an athlete. We all are athletes. We all are trying to learn more about it, find ways to contribute to the improvement of this sport and represent players that have voted for us, chosen us to be their representatives in the council. But the council is a group of 10 players. We don't have voting rights on the board. The board representatives of the players, three board representatives, as you know, three tournament representatives, are the ones that are final decision makers basically. Yes, they do follow what the majority of the council goes for for most of the time, but sometimes, usually when is a deadlock or when the council is pretty split, that's when they have to take their leadership. That's when they vote for what they feel is appropriate. I think there's just a larger issue. I'm sorry to take your time. I've been trying to explain the structure and the system and give you some examples because it's not that simple as in just what happened last night or on any other particular issue. It's the system as a whole. I've been saying this for many, many years. I've been still part of the council because I feel that there is a value in me being there as a top player. I've been trying, alongside with other players, independent consultants, management, to figure out ways how we can improve that structure so those particular situations are reduced in the future. Q. Why are the leaks such a concern? NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Why are the leaks a concern? Q. Yes. It sounds like they hurt you. NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Obviously. Q. Why do you care if people know what you're doing or are talking about? NOVAK DJOKOVIC: It's a major concern because it violates the confidentiality of the group. If someone leaks an information and points out specifically one name or another for voting this way or that way, I mean, what's the point of being there and trying to be part of that system? Might as well have cameras and publicly broadcast everything that we talk about. That's not how it works. I have nothing to hide, but it is a major concern because a lot of it is supposed to stay confidential. It's not supposed to go out. Especially not during the meetings. Obviously there is someone that has been feeding an information from inside. I don't know who that is. I guess we might never find out. But it is disappointing for a lot of players because they don't feel comfortable. That was a trigger because of which Robin decided to step down, and many others. Q. With a seven-hour meeting three days before a major tournament starts, the resignations, have you ever decided your future on the council and decided it's not the best for you? NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yes, I mean, I've obviously considered various options. I did consider also stepping down. I think my team wants me to step down, honestly (smiling). It's obvious. I feel something is telling me from inside that I'm supposed to still stay there because I feel that we are part of the big transitional phase in tennis at the moment. Having a top player, I feel it means a lot to the group because under the current structure and system, player council, group of 10 players, is representing a hundred plus players around the world. That is, so to say, legally how I can make a difference, I feel, within the system, and understand what goes on inside of the governance, tournaments and so forth. This valuable information you can't always get if you're not part of the council. So I still feel I can make my contribution. Even though it goes against probably my schedule, certainly tennis at times, but I feel there is a greater good, I guess. That's why I'm there. Q. Compare your health, your mindset right now, compared to a year ago coming out of a disappointment at the French Open, a stretch that was tough for you with the surgery, to where you are now. NOVAK DJOKOVIC: There is quite a difference. Obviously I'm approaching this year's Wimbledon as defending champion, No. 1 of the world. Last year I was in top 20, but I did drop out of top 20 after French Open I think. Coming off from the surgery, being unable to have a consistency with the results, this was a huge springboard for me, the win at Wimbledon last year. That's what kind of gave me that push and also a huge relief. After that, it was all upwards, winning Cincinnati for first time, US Open. One Grand Slam can definitely change anyone's career in few weeks. Even though after winning 15 slams, I still value these tournaments very much and understand the importance they have, importance of winning them on my entire career, my confidence, my future. 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
|