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ATP CUPJanuary 6, 2020Novak DjokovicViktor TroickiNenad ZimonjicBrisbane, Queensland, Australia DJOKOVIC,TROICKI/Mahut,Roger-Vasselin 6-3, 6-7, 10-3 Serbia - 2 France - 1 THE MODERATOR: First question, please. Q. Merry Christmas to you guys. NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Thank you. NENAD ZIMONJIC: Thank you. VIKTOR TROICKI: Thank you. Q. That meant a lot. You could see the body language and your emotion. Why did that mean so much? NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, I think as you said, you can see it on the court. I don't need to talk about it too much. I really show my emotion because I really care about playing for Serbia, but I also care about being on the team with my friends these guys are some of my best friends in my life and I grew up with Viktor. We played so many doubles matches together in junior days. And the last one that we played was really tough one for us because we had match points against Russia in quarters of Davis Cup and didn't capitalize on that one. And then coming in today it was kind of a similar scenario a little bit. So we managed together to kind of lift the energy and get out of the, out of that crisis, the mini crisis we had at the end of the second and beginning of the super tiebreak. But you saw the atmosphere. It was phenomenal. Serbian people, I mean, I didn't expect, to be honest, so many of them staying all the way through and basically being on a Christmas Day with us post-midnight, which is amazing. We want to thank them. And for me it was a great day in the office, singles and doubles. Very important for us because we would qualify. We qualified as the best team in the group, secured our spot in Sydney in quarters, and we know that we're going to play on Friday, so it's great to have kind of clear schedule in front of us and so we can adjust the next days. Q. Your thoughts on the encroachment. The review, just talk about what were your thoughts are on it? NOVAK DJOKOVIC: It seems, to me, that, I mean, at first that it was kind of just in the middle, like, not our side, not their side. But then it, you know, probably the chair umpire after repeating the video couple times, he was right. I mean, I probably did go over to their side a little bit with my racket. But it was just, I mean, I got frustrated because that's, I don't know, I mean, that's, no, I just like, it was such an important point and, like, to win the point that way, I already lost a very important point in my career against Nadal in similar way like that in semis of French Open. So I had a little bit of a deja vu there and got frustrated because of that. But, look, it is what it is. We bounced back, won the next two points. That got myself, I think Viktor and the crowd a little bit hyped up. I think after that the energy of the crowd was amazing. Also, the French team they were lifting their team up and it was a big battle. Q. Where does that rank in terms of neutral sites just the pro circuit atmosphere for you all, different places you've played? NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I mean, Australia must be one of the best places for us to play in terms of getting Serbian support. I mean, there's many Serbian people living in the Brisbane/Sydney/Melbourne. I think Sydney is going to be even better, hopefully it will, as the matches will get tougher and opponents will get tougher, so we will need that support for sure. We want to get as far as we can. We want to thank them again for amazing support because it did feel like playing at home, honestly. VIKTOR TROICKI: It was nuts. NOVAK DJOKOVIC: It was really amazing, because for them it's also a pride, it's a unique occasion to really come and cheer for their athletes with -- Australia is far away from Serbia, so when they get to have an opportunity to support their athletes from their countries, it's obviously big thing, and for us, I mean, we cannot ask for more. I mean, this is exactly what we want and what we need in this kind of competition. Q. What's it like playing a doubles match in this scenario where it's live and the intensity of doubles? NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, as I said, recently about six, seven weeks ago we had that kind of an experience, which was similar. It was a deciding doubles against Russia team, match point, drama all over the place, and just it didn't end up so well for us. And that's left a little bit of a wound on both of us, that, in one moment, surfaced a little bit today. But we just, as I said, managed to support each other and lift each other up in the right moments, come up with great shots, and I felt we played one of the best doubles we ever played, to be honest, together. So we beat a top team, Grand Slam champions, you know. It's a big win. Q. (No microphone.) NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, this is a team, look, we go back, again, to the format. I think I treat this as a team competition. Look, you can say there are elements of individuals. There are some rules that are really debatable, to be honest. There's some rules that I really don't think that are so great. But, again, at the end of the day it's a new competition. You can't have everything ideal. But it is a team competition, so that's how we treat it, that's why we care about playing well. Q. Viktor, for you, how special was that tonight that the victory, and I guess the timing with the Christmas in your calendar, the support. Can you sum up what that all meant to you? VIKTOR TROICKI: Well, as he said, the support was amazing. We really feel not just like playing at home, even better than that. They're really fantastic, they're treating us unbelievable, and it was a great experience to play tonight in front of them. I also hope that it's going to be the same in Sydney, even better, probably, because there's even more Serbian people there. I've played many times there, so I know how it is like to play there. And, yeah, it was fantastic. I really, I think we both played well, it was important. We knew how important this point was to get the time to qualify for the quarterfinals, to be number one in the group, which was really important, and I think we did, we gave our best. We had a few flashbacks from our last match that we had so many opportunities and, to be honest, that was one of the toughest, toughest losses I've ever had, probably the toughest loss I ever had in my career, and I just took it really tough. It was the last match of the season, and luckily this one came our way and then I think we deserved it in the end. We had a lot of chances that we didn't convert, but at the end we played a great finish in the super tiebreak and made it. Q. How did you guys stay with it? I think the first set maybe you had the three set points come and go, clinch it on the fourth one. How did you guys find a way just to stay up? VIKTOR TROICKI: Well, we're not, as you know, we're not doubles specialists, like this guy here, and it all happens -- on this level it all happens really fast, the points go quickly and if you're not a hundred percent focused every point it can change quickly, it can turn around. And that's what was going on, we missed a couple of put aways, they also came up with some unbelievable shots in the right moment and in the tough crucial moment for them. So we were unlucky in a few times, but I think we maintained a pretty good focus and good game throughout the whole match. And maybe could have been in two sets, but luckily we made it in the super tiebreak. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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