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US OPENAugust 29, 2005Rafael NadalNEW YORK CITY THE MODERATOR: Questions in English, please. Q. Are you comfortable in the shirt? RAFAEL NADAL: Yes, of course. If I don't -- Q. Looks a little tight. RAFAEL NADAL: Yeah, if I don't feel comfortable, I don't gonna play with that, no? Q. Seems like a lot of guys on the tour are now wearing the sleeveless shirts. Have you kind of started that all, wearing the shirts without the sleeves? RAFAEL NADAL: I don't know. I think the player was beginning with that is Moya three years before, and after I begin and I don't know. Q. More and more guys are starting to do it. RAFAEL NADAL: Yeah, now we play with that, a lot of players on tour, I think. Q. How does it feel to be on Ashe for your first match at the US Open this year? RAFAEL NADAL: Yeah, it is not easy match. The first match is difficult always. I serve very well, I think, today. Bobby Reynolds is not easy. He play little bit... TRANSLATOR: He was hitting, going for broke on every shot. He wasn't playing all his game. Q. One of the tactical things you decided you wanted to do this year was to get your serve better so that you would get more free points off your serve. Is it better? How much better? RAFAEL NADAL: Yeah, with my serve I feel like little bit more comfortable on court, because when I gonna serve, in every game, I have one point with the serve or one point on forehand, easy forehand, with the serve. So that's important for the calm of the match, you know. Q. You've in the past come here, and many American tennis fans didn't really know much about you. That's obviously changed this year after Roland Garros, after Cincinnati, you got nine titles this year. How do you feel coming in as the No. 2 seed into the US Open? Does this feel much different than, say, in the past two years when you've come here? RAFAEL NADAL: Of course it's little bit different. Now this year I play very, very well. The last two years when I was coming here, I was playing very, very bad - not bad, but the worse moment in the year when I come to the US Open. I think now is little bit different, no? I was play good in Montreal in hard courts. Last year when I come here I lost in Montreal and Cincinnati first round, two sides. So now I have little bit more confidence. But in the tennis you never know. I can lose in the next match because tennis... TRANSLATOR: It's very equal. It's very deep. RAFAEL NADAL: Equal? Q. In terms of preparation for this tournament, do you feel more confidence out of the hard court victory coming in, or from Roland Garros? I mean, obviously, it's a much different surface. RAFAEL NADAL: Yeah, the hard court, if it's slow, is not too much difference than clay. And I feel good in hard court. I was play good in Australia, I lost in fourth round against Hewitt. I was winning two sets to one and 5-4 in the fourth. I was play the final in Miami, unbelievable match with Federer. Two years before I was play the final in Auckland. So I know, if I am playing well, I can play, I can win a lot of matches in this surface. Q. Is it slow? RAFAEL NADAL: No, not too much, no. Q. It's not slow? RAFAEL NADAL: It's little bit strange because the balls... TRANSLATOR: He says the balls don't get as much spin in this type of surface. Q. How many pairs of shoes will you go through during this tournament if you play seven matches? RAFAEL NADAL: The shoes? How much? I don't know. Depends. Depends. In Montreal, three, I think. Q. Three pair? RAFAEL NADAL: Yeah, but depends of the shoes, depends if you are running a lot. Q. Depends how much you run? RAFAEL NADAL: Yeah. Normally I am running a lot on the court. But with this shoes, is very good shoes. The last ones when I was play in Australia, every match, or every two sets. But now, now I can play with the same shoes two matches, three matches. If I play to five sets, is one match too much. But probably two or three sets. Q. How does this court compare to Montreal? How is it with speed and how does the ball come off here against how it was in Montreal? RAFAEL NADAL: Yeah, in Montreal is little bit different. The court is going up, the ball, too much. With the Penn ATP, the ball, the ball give... TRANSLATOR: Spins. RAFAEL NADAL: It spins. It spins. This ball is little bit different, little bit strange. But I need to adapt because I need to play good here. I need to adapt. It's good to win first match because is never easy. The first match is never easy. Of course I don't play very, very well today, but the most important thing is win the match. And after I have one or two days off for improve, and I need improve in the court, I need improve in the matches. I hope in the next match I play little bit better. And if I win, the next a little bit better. Of course I need to improve my game for have a good result here. Q. You got big and strong in your upper body. How much time in the gym did you spend to get big? RAFAEL NADAL: In the gym I have one day in three weeks (laughing). Q. You're naturally like that? RAFAEL NADAL: Huh? Q. Are you naturally big in the upper body? RAFAEL NADAL: I think. I think. Because I am playing tournament every week and this year I play to a lot of finals. When I am in competition, I can do nothing. I have little bit gym when I go to Mallorca, but the minimum is one time in three weeks. Q. What do you plan to do for fun in the next three days in New York? RAFAEL NADAL: My best fun is improve (laughing). Is improve my game in these two days. If I improve, I enjoying a lot New York. Q. There is a long way to go until you meet Roger again, Roger in the finals. But if you get that far, how much better would you expect him to be than he was the last time? RAFAEL NADAL: The final, for stay in the final, Roger need won seven matches and me six more. So, no, six match with Roger, me five more. So we can't speak about that. I only want to speak about the next round because I don't know when is play, I think I play against Bastl or Scoville Jenkins. So every match is different. I know that for experience in every match. Q. Who chose the colors you wore today? RAFAEL NADAL: I change the color for the next match, I think. Q. You do? RAFAEL NADAL: Yep. Q. What happened? RAFAEL NADAL: I gonna play with the blue. Q. Blue? RAFAEL NADAL: Blue and white, and white shorts. Q. But did you choose these new colors, the orange and black today? RAFAEL NADAL: Orange, no? Q. Red. RAFAEL NADAL: Red. Q. You came to Vienna in October. What do you know about Austria? RAFAEL NADAL: I know the airport of Vienna (laughing). I don't know more. The other players in the tournament, in the tour, say me is very nice tournament. I gonna be there in two months, I don't know. Q. You practice sometimes with Thomas Muster? RAFAEL NADAL: Yeah. In Rome I practice five times or six times. End of FastScripts…. |
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