ATP MASTERS SERIES- MADRID

October 21, 2004

Tommy Robredo

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Tommy.

TOMMY ROBREDO: The fact of winning always gives you confidence. I started the week with my best ranking. Today I moved even higher in the ranking. I'm not going to lack confidence. I only hope to recuperate my shoulder, especially for my serve. If I recuperate, I'll be a hundred percent for the quarterfinals.

TOMMY ROBREDO: Yeah, but sometimes I do -- I always feel like crying because of the pain I feel with my shoulder, when I lift my arm above my head. Last week when I played doubles, I was fine. Yesterday, it was a tough match, and I haven't been able to recover. I got home at 2 a.m. Today I played quite early, at 4. I have little time to recover. I only hope to get to tomorrow's match okay.

TOMMY ROBREDO: I am already among the Top 20.

TOMMY ROBREDO: That's not my decision. I'm only a player. Captains decide. If he wants to give me a place in the doubles, they'll do that. If they don't, they won't. But I'm not going to give my opinion. It's like a football team: sometimes players are tired so they don't play. There are good days and bad days. I don't think captains are not giving me a place because they don't feel like doing that, but because they do things the best they can. Personally, I want to have my team win because I'd be in the photograph anyway. That's the most important thing in the Davis Cup: it's a team. Sometimes Ferrero could win the whole year, Moya, too, it could be Lopez. But the special thing is that we're a team. That's why one can have a good day and the other one a bad one.

TOMMY ROBREDO: In the beginning of the match, my shoulder was not hurting because I had a painkiller. But, however, the first serve made me suffer. I was disheartened. It's sad to be here and be like this because it's hurting. It was hurting from the beginning. That's what made me miss a lot of balls at the beginning. I was having easy shots that went out. I talked to myself. I thought, "Okay, my shoulder is hurting, but what can I do? Either it breaks or I win the match. " I tried to make aces, win a few points. After the second set, I had a break. The third was great.

TOMMY ROBREDO: Every tennis player, no matter how well he serves, wins more points on a hard court. That not only happens to me, but to the rest of the players. What can we do? Improve the serve for all courts. Roddick has a great serve, no matter where he plays, clay or indoors, for instance. That's something we need to bear in mind - not only Spaniards, but all of the players. When you return, you depend on the opponent's serve. But when you serve, that's the only ball that depends on you. That's a key point we can improve and that I have been improving lately. You have good and bad days when you serve, but that's something I've been improving lately. Well, before I started, I thought, "Okay, I serve, get it in, that's all." Right now when I stop and think about where to place the ball, it's important. For instance, the end of the second and third set, I was playing well.

TOMMY ROBREDO: I went to the doctor today and he told me I was perfect. I have some inflammation in the muscle. Every time I put my arm up, I feel pain. Okay, that's true. But I only have to rest and carry on. If they had told me I was risking serious injury, well, I would think about it. But he told me, "You can serve as hard as you want. It's going to stay like that." So I'm calm now. I've put up with a whole match, and sometimes these things happen in tennis. At the end I try to put serves in, not to have second serves. When the ball has topspin, for instance, it did hurt my arm.

TOMMY ROBREDO: Depends on the tournament and the players. This has happened a few times in the year, that I'm the only Spanish player now. Well, I'm confident. Maybe luck and chance have played their role, too. Depends on the opponents and the draw. So I've been lucky to be here and to reach this point in the tournament. It depends on the player, but on other things, too.

TOMMY ROBREDO: First of all, I think Spadea is a very dangerous player and could win. Maybe not be superior, but could maybe making Agassi lose some points. If Agassi wins, one knows how to play against him. Once you're on the court, maybe you can or cannot, but you know how to do it. You need to try to change the rhythm, the pace, make him run, make him do what he does to you. That's the way to defeat him. It depends whether you're capable of doing it on court or not.