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ATP MASTER SERIES MADRID

October 20, 2006

David Nalbandian

MADRID, SPAIN

Q. That is the third time with your opponent serving for the game and you won. So you like it all the way, obviously.
DAVID NALBANDIAN: It's not a bad way to do it. The way that the match come in like this, I think that moment I push very hard and all the time I play good in that moment.
It's not the best way to do it, but it happened like that.

Q. How do you rate your level of game right now? Do you think you're playing at your best level, or can you improve?
DAVID NALBANDIAN: No, I can play better than this, I think. My play was not very good in the beginning of the tournament. Every round that I won I played better and better.
Tomorrow will be tough. I have to keep improving my game.

Q. If you play Federer, it's always a close game. What do you expect?
DAVID NALBANDIAN: To win. It will be tough. It will be very tough. All the time that we play each other, it's very close, a very tough match. Nobody knows what's going to happen, but I'll be ready for it.

Q. How significant was this win for your chances of getting to Shanghai?
DAVID NALBANDIAN: Well, I think it's very good. I didn't see the exact points or the difference between players, so I think this is good for me. I think I passed one or two players. I'm in very good shape for Shanghai as well.

Q. Why do you think it is that this time of the year you seem to be so strong and other players seem to be tiring?
DAVID NALBANDIAN: Well, I'm fighting for the Masters, so I need to be strong this part of the year. Sometimes all the players are getting tired from the long season, long tournament. And I didn't play too many tournaments. So maybe that's why I come to the indoors in very good shape.

Q. I have to ask a kind of British question. You apparently went on to Argentinian TV after your match against Henman yesterday and said one or two uncomplimentary things about --
DAVID NALBANDIAN: The TV, no.

Q. Maybe to ESPN of Spain or something.
DAVID NALBANDIAN: Internet, yeah.

Q. Internet. Why were you so aggravated with what happened yesterday? Why were you so upset with what was going on?
DAVID NALBANDIAN: Well, normally I was serving 5-4, 15/30, and I hit a first serve and he touched the ball and the ball was out. And the lineman calls out. And I see the umpire, chair umpire and said, "You didn't see that?" He said, "No, I couldn't see, it was the foul line", so that's fine. And I asked Tim where he looked. The point before he asked me, a forehand that he missed and he said it was out, it was clearly out. I don't know what he said. Maybe he get angry. That moment he said, "I saw the ball, good." So I said, "Okay."
So it's first serve and asked the umpire is it first serve. And he told me if Tim gave it to me that it was good, I got the first serve again. And he told me, "Yeah, it was good, but sorry, second serve."
So he's not the sportsman that he looks like or he wants to sell that image. I don't know.

Q. That change over, the 5-6 change over, you were sitting down, and he was standing up.
DAVID NALBANDIAN: Which one?

Q. The change over at 6-5 --
DAVID NALBANDIAN: Oh, change over, yeah.

Q. 6-5, you sat down and he was standing up, and he was talking quite a lot, which it's very unusual for him.
DAVID NALBANDIAN: He told me, "What do you expect me to do, to give you that point?" If you saw the ball good, yeah. I don't ask for the point. I asked for the first serve again. If he told me, "I saw the ball out, that's good." That would be enough. He said, "No, it was good, but second serve, sorry." Strange.

Q. Going back to today. Do you think that you get some help from the Hawk-Eye system, and overall do you like the Hawk-Eye system?
DAVID NALBANDIAN: Yeah. I like it. It's okay. There are very, very close calls sometimes. Sometimes I missed, sometimes I was right. And Safin as well. I think it's good because sometimes you feel that the ball was good or out or the lineman does a wrong call, and you can have the challenge to be sure what the ball was, if you are right or wrong.

Q. Do you think it's good like this, or should it be used every single time when needed, the Hawk-Eye system.
DAVID NALBANDIAN: No. That's fine. The way it is now, that's okay.
(Questions in Spanish.)

Q. All I wanted to ask is about the semi finals, you'll probably face Federer. It's going to be a repeat of last year's Masters Series. What are your chances?
DAVID NALBANDIAN: Every match is difficult and even. Anyone can win. You have to be ready for anything.

Q. What do you expect from that match?
DAVID NALBANDIAN: Of course I expect to win. I hope to win. Federer is very good. It's going to be tough, but I have a chance.

Q. If you reach the final, Nadal is on the other side of the draw, what are your chances?
DAVID NALBANDIAN: That's far away. I'm only thinking about the next match. And Rafa is playing great. I'm watching him on TV and he's doing great.

Q. With Federer you have 6-6 matches history. Why aren't you worried about him?
DAVID NALBANDIAN: Well, the last match we played in Paris, I kept winning him until the end he got the match I could have won also. It's a situation I like to play against him. We know each other since juniors. That may be an advantage for me.

Q. Do you think Federer you're going to face tomorrow in case you win is going to be Federer at his best level?
DAVID NALBANDIAN: I think his level is always very constant. Anyone can have good and bad days, but he's always at a constant and great level.

Q. In today's match against Safin, what do you recall, what are your conclusions you draw for the matches in December, Moscow?
DAVID NALBANDIAN: Now I'm focused on the Masters. December is far away. It's always good to win a match before anyway.

Q. Going back to Federer, do you think he has weak points? Do you know them? Do you have a strategy to defeat him?
DAVID NALBANDIAN: Yes. I know him. We know each other since juniors, and that's why -- it's something I take advantage of because we've played each other many times as juniors, and we know each other very well. That's why I get to know his weak points, yeah.

Q. I'd like to know, throughout the tournaments players keep asking for the Hawk-Eye increasingly. What is your opinion about this system in the development of the match.
DAVID NALBANDIAN: I think it's a very good system. It erases doubts for us on the calls from the referees.

Q. Many of the tennis players that have visited us in this press conference room are willing to take their holidays and to rest. How do you feel physically and emotionally?
DAVID NALBANDIAN: I'm feeling well. I'm not the one who has played the most tournaments in the year probably. So that's why I'm feeling fit both physically and mentally.

Q. Can I ask you about Guillermo Coria and how he's feeling right now?
DAVID NALBANDIAN: Actually I don't know if he's in Argentina. I came last week. I'm not aware of where he is right now.

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