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AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 17, 2007

Marcos Baghdatis

MELBOURNE, VICTORIA

THE MODERATOR: First question, please.

Q. It probably isn't the way you wanted to go out, I'm sure, out of this tournament, but do you feel like he deserved it, or did you have trouble keeping the ball on the court?
MARCOS BAGHDATIS: Of course he deserves it. He beat me, so I cannot say he doesn't deserve it. It's just tough. Everything went so fast and just couldn't control anything. The match went so fast. I don't know what to say.
I mean, I'm a bit disappointed. I tried to fight, I tried to find a way, but nothing was working. I tried to go on the net. He was putting the ball in, and I just didn't know what to do. I wasn't here. I just wasn't in the match. I don't know, it's tough to -- it's tough to speak. I'm just a bit disappointed.
I'm playing good. I'm playing good in practice. It's just like -- I don't know, I just don't know. It's tough because I felt so good after playing against Moya, and coming here, playing really good. Just I don't know, that's the way it is.
I mean, Gael just played a great match today. He was very aggressive. He was hitting the ball very aggressive. He wasn't being very aggressive, but he was playing deep all the time. I just couldn't find a solution.
I served bad and I was going too fast. I just didn't want to be out there. It was tough being out there, and that's all. I cannot say anything more.

Q. You were playing well in the third set and then he had his problem with his foot and the match changed totally after that.
MARCOS BAGHDATIS: Yeah, you know, I lost my momentum that one time. I had to be good anyway. I had to win the match or had to play five sets and you have to win three sets, and I didn't today. That's the guy that did it, and he deserves to win. He played better than me today, that's all.

Q. He seemed to be unable to walk, and then suddenly he was running around like a deer.
MARCOS BAGHDATIS: I don't know what to say about that. I don't want to judge anybody. I mean, he's right -- he can do what he wants. If he had pain, he had pain. If he didn't, I don't know. I don't want to judge. I know the guy. He's not the kind of guy who would do that. It's nothing.

Q. How different would you say your attitude and the way you approached your matches coming here this year was compared to last year?
MARCOS BAGHDATIS: I don't know, it's tough, because I'm not -- I'm the guy to beat, and it's not easy. It's not easy. But I think it's a very good experience for me. I take it positive because it's the first time I felt like that, and that's very good.
I played two matches, I tried to deal with pressure, and it's not the same pressure as before. It's a bit different, and I have to get used to it. I have to build up, work hard like I'm working now, and I think one day it will come.
It's not a matter of tennis. I'm just playing good, and I feel good in practice, and it's just small things that I need to work on and just get more experienced to find my way easier in these matches.
You see Roger, Roddick, the good players never lose easy matches -- I mean, easy matches. I mean, second round in a Grand Slam. They're always concentrating on it. I need to find that.
I need to find my way to play more consistent tennis and to build up -- and to win easy matches more often.

Q. The pressure you spoke about the other day with a large family here, did you think you carried that onto the court tonight?
MARCOS BAGHDATIS: No, it was much better. It's just, I don't know, it's tough. Everything went so fast. The match went so fast for me. I was two hours 30 out there, but I'm coming out. I don't understand a thing, to tell you the truth.
I feel like it's been like ten minutes I'm out there. It went so fast for me. I was just taking the ball playing without thinking, without thinking what to do. I mean, it was not so good. But like I said before, Gael deserves to win, and that's all.

Q. Are there lessons that you'll take into other major tournaments after this with some of the off-court stuff you talked about with a lot of people around and do things differently at other tournaments?
MARCOS BAGHDATIS: Really I don't want to talk about this now because that's not the problem. I lost the match. I want to just forget about this. I mean, there are more important things in life than losing a tennis match.
I came out, I -- I'm a bit disappointed, and like I said, everything went so fast and I just don't know what to say. The match was a bit weird for me, my feeling. Every time I went to the net I was feeling like I don't know where I'm standing on the court.
Every time I hit the ball, I don't know where I'm hitting the ball. I mean, I was really feeling very weird.

Q. Have you felt like that before at a big match?
MARCOS BAGHDATIS: I don't know. I don't know. Yeah, there's some matches that you go on court and you lose 6-4, 6-4 and you don't know what happens. It's a bit like that. I tried to fight. Even in the fourth set it was 6-Love, but all the games were deuce, advantage, and important points I wasn't there.
I just didn't know what to do. I just -- I don't know. I don't know what to say. It's tough. It's just tough to say something.

Q. It's hard right away after a match, too.
MARCOS BAGHDATIS: Yeah. Just I don't know.

Q. One thing I had asked is you were sort of a marked man after you got to the final here last year. People were eager to play you and you said you were the player to beat. That was the case last year, too, so why can you feel so differently this time?
MARCOS BAGHDATIS: No, I wasn't the guy to beat last year.

Q. People were looking at playing you more after Australia last year all season, right?
MARCOS BAGHDATIS: Yeah, all season, but it's a big difference coming here. It's a big difference. It's not the same thing as last year.

Q. Because of the points?
MARCOS BAGHDATIS: Not the points, but it's a Grand Slam. You play in the finals, it's much -- way different. It's different.

Q. Can we just go back to Monfils for a second? You played him in August last year. How much has he improved since then?
MARCOS BAGHDATIS: Listen, I think at that time he had problems with coaches so he wasn't feeling so good. I couldn't say. I mean, every day is different. I mean, one day we play good, one day we play bad. One day you're good at important points, one day you're not.
He improved. Today I think he stuck with his coach before this tournament. He's playing with nothing to lose, and you saw how confident he came on the court and how he's hitting his forehands and how he's running everywhere. He's very confident, and that's a lot.
The tennis he has since two years, he doesn't improve anything amazing in tennis. It's just the confidence. It's just the experience. I think it's good that he found his way, he stuck with his coach and he's feeling very confident now. That's the difference, I guess.

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