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THE ARTOIS CHAMPIONSHIPSJune 11, 2007Jamie BakerLONDON, ENGLAND THE MODERATOR: Questions. Q. You must be very pleased. JAMIE BAKER: Yeah. I was determined to make it more than an hour this year (smiling). It was nearly over, but I hung in there and gave myself a chance to use sort of my weapons. Yeah, I was pleased about that. Q. Alex in the second round. JAMIE BAKER: Yeah, geez. Did you watch any of his match? He must have been playing brilliant. Yeah, look forward to that. Q. How much do you think this will do to your confidence ahead of Wimbledon? JAMIE BAKER: Yeah, it definitely will help me sort of push on I think because I think that's the first top-hundred player I've beaten obviously at a fairly big tournament, which I'm not used to playing at this sort of level week in and week out. The fact that I was able to, as I say, just hang in there, I was 6-3, 5-3 down, and I gave myself a chance to just work things out, was the most positive thing for me. Q. You've played different players higher ranked. Have you worked out what one key is to beating them? JAMIE BAKER: I think everyone's so good now that I think really the most important thing is doing what you do well as best as you can. There's certain things. I mean, you have to sort of be aggressive and take your chances when they come around. Against especially top-hundred players, because they're so good, you can't just sit back and hope they're going to give you anything because it doesn't happen. So I think focusing on actually what you do best and then that can be sort of fine-tuned into a slight weakness that they might have. I mean, it's not as simple as just strengths and weaknesses. There might be certain plays that they can't deal with, so your game can be sort of let's say fine-tuned towards what they do. Q. What do you say to yourself at 6-3, 5-3 down? JAMIE BAKER: I just -- I knew he was going to serve-volley so I had to just commit to my returns as much as I could. I simply just said before every single shot, "Stay down and commit." Simple as that. Actually I think he was a bit nervous because he missed two volleys which he actually hadn't missed the whole match. So when he did that actually at 3-2, as well, I thought, I've got a chance here. If I can stay with him, he's not as solid as I would have expected when he was ahead. Q. Have you changed anything at all recently in your game off court, the way you prepare? JAMIE BAKER: No, I'm just trying to just be, as I say, more focused on what I'm doing. When I sort of first started working with my coach when I was 12 - sorry, 13 - the first thing he sort of made me do was write down a vision statement, which was how I envisioned myself, my game sort of shaping out. So I really tried to focus on that and that alone, not the external factors to do with winning and losing. The umpire keeps the score, but really that has nothing to do with me. Q. You appeared to have something written on your left hand. Was that to do with... JAMIE BAKER: That was all to do with that. Q. What did it say? JAMIE BAKER: I'm not going to tell you (smiling). Q. You say you wrote this down when you were 12? JAMIE BAKER: Yeah. Q. Do you still have that actual piece of paper? JAMIE BAKER: Yeah. Q. Do you look at it? JAMIE BAKER: I refer back to it most all practice sessions. Q. Is that for motivation or tactics? JAMIE BAKER: Both. Q. Do you do that every match? JAMIE BAKER: Yeah. Sometimes can change from time to time because sometimes it's not relevant for every single match. But, yeah, on the whole, it's a good way of me staying focused on what I want to be focused on and not the score, getting ahead of myself. Q. Was it the sort of thing that said where you want to be in a certain number of years' time? Was that part of this mission statement, where you want to be in four years? JAMIE BAKER: In terms of my game; not in terms of ranking. In terms of when I stop playing, how do I want people to remember how I played tennis. Q. Not wishing to go into content, but is it just one word, one buzz word? JAMIE BAKER: No. It would be sort of three-quarters of a page. Q. On your hand? JAMIE BAKER: No, not on my hand (laughter). On my hand, no, that's only a couple of phrases. Sorry about that (laughter). Q. Is that phrasing from you or your coach? JAMIE BAKER: All me. Q. All you? JAMIE BAKER: Yeah. Q. A lot has been talked about your potential. This is the time you have to start pushing on. It's a good start today, isn't it? JAMIE BAKER: It's always the time to do that. As I say, to think about things like that, I don't think that helps the development of my actual game. The only thing I can control is the next tennis ball I hit. I'll let everybody else decide about how well I'm doing. Q. As much as getting the wildcard into these events is great, does it also make you think this is the time of the season when I've really got to peak and do well because if I miss this opportunity, it's another 12 months before it comes 'round again? JAMIE BAKER: Yeah, there is an element of that. I don't expect any wildcards, so anything that I get -- I mean, one into here, seriously I was gob-smacked that I got one. I just thought what an amazing opportunity to get again. But obviously I would have had an idea that I would have had chances to play in at least qualifying of some big tournaments. Instead of playing the clay court season this year, I actually went to my training base in Florida and did three weeks' training, preparing for this. Q. On grass? JAMIE BAKER: Mainly physical training. But they do have some grass courts there, as well. It was a bit of both. Q. Bradenton? JAMIE BAKER: Saddlebrook, Tampa. Q. With Keith? JAMIE BAKER: Keith was there for the first week. It was just the trainer that I work with out there, the main reason for going. Q. Who is that? JAMIE BAKER: A guy called Mike Zoumberos. Q. What is your record with Alex? JAMIE BAKER: Never played him. Never played him. Q. How many hours were you putting in in the gym a day? JAMIE BAKER: I was doing two sort of one-hour fitness sessions a day, plus two tennis sessions a day for three weeks. End of FastScripts |
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