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ROGERS MASTERS

August 10, 2007

Frank Dancevic

MONTREAL, QUEBEC

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Frank.

Q. What was going through your mind after you won the first set?
FRANK DANCEVIC: I mean, I was pretty happy. I was feeling confident. You know, I was serving pretty well towards the end of the set. I told myself to go for it for a couple returns. You know, I connected on a couple that went in. Happened to clinch the first set.
You know, he came out strong in the second set, started moving me around the court a little bit more. You know, he ended up breaking me early in the second to take the lead.

Q. What about the quality of the three points you won in the service break game to win the set 6-4, were those three of the maybe best shots you ever made, especially the down-the-line backhand?
FRANK DANCEVIC: I was pretty excited about those three shots. I was wondering myself how the heck I made those. I wasn't sure. I mean, you know, I guess those are the kind of shots you got to hit to break a guy like Rafa.
For me this is all new. These are all new experiences. Last week in Indianapolis, making finals, I wasn't expecting it. Then to come over here, to carry on and make the quarterfinals, you know, I'm just pretty happy about everything. I'm excited about the way I'm playing. You know, hopefully I can carry this confidence on for the rest of the year.

Q. Can you summarize the week, getting this far, particularly here at the Canadian Open?
FRANK DANCEVIC: Yeah, I mean, like I said, I didn't know really what to expect. I wasn't really expecting to get this far, to be honest. I came here. I obviously had a little bit of confidence coming from last week, getting to the finals. But I wasn't really sure what to expect.
I came out in the first match against Del Potro. I felt pretty confident, hit the ball pretty well, got a little bit of a feel for center court. After that match, after I won the match, just gained a little bit of confidence, kind of just tried to use it towards my advantage.
He came out strong in the second set. He broke me right away. I think he got a little bit on a roll. In the first set, I had all the momentum going my way. It was kind of even till I broke him in the first set, then I had a little bit momentum. He sort of broke that in the second set, turned that around, got fired up, kind of changed the momentum a little bit on his side, just started gaining more and more confidence as the match went on.

Q. Were you nervous before the game?
FRANK DANCEVIC: A little bit, yeah. I was a little bit nervous. I wanted to go out and play well. No, I'm pleased about the week, the way I played and everything.

Q. What did your coach tell you before the game?
FRANK DANCEVIC: Basically he just told me to go out and have fun. I've never really been in this situation before. He just said, Go out, hit your shots. If you're going to go down, go down playing your game.

Q. What did it feel like to play in front of that kind of crowd?
FRANK DANCEVIC: Like I said out there, it was probably the most incredible experience of my life. It's the biggest crowd. Not only was it the biggest crowd, it was at home playing the quarterfinals in a Masters. All that put together, just the ambiance was incredible.

Q. What was it like playing his shots, shot-for-shot, playing against a guy at that high a level?
FRANK DANCEVIC: Yeah, I was actually surprised with the serve. He has a pretty good first serve. And his forehand's really, really good, really heavy. He can really do anything he wants with it. It was difficult at the net also. Even sometimes when he would hit a slower forehand, the ball had so much spin on it, it would dip down, it would just kind of dip down, and it was difficult to volley.

Q. You spent a long time, long road to get to this point in your career. What have you learned about yourself, not just here but in Indianapolis, that you can take forward?
FRANK DANCEVIC: You know what, I haven't really thought about it, to be honest. I just got to sit down. I got a couple DVDs of all the matches. Just sit down with my coach and kind of reflect on the past two weeks, how I was playing to play at my optimum, what I have to do for the rest of the year to obtain (sic) that.
I think I just got to sit down, kind of look at everything, what's been working, what's not been working, and try to work on my weaknesses.

Q. You had some treatment on your back. Was that a problem?
FRANK DANCEVIC: I just pulled it a little bit in the end of the first set. It's not a big issue.

Q. Was it your back?
FRANK DANCEVIC: Yeah, right side of my lower back.

Q. You have had three three-set wins this year. Does that tell you anything, give you some confidence, part of the learning experience?
FRANK DANCEVIC: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, every match you win against a top player gives you confidence, especially the ones where it's really tight and you end up pulling it through in the end. It's always a great feeling to clinch a really close match, to sit down after the match, just reflect, take a deep sigh. And the relief is good, just to know you got through really close matches.
So, yeah, definitely you gain some confidence from that. I gained a little bit of confidence especially last week. I was down in a lot of matches. I was down a set and a break against Del Potro in the second round, and I came back and I ended up winning the match. Then I was down 5-1 in the next round, two breaks, came back and won the set. All those things help you gain a little bit of confidence and give you belief that a match isn't over till it's over.

End of FastScripts

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