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ROGERS MASTERSAugust 10, 2007Radek StepanekMONTREAL, QUEBEC THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. I think you're now 12-2 since the beginning of July, one of the hotter players on the tour. What's changed for you? What's kind of sparked this? RADEK STEPANEK: I think, you know, one of my decisions after Wimbledon, when the first half year was gone, I made only once the third round in six months, I took some time off, was home for 10 days working hard, and then decided to play quallies in Gstaad to get some matches, some extra matches. You know, it worked well. I started winning matches. I got to the semis in Gstaad, straight through L.A., won the tournament. Played a great tournament again in Washington. You know, here, so far, I'm still in the tournament. So I think the decision after Wimbledon was a very good one what I did. I think it's also paying off, the hard work I've been doing during those six months, even I was losing. I stayed patient, working hard. Now I think the last month is the time when it's paying off. Q. "Staying patient." After you were serving for the match, he broke you. Is that an example of staying patient? RADEK STEPANEK: Yeah, definitely. If something wrong happens in the match, I'm still there. I'm not panic. I'm trying to play every single point, point by point. Again, it paid off at 5-All when he was 40-15 up. You know, I stayed with him in the game. You know, I think the last -- from last nine points, he won only one. That shows that I've been patient. Yeah, that was it. Q. Is the worm an ordinary finishing move for you? RADEK STEPANEK: It's not normal (laughter). It's not normal. But, as I said yesterday, you know, I'm an emotional person. I just do it when I feel like. You know, I felt twice like that, and I did it. I think the crowds like it, so why not? Q. Have you felt a response from the crowd to your emotion? RADEK STEPANEK: Yeah, because the crowd here is so fair to everybody, trying to push everybody, you know, to play better and better. I feel the energy on the court. You know, we are here for the spectators, so I want to show them that we are also normal human being, and we can have fun also on the court. Q. We saw you once having fun with the balls, when you kick it, it bounced to your head. Is that something that helps you to get off a bit of pressure? Do you do that normally? RADEK STEPANEK: Yeah, I think it helps me, you know, to get somewhere else, not just into the points. Actually, the ball had a bad bounce, hit my nose (smiling). What can I do? I just can laugh about it, about myself. Yeah, definitely takes the pressure off. Q. You might play next against Federer. Have you played him? RADEK STEPANEK: I think I played him several times. Q. Do you feel you're more confident now? RADEK STEPANEK: Yeah, you know, my confidence growed (sic) up -- growed a lot since Wimbledon, after I'm winning matches, beating guys from top 10. There is no better feeling. Nothing gives you more confidence than beating these guys. Yeah, I beat Roger once so far. I remember I lost three or four times. But every day is a different situation. I will try to do my best to, you know, fight for my spot in the finals. And I think Roger is still playing, so we are a step ahead. Q. What is it like playing Roger, being on the other side of the net from him? RADEK STEPANEK: You know that you are playing one of the best players in the history of the game, definitely. But once you step on the court, it's just an opponent like anybody else. You have to try your best to beat him. I think a lot of guys, we are trying that every single tournament where he is. I will say just one sentence: He's a living legend. Q. You might be the only unseeded player in the semifinals. Is that an advantage, knowing that you have nothing to lose, you can just go out there and play a little looser? Can you play loose in that situation? RADEK STEPANEK: Yeah, I can play looser even I was in top 10, I think (laughter). But, you know, I know where I was, I know what I did, and I know what I'm able to do. If I'm seeded or not, it doesn't change much. Definitely change a lot, you know, once the draw is done. Then you can play first round against the top 10 guys. Definitely would be great to be seeded again. But, you know, I have to stay patient and fight for my spot again to be there. I have to deserve it first. Q. When you were going through that rough stretch, what was the reason for it? RADEK STEPANEK: I don't know. I came back after injury, you know, thinking what I was doing before, just trying to remember all the stuff, because I didn't touch the racquet for four months. I didn't had the pressure for four months. I was living a normal life, which was great after playing tennis nearly every day since I was a kid (laughter). You know, to get back the routines, to get back mentally, is very tough. Especially when I didn't feel my hand for a couple of months, then, you know, to get back all the touch, the feel, the power, it just takes time. As I said, I've been patient what I was doing. You know, I'm happy that it's paying off. I'm on my way back. Q. You have no problems now with the injury? RADEK STEPANEK: Now, I don't have any problem. I still know the hand is not hundred percent, but I'm not complaining about it. I'm trying to play with what I have. I think so far I'm doing well (smiling). Q. Yesterday you were jumping on one leg next to the net. Did it represent something? RADEK STEPANEK: No, I was just enjoying. I missed the volley. I think I remember, because he hit a huge backhand straight to my body. I just wanted to block it, but I didn't. I was just making fun of it. Q. Do you like to make fun on the courts a lot? RADEK STEPANEK: Yeah, I like to play tennis, you know. Since my injury was very tough, it scared me a lot that there was a possibility that I will never touch the racquet again. So, you know, I'm very happy that I can wake up in the morning, take the racquet and go on the court. So I want to enjoy every day. I have this chance. I want to enjoy it on the court. Q. Did you change before the injury and after? Do you feel you have changed a little bit? RADEK STEPANEK: Like a person? Q. Person, player or? RADEK STEPANEK: Definitely, I'm enjoying that much. I'm appreciating much more what I'm doing because I know in one second it can be over just like this (snapping fingers). That's why I'm enjoying it much more, appreciate it more. Q. What was the worst moment after you got injured? RADEK STEPANEK: The worst moment were the first two weeks, because I was not able to do anything with my hand. It was just paralyzed. In two weeks I lost all my muscles, all the touch, all the feel, everything. I was not even able to open the doors, lift up the plate, nothing. So that was, for me, the most scary moment so far. I didn't want to see anybody those two weeks. I just went to the hospital to see the doctor, get the injections, get the infusions, because I had a spasm around the nerve. Yeah, that was everything what I was doing during the day. Didn't want to talk to anybody. In that moment, I was really down. Q. Do you remember when you started to feel the hand again, like maybe it was going to come back? RADEK STEPANEK: Yeah, it happened exactly after three months. Because my doctor, the doctors, they wanted -- I was going through some different tests to see how the nerve is going, if the nerve is able to re-live (sic) again. After those tests, five out of six doctors told me they want to operate straight, that I have to take the surgery. But just my doctor said, Wait two, three months, give yourself a chance. If it's coming back slowly, you have a chance that one day it's going to be good again. Because I tell you, honestly, if you will go for a surgery, then the result is not guaranteed. It's the worst spot in the whole spine to operate and there is no guaranteed result. That scared me even more (laughter). You know, I've been exercising with him every single day, hoping that it's going to come back. When it came back, it was just a relief. Q. Do you know how you got injured? RADEK STEPANEK: They said that there are a million reasons why it happened. He said, You can have it already five years and you don't know about it, and just one small thing, like you fell asleep in the plane in bad position, the air-conditioning is coming, more stress, one bad golf shot. Really, whatever, can bring this injury up. So I never looked for a reason. I accept -- I was accepting what happened. I had to fight against it. Q. So did you just wake up one day and all of a sudden... RADEK STEPANEK: No, it happened here in Canada. Q. Is that right? RADEK STEPANEK: Last year. But definitely Montréal is much nicer to me than was Toronto last year (laughter). After Wimbledon last year, I got to the top 10 the first time. I was playing my best tennis. Then I took some time off practicing really hard, feeling just great coming into Toronto. After two days practicing, one day I came to the court, I was already warmed up, everything, waiting for the guys to finish the practice, and suddenly felt like somebody put the knife to my neck (snapping fingers). I said, Geez, what happened? Called my coach, if he can loose me up, the neck. I hit one shot, I said, I'm not able to turn, what's going on? I went to the physio room. I said, Guys, I'll be back in five minutes, I just need to unblock it. I was there for two and a half hours, and since then I didn't touch the racquet. That happened when I was standing still (smiling). Q. What was it like when you were able to start opening doors, lifting up plates? RADEK STEPANEK: That happened after three months, two and a half months. That was amazing feeling (smiling). But still, with the fingers, the worst thing were fingers, because they're far from the heart, and they're coming last together. Those two fingers, I was not able to leave them on the same level as the others. Was just bones, and I was not able to do anything. When I was starting to feel it, it was just great. Once I woked up in the night after I fall asleep in the living room watching the TV. I had some plate from the dinner on the table. I forgot I'm not able to do anything. I lift it, fell down. The table was broken, plate was broken. In that moment, I was nearly crying. That was the worst moment. Q. You said you enjoyed regular life. What was that like after so many years? RADEK STEPANEK: You know, I should go sleep whenever I wanted. I should eat whatever I wanted. I had no schedule for the day. I just had to go to the hospital to do my exercises. That was it. Was simple life. But I missed this (laughter). Q. Do you still have treatment for your injury? RADEK STEPANEK: Yeah, I have to do exercise like two, three hours a day. There were some special exercises with my doctor which had to do himself. I was not able to do them alone because they were reflex exercises. They were based on the concentration. The 20 minutes exercising with him, it's like -- I felt after that like playing tennis for six hours. Q. He always traveled with you? RADEK STEPANEK: No, I've been home. I was in Prague. Spent some time in Switzerland. I was only home. Wherever he was, I was. I followed him like a dog (panting). Q. You don't do that any more? RADEK STEPANEK: Not any more. After Wimbledon, I took again 10 days. I was exercising every day at 7 in the morning with him, or with his colleague. They teach me, you know, the small work with the fingers. There were some funny stories. They tried to teach me how to move the pen between the fingers. One day, he said, I will come to check, you know, after two, three days how you doing. Suddenly he came in. I said, Look how I'm doing. I did one, two, and the third one, the pen floats straight to his head. I said, I'm getting better (laughter). Since that, they call me Iceman from Top Gun from how he was sitting and moving the pen around. Q. How difficult was it to be out of the top hundred? RADEK STEPANEK: Yeah, you know what, the last year, the first six months, my tennis was very average. I was in the finals in Hamburg. I won Rotterdam. I was quarters in Wimbledon. So the first six months last year were very strong. For the first six months, I didn't even use my protected ranking. So far, I used it for the first time for this tournament. So the points were going slowly by surely away when I was losing. Definitely was not a good feeling. I had to get myself to go. Now I hope I'm back in top 50 and moving forward again. Q. Did you ever watch tennis when you were out? RADEK STEPANEK: Yeah, definitely. I watched a lot of tournaments. Like just don't forget it, don't watch it. Always have to know what's going on (smiling). Q. Do you think you are a better player now than last year at the same time? RADEK STEPANEK: Actually, same time last year? Last year same time, I was not a tennis player any more (laughter). Q. But before the injury... RADEK STEPANEK: Yeah, I feel I'm getting closer. I'm getting closer. The last month, I'm playing very well. Now I just have to keep it up, you know, stay consistent with my game. I believe I can get back to my position. Q. So do you think doing the worm is a good idea? RADEK STEPANEK: You know, I did it for the first time when I won last year in Rotterdam, my first tournament. Since that it goes with me (smiling). Q. During the injury, did you watch more women's or the men's? RADEK STEPANEK: Both. I watched both. I had more interest in the women's (smiling). Q. You said you did the worm at Rotterdam. Must be dirtier on the clay. RADEK STEPANEK: Yeah, I didn't won a tournament on clay so far, so... My shirts are still clean (smiling). End of FastScripts |
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