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THE ARTOIS CHAMPIONSHIPSJune 13, 2008Novak DjokovicLONDON, ENGLAND N. DJOKOVIC/L. Hewitt 6-2, 6-2 THE MODERATOR: Questions for Novak. Q. Did you expect such an easy match? NOVAK DJOKOVIC: No, certainly not. I knew that Hewitt is one of the toughest players to play against on this surface, even though he's not on top of his level, like he's not playing like when he was the No. 1 player of the world couple years ago. But still he's very motivated to come back. Obviously I gained a lot of experience and I learned a lot from our past encounters and I tried to be aggressive, but just wait for my chances. And I did play all two sets perfect. Q. Much better match than your first one? NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yeah, of course. But, again, having this short period of the time to get used to the slowest to fastest surface in the sport is not easy, and it takes time. So I'm happy that I managed to get through those first two matches, which were very tricky for me. And now I'm gaining a lot of confidence and I managed to find my game, get my strokes together. Most importantly, I'm moving well on grass, not sliding too much. So it's all looking good. Q. How similar or different was this match compared to when you played Hewitt at Wimbledon last year? NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, only thing I can say is that I learned a lot from that match. You know, playing him on grass before today's match was really important. I figure out what I need to do. And obviously this is his favorite surface, I can say. Wimbledon champion, couple times winner of Queen's here. So he felt really comfortable on the court. He showed that in the last three matches he played here. Quite some things have changed since last year's match against him in Wimbledon. I came here as a Grand Slam winner, confidence on the first place, and I improved some elements in my game which are really crucial for this surface. For example, serve, I could rely on serve today, which was very important for me, made my life easier. Q. Do you prepare some tactics before the matches? NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Of course. Q. Alone or with your coach? NOVAK DJOKOVIC: With the coach. Q. Roddick was saying along with the top three and himself he thought maybe Hewitt could still be a contender at Wimbledon. Do you feel that? NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I agree. Even though of course today, looking at the result, you wouldn't say. We have to consider that I played probably the best tennis of my life on grass. I mean, I was returning a lot of serves, being very aggressive and patient at the same time, serving a very high percentage, having a lot of aces. I put him under pressure. He made some unforced errors, crucial unforced errors, in the important moments. But he feels good. He feels good on grass. He has perfect game for grass: big return, flat strokes, all the things he need. Of course, he's not maybe confident as much as he was in the days when he was No. 1. But still I can say that he's one of the contenders to be in the last days of Wimbledon. Q. If it is David Nalbandian in the semis tomorrow, how do you view that match? NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Again, another great player on this surface. Played finals of Wimbledon against Hewitt that year. We are both baseline players. So, you know, it suits to both of us. We played each other I think two times. It's 1-All. Both of the times we had tough matches. I just feel like that he has pretty similar game to Hewitt. You know, he's maybe being more aggressive, more creative at times. But I just need to play my style of the game. If I play like today, I think I have good chances. Q. Everyone imagines the No. 3 seed looks at the draw very carefully to see which half they're in and who they like to play during the course of a tournament. Is that something you'll look at carefully next week? NOVAK DJOKOVIC: No. I'm going step by step really. I don't like to look at the upcoming rounds, maybe quarterfinals or fourth round, whatever, who is seeded in my part of the draw. Of course, can be important. Luck in the draw is always well needed and always welcome. But besides luck you just have to perform great tennis. It all depends from me, if I'm in a good shape or not. So for now I feel very good. End of FastScripts |
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