	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

THE ARTOIS CHAMPIONSHIPS

June 15, 2008

Novak Djokovic

LONDON, ENGLAND

R. NADAL/N. Djokovic
7-6, 7-5

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. You had chances in both sets. What happened?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: A lot of chances, you know. This is not the first time I have a lot of chances against him. But, you know, again, he managed to come through.
Partly was my fault, you know, and partly was luck as well. You got to have a little bit of luck. I didn't go for the shots in 5-4 second set. And even in the set point, in tiebreaker, I was bit defending too much. You know, this is wrong tactic against him.
I should have been a little bit more aggressive and maybe I would get positive outcome. But, you know, it was a great achievement, so I'm happy in general.

Q. Do you feel you're closing up right behind him now, certainly on grass?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, I think we are there, you know. It was more or less just a couple of shots that decided the match. I think it could go either way. If I won the first set, I was serving for second set, had many chances. So we are pretty close.
You know, on grass we are much closer than on clay. Clay, he's really dominant. But still on grass I feel that I am there, I can win the match. It's just a matter of a couple of points and luck. That's all.

Q. The match seemed to be played at a very intense level, which is always the case when you two meet. I suppose it's possible, depending on how the draw works out, you could meet in a Wimbledon semifinal or final.
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I said it's good to play him before Wimbledon one time, just to see how it goes, some things change from last year, if I'm playing better on grass, that's for sure. I think I'm playing better and better match after match. I improve my serve a lot. There are some things that I need to work on still, so I have time before Wimbledon.
But I'm not thinking about semifinals and finals already. It's a long way through.

Q. Will you stay in England?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I'll probably stay, play some golf or something (smiling). There is a lot of things to do here.

Q. Were you impressed by the level of Nadal?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: No, no, he's playing really impressive. Whatever ball I gave him on forehand, whatever speed, he was making no mistakes at all, and he was putting a lot of pressure on me with the forehand especially. I think it's his biggest strength besides physical strength, as well. And then, once again, he's shown that he can play great tennis on grass.

Q. Do you need a bit of a rest as well this week, after three intense weeks?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: More than three weeks. I've had an intense couple of months. It's been great for me. No complaints. I've achieved a lot. I just hope to keep on going. Most important thing is to find the balance between work and relaxation and taking some time off. This is what I'm going to do next couple of days, try to rest a little bit, and then change the gear, how you say, for Wimbledon.

Q. You could do with some good weather at Wimbledon.
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I took a house this year. I'm safe for the weather.

Q. Can you tell me what difference it will make arriving at Wimbledon that first day as a Grand Slam champion this year?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: It makes a difference being a Grand Slam champion at any tournament, not just Wimbledon. You have a lot of confidence. You approach every tournament in a different way, with more belief. You know that you're on the top.
In my case, I'm happy that I can play a great tennis on all kinds of surfaces, which makes me an all-around player, which is very important in today's tennis.

Q. At Wimbledon you can be the No. 2 in the ranking. Do you think it's possible?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Everything is possible. I had a couple of chances to be No. 2, but I didn't use it. Still I'm going to have a lot of chances, I'm sure, in the future. The most important thing for me is just try to be consistent with the results, focused, and keep on going.

Q. You said you seem comfortable in London. You mentioned there are a lot of things to do. Why are you comfortable here?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I'm comfortable wherever I go. I always try to enjoy my life as much as I can, always try to find something to do. So this is me.

Q. What have you found to do in London?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I can't talk about that right now. It takes too much. Golf is one of the things probably.

End of FastScripts

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297