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WESTERN & SOUTHERN FINANCIAL GROUP MASTERS

July 28, 2008

Tommy Robredo

CINCINNATI, OHIO

T. ROBREDO/M. Fish
6-2, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Good way to start the week. Everything working pretty well?
TOMMY ROBREDO: Yes. I think that I did a great job today. Mardy is always a tough opponent and last time I played him was in Australia and he destroyed me in three sets.
So I had to be very focused from the beginning, and I think I did it, no? I just got the break pretty early, and then he was feeling pretty solid from the baseline and returning all of his serves, or a lot of them.
So, yeah, I think it's a great win and a great start. Hopefully I can keep going like that.

Q. How have you felt this season on hard courts? Seems like there's been quite a bit of difference in your results based on the surface.
TOMMY ROBREDO: Yeah, obviously at the beginning of the year I didn't start pretty well and I was feeling it, no? Because I drop a little bit in the rankings.
Then when clay courts starts I was playing a lot better and getting my confidence back. Hopefully now I can assume the same and get the same level as I did on clay at the last part of the clay season and bring back here new great results.

Q. Are you starting to feel that way yet, or do you need a couple more wins?
TOMMY ROBREDO: Yeah, I'm feeling a lot better, no? I'm feeling the ball perfect now. I like the way I'm playing. I just need couple more weeks maybe to see if I can get a good result, no?
But at the beginning of year I was feeling pretty bad inside the court every time I was playing. I had to fight against myself and not against the opponent, no?
Now I'm fighting against the opponent again, which is great. Well, then you can win or you can lose, but at least you can do a great fight.

Q. What do you think are the most important issues for the players going forward with the ATP Tour as far as players being involved with figuring out the schedule and the calendar?
TOMMY ROBREDO: What do you mean?

Q. With uncertainty about the future of the tour, certainly with the lawsuit going on right now, how much representation should players have?
TOMMY ROBREDO: Well, I don't know. I think that I have been a lot of time, a lot years on the tour right now, and the only thing I learned is that players, what we do, is to put the show into the court and just give our best results and our best game and try to entertain the people and to try to do great jobs.
Then we have people who lead us who are the ones that they should know what is good for tennis and what is good for players. Because at the end, players, we are a small part of everything, no? Should be someone who controls the number of weeks we have to play, the number of tournaments, number of players in every week.
So if you ask this question 200 players or 100 players, we'll say different things. That's why we have someone at top or some people at the top who decide for us. Hopefully they can do a good thing for us and arrive to a, let's say in a level that most of the players are happy with that.
So I think that hopefully it's going to go in the good side.

Q. I had a question about the match today. I mean, you played well, but Fish had like 25 unforced errors and you only had like 4. Do you think that he was playing more erratic than he normally does? Coming in, I think Fish was 3-2 in head-to-heads with you. Can you comment on that?
TOMMY ROBREDO: Yeah, what you say is right, no, that he did a lot of mistakes. But when at the beginning of the match you start playing pretty solid and you get the break pretty early, then if he want I give to back to him he has to go for it, no?
It's not player like maybe myself or a Spanish player where we can just put the rhythm of the game and then see if the other can miss, no? He's a guy who's going for it. He was trying to serve harder and hit harder.
Obviously I was pretty solid and I was like a wall, no, that he was missing all the time. Yeah, you're right, but I think that also the match begin pretty well for me, and then he had to do a lot of things to try and come back and he couldn't.

Q. Seemed like after you broke him in the first set the second time that he really got more frustrated. He's made it to the final in 2003 and played a great match against Andy Roddick. He's played well here before. I just thought that perhaps maybe he played worse than he normally does against you.
TOMMY ROBREDO: Well, obviously when you're 4-1 down, a guy like him, the first set for him doesn't care, no? He's going to go for the second. So I think the second he started hot again, but on the second game that he serve I did the break, or on the first. I don't remember pretty well.
But then is when he gets frustrated a lot more. He tried to slow down the game a little bit on a couple points, but even like that I was pretty solid and I was winning these points. Then he just, I don't know, he just fire every ball he could to try to see if it could go in the good way.
It was not his day. Doesn't mean he's not a great player.

Q. Sure. You get the winner of Benneteau/Soderling. Soderling is up 5-0 first set. Just thoughts on those two players and how your game matches up.
TOMMY ROBREDO: Well, if I have to bet, I will bet that Soderling is going to win, because he's a very strong player and he's playing pretty good lately.
If I have to play Soderling it's going to be tough, because he's always hitting so hard the ball. He has a pretty good first serve, and also second one.
When you server he just hits both sides, forehand and backhand, pretty good. So I have to try to be solid and also aggressive, because if I let him just hit and hit I'm going to be in a lot of trouble.
If Benneteau wins, he's other type of player, no? I think he like to serve and volley sometimes. He's not that solid from the baseline, but also he can put some pressure on you with the game just trying to go to the net or just trying to push you out of the line.
So, yeah, they are different players, but both of them are great players. Hopefully I just can play like today and let's see if it goes on my way.

Q. Do you feel really comfortable here on hard courts? I know coming into the year you were 3-7 before this match on hard courts.
TOMMY ROBREDO: Well, obviously if we see the results on hard court this year, I'm not confident, no? But on this tournament I felt pretty good a lot of times. I did two times semifinals, and I know every time I'm here I'm feeling good. I'm feeling the ball great again, so we'll see, no? We'll see.
Hopefully I can play like today. I think today I did a great job. Hopefully I can keep going like that.

End of FastScripts

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