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U.S. OPEN

September 8, 2009

Juan Martin Del Potro

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK

J. DEL POTRO/J. Ferrero
6-3, 6-3, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Can you just talk about how you felt about your game today and what went right for you?
JUAN MARTIN DEL POTRO: Yeah, I feel happy to beat Juan Carlos. He's a great player. He has a good summer this year. Always, every match is tough since fourth round or third round.
I did a good job there, and I'm very happy to be in the quarters.

Q. Overall during the tournament, what has been going right for you stroke-wise, mentally?
JUAN MARTIN DEL POTRO: I don't know, just tried to do my best. I have a great match to come against Cilic. We know a lot. We play since juniors. We play many times.
But if I be good with my weapons, with my game, I can beat him. So I will try.

Q. You have had tremendous results this summer in the hardcourt season. Have you ever come into a Grand Slam feeling as good about the way you're playing as you've had coming into this tournament?
JUAN MARTIN DEL POTRO: Yeah, of course. I have the confidence in the best moment, you know. I beat many good players in Washington and Montreal, and now I beat good players in this surface.
I have everything to do a good tournament. I am doing well, but I would like to be in the semis or in my first final.

Q. Last year you came into this tournament with a lot of momentum. You had won a lot of tournaments, a lot of confidence. This year, you know, you have a whole year of consistently good results, so is it a different kind of confidence that you bring into the tournament at this stage?
JUAN MARTIN DEL POTRO: Yeah, I think so, because now I play all my matches in the Armstrong Stadium, and the people come to see my match. You feel the pressure different, but it's lovely. I enjoyed everything here. One more time, I have everything to improve my game and improve my results, so I will try to do it.

Q. Juan Carlos talked about you hadn't played him in maybe three years. He said he really felt a difference in your serving. Do you feel the same, that that's really the part of your game that's improved?
JUAN MARTIN DEL POTRO: Yeah, an important part of my game. I did 22 aces in important moments before. That's the key, because Juan Carlos is a good returner.
He doesn't play as much as me, but I did a good match and I am in the quarters.

Q. Do you expect now at this point to make quarterfinals? And if so, is making quarterfinals no longer enough for you?
JUAN MARTIN DEL POTRO: Well, being in quarters, it's important, for sure. But it's a big difference past the quarters, you know, to semis and through the finals. I was so close in French Open to win the final and to beat Roger, but I did semis.
Here I have another chance to be better, and I will try to go to the semis. If I lose, I anyway did a good tournament.

Q. Cilic, he upset Murray today. Your thoughts on playing him?
JUAN MARTIN DEL POTRO: He has the potential. He's a very good player, because, has a very good future. For sure if he beat Murray he's confident. It will be very tough for me.

Q. In your first-round match you had seven aces and today 22, so what have you changed, if anything, over the last three rounds? What have you discovered about that serve?
JUAN MARTIN DEL POTRO: Well, I improve a little bit my serve. I need to be good with that weapon. You know, when you play fourth round, quarterfinals, you should play everything good, you know.
Today my serve works excellent. I feel happy for that.

Q. And fast, too. I know you've been trying to get your speed up, but 137 was your highest.
JUAN MARTIN DEL POTRO: I don't know. Maybe, yeah. But Roddick serve much harder.

Q. How smart do you think you were to take the week off after Montreal and not to play in Cincinnati? How much did that help you?
JUAN MARTIN DEL POTRO: A lot. My coach has a good decision to pull out from Cincinnati, and I've been working, been training with my physic. I'm here in good shape, so that was a very good decision for me, for us.

Q. How surprised are you that it's Cilic and not Murray?
JUAN MARTIN DEL POTRO: Well, Cilic have everything to do a good player. He's 15 or 16 in the world. He's very completed.
But Murray is No. 2. He winning everywhere. So maybe everybody surprised, but Cilic haves his weapons very good.

Q. You talked about how great it would be to get to the semis and how great it would be to get to the final. You didn't use the word how great it would be to win. What was your mindset going into this tournament with respect to am I finally going to win a Grand Slam this time?
JUAN MARTIN DEL POTRO: I don't think about this. I just think about quarters, and Cilic now. But for sure my dream is to win a Grand Slam, and this Grand Slam especially.
But, you know, maybe tonight or tomorrow night I will wake up thinking in Cilic. I can't explain you how can I feel in the final, because I need to win two more matches.

Q. Your footwork is so smooth out there. Do you think back to your soccer playing days? Does that help you on the tennis court?
JUAN MARTIN DEL POTRO: Yeah, I do.

Q. How so?
JUAN MARTIN DEL POTRO: Well, I watch -- we watch Argentina and Brazil two days ago, and tomorrow we will watch Argentina and Paraguay, and I hope they win.

Q. Where do you watch it?
JUAN MARTIN DEL POTRO: Where?

Q. Where.
JUAN MARTIN DEL POTRO: In the restaurant.

Q. In the restaurant at the hotel?
JUAN MARTIN DEL POTRO: Yep.

Q. Do you find any similarities between New York and Tandil?
JUAN MARTIN DEL POTRO: Nothing.

Q. Nothing?
JUAN MARTIN DEL POTRO: Nothing. The buildings, I think.

Q. Nothing at all?
JUAN MARTIN DEL POTRO: The people are lovely. Same city.

End of FastScripts

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