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BARCLAYS ATP WORLD TOUR FINALSNovember 21, 2010Lukas DlouchyLeander PaesLONDON, ENGLAND FYRSTENBERG-MATKOWSKI/Dlouhy-Paes THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. It was a tough match, came down to a few points. Can you elaborate. LEANDER PAES: Yeah, the difference between winning and losing at that level when you have the top eight in the world is very small. I could actually pinpoint exactly where it was. That's how from, a player's perspective, you look at it. Early in the first set at 1-All, we had a breakpoint, big chance to win that point, didn't take it. After that, they played a decent game to break our serves. But then we kind of missed a couple volleys. The momentum swung their way after that 1-All game. Second set, it was going on level. We had a breakpoint again. Hit a good return, smashed forehand down the line, missed it by a couple of inches. I think that's just the way it is. It's the World Championships. You have the top eight teams here. You don't have much space on the court to funnel the balls through because you have the best players in the world here. I personally believe you have to make your luck. You have to take advantage of half-chances that you have. If you watched the match this morning between the Bryans and Melzer/Petzschner, Melzer/Petzschner had about four breakpoints in the first set, didn't get it. Bryans had one, got a let-cord, won, and it was 6-3. The stats didn't show that. I think that's the way it is. In the tiebreak we had a chance early. Didn't take it. Yeah, but I thought we played pretty well, though. Played smooth, kept the pressure on. Just didn't raise the level a bit. That was a long answer, sorry (smiling). Q. Anything specific that you wish to improve on before your next match? LUKAS DLOUHY: I guess we have to improve, for sure, returns because we didn't use that breakpoints and the chances on their serve. If we keep playing like this, just like Leander said, to play one or two better shots, it change all the match. You can play even -- then you feel better and you play better and better. You just practice the same and maybe a little focus for the returns, and hopefully be better next time. Q. Leander, you announced you are going to play with Bhupathi next year. Why have you decided so? When you look back at the years with him, how was it? LEANDER PAES: To start off, the only Grand Slam that Mahesh and myself have not won is the Australian Open. Next year, a lot of the teams are switching up. You've got I think only three teams that are staying together: the Bryans, the Polish boys and I think Moody-Norman. Maybe there's one more also. I don't know. A lot of the teams are switching up. Back in India, Mahesh and myself have a huge following for many years. We are followed around the world for many years. But I don't know whether that's going to be a long-term partnership through the year or not. Right now I have decided to play with many different partners to start with, to answer the first part of your question. When the decision came to the beginning of the year to play the Australian Open and Chennai, Mahesh and myself last minute made that decision. To answer the second part of your question, I really consider Lukas like my brother. The reason that I first chose him to play with me is because I have tremendous belief in his talent, but more importantly his personality. Lukas is one of my dearest friends. I think without being too mushy about it, we get along great. We have a lot of fun on the court. We have had two really successful years. This year we are No. 3 or No. 4 in the world. Last year we won two Grand Slams. In the last five, six months, somewhere after the French Open, we've lost our mojo. We've lost something. I don't know what it is, but I know it will come back. What I'm trying to say here to you is that because I really like Lukas so much and because we get along so much, I'm open to playing with him again 100%, once we find our mojo back. And maybe sometimes in a friendship you need to give a little oxygen into the team, maybe you need to give a little space to the team, for us as individuals to find our way. Maybe sometimes I need to go out there to find that maybe there isn't a better partner for me than Lukas. Maybe sometimes Lukas needs some oxygen to say, I don't have so much pressure playing with Lee, where I can look after my own self. Maybe you need this. For me, this is my thought process. I may be right, I may be wrong, I don't know. But for sure I am open-minded to play with Lukas. I think he's a great guy. Q. Leander, you are a star on the court and off the court. I heard that you will be making movies next year. Is it true? Could you tell us more about this? LEANDER PAES: It's true. I started shooting my first movie already. It's something exciting. It's something new. I'm 37 years old. I can't keep playing tennis for the rest of my life. In India, I'm very lucky. I have a big following. I have a lot of people that enjoy what I do. Movies for me was a natural transgression for me, to go from tennis to movies to entertain my fans. As you can see, on the court, I have fun, I'm very passionate about what I do. Most of the time there's some good quality about what I do. With movies, I'm learning. I'm an apprentice. I just started. It's exciting. It's fun. It's one of the reasons I chose to have different partners for next year and not one person. Because normally when you have one partner, you normally have to play 18, 20 weeks with them, minimum 15, 16. Last year we only played 14, 15 tournaments. This year we've played 20. So next year I've chosen to play with different partners because my movies are going to take some time to shoot. Q. I understand you're going to play with Radek Stepanek next year, is that correct? LUKAS DLOUHY: Actually, there is one possibility to play with him a few tournaments. But like we decide last week, I'm starting with Paul Hanley from Australia first three tournaments. And then like Leander did, I guess is a good option to play with more partners, and we will see how it's going to be the beginning of the year. Q. You like singing and dancing? LEANDER PAES: You know, in India now the audience is very open-minded to different genre of movies. All of Bollywood is not song and dance. There are a lot. But now there is also serious romance, serious drama. The influence from Hollywood from the west is also coming in. I think the Indian audience is so educated now and pretty smart, because with our studies and our school, they're pretty sharp. The Indian audience is very educated about different styles of movies. Yes, right now I'm doing a serious drama movie, there's not one song where I have to dance in it. Thank God. I enjoy dancing, it is fun, but not my first one. I first want them to take me as a serious actor. End of FastScripts |
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