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BARCLAYS ATP WORLD TOUR FINALS

November 26, 2010

Rafael Nadal

LONDON, ENGLAND

R. NADAL/T. Berdych
7-6, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Obviously you're into the semifinals. The emotions are very different from last year. Three wins rather than three defeats. How do you feel?
RAFAEL NADAL: First thing, very happy, no? Is a very good end of the season anyway the result of tomorrow. For me, finish the season winning all the matches in the group, three victories against top-eight players in probably the most difficult surface for me, is unbelievable now.
Very happy for be in semifinals. Tomorrow for sure going to be a very difficult match against one of the best players of the world. Maybe the circumstances are more favorable for him.
But I'm very happy how I am playing, how I improved during the tournament. And for me today was a very good match.

Q. Obviously the point in the first set where you queried the awarding of the point to Berdych. What do you think happen?
RAFAEL NADAL: Maybe you know, if my ball came inside or not? One caller says out, the only question is, when I return the ball, my ball came inside or go out?
THE MODERATOR: He's asking if you know the ball came in or out.

Q. The ball came in.
RAFAEL NADAL: The ball came in? I thought that. So for that there is no discussion. I am right, but is mistake for him. But he is a great umpire and everybody have a mistake. I think he did today. Everybody have a mistake.
If my ball went out, the mistake was myself.

Q. You seemed to be pretty upset at that point. Somehow after that you were able to use the aggression and run away with the match from there. How do you manage to do that?
RAFAEL NADAL: The important thing, I was playing really well before that point. This point doesn't change a lot. Finally I was lucky. I won that game. Finally I won the match, no?
But doesn't change nothing, that point. I think I still playing the same level before that point and after that point. But maybe Tomas goes down a little bit in the second, and I feel every time better and better. This point doesn't make any effect on the match.

Q. I know people have been asking you about your season all week. But specifically about the US Open. You love all the majors that you have won. Was the US Open so important to you because of the changes you made to win in New York?
RAFAEL NADAL: No, no. Seriously not. For me the US Open was a big emotion for me to complete the all four titles. But talking about emotion for me winning the first time in Wimbledon was something unbelievable. It was a dream for me. First Roland Garros, second and fifth was really emotion for me, too. Maybe first Australia, I was too tired to feel this emotion.
But in general I think every one is important. The US Open is complete something. But is special because I never played well there. I never arrived with good level there. I arrived a few times with good physical conditions, but without the right level of tennis. So I was lucky because the first time that everything is fine, I won. So that's very lucky. I feel very lucky for that, no, because I won earlier than I really thought.

Q. After Andy's game last night, he said he didn't feel he had a very good chance of beating you. Can you understand why he said that?
RAFAEL NADAL: He has a good chance to beat me?

Q. He doesn't have a good chance.
RAFAEL NADAL: That's easy. Pull out under pressure (smiling).
If you talk about the people and the specialists of tennis, everybody can say the conditions are a little bit more easier for Andy than for me here. The court is a little bit more easier for him than for me.
But we can talk two days. But the only thing that really matter is what going to happen tomorrow.

Q. Would you ever say something like that?
RAFAEL NADAL: I say I gonna try my best. I know gonna be a really difficult match. Only chance for me to win is play my best tennis, wait that Andy didn't play his highest level, no? That's what can I say. The pression come back to him now.

Q. One more point to clarify on that controversial point in the first set. When you wanted to speak to the supervisor, what did you say to him and what did he say back to you? Can you remember?
RAFAEL NADAL: Yeah. I said -- told him, he's wrong, I think. He's wrong. That's something unbelievable. The point is still playing, and I understand the rule. I understand the challenge, the ball was good. But if I put the ball inside, is impossible to lose the point. I say something.
He told me is up to him. Okay, so...
I still asking Carlos what's happening. That's all.

Q. To ask about that point again. I think Tomas' argument was that you had challenged already, that you had stopped play.
RAFAEL NADAL: I didn't have a challenge. He called the ball out. Maybe I stopped a little bit because the ball was really close.

Q. You put your hand up.
RAFAEL NADAL: I did something like this (putting hand up), but I never say stop. To stop the point, you have to say you stop. I did something like this (holding hand up) but it's intuition because I saw the ball out. That's the true.
But after I saw the umpire saying out, so I didn't see if my ball came inside or not. But if I don't see the umpire saying out, I gonna continue the point for sure because is a big risk for me to say the ball is out, you know.

Q. Is it possible to have an even better season in 2011?
RAFAEL NADAL: Yeah, always you can have a better season. For me is very difficult to imagine to have a better season. But for sure you can have a better season. You can win in every place. That's the true.
It's not my case. Never going to be my case. But you can have a better season, yes. Is difficult. In my case, is almost impossible.

End of FastScripts

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