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BNP PARIBAS OPEN

March 20, 2011

Novak Djokovic

INDIAN WELLS, CALIFORNIA

N. DJOKOVIC/R. Nadal
4-6, 6-3, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. When you finally got through that long game with the set points, you seemed like a new man when the third set started. Did you feel an inner surge, couldn't miss? Everything was going great?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, I think we're getting back to the story from yesterday, talking about the momentum in tennis, especially in the important matches like this.
It was just the question of momentum, you know. I managed to hold that very important game at 5-3, and then I was on a roll. You know, I felt that this is the time when I had to use my opportunity and step in and be more aggressive and take it to him, and that's what I did.
Again, it was just couple of points in the end of the second set that kind of turned the match around.

Q. You have had a tremendous run obviously, but beating Roger and then Rafa in consecutive days, in the style in which you've done it, what do you think that says about your game and where you are at the moment?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, it definitely says good things. You know, I am playing with a lot of confidence. I'm feeling the ball well on the court. I'm very dedicated. I have a big will to win each match I'm playing on.
So it will not stop here, definitely. I want to keep on going and keep on playing good tennis. Hopefully I can, you know, recover and get ready for Miami.

Q. Do you feel unbeatable at the moment?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: No. We have been talking about this. I don't think anybody is unbeatable. I do have the best period of my life on the tennis court, but nobody is invincible. Still you are just trying to play your best in each match you're playing.

Q. When you were up in the third set, at some point were you thinking you're going to shut him out 6-Love in that third set? Because you were going very well.
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: No, I was trying to convince myself to take one point at a time and just, you know, not think about what can happen, what could happen. I think it was a right attitude.

Q. Seems like the omens have come back. 2008 you the Australian Open and here, and you've done it again. How does it feel this time to win this title?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: It's quite different, quite a different feeling, because I feel in this year as a more complete player. Physically I'm very fit, very strong. Mentally is different because I have more experience than I had in 2008.
So I am extremely happy with the way I'm playing and with the success that I'm having. But I know that the season is very long, and I don't want to be too euphoric about the win. I need to, okay, celebrate a little bit, and then move on.

Q. What was behind you saying to him in the trophy ceremony that you thought he was the best player ever?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, I think I have said what I needed to say. There is nothing behind. It's just what I think.

Q. So you think he's better all-time than Roger?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I think he's the best ever because, even though he's 24, 25 years old, he has done so much already, you know. Many years in front of him to, you know, I think even to overtake Roger in the Grand Slam trophies.

Q. The last couple times you played a US Open you were playing well in spurts, maybe not so much in London, but weren't able to get through. What was largely the difference today tactically, planning-wise?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, I wasn't playing really great in the first set, especially in the return games. He was winning quite comfortably his service games. He was serving quite good and I didn't feel my return, which is one of my, you know, biggest weapons. I didn't feel it well.
And then, you know, he dropped his first serve percentage in the middle of the second set, and he had a very, very low percentage, I think until the end of the match, which probably made a difference, you know, because I could feel that I could, you know, attack his second serve and be more aggressive.

Q. Talking about the long season, after Miami obviously going to the clay. Do you think you have what it takes to challenge Nadal on that surface?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yes. I mean, I believe I can play well on that surface, and I have proven that in the last couple of years. Had a great clay court season in 2009, 2008; have always played well in Roland Garros.
So, you know, I am aware that, you know, in order to win trophies on that surface, big ones, I will need to be physically very, very fit. Because as the slowest surface, it requires a lot of physical strength and endurance, and I have been working hard on it for a while. I will definitely pay attention to it more.

Q. You mentioned about the difference between 2008 and now this year. But you've won a Grand Slam. There are a lot of players out there who never have and maybe some that never will. What does it actually do to your spirit, your confidence when you do finally? I know you had one three years ago, but to back it up again, what does that do for you spirit- and confidence-wise?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, I guess the results after the Grand Slam are showing how much it really gives you confidence in your game. It gives you this, I guess, positive spiritual feeling, you know, as you called it, and just believing more in yourself.
A Grand Slam, you know, it's something different. It's something different. It's a tournament that is two weeks long, best of five. In order to win the trophy and in such a prestigious event, you have to beat the best players in the world.
When you do that, when you win the trophy, then you really know that you have enough quality to compete with the best players. That gives you a lot of self-belief on the court after that tournament.

Q. After you lost to Melzer at Roland Garros, which obviously is not one of the high points of your career, can you just go back to there, get through the nine months and can you actually believe you're at this point now?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: You asked me about losing to who?

Q. Melzer at Roland Garros.
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Melzer? Roland Garros, last year?

Q. Yes.
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: The first six months of 2010 has been really tough for me in the sense of, you know, finding myself on the court - and off the court, as well. I did have some private issues that I was struggling with, and that affected my health and my game. You know, I wasn't really enjoying playing tennis at that time.
Luckily for me I managed to stay strong, and from Wimbledon on it was a different story.

Q. You have had lots of brushes in your tennis career. Looking ahead a little bit, can you tell us what the rush is going to be like playing tennis on an airplane?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I think you have to just wait and see. I think it's couple more days to publishing that video. It's unbelievable. One of the best feelings that I've had, or scariest.

Q. There are so many aspects of you as a tennis player today that are better than ever. Physically, tennis-wise, mentally. If there's one aspect that you can say, This is actually the key - and of course everything is linked - but that raise everything else. Is it the head?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yeah, I would say it's probably the mental stability that I have now. I didn't have that much, you know, in maybe last year and a half, two. Consistent stability, you know.
I do have my ups and downs during the match. Emotions are everywhere, but I feel that I can come back to the match faster and easier than I did before.

Q. You mentioned about euphoria and perhaps not getting carried away. You've won the tournament. You know there is another one down the line and 10 more and 20 more.
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yeah.

Q. Accept one, enjoy it, and make sure you're ready for the next one is kind of a crucial element, isn't it?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: That happened last time -- last time in 2008 when I won Indian Wells, first I won Australia and Indian Wells, and I lost first round of Miami. It's because I was carried away. I wasn't ready for that tournament, and this is what experience can give you and can help you, you know, to do better next time.

Q. There were a lot of young girls I guess cheering for you and singing.
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: My cousins from all over the world. (Laughter.)

Q. Serbian kids?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yeah. They're very young.

Q. We think you and Caroline are the first two apartment neighbors to ever win titles on the same day. Wozniacki. Couple comments on her?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yeah, we can learn from her consistency, you know. She's been at least playing a semifinal on each event, I think, in last year and a half or two. She's great. I mean, she's deservedly No. 1 in the world, I think.
She's, besides that, a very nice girl. She gave me a rose yesterday. I'm keeping that rose.

Q. What are you giving her?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: She gave me one rose; I gotta give her 101, you know, in Miami.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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