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SONY ERICSSON OPENMarch 25, 2011Alex BogomolovMIAMI, FLORIDA A. BOGOMOLOV/A. Murray THE MODERATOR: This is the second top-10 win Alex has had since 2002. Q. What made you think you could do it? ALEX BOGOMOLOV: Um, just the tennis I have been playing lately. I think I'm 24 and 6 in the last three, four months, and I just wanted to see how I matched up against Andy, especially -- or any of these guys, you know, with the tennis I have been playing. So, yeah, just the wins, I guess, makes you confident. Q. What have you been doing well overall in the last few months? ALEX BOGOMOLOV: Just playing the bigger points better and just being -- you know, the wins really get you confidence. Once you're in that state, you believe you can do certain things that you weren't able to do before. Once that starts going, it gets you in the better mood mentally. You think you can do pretty much anything. So with a win like this, it sort of multiplies that confidence even more, so... I feel good. Q. Is it the best win of your career? I know you beat Haas years ago, but has this been the best win of your career for you? ALEX BOGOMOLOV: Depends. Depends how you look at it. I mean, I have had some wins in challengers that meant the world to me, as well. My first win after my surgery was big, as well. In terms of being in Miami and being from the town, yeah, the sentimental value is huge. But, you know, coming back from injuries, from the surgery, was definitely something special, as well, because I didn't think I was going to play tennis again. So to get the first win after that was big? Q. What was the surgery and when? ALEX BOGOMOLOV: Well, I mean, I went through some personal things way back when I got divorced, and I slipped in the ranking. Then I started playing really well. I came back to like 130 with nothing to defend for like six months. I was in the final of a 100,000 challenger in Korea, and then fell on my hand, broke my -- tore all the ligaments in my left wrist. Then I went to like five different doctors, Florida, Texas, Los Angeles, and nobody wanted to do the surgery. Everybody wanted to send me to this guy, the magician, in Philadelphia. That's why I moved to New Jersey, to have the surgery over there and do the rehab. And even after the surgery nothing was -- it wasn't healing. My fiancée got pregnant, and the next day I was hitting forehand/backhands. I don't know how to explain that. Q. What year was the surgery? ALEX BOGOMOLOV: Two years ago. Q. What have you been doing the last 50 minutes? Make a phone call to anyone? ALEX BOGOMOLOV: No, I was just checking the 20 text messages I received from people I haven't heard from 20 years. (Laughing.) Honestly. Q. We saw you blow a kiss there. Who was that to? ALEX BOGOMOLOV: That was actually the owner of the Johnny Rockets. He helped me out really big when I was a junior, when I was 17 years old. He gave me some money to travel to Kalamazoo. I won that and I turned pro. So he was a special guy in my life. Q. When did you move to the States? ALEX BOGOMOLOV: When I was 11. Q. To Miami? ALEX BOGOMOLOV: To Miami. Q. That's a lot of free burgers and shakes. ALEX BOGOMOLOV: Yeah, I actually -- yeah. (Laughter.) I had to hit with him, which wasn't that bad, either, but he sponsored me for a while. Then once I turned pro I started taking care of myself. He was a huge help. Q. Do you feel like then this is a homecoming for you? ALEX BOGOMOLOV: Oh, definitely. You know, my mom lives here. My brother lives here. We tried to come down as much as possible with my fiancée and my little one. You know, I grew up on these courts when the USTA was here. We had Jay Berger, Patrick McEnroe, all of these on the Stadium Court. I came on Thursday before the quallies. I hit here, and just it's an amazing city, amazing town, amazing place to be back at. Um, I think we might be moving back here hopefully the end of the year. The winters are tough in Jersey. Q. Here, you're talking about Miami? ALEX BOGOMOLOV: Miami or Boca. Boca Raton. Q. You may move to Boca? ALEX BOGOMOLOV: Yeah, we may move back to Florida, yeah, from Jersey to Boca. It's up in the air, but we want to make that transition. Q. Where's your family now? ALEX BOGOMOLOV: Me and my fiancée and the little one, we live in New Jersey. Q. Your mom... ALEX BOGOMOLOV: My mom and little brother live in Kendall. Q. Boris? ALEX BOGOMOLOV: Boris. Q. Does he play at Sunset now or... ALEX BOGOMOLOV: He played for Sunset, but he's a senior; he's homeschooling because he's trying to -- he's playing more tournaments and he's trying -- he's turning -- not turning pro. He's going to college. Q. How old is he? ALEX BOGOMOLOV: He's 18. Q. He's 18. Your son, his name? ALEX BOGOMOLOV: Maddox. Q. How do you spell it? ALEX BOGOMOLOV: M-a-d-d-o-x. Q. How old is he? When was he born? ALEX BOGOMOLOV: 15 months. Q. Were you a Sunset High champion? ALEX BOGOMOLOV: I never lost a match at Sunset. Q. How many... ALEX BOGOMOLOV: Three. I think I won one as a team and three as individual. Q. When did you graduate high school? ALEX BOGOMOLOV: Long time ago. I'm 27, 28 in April, so... Q. '02? ALEX BOGOMOLOV: '02. Q. First thing I want to ask, is your wife -- it's your wife? ALEX BOGOMOLOV: Well, we got engaged and then we had the little one, Maddox, my son. We had the wedding planned for September, but she was going to be too big so we kind of -- once we had the son we really had no need to get married. We're going to wait until my son can say, Mommy and daddy, they're getting married. Q. Is she a tennis player? What's her name? ALEX BOGOMOLOV: She didn't know anything about tennis. Now she knows. If I do well, she knows with the points that I'm getting what I move up to. Before I do, she will know who the guy I play, who he played last two weeks, what was the score, what was the percentages of -- she's the biggest fan. Luana is her name. Q. How do you spell it? ALEX BOGOMOLOV: L-u-a-n-a. Q. What's her last name? ALEX BOGOMOLOV: Goncalves. She's Brazilian. G-o-n-c-a-l-v-e-s. Q. Did you feel Andy was confident? ALEX BOGOMOLOV: I felt like he wasn't confident at certain points, especially I mean, in the second set. In the first I felt like I was dictating most of the points, so I couldn't really tell where his head was. But in the second set I definitely felt like he's missing something. I feel like everybody goes through that. I have no doubt that if one or two points went his way he would have turned it around. Q. You served for the match at 5-3. Didn't make it. What did you do there? What are you telling yourself when your big chance seemed to have been blown? ALEX BOGOMOLOV: I basically was ready for the third set, to tell you the truth. (Smiling.) I was ready to play the third set, and I tried to stay as calm as possible. I knew that at some point I would get my chance again. If it wasn't going to be in the second set or in the breaker, then I was -- I didn't want anything to ruin my chances in the third set. So if you get -- I played so many matches that I served for the match, lost it, and I lost it in the third set. I mean, I guess you learn from that. Q. Had you ever faced Andy before today? ALEX BOGOMOLOV: Yeah, one time maybe six years ago in the Binghamton Challenger in the semis, and after that he took off. You know, he was ranked maybe 120 at the time. I was right around there, as well. And then he qualified the Open and had his first Grand Slam win I guess against Albert Costa. After that, he took off and I kind of faded. I remember that match really well, so I knew that I'm going to hit a lot of balls regardless. He's not gonna forget that we played, either, you know. Q. Do you remember the score of that match? ALEX BOGOMOLOV: 5 and 4. Q. Win or lost? ALEX BOGOMOLOV: I lost. We both played a match in the morning, and then we played in the afternoon because it was raining. So it was a physical -- I mean, we were both dead. It was Binghamton, so it was like one of the hottest places to be at during the summer. Q. Have you played Isner before? What's it like playing these giants out there these days? ALEX BOGOMOLOV: I have played Isner, too. I actually plays him in Lubbock, Texas, which has a little bit of altitude. I think the first two sets went 7-6, 6-7, and I broke him at 5-All in the third set, served for it at 6-5, and lost the match. That was the last thing I remember about Isner. Q. What's it like playing -- there are so many giants on the courts these days? ALEX BOGOMOLOV: I don't know how to answer that, really. Q. Power? ALEX BOGOMOLOV: I mean, it's not fun if you're not winning, but it's okay if you're winning. You know, them being a giant, it helps them in certain ways, but it's a disadvantage in other ways. They're not the fastest guys. They're not -- they don't, you know, they take the physical -- physically it's tough on them, as well, you know. Nobody has it easy, by no means. Q. So this magician fella finally fixed you up? ALEX BOGOMOLOV: Yeah, Dr. Osterman. Yeah, he fixed me up. The only thing with the surgery -- I felt like he did the surgery, and then the most important part, which was the rehab, I sort of had to do on my own. I went to five different guys doing all these different things. It wasn't working out. Like I said, my fiancée said -- she told me she was pregnant, and the next day I was hitting fore and backhands. Q. What was the key today in beating him? ALEX BOGOMOLOV: It was just too many to say, but I felt like mentally I had to be, you know, there since the first point, and I just had to take control of the point, as well. I felt like once we started getting in the rally, I had to dictate, because Andy, once he starts dictating and has you like a yo-yo, it's pretty tough. Q. What was the key in breaking his serve so many times? ALEX BOGOMOLOV: You just -- I mean, you try to see the -- you know, you try to sometimes guess where he's serving. Sometimes you just have to react, and once the return was in, then the point starts. That's basically a baseline game. I like baseline games. Q. How would you characterize your career, and do you feel at this point you can keep getting better? ALEX BOGOMOLOV: Um, I feel like I definitely can keep getting better, but not so much physical or shots or technique or anything like that. I think just confidence and matches. I would summarize my career as -- I was fortunate enough to receive a second breath, you know, second life. At the beginning of my career when I was young, I got to top 100 and I had no idea what I was doing. I got there, and I took it for granted. I didn't even think twice. I was doing bad things while I was playing, you know. Now, as professional as it gets, I'm happy in my life. Now I'm just trying to take advantage and trying to build a name for myself so after tennis I can do something else, you know. Q. When did you say you were going to come here to Boca? You already know you're coming? ALEX BOGOMOLOV: Well, if you talk to a bank that can give me a loan, yeah, I can tell you that for sure. But, no, we're trying to be maybe out there at the end of the year. Q. How has fatherhood changed you? Has it? ALEX BOGOMOLOV: That's another key part to my life. I feel like I was dealing with losses early in my career so bad that, you know, I would not practice for the next two days. I would be depressed, wouldn't answer phone calls. Now, win or lose, I come home and my little guy doesn't care what went on. He just wants to play. Q. Has your father been your main coach over the years? ALEX BOGOMOLOV: He has. He was. He sort of -- he made me who I was or who I am now. Definitely he shaped me into a person, into a tennis player. But then other people had a key roles. A lot of people had a key role in my career. Q. What was the name of the Johnny Rockets guy? ALEX BOGOMOLOV: Kenny Eldridge. Q. At your level, can you support a family? ALEX BOGOMOLOV: I have been pretty busy making money, yeah. Q. Are your parents together? ALEX BOGOMOLOV: No. Q. Where is does your father live? ALEX BOGOMOLOV: Moscow. He moved away when I was 17. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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