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WESTERN & SOUTHERN OPEN

August 17, 2011

Alex Bogomolov

CINCINNATI, OHIO

A. BOGOMOLOV/J. Tsonga
6-3, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: This was Alex's second top-10 win of the season. He beat Andy Murray in Miami in March; third overall top 10 win.
Questions?

Q. Talk about how difficult it is to beat a top-10 player versus somebody else on tour?
ALEX BOGOMOLOV: I don't really necessarily think there is a much bigger difference. You have fights that go beyond words in the Challenger level and on the ATP matches.
Depends how you matchup against a particular style of play. Sometimes just right from the start it's a head-on collision and both guys just, you know, compliment each other's games and it becomes an unbelievable matchup.
Today we had a good matchup going into the match, and I just executed to perfection I think.

Q. For you overall, how big in your career is it to get a win over a top-10 player like this?
ALEX BOGOMOLOV: I mean, it's huge, obviously, you know, to get recognition for that. But me, right now, I'm in the third round about to play Andy Murray, and I've done pretty good things this year. I'm just hoping to get further in the tournament.

Q. Last year a lot of the guys were saying these are some of the quickest courts they've seen. Comment on the speed of the courts here.
ALEX BOGOMOLOV: I think it's playing pretty slow. You know, the balls, the Head balls that they're using, they get really big and the court is grippy.
So, I mean, there is a lot faster courts out there. As far as comparing to them, then it's a slow court. But I haven't been here in seven years or so, so I can't compare it to the previous years.

Q. You had to qualify to get here. Does that give you an advantage? You've played a couple matches already on the courts.
ALEX BOGOMOLOV: I definitely think so. You get in a rhythm. You sort of have certain spots with the serve that you've been hitting in previous matches. I've played on that Court 3 already three times, and it was Tsonga's first time. I think that was also a pretty good -- I mean, a little bit of advantage for me.

Q. Having beaten Andy Murray already this year, looking back on this game, what do you use and learn from that that you're going to focus on when you come up against him?
ALEX BOGOMOLOV: I learned a lot about myself during that match just because it was a lot of pressure. It was my hometown. It was on the stadium where I grew up in Miami.
Now it's a little bit different. It's a third round of a Masters Series instead of a second round. So, you know, as far as game plan, we're going to have the same game plan going in. Just hopefully it's going to be a good match, and we'll go from there.

Q. It's probably pretty sweet just to be experiencing what you've done this year, career high. Is any of this tinged with regret about what you've been through and not getting to this point sooner?
ALEX BOGOMOLOV: No, not at all. If you would tell me, you know, you'll be here, like sitting right now, ten years before and tell me I would have to go through the things I have gone through, I would go though them again easy.
I'm having a good time, the best time of my life right now. As long as my family is happy, as long as they're healthy, I'm having fun on the court.

Q. Are they here with you?
ALEX BOGOMOLOV: No, not this week. They're waiting for us in Boca. My coach is here. We're going to go over to Boca to practice before the US Open, and then head to New York.

Q. Have you heard from your dad? I know you only hear from him after wins.
ALEX BOGOMOLOV: It was his birthday yesterday, my sister's and my father's birthday yesterday. They share the same date. So we spoke yesterday. He's vacationing in Croatia, so I was happy to talk to him.

Q. Talk about the Tsonga match specifically. What was the approach coming in? How were you going to attack him?
ALEX BOGOMOLOV: We tried to set up a basic plan to where I would just stay to his backhand as long as possible, and then when it was the right shot, then go to his forehand. His forehand is so dangerous. He can hit a winner from any part of the court.
As far as the game plan with the serve, there was also a lot of body serves and high to the backhand, and then start attacking with my forehand high to his backhand and sort of put pressure on his backhand. That's what I did.

Q. Looked like you were going really deep because he was hitting a lot of errors on both sides of the court, I thought. Was that part of it, too?
ALEX BOGOMOLOV: Yeah, I mean, I have that sort of game plan against anybody. But, yeah, I mean, you give these guys a short ball, you're going to be running.

Q. You head into tomorrow's match with a lot more confidence against Andy than you did the previous time coming off the win today?
ALEX BOGOMOLOV: I had three tough matches before I played him, so, you know, the match against Hanescu that I played there was one of the craziest matches I ever experienced. Down 5-4, him serving for the match, and I would have never played Andy if I didn't pull it out.
I think I'm, yeah, playing better. I keep getting better gradually, so definitely I'm confident.

Q. Where is your confidence level?
ALEX BOGOMOLOV: Sky. I'm very confident. I mean, I'm not cocky-confident, but very confident within myself and within my team. Some of my friends started calling me The Talent, but we shouldn't -- we're not going to go there.

Q. Watching you on the court, you seem to still have your speed. You're 28. Do you feel like you've not lost a step?
ALEX BOGOMOLOV: I feel like I've gained a step, because I've seen a lot of different angles and I know where the ball is sort of coming, so I anticipate it and then I follow it up with my speed.
So, I mean, I don't know about slowing down. I think once I, you know, get the sense that I'm slowing down later on in my career I'll have to come up with some different things.
But right now, I'm happy to get the wheels going.

Q. What do you have to do specifically well in order to have a chance against Murray?
ALEX BOGOMOLOV: I have to serve well, return well, play well from the back, come in on the right shots.

Q. What's been your reception from the other Americans? You came up with a lot of those guys that kind of stayed at a certain level; you fell down and now you're back up. What's been their reception?
ALEX BOGOMOLOV: The one person that's been really supportive is Mardy. He's been unbelievable. We practiced the first practice I had of the year at the Australian Open this year, and he said, Dude, keep playing like this and you'll be top 50 by the end of the year.
Gradually, every tournament, every time we've seen each other, we try and practice every week. He's like, Dude, you're getting closer; you're getting closer. I grew up with Mardy. We traveled to Italy when we were 15 with Robbie and Andy.
But I think out of all of 'em -- Mardy just texted me right now and said, Good job. I'm very happy for you. So that's been great for me. I appreciate that.

Q. You mentioned qualifying. Seems that the same guys always get the wild cards. Do you request the wild cards? How does that work?
ALEX BOGOMOLOV: I haven't requested one in a long time. I did here, but they sort of mentioned I was a little too old for it. It's understandable with guys trying to make -- I got a wild card here when I was 19, so I can't really hold a grudge or anything.
But the guys that are getting wild cards, I feel like they deserve it. Ryan is going to be a superstar, so he needs to feel like he's important to the game. So I feel like they're doing the right things.

Q. How much time do you attribute the problems your wrist? How much time do you think that took out of your career?
ALEX BOGOMOLOV: I think it took like two years out of it really, even though when I started playing I wasn't confident with my backhand. But the one thing I feel like was a blessing in disguise was it gave me a slice. I learned how to slice; I learned how to use it on the offense and on the defense.
Before I had no idea. My slice would hit the fence. So that was definitely -- I had a full cast, so I couldn't even hold the racquet in my left hand. Just practice the slice and hit forehands.

Q. Where was the problem on your wrist?
ALEX BOGOMOLOV: I mean, it was a torn ligament on the left-hand side of wrist.

Q. Do you talk to Del Potro about his wrist issues?
ALEX BOGOMOLOV: Not at all.

Q. You mentioned the team around you and also the situation of becoming a father. You credit that for some of your success?
ALEX BOGOMOLOV: That's the only part...

Q. Focus or?
ALEX BOGOMOLOV: Just having a good team around you. After a loss back in the day, I would go into hiding for three days, get depressed, not talk to anybody, turn my phone off, and just basically be in hiding until the next tournament and then get it going.
So I think now I deal with the losses as professional as it get. Have a beer at night, next day it's back to work, reassess, reevaluate everything have to do.
But having a son, I don't feel -- if you love somebody as a kid, there is no way that you can be sad at any moment of your life.

Q. So you talk about Mardy. He's finding his best later - in what would normally be later in someone's career - and you are too. Other than two years, what else took you so long to get here?
ALEX BOGOMOLOV: It was maturity, it was -- it wasn't having the right groove on the court. I wasn't playing the important points well. I was flashy. All these things that, you know, young guys have to go through. It took me a little bit longer. Only God knows why, but I'm here. I'm very happy to be here.

Q. Did you ever think about not sticking it out?
ALEX BOGOMOLOV: Obviously you have those times. I didn't know if I would hit my two-handed backhand again, so that's why I started working with Gotham because I needed to do provide for my fiancee and my kid. She just got pregnant, so I didn't know what exactly I was going to do.
I knew I wanted to stay in tennis, but I didn't want to be a coach. I still will never do that.
But as far as being a part of tennis, I think I'll always have a special place in my heart for that. Yeah, I don't know why it's taken me so long.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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