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AUSTRALIAN OPENJanuary 28, 2012Luke SavilleMELBOURNE, VICTORIA L. SAVILLE/F. Peliwo THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. How does that compare to Wimbledon? LUKE SAVILLE: Yeah, it's up there. It feels good. Home slam. I guess I had much more support today than I did at Wimbledon. 95% of the crowd was against me at Wimbledon, but today I got much more support, and, yeah, it feels really good to be champion here at the Australian Open. Q. In terms of significance, which is better, you think, for the future or even for just your own pride? Wimbledon or here? LUKE SAVILLE: It's tough, because Wimbledon. You know, I was the 16th seed there, not that many expectations, and I guess I was a bit of an underdog going into the final. Liam won the week before for the leadup tournament, Roehamton. I guess I was a bit of an underdog there, and winning Wimbledon, such a prestigious tournament. And here, you know, I guess all the pressure and expectations was on me. I was the top seed going into the tournament. I guess to kinda stand up to that pressure and win the tournament, it's, you know, massive relief, as well. So I can't really put one in front of the other. Q. Three slam finals and two trophies now. When you start to get into the seniors, even on futures and ITF, there's going to be a lot of pressure on you now. People will think that's the guy that won the Australian Open; I've got to get him. LUKE SAVILLE: Yeah, I guess there's more pressure, but there is a lot of pressure this week. I was the top seed this week. After Wimbledon, people have started to try and shoot me down a little bit. But, you know, I guess I have handled the pressure pretty well this week at a grand slam. Like you said, it's going to be no different in the futures and challengers coming up. You know, I have handled it pretty well this week, so there's no reason why I can't do it in the tournament coming up. Q. What went better for you this week than last week? LUKE SAVILLE: Well, last week I had match points in the second set to close it out, so this week I guess I took my opportunities much better. But it was a different match altogether this week, you know, bigger stage, bigger crowd, bigger occasion. We both were a little more nervous. Wasn't quite as many rallies this week as last week. I think I got that early break in the third set and managed to kind of pick up my serving percentages in the third set. He had a break point there, I think it was maybe 2‑1, and I managed to hold him off. Yeah, kind of held a few easy games towards the tail end of the match, which really helped. Q. You said people try to shoot you down or something about... LUKE SAVILLE: Yeah. Well, I'm No. 1 in the world now of the juniors, and so, yeah, it's like, you know, everyone is trying to shoot Novak down in the men's. He's the top seed and best player in the world at the moment. I guess I'm the best junior in the world at the moment on rankings. Everyone is striving to beat me, like you would. But, yeah, I don't mind the expectations and the pressure, and I've handled it well this week. Q. What's your basic playing plan for this year? LUKE SAVILLE: I'd like to play all the junior Grand Slams. I think they're good for my confidence and great experience, as well. Played on Rod Laver Arena. That's an experience I will cherish and take with me for years to come. I guess my main goal is to keep on developing my game and body and keep on transitioning into the futures and hopefully challengers by the end of the year and maybe put my hand up for a game here at the men's in 12 months' time. Q. What did Ken Rosewall have to say to you? LUKE SAVILLE: Just "Congratulations" and had a few jokes. Said he was standing there 62 years ago. But, yeah, obviously having him there is a massive honor and privilege, and, yeah, it was good standing up there with him. Q. You say you want to play the junior slams. Particularly Wimbledon, we have a particular arrangement with Tennis Australia with the All England Club. Would you try to get a main draw there, or is it more important to try and defend your junior title? LUKE SAVILLE: Well, the junior tournament is the second week, so unless I'm in the quarters of the men's, I'm pretty sure I'll be playing juniors. But of course I'll put my hand up for a wildcard. It's obviously going to be an awesome experience if I get a wildcard into the men's, but that's a long way away. I think I'll need to build my ATP ranking a lot before, you know, on the chance of getting that wildcard. I think I will probably have to go to 300 or 400, and I'm 1200 right now. So that's a lot of future wins and maybe winning a few rounds at challenger tournaments before I get to that in six months' time. Obviously I'd love to play main draw there, but all I can do is try my best, get my ranking up, put my hand up. If they want to, yeah, give me a wildcard, then awesome. Q. Do you think that your speech on court might become a bit of a YouTube classic? LUKE SAVILLE: Maybe, yeah. (Smiling.) I'll probably regret saying that word. But, yeah, you know, it was just the heat of the moment. Q. You said what you thought? LUKE SAVILLE: Yeah, yeah. Lucky it wasn't the other word. (Laughter.) I'll probably regret that. Yeah, it was just raw emotion out there. I said what I thought. Q. Did anyone say anything to you afterward? LUKE SAVILLE: I got a few texts saying, How does it feel than last year? Yeah, and repeated the word. But, yeah. It wasn't too good. Q. Bernard, James Duckworth, is the future looking good? LUKE SAVILLE: Yeah, I think so. Yeah, I've got‑‑ Bernard is probably out of that range. He's top 30 in the world now. He's pretty much made it. But James, Ben, myself, there's a lot of good, you know‑‑ I'm a junior still, but those guys are just breaking out of the juniors and doing well. James won a round here and Ben really took it up to John Isner. Yeah, I think we've got a good atmosphere and a good environment in Australian junior tennis at the moment and guys kind of breaking out of the juniors. I think that, you know, the AIS are doing great things. We'll all doing great at the moment and getting great results. We have no intentions of stopping here. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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