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AUSTRALIAN OPENJanuary 25, 2012Kei NishikoriMELBOURNE, VICTORIA A. MURRAY/K. Nishikori THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. You and Andy had a 42‑shot rally in the second game and he won it. What did you think after that? KEI NISHIKORI: Yeah, that was long point. Especially he was just beginning of the match. Yeah, right after the point I thought I'm going to quit this match (smiling). After a couple games, I was okay. Yeah, he played really well today. Q. Were you physically tired from the Tsonga match still? You seemed sometimes to be a little out of breath. KEI NISHIKORI: Yeah, maybe little bit. But wasn't too bad. I think I just didn't play good enough to beat him. He was making me run side to side all the time. Same time was tough for me to play longer points. Q. Are you disappointed with how today went? I mean, obviously you've had a fantastic tournament. Would you have liked to have gone further? KEI NISHIKORI: Yeah, of course I want to win today. I was really excited before the match and even yesterday to think about this match today. But, yeah, little bit I wasn't good enough physically, mentally, you know, even tennis, too, so... But I'm, yeah, happy too. Of course, disappointed today. Q. In two matches against Murray you couldn't make more than three games in a set. Is there a problem of matchup with Andy Murray? KEI NISHIKORI: I believe not. But, yeah, he's really tough to play because he never miss. And, you know, he has great serve. He's really improving I think his serve now, so it's tough to break his serve. And, yeah, he has a great defense. Yeah, it's not easy to play against him. Q. You talked about his defense. Do you think his attack is good enough for him to win this tournament? KEI NISHIKORI: I don't know. I guess so, he can. Q. Do you regret at all playing mixed doubles yesterday? KEI NISHIKORI: No, it was good preparation for today. I mean, of course I was tired. But it was only one hour. So it was fine. Q. You're going to rise to a new ranking of No.20 next week. Can you just talk about what that means to you. KEI NISHIKORI: Yeah, that's one of exciting news for me 'cause, yeah, first goal was to get top 20. Yeah, I can't believe it's already done, already two months. Yeah, it was fantastic week for me. Yeah, now try to get top 15 or, yeah, something like that. Q. Your case is a little bit unique which is hard for others in Asia to emulate because you train in the USA. What would you advise male players inspired by your success? KEI NISHIKORI: For me I think the one thing help me is to train with, you know, top players. When I was 14, 15, I was practicing with like Tommy Haas and a lot of top players. You know, it's hard to go to tournaments from Asia because it's far, a lot of problem, you know. But, you know, Asian is different. Physically you have to get to 25 or 26 years old to build the body. It's different than other countries. I don't know. I don't want to say too many things. Q. In terms of your own physical condition, Andy Murray was saying you've been hitting the gym a lot lately. I'm just wondering how much more growing do you have to do personally? KEI NISHIKORI: Of course, a lot of more. But, yeah, I was happy that I wasn't too tired to get here. If it's last year, you know, I be dead for sure. You know, playing two five sets and four sets, and now of course I'm tired, but I'm able to play the match. So I'm really happy how my physical is now. I had a good off‑season last year. So, of course, to win the Grand Slam, I have to, you know, be fit more. But I'm really happy how my physical is now. Q. Do you think it will be another two or three years before you reach the sort of maximum body size for you personally? KEI NISHIKORI: I think so. I need, yeah, few years for sure. But it's getting better. It's getting there, I think. Q. You mentioned physically it's very difficult to play against the players. Can you talk about mentally how it is to play against the players who are stronger and taller than you. Do you think technically‑wise you should play smarter, especially for the Asian players, to compete in the tour? KEI NISHIKORI: Yeah, you have to be really smart 'cause I'm not the big guy on tour. You know, I need a lot of speed 'cause I don't have much power. So I need speed and smart to play. But like I said, I live in U.S. I played a lot of different type of guys. So I'm, like, used to playing with different type of guys. I think that helps me a lot. Q. What tournaments will you play next? KEI NISHIKORI: Davis Cup. And I'm going South America after that. Q. You've beaten Djokovic last year. You will be in the top 20 next week. What do you see for your future? KEI NISHIKORI: I try to, you know, not think about too much farther 'cause, yeah, like I said, my goal was to get top 20 this year. Now it's top 20. So I go little by little. Q. Are you going to go back to Japan straightaway? What do you think will be the reception you'll get? KEI NISHIKORI: I don't know. I haven't think about yet. But I might go back to U.S. and take couple days off or I might go straight. But, yeah, I hope they happy about this news. I hope I could go farther. But that will be in few years or something hopefully. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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