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AUSTRALIAN OPENJanuary 17, 2012Matthew EbdenMELBOURNE, VICTORIA M. EBDEN/J. Souza THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Can you tell us what this win means to you. MATTHEW EBDEN: Yeah, you know, I'm pretty happy. It's a good first round. I'm happy to be through the first round, you know, work my way into the tournament. I'm not really overrating it too much. I think it's a good opener. And, yeah, I'm just, you know, getting ready for the rest of the tournament. Hopefully I can, you know, play my best tennis yet to come. Q. What did you think of your performance today? What was the key to your win? MATTHEW EBDEN: Yeah, I was very happy. It's always good to get the first round under your belt and get into the tournament. I think, you know, I played pretty good. I played pretty well. I think I served well, returned very well, put a lot of pressure on him, created a lot of chances to break. You know, I played very consistent tennis. I was aggressive when I needed to be.  I played a very solid match. I think for the five‑set format, it's a tiny bit different. It's obviously not the sprint to two sets. It's a bit of a war out there. I'm just very happy with how I managed it, approached it. Just looking forward to moving on to the rest of the tournament now. Q. Is this confidence that you can go deep into the tournament? MATTHEW EBDEN: Yeah, I think so. I think I've shown, in the last year or two, I've shown myself and my team where I can belong in world tennis, the level I can play at. So we're confident that I'm moving in the right direction. Yeah, I'm taking it one match at a time. Very happy with the first round. I'm just keen to approach‑‑ we have a doubles tomorrow and looking forward to the next one. Q. The next round you play Nishikori. How much do you know about him? MATTHEW EBDEN: I know Kei very well. He's a very good athlete. Had a pretty good last year, too. I think he's going to be another good player, another good match. I'm feeling confident. I feel I'm hitting the ball well. He's obviously a good player, too. There's many good players in the draw. I'm sure it will be a good, competitive match. I'm confident that if I can play some of my best tennis that I'm going to be a chance. That's what I'm looking forward to. Q. Did you feel any heightened pressure coming into the match knowing you were playing in front of the home crowd, that you didn't want to let them down? MATTHEW EBDEN: Yeah, not too much. You know, I came from a final from Sydney. I was seeing the ball well up there. Had a good win against a pretty good player. Lost a close one to Baghdatis, six in the third. I've been playing pretty well. Tried not to overrate it coming into here. Just doing my thing, enjoying myself, keeping it pretty simple and low‑key, just keeping my focus. I spoke to Rochey earlier. He just said, Keep concentrating on your own game. That's a little bit of what I'm doing at the moment, just keeping my team with me. We're just enjoying it, sort of working on what I can do out there. Not too fussed and worried about all the other stuff. Q. Do you think not having to play through the qualifying rounds helped your preparation? MATTHEW EBDEN: Yeah, absolutely. It meant my off‑season was a bit more structured. My first two tournaments in January were obviously a bit more structured as well without the qualifying. I was able to train and prepare for a five‑set match kind of thing, try to peak for the slam. I got a few good matches in the last few weeks. Had some tough opponents. Beat some, lost a couple close ones. Been hitting the ball well. I think coming in here, I'm feeling ready to play some good matches. Q. What do you put down your improvement over the past year or so? MATTHEW EBDEN: It's been a steady progress for me. I've been, in the last few years, gradually halving my ranking, been going up. In the last two or three years, I've beaten a lot of guys who've been up there. It's about consistently winning the matches all in a row. That's obviously where you pick up your big strings of points. Then the ranking flies up. It's been a physical development, I think a mental and maturity development. You know, I'm probably not as young as Bernie. He's obviously developing very young, which is excellent. I'm very happy that he's doing that. But for me it's taken a few years. I'm happy with where I'm at, and I'm confident with where I'm going. Q. Could you tell me a little bit about your background, where you practice? MATTHEW EBDEN: Yeah, I was actually born in South Africa, but I live in Perth, in Western Australia. A mentor I've had there is Margaret Court, ex‑tennis player, a legend in Australia. She's helped me a lot in the last few years. Obviously my coach and my team, we practiced over there in the heat in the summer. So that was great to be practicing in Australia. I think the rest of the year being such a world tour, we're always overseas, basing in the States or Europe for the rest of the year. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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