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SHANGHAI ROLEX MASTERSOctober 8, 2012Zhe LiSHANGHAI, CHINA S. QUERREY/Z. Li THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. First of all, how do you feel about this match? How do you comment on your performance over the past two or three years and in which areas do you think you need to improve? ZHE LI: First of all, I think that for today's match I played okay. My opponent is ranked around 20 and he played very hard. His shots are very strong. Most of the times I'm already beaten in of the first three rounds, so I didn't fully display my advantages. That's the area I need to improve. Talking about my progress over the last two or three years, I think I've made a lot of progress. The central government as well as the local government has offered a lot of opportunities for young players like us, not to mention that we also have such a good opportunity with the Shanghai ATP 1000. Next year there will be the national sports games, so I will focus a lot more on that and try to work hard in areas that I am still not very good at. Q. There are three male players from China in the first round. You're the first Chinese player. Any advice for the other two Chinese players? ZHE LI: I lost today, but I hope that the other two Chinese players can play very well. I sincerely hope that they can play very well and move forward. Q. Zhang Ze played pretty well in the China Open and had some breakthroughs. He thought his coach helped him a lot. What do you think about his coach? ZHE LI: His coach has also coached some other famous players, such as Gasquet. For me, I think his coach has helped him a lot. Q. Over the past two years many people say that to have a breakthrough with the male tennis players, we need to learn a lot from the female team. Any ideas from you? ZHE LI: Well, what should I say? There were many factors, many areas that I cannot control. But, of course, there are also many positive sides. In the short‑term maybe there is not a lot of room that we can improve. Q. Next year there will be the national games. Is it true that you, together with other Chinese male tennis players, will focus more on the national games rather than the other tournaments? ZHE LI: Yes, that's very probable. Q. I also want to know whether this will have some effect on your personal ranking. ZHE LI: Yes, of course, it will be affected in the national games next year. For those who have the highest ranking, the four who have the highest ranking, may not need to play the qualifiers. That can save us some time to play more into some international games. Q. I heard from Zhang Ze about his career plan. He hoped that he can be in the top 100 and play the Grand Slams. What about you? Do you have any clear career plan? ZHE LI: For me, over the past several years I have a coach who has been supporting me a lot. For tennis, of course, you have to always be on the move. If you don't work hard, if you don't move, you don't have a lot of opportunities. Even if I say that I hope I can be among the top 10 players in the world, it's not realistic. We all have our dreams, but oftentimes it's not controlled by us. I hope that I can be among the top 100 players before I retire. Q. You mentioned there are a lot of factors which may affect your performance. I suppose you have a very good coach, a good team. Will you choose to fly solo? ZHE LI: Absolutely. Q. Can you give me more details? ZHE LI: How do you mean, 'more details'? Q. Because everybody is discussing this issue. Sometimes players find it very difficult to make choices, so I want to know whether players really want to fly solo. ZHE LI: If I have the opportunity, I would definitely love to go solo. This is not to say that I don't love China or love team TianJin. If possible, I want to move forward. If you look at the China Open and the ATP 1000 in Shanghai, this is a very good opportunity for us. We can also learn a lot from other players. I think this is also a way for us to represent our personal values. We love this sport. If I have the opportunity, I will choose to fly solo. Q. If you look at the male players in China, what are the reasons why they don't want to be an individual player? Is it because of their poor performance? ZHE LI: Well, for some good players in China, like us, we have opportunities in China. There are a lot of factors. Q. What are the main or biggest obstacles which may hinder the further development of the Chinese male tennis players? ZHE LI: Well, there are many factors. On the one hand, if we go solo, well, if we are paid by others a lot of money, we have to think whether we can give others the return that they want. That's one aspect. For me, I think that you have to have your personal input before you can ask about a return. But, of course, some people may say that you have to have very good performances before others may want to invest in you. I think all these factors play a role. Players like me, who are at the ranking of 300 something, we are in a more awkward situation. Q. I know that you have had your current ranking for one to two years. You also said that you hope your ranking can move up to the top 100. What is the most difficult thing for you to move your ranking higher? I know you work very hard. You have been working very hard over the past several years. What are the main ways to push your ranking? ZHE LI: First of all, the environment of training and practice, and then the kind of tournaments and matches that I choose to play. If I can have more opportunities to play with better players ‑ not necessarily those that are in the top 100 in the rankings ‑ but if I can have more opportunities to practice and play games with them, then I think I can improve very quickly because that kind of interaction can definitely damper my fear when I see these great players. For some good players in China, I think our skills are good. I actually had a game with another player whose ranking is about 60. I beat him 6‑1, 6‑3. So we have the opportunity and the skill to move our ranking to the top 100. But I think we need more, for example. We need a good coach, like Zhang's coach, who has actually arranged some very good training opportunities for us. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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