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BARCLAYS ATP WORLD TOUR FINALSNovember 7, 2012Jonathan MarrayFrederik NielsenLONDON, ENGLAND MARRAY‑NIELSEN/Mirnyi‑Nestor THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Freddie, you're still not going to play doubles with Johnny last year? FREDERIK NIELSEN: You must be kidding me (smiling). You really want an answer again? Q. Yes. FREDERIK NIELSEN: No, nothing has changed. Sorry, Johnny. Q. Tell us about the match tonight. JONATHAN MARRAY: I thought they served well actually. I thought we did well to get the break in the first set, then I actually put in a bit of a soft game to lose my serve serving at 5‑4. I thought Freddie played well at the end of the first set to pull us through the tiebreak. Then second set, yeah, we put a bit of a sloppy game in the first game. FREDERIK NIELSEN: You don't have to be nice. I played a shite game. JONATHAN MARRAY: We played catch‑up. Then the super tiebreak, I thought we both played really well actually. I served a lot better than I had been the whole match, which I was happy about obviously because I was struggling a little bit with my serve today. Freddie, I thought, played pretty well throughout. Obviously it was pretty tense there at the end and we came out with some big first serves when we needed it. Like we said last night, just a few points here and there, wasn't it, that kind the turned it in our favor. Q. How did you start playing tennis? Your grandfather? FREDERIK NIELSEN: My entire family is a tennis family, not only my grandfather on my dad's side but also on my mom's side. My mom and dad met through tennis. I basically grew up on tennis courts. Since I can remember being physically able to hit a tennis ball, I was hitting tennis balls against the side of my house, or against the wall at the tennis club, playing whenever I had a free hour. Yeah, you would think I would be better by now with all the hours I put in. But, yeah, I always played tennis. I don't know, I was born with a love for the game I guess. Q. Getting the strategy right coming into the tournament, you met up and said, We'll be the first team through to the semifinals, then we'll take the title? Is that the way the conversation generally went? FREDERIK NIELSEN: Is there another way of doing it (smiling)? JONATHAN MARRAY: Pretty much we just came here obviously with the intention of really enjoying the whole experience, just trying to capture some of the form that we played at Wimbledon really. Wasn't any real chat, was there? FREDERIK NIELSEN: I think our results after Wimbledon kind of speak for themselves. They haven't been outstanding. From me personally, my main thing was to play well. I know, I think Johnny knows, when we play well against these guys, we're always going to have a chance to win, then we're going to take it from there. We were aware of the fact we were underdogs, lowest ranked team, a special exempt due to a loophole in the rules. That's obviously something different. At the same time we're comfortable being here level‑wise. We weren't here just to make up the numbers. Q. Perhaps a sense of what it's like to play in front of a packed house on a Wednesday evening. Extraordinary support for doubles play, isn't it? JONATHAN MARRAY: Yeah, obviously we never get the chance to play in front of so many people. Singles guys have an opportunity to play more in front of a crowd like that. The fact that we're on just before a big singles match, obviously the crowd kind of fills up as the match progresses. Yeah, it's an amazing feeling kind of playing in front of so many people. Obviously the way our matches have gone, we've come out on top, and I think they've helped us by getting behind us and come through those tight situations really. FREDERIK NIELSEN: But it's a funny feeling as well on this court because it's very unique with the lighting and everything. So when you're on court as a player, with the spotlight and everything, you don't really get a feeling of how big it is. You hear a lot of people screaming, you feel the support, that helps. But you really have to look for it to see how big the arena really is because it's very dark in the stands, especially on the upper tier. It's very different from all the other courts I've played on, especially the center court, because the lighting is so unique. I think it's great, a great way of doing it. I think it's a great experience for me as a Dane to experience a little bit of home support. Q. Does being the first team through to the last four still surprise you or are you getting used to achieving such milestones in the time you're together? JONATHAN MARRAY: Pretty surprised we're through after two matches. FREDERIK NIELSEN: Yeah. JONATHAN MARRAY: It wasn't something we really talked about. We were just coming here to try to enjoy and try to perform to the best of our abilities really. Yeah, obviously it surprises. FREDERIK NIELSEN: Yeah, of course it's a surprise. JONATHAN MARRAY: We can enjoy the next match really. There's no pressure on us again really. It's really a great situation, I think. Q. Freddie, after you're finished here, where will your next match be? Back in the Italian league? And Johnny, where do you go from here? FREDERIK NIELSEN: I have to do ATP University Monday through Wednesday, then it is back to Italian league. JONATHAN MARRAY: For me, yeah, it is my last tournament of the year, so I'm having a bit of a break. Then, yeah, pre‑season training and start off in, I'm not sure yet, either Brisbane, Chennai or Doha. Q. You're not sure who with? JONATHAN MARRAY: No, not yet. Q. Have you talked about whether you're going to defend your Wimbledon title yet? FREDERIK NIELSEN: No, that's not come up with conversation. JONATHAN MARRAY: It is a long way away. FREDERIK NIELSEN: A lot of things can happen. Hopefully Johnny can find a regular partner because it's better for him. It's difficult for me to sit on the outside as well and see Johnny after Wimbledon have to play with six or seven different partners, not get any momentum there. I hope he's going to find a partner. If he does well, I'm pretty sure the partner would be pretty upset if he didn't have a chance to play Wimbledon with Johnny and that would be completely understandable. Q. Would you like to if the opportunity came up? JONATHAN MARRAY: Definitely, yeah. FREDERIK NIELSEN: No. JONATHAN MARRAY: Yeah, we enjoy playing with each other, we do all right. It would be good, but let's see how things go. FREDERIK NIELSEN: Yeah. Q. You're enjoying yourself a lot. Now you're into the semifinals. Any worry that you might start feeling a bit of pressure or do you think you'll be able to keep it going? FREDERIK NIELSEN: I think on the contrary. I think the fact there were more questions of us being asked before the tournament. Now we've, first of all, performed quite well under different circumstances for us. We're not like the other guys who played on all the Grand Slam center courts, all the big tournaments. So having come through that, it at least works to my advantage, to be able to perform a few times. I think coming through a few wins gives me, at least, a nice feeling and makes me feel quite, yeah, at ease and gives me more confidence going into the semifinal. JONATHAN MARRAY: Like we proved at Wimbledon, I suppose, getting closer to the prize there, and we continue to kind of play the same way, enjoy ourselves, have a bit of a laugh on court as well. I think it's helped us to perform the way we do. Q. Have any of the established doubles teams come up to you and said, Will you two stop turning up and doing this, it's really annoying us? JONATHAN MARRAY: A few people have mentioned that we were unbeaten in London this year. So... FREDERIK NIELSEN: Which is great because all we need is a jinx. JONATHAN MARRAY: No, not really. FREDERIK NIELSEN: Not really, no. Q. Freddie, if you went on to win this tournament... FREDERIK NIELSEN: No, I'm not going to quit playing singles. Q. But would you reconsider playing doubles with Jonathan? FREDERIK NIELSEN: No, I wouldn't because, first of all, it's not a solid partnership. We take it tournament by tournament and see if we're available. Next year is going to be the same for me. I'm going to be playing a lot of second‑ranked tournaments. Johnny is going to be ranked top 20 in the world and playing all the top tournaments. I don't mind playing with Johnny. It's not that. I'm not in tennis to play with Johnny, unfortunately. Sorry, Johnny. No offense. I think the big decisions in life, for my life, has to be on how I feel. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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