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BARCLAYS ATP WORLD TOUR FINALSNovember 8, 2012Janko TipsarevicLONDON, ENGLAND J. DEL POTRO/J. Tipsarevic THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. In the first set it seemed that you were still a little ill. At least the second set was a good effort, a good match. JANKO TIPSAREVIC: I wouldn't really blame my loss on the sickness. I am generally feeling fine. The problem was that I was sick and I didn't play a lot of tennis lately. But two days in a row, I passed the one‑hour mark, which is a great achievement I guess. Well, it's not rocket science. You can see from the side that I'm not playing good. I feel sorry that I don't play my best tennis here in London, which is probably the best event of the year. But I fight hard to be in a position to come to this event. So I'll just do my best for one more match. Q. How would you summarize your first two matches? JANKO TIPSAREVIC: Great (laughter). Well, I just answered. If you ask me if I'm happy with my performance, I'm not. I'm playing horrible. I'm playing worst than horrible. I'm playing the worst tennis that I played in a long time. But I'm on the court, behaving good, not throwing my racquet, giving my best. I would like to thank the fans who are supporting me despite my tennis, which was not on a very high level today. They tried to bring me back in the game. But, you know, it's sad to say, but this is the best I can do right now. Q. This is a pop quiz. True or false: This year staying in the top 10 was more difficult than last year getting to the top 10? JANKO TIPSAREVIC: Yes, it was. Elaborate? Q. Yes. JANKO TIPSAREVIC: I think when I managed to break into the top 10, people didn't really know me. They didn't really take me seriously, I think. Everybody knew that I could play good tennis, but everybody also knew that I couldn't keep it up for a longer period of time. I'm not young. I'm 28. Then suddenly most of my career being 30 or 40, I'm in this position that let's say 70% of my matches, 80% or whatever, I'm the favorite to win. This is not easy for me. I'm a very emotional guy. I like being the underdog. I enjoy, you know, having nothing to lose. So I managed to cope with the pressure pretty well, I would say. I was very consistent and solid, playing good tennis, sometimes beating some of the top guys. But generally not losing to guys that I was losing in the past. This is one of the main things why I managed to stay in the top 10 and be here in London for the second straight year. Q. Not many players use glasses in the court. How is that system? I remember Navratilova? JANKO TIPSAREVIC: As you can see, I wear glasses because I don't see. I don't wear them because I look cool or however you want to say it. It's a necessity for me. I tried wearing contact lenses, but my eyes start to get red very, very soon. It's helpful. Even though you can really not see it in the last two matches, it's really helpful and I've been using them for quite a while. Q. Your match against Ferrer at the US Open was both one of the best matches I think, most people agree, at the tournament. JANKO TIPSAREVIC: Good. Q. And also one of your best matches this year, despite the outcome. That match showcased that you have a number of similarities in your game and you have the shared achievement of 20‑plus wins on both hard and clay court. JANKO TIPSAREVIC: This is a great question. Keep going. Good for my self‑esteem because you're saying very nice things. Q. But he has seven titles this year. JANKO TIPSAREVIC: Oh (smiling). Q. He's not doing better than you against the top four, so there are some similarities there. What I want you to do is pretend for a moment that you're a tennis journalist and give us an analysis. JANKO TIPSAREVIC: I forget because you started two minutes ago the question. Q. Give us an analysis of what he does better than you do physically and maybe mentally on court. JANKO TIPSAREVIC: Despite the match at the US Open, which was pretty close, it's very simple: over the last couple of years, David Ferrer is a better tennis player than me. He has won more tournaments. He's more consistent. He's longer at the top. He's even older two years, but you cannot really see that on his fitness level. Even though fitness is a big part of our game, a very big similarity, I don't really see us that similar if you compare pure tennis. He has a way better forehand than his backhand, and I may be the other way around. He has a much better return in comparison to his serve. I'm the other way around. He is way better than me in defense and I am not really a fan of defending. Overall the similarities is that we are, both of us, not very tall, and that fitness is a big area of our tennis. Overall, over the last couple of years, he has just been maybe not a way better tennis player, but a better tennis player than me. Q. It's your second year in the tournament. Just wanted your overall view on it this season, how it compared to last year. JANKO TIPSAREVIC: I played way better last year. I played less events. I wasn't as maybe mentally burned out as I am right now. And the main thing is that I wasn't sick. I came here five days before the tournament, if I remember correctly, practicing three hours every day. Thanks to my coach who told me that I should come here with the mental attitude that I'm going to play, not just coming here as a tourist, which at the end it happened and I was ready for it. I won one match, I lost one match, but I played great tennis. This year, from my retirement in Paris, I think I played two hours of tennis. I'm not really talented enough to play good tennis if I don't spend my time that I need on the tennis court prior to the match or to the challenge, so... I need hours of work and practice in order to perform and play good. I just didn't have that before this year's London tournament because I was sick. It came at a very, very bad and shitty time. But that's tennis. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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