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DAVIS CUP BY BNP PARIBAS WORLD GROUP FINAL: SPAIN v CZECH REPUBLICNovember 17, 2012Domenico ViciniPRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC Q. 87 Davis Cup ties. Can you believe it is as many as that that you have played? DOMENICO VICINI: No. I started to play at four years old with my father. He was a teacher. I started to play while camping with my father. I was lucky enough to play every day, lucky to come from San Marino, and lucky to start to play Davis Cup. I played every day, every day, every day, and arrived at these 87 matches. Q. Do you remember the first Davis Cup match you played? DOMENICO VICINI: Yes. Q. Where was that? DOMENICO VICINI: In Zambia '93. I remember I didn't sleep the night before. I played the first match with a guy from Slovenia, the ex‑Yugoslavia, with an ATP ranking around 400, 500, and I won the match. For me, this was incredible. In Zambia, I played on a strange court, strange surface. It was something like sugar with water. Before the match started, the guy made the paint like soccer, but the line was crooked. It was not straight (laughter). During the match, every time he had to remake the line because the line kept on disappearing. It was very strange to play tennis on this surface. In Zambia, when I played against the No.1 of Zambia, there was no more water to drink. I could drink only Coca‑Cola. For me, it was very difficult because it was very high humidity and very hot, something like 40 degrees. Without water, it was very difficult. I remember this thing about that match. Q. So you're 41 years old. You are still playing. Why do you keep on playing? Why do you want to keep on playing? DOMENICO VICINI: Because my country calls me, needs me. Q. Singles, doubles, you are the one player? DOMENICO VICINI: San Marino now has a good movement with the younger players. 19 years, I was a very good player, second category in Italy. In San Marino we use the ranking of Italy because San Marino is too small. I was a good player and obviously was the No.1 player in singles. Q. How much longer do you want to keep playing? DOMENICO VICINI: I don't know. It's not easy. I hope the most time possible. For the moment, I don't play singles, I play only doubles, because we have two young players that play very well. I feel just a little old and I use the experience for the doubles. Q. Of all the matches that you played in Davis Cup, which one stands out the most? DOMENICO VICINI: Istanbul. The longest match of my life that lasted 4 hours and 40 minutes. I won 14‑12 in the third set. We were playing against Senegal. I won the first set 7‑6, I lost the second 6‑7, and I won in the third set 14‑12. I remember it was very, very hot. It was a very big stadium with only five people of San Marino and five people from Senegal (laughter). All the seats were empty because it was very, very hot, more than 40 degrees. I remember when it was 13‑12 for me, 30‑All, the Senegal player during an approach, the linesman called the ball out, but maybe the heat got to him. I repeated the point and won the point for 40‑30. On match point, he touched the ball with the stick of the racquet, took the net, fell on the line, and win the match. Q. So the ball hit the handle of the racquet? DOMENICO VICINI: Close to the racquet. Take the net, on the line, match won, finished. The match was 4 hours and 40 minutes, three sets. For me, it's incredible. 40 degrees. Istanbul '96. The most important match I won, it was in San Marino. I won against the No.1 of Greece, a big nation. The No.1 of Greece was ranked something like 200. It was the best match I won in all my life. Q. What does Davis Cup mean to you? DOMENICO VICINI: For me it means my country. I play with my heart for my country. I feel it deep inside myself. I carry the flag of my country. When I play Davis Cup, I don't play for myself but I play for my nation. I play with my heart, for the flag of San Marino. For me, it's very, very important. That's also the motivation that makes me continue to play; it's for the nation, not for myself. Q. When you get an award like this, what does something like that mean to you? DOMENICO VICINI: I just got it. I have to think about it. Q. Does it make you feel old? DOMENICO VICINI: No, no. It makes me feel reborn. Q. Where will you put this? DOMENICO VICINI: In my home. Q. What was it like when you received it? DOMENICO VICINI: It was very strange that I was in the middle of the personality of the history the tennis like Nicola Pietrangeli, Manolo Santana. For me, it is very special and very important. Q. What did it feel like when Francesco gave you the trophy? Then when you stood alongside Manolo Santana and Nicola Pietrangeli, what did that feel like? DOMENICO VICINI: I don't know. I was very proud. For me, it's very amazing because I was in the middle of the legends of tennis. I was very young when they played. I only knew the names of these people. But for me it was very wonderful. Q. Were you nervous today? DOMENICO VICINI: No. I was not nervous. I know Nicola. I know Nicola for some years. Nicola is a beautiful person. He helped me to feel better and relaxed, not nervous, in this case. Q. Congratulations. DOMENICO VICINI: Thanks to God. Q. When you were four years old, you could never dream of something like this? DOMENICO VICINI: My father loved tennis, and he transmitted the love of tennis to me. Usually the parents put pressure on the son. This was not true in my case, because my father transmitted the love and the passion of tennis, but not the pressure to succeed. I learned to play tennis alone with my father, playing day to day. I never had a teacher. I never went to a school of tennis, an academy. I started to play while camping, and my father transmitted only the love of tennis that I carry with me for my whole life. That's the reason I have played all these years. Usually when the parents apply pressure to arrive, sometimes you are tired to play, you stop. For me, it's a passion. I love tennis. When I can, I play every day because I enjoy playing. It's not something that I have to do; it's something I like to do. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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