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APIA INTERNATIONAL SYDNEYJanuary 10, 2013Bernard TomicSYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES B. TOMIC/J. Nieminen THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Into the semifinal. How far can you go for the rest of the week? BERNARD TOMIC: It's a big question, and I'm really happy with today's performance and how I played. But I'm ready to go for tomorrow's semifinal. I'm really confident now, and I got a shot to get into the final for the first time in my career. So it's a big match, the next match, so I'm going to do everything I can to win tomorrow. Q. Will be it extra special to make your first final in Australia? BERNARD TOMIC: Yeah, for sure. To get the chance to play first tour event final and to do it in Australia is going to be unbelievable. But I've got to play two quality players that are playing now. I'm going to watch that match when I get back. Hopefully tomorrow can be bright for me and I can play good tennis and win. Q. Looked like today you had to really think your way through this match. You didn't start off really well, struggling with your rhythm maybe. Take us through your thought process. BERNARD TOMIC: Yeah, I thought the first service game that he served I felt like I had a chance. I had a few break points and I didn't take it. Then the next three, four games were very strange, because he broke me, I broke back, and it so forth. Being up in that first‑set tiebreaker and two set points, for him to win that set was good on him. He played well on those few points on those occasions. But I had no doubt I think that I was I was going to win the match the whole way. I was confident even though I lost the first set. He did play good tennis in the first set. I was a little bit nervous and wasn't hitting the shots like I was hitting against Florian. So I'm happy I turned that around in that second set. The third set was really dominant from my side and I played good. Q. Why were you more nervous tonight? BERNARD TOMIC: I think playing a night match here is a bit different, and obviously playing the defending champion. He was really pumped up and playing good. I've never played him before ‑ never hit with him as well ‑ so it was very different. Playing a left‑hander is always hard. Showed why he won the tournament last year. He can play really well on these courts. I'm really happy I turned the match around in the third set and won. Q. In that first set, what did you have to do to change it around? BERNARD TOMIC: I felt like the chances I was getting I wasn't taking. You know, I tried to attack, and when I started doing that I felt like I was hitting balls long. So I started, you know, hitting a little bit for topspin and really focusing on the shots and the opportunities that I get to take it with a lot confidence in my stokes. I think I had a few chances, and I really wasn't focusing. A few balls flew long, so when I got the chance after that second set early I was really focusing on the opportunities I got from him and the short balls. I was taking them. The third set was played really well from me. Q. You must have one eye on the Open. Do you feel like you're where you need to be? BERNARD TOMIC: Yeah, I'm confident now. It's really good to win a match like this. Physically‑wise I'm still pretty good. You know, I'm getting ready for tomorrow right now. The preparation's started already. This is a big chance for me to do well here. Hopefully I can keep going. Q. Did you hit balls again after the match tonight? BERNARD TOMIC: It's a bit late to go on the court after. I've got to get back and sleep. It's always hard when you finish these matches at night. It's a great privilege playing at night, but also it's very difficult to get to sleep after, you know, and you find that timing. Hopefully if I can sleep well tonight and recover and get ready to play one of the boys that play tonight. Q. If you had that time tonight, what would you have practiced? BERNARD TOMIC: I would have practiced my serve. I felt like I wasn't serving as good as the match against Florian. It was still reasonably high, 70%, but I think the matches before I was serving better and hitting more aces. Jarkko returned really well today. Full credit to him. But if I had time, I definitely would have hit a few more serves. I'll warm that up tomorrow in the warmup. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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