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WIMBLEDONJuly 7, 2013Novak DjokovicLONDON, ENGLAND A. MURRAY/N. Djokovic THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. It felt at times in that match that you couldn't get your game quite organized. Did you feel the same way? Did you also feel the semifinal took something out of you? NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yeah, it was a very long match for three sets. The bottom line is that he was a better player in decisive moments. Both second and third sets, I was 4‑2 up and dropped the serve in those games and just allowed him to come back for no reason. I mean, he was getting some incredible shots on the stretch and running down the dropshots. He was all over the court. He played fantastic tennis, no question about it. He deserved to win. Me, you know, I should have played better in the decisive moments, as I said. I haven't. I believe I could come back. I really fighted. It wasn't my day. Didn't play on the top of my abilities, and with this kind of game I didn't have a chance to win. Q. You hit quite a lot of dropshots in the match. What was the reasoning for that? NOVAK DJOKOVIC: He stands behind the baseline, and when he defends he goes far away. So I try to be aggressive and kind of use the whole court. But the volleys and dropshots didn't serve me well. You know, he was getting all of them basically. So, yeah. Q. The match statistics had 40 unforced errors against your name. That's very unusual for you. NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yeah, well, I wasn't patient enough in the moments when I should have been. Q. Can you appreciate the history that just went on here, and if you were in his shoes what this must mean to him and everybody in this area? NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, it must mean a lot to everybody. Wimbledon is the most important tennis tournament in the world. Especially for him as a British player and crowd, couldn't be a more perfect setting for them. So, you know, he deserved to win and that's it. Q. It's hard so close after the match. When you're getting out of a match where you haven't played your best tennis, what are the reasons you see why it happened today? NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, it's a very high level of tennis that we competed at today. I knew I had to be on top of my game in order to prevail in this match. He had a huge motivation to win his first title. I also had a lot of motivation. Yeah, it was a long opening six, seven games. It went almost 40 minutes. As I said, I wasn't patient enough in the moments when I should have been, when I should have looked for the better opportunity to attack, and my serve wasn't as good as it was the whole tournament. But also that is because he's such a good returner. Even though when I was putting my first serves in he was always getting them back in the court and making me play an extra shot. That's why he won this tournament. Q. Did the crowd affect you at all? What was it like playing in that atmosphere? NOVAK DJOKOVIC: The atmosphere was incredible for him. For me, not so much. But that's what I expected and that's how it was. Q. In hindsight, was the epic performance on Friday, did that take too much out of you physically? NOVAK DJOKOVIC: It took a lot out of me. I cannot look for excuses in the match two days ago. Yes, it went almost five hours, five sets. But, again, you know, I've been in these situations before. I felt okay. You know, maybe physically because I didn't feel maybe I had enough gas in the important moments I went for my shots more than usual. Okay, that's life. You have to move on. Q. How much of the going for dropshots and maybe the being more aggressive of the two just comes out of how similar your two games are? Did you feel more pressure than usual to mix it up? NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, you need to mix it up against him. We both defend really well. It's very important. He had his first serves when he needed and I didn't. That's maybe one of the shots that decided the match. Also the fact that I didn't realize my opportunities on the net. I lost a few crucial, crucial points on the net. You don't get many opportunities against him. Q. As someone who has known Andy for so many years, what are your observations as to his physical and mental development that have gotten him to this point with all the pressures involved? NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, he's gotten better evidently. He has won the US Open, gold medal, and now Wimbledon. That shows enough. I think there wasn't many, I think, changes concerning his physical or maybe tactical position, but it was mostly mental. I guess the understanding of what he needs to do to win big matches. I guess Lendl helped him with his own experience. They're a good team. Q. Talk a little bit more about that, his progression from all the frustration here, last year, the Olympics, US Open. Where do you think that mental side has given him the most strength? NOVAK DJOKOVIC: The wins. That's the only thing that can change, that can kind of upgrade and boost your confidence. Of course, you need that self‑belief in the important moments, and he's got it now. Q. What words did you exchange at the end with Andy? You understand just how much this means to him. NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yeah, I mean, I congratulated him. He was the better player. I said he deserved to win. That's all I said. Q. What will you take away from this day? NOVAK DJOKOVIC: It was the finals of Wimbledon, so I cannot be too disappointed with overall performance on the whole tournament. It was a great tournament for me. Could have done better today, but, you know, that's sport. You cannot win all the matches. I'm going to try to take some time off, because that's exactly what I need now. Q. It's been an incredible year for Andy Murray. Can he top this? If it's possible, do you think he will? NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Ask him that question, please. Q. How do you feel the game would have gone if you would have won that last game? NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I don't know. Q. Is this loss tougher to take than the US Open loss? NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Every time it's tough when you're losing in the finals. Hey, it's sport, as I said. It's the way it is. I'm disappointed obviously now because I just came out of the court, but I'll be okay tomorrow. Q. Are you the kind of player that analyzes what has gone wrong? Do you go back and look over games very closely to see what went wrong or what you could have done better? NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yeah, of course. It's my life. I try to always analyze especially the losses, because that's where you have done something wrong. You try to improve. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, I guess. I need to have that kind of mentality and move on. I'm still young, and hopefully I have more opportunities to win this title. Q. Looking ahead a little bit, the hard courts are coming up in the U.S.; three different slam winners. How do you see things shaking out the summer ahead? NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Just rest now. I really cannot think about that now, sorry. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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