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U.S. OPENAugust 24, 2013Rafael NadalNEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Now that you have the trophy, are you ready to take the other one for the US Open? RAFAEL NADAL: I hope to be ready to win, to play well first round against tough opponent like Ryan Harrison. I'm really very happy to receive this trophy. That means I had a great summer, but that's all. Doesn't mean nothing else. I hope to be very competitive for the first match. Q. The great run you have had on hard court this year, what do you attribute it to? Novak in his press conference talked a little bit about you taking the ball little early, aggressive, better hard court player. Can you describe your mentality going into hard courts this year and what might be different? RAFAEL NADAL: I think you can play aggressive when you are playing well. That's the first and important thing. Is true I'm trying to take the ball a little bit early, that I worked on my game to be a little bit more aggressive. But at the same time, is true that in the past when I was playing well on this surface I had good success, too. So it's not something crazy that changed today that I had the chance to play well on hard, no? I won, and at the same time I can lost. Like a very tough match against Novak in Montreal, anyone can won the match. Then I have very tough one against Roger in Cincinnati. Anyone can win that match. It was lucky that I won both. And probably for that reason then I get confident, and I had the chance to keep playing well, keep winning matches against very tough opponents. So be here winning two previous Masters 1000 is something great. In the end, it's not great because I am confident for here. It's great because I won two very important tournaments for me. Here is a different event. I'm going to keep trying my best, and I hope to be ready for that. Q. A lot of people here in America talk about hard courts being tough on the body. Do you think hard courts are tough on your knees or on your feet or something else? RAFAEL NADAL: I am not a doctor (smiling). Q. Do they affect your knees much? RAFAEL NADAL: It would be great if some doctors create an opinion on that, but is something, is a conversation that we had hundreds of times in the past. You know, in the past sometimes I felt not free to talk a lot about these kind of things, because then seems that I was talking because I played much better on clay than on hard. Today I think I had good success on hard, too. I like the surface. I feel confident playing on hard. I like the hard court. But is true that is something that I am talking not for my generation, because that's not going to change, but for the future generations it would be better if they, ATP, can find a solution for that. Because the hard court's still a little bit, in my opinion, too aggressive to have a very long career. Q. What does it mean for you to be No. 1 at the end of the year? RAFAEL NADAL: We will see after here. This tournament, will make the difference. Is true that I am having a great season. I am in a positive position, but nothing decisive having a Grand Slam and 2000 points here. I am in this position because I played amazing, because I still have three very important zeros in my computer: Australian Open, Wimbledon, and Miami. That's a lot of zeros to be No. 1 (smiling). But I am trying. I gonna try. I said since I came back you like a lot to talk about the No. 1 and my goal was to be No. 1. I always say the same: Be No. 1 is not my goal. My goal is be healthy, have the chance to be competitive, and finish the year with good feeling and having the chances to play well. That's happening. At the end, you are No. 1 or you are not No. 1. I don't gonna go and fight for the No. 1. We'll see at the end of the season. If I am No. 1, it will be amazing, amazing season for me. If I am not No. 1, it still will be amazing season for me. This tournament gonna make a big difference. We will see what's happening here, and after here I will say not everything will be decided, but things can be more clear and completely less clear (smiling). Q. You won back in 2010 and you weren't a part of the US Open last year. Now you're back. What does the US Open mean to you? What do you think about the other newcomers that are coming up? RAFAEL NADAL: US Open is a great event. You know, have the US Open in one of the most important cities of the world like NewYork is great for our sport. Last year I watched this event on the TV. This year I have the chance to be here. That's great. All of that is fantastic for me. Now I have a chance to be ready, to compete with the right attitude, you know, try my best in every moment. I can lose, I can win, but only thing that is sure is I am practicing with the best I have, and I gonna compete with all I have. Then the result anything can happen, but when somebody tries his best, that's all that I can do. Q. If somebody said to you in February when you came back from injury that you'd arrive in NewYork with a 15‑0 record on hard court, how surprised would you have been? RAFAEL NADAL: I get tired to ask this question, because every time is the same. Seems like after all the things that happened to me, it seems like it's strange somebody can think strange that I will repeat the same. But I think nobody of my family, nobody of my team who is close to me seven months ago thought about come back like this. I feel very lucky. I feel very happy to be in this position. Just can say thank you very much everybody who keep having the confidence with me, the sponsors, people, team, family, fans, you know, all who makes possible this comeback. All of them have his part in this, probably one of the more emotional seasons in my career without any doubt. But at the end of the, we are in the US Open. We will have time to analyze my season. We will at the end of the season. The season is not over for me. It's been great, but it's no time to think about what happened. Is only time to think about what's going on. And today what's going on is probably the last ‑‑tomorrow will be last practice before the first match of the US Open. That's what is important today, try to be ready for the first round of the US Open. I have tough opponent in front of me like Ryan Harrison, and I am focused on that. The end of the season I will analyze my season. Q. Last night at the ATP heritage party everybody talked about how great it is to be No. 1. Are there also negative points about being No. 1? RAFAEL NADAL: Negative points? I don't see a negative point. When you are No. 1 is because you are winning tournaments, because you are playing great, because you are healthy, and at the end because you are enjoying what are you doing. Because without a good attitude, without health, you cannot be No. 1. Being No. 1 at the end of the season is for sure one of the most difficult things on this sport for so many facts, because the season is long. You have to be very regular. You can have great two weeks, great week win a very important tournament, but to be No. 1 you must have a lot of great weeks during the whole year. To be No. 1 at the end of the season is a special thing. Just a few people had the chance to do it. Being No. 1 is important, yes. Is very important. But for me what makes me happy is arrive to a tennis tournament and have the feeling that I am competitive against everybody and I have the chance to win and lose against everyone. That's what makes me happy. Then if you are No. 1 is an extra thing. Yesterday event was great. A little bit sad that some players, a lot of important players in the history of the sport was not there, but was great to be there in that you group with a lot of people that I admired a lot since I was a kid. Q. You mentioned watching last year's tournament on television, and I just want wondered if you might elaborate on that a little bit. Did you feel comfortable watching all the matches? Did you watch the entire final with Novak and Andy or was that hard to do? RAFAEL NADAL: No, it was not hard to do. When I was in that period of time outside of the tour I didn't follow the tour every week, because at the end I was focused on my recovery. I was focused on my things and to enjoy different things that I am not able to do it when I am healthy and when I am playing tennis. But a few matches you cannot miss, and final, for sure I watched all the final. It was a great final, but was not a strange feeling, because most of the times that I played Grand Slam I watched the final on TV, so at the end is nothing completely new. (Laughter). FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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