AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 13, 2014

Jordan Thompson

J. JANOWICZ/J. Thompson
1‑6, 4‑6, 6‑4, 6‑2, 6‑1

THE MODERATOR:  Questions, please.

Q.  How are you feeling after that?
JORDAN THOMPSON:  Yeah, pretty disappointed.  Leading two sets to love, you know, a couple of breakpoints, was a little bit unlucky on a couple of them.
He's got a pretty big serve.  That's how he serves his way out of trouble.  I guess he's done that a lot.  He's a top 20 player.

Q.  Do you see the positives in it?
JORDAN THOMPSON:  Probably not yet.  Still pretty disappointed.  Yeah, I'll probably look at the positives tomorrow.

Q.  First two sets, is that as well as you've played?
JORDAN THOMPSON:  Yeah, it's probably some of the best tennis I've played, yeah.  Been playing pretty good over the summer, winning the wild card playoff, played some good tennis there.
Played some good tennis in Sydney.  It was tough conditions.  Then at Kooyong, some of my best tennis.
I guess today, with the circumstances, things that were on the line, the first two sets were pretty good.

Q.  Looked like a pretty aggressive atmosphere out there.
JORDAN THOMPSON:  Yeah.  I mean, would have liked to have been a little bit more aggressive, maybe come to the net a bit more.  But he's aggressive from anywhere in the court.  He hits a big ball.  Hits it hard and flat.  It's a little bit tougher to be aggressive against those kind of guys, especially when he's 6'8" serving big.

Q.  He seemed to be taking it to you as well emotionally.  What did you make of that?
JORDAN THOMPSON:  Yeah, I didn't really pay too much attention to it.  Last couple weeks have been the best I behaved.  Pretty big stage.  Don't want to do too many things wrong out there.  People might not like me.

Q.  Do you look back and pinch yourself?  You were unranked at this time last year.
JORDAN THOMPSON:  Yeah, I mean, it's been a pretty good year.  Would have been great to have got a win today.  Would have boosted the ranking a lot more.
But, yeah, going from nothing to 300 is pretty big in one year, 19 years old.

Q.  Burnie and West Lakes next?
JORDAN THOMPSON:  Yeah, I'll play those, see how I go.  If I play the tennis I played in the first two sets today, be a good shot at going deep in the tournaments.  Hopefully I won't have to play too many futures this year.

Q.  Going to be hard going back to that level?
JORDAN THOMPSON:  Yeah, definitely, going to be a big drop going from a Grand Slam to a challenger in Burnie.  Going to be nothing like this.  Try and take every second in.

Q.  At 4‑5 in the third set, if you had to go back, what would you do differently?
JORDAN THOMPSON:  I didn't play a great game at 5‑4 down in the third.  The only thing I probably could have done on a couple of those breakpoints is mixed up my return position.
I don't know, I was pretty much standing in the same position on court.  Obviously has a huge serve, so it's hard to stand in.  I maybe could have shown him something different on one of those breakpoints.  Yeah, it's hard to say that now, but that's what I would have done.

Q.  You obviously have played some top 20 guys.  What have you learned about their physical and mental strength that's different than at the challenger level?
JORDAN THOMPSON:  Those guys that I played in the top 100, it's five guys in a row I've played.  They're pretty consistent.  Their level doesn't drop too much.  Maybe he didn't start off the best today, especially the first set, but, yeah, his level never dropped.
It's tough for me to keep the same level the whole time.  Pretty young.  I haven't had that much experience.  But I think I did it well for three sets.

Q.  How important was Kooyong for you and then to come here and play?
JORDAN THOMPSON:  Yeah, it's massive.  My name got thrown around all of Australia, maybe a couple of countries.  Couple of friends overseas messaging me on Facebook, saying, You're playing so well.  They must have seen my name.  It's pretty good to have my name thrown out there, especially for the future if some of those guys are looking for a hit.  Hopefully they might ask me to hit so I can get some good practice.

Q.  The next challenge, defending points, how are you going to prepare for that?
JORDAN THOMPSON:  Yeah, I've just got to keep training hard and play the way I've been playing.  Yeah, I've been playing top‑hundred tennis.  Haven't got that many points to defend at the start of the year.  Hopefully I can do well and gain a fair few points, so maybe I can play qualifying of the Grand Slams.
After that we'll look to see where I'll defend my points at the end of the year.  That's where I got my points from.

Q.  Must be an honor to play in a Grand Slam in your country?
JORDAN THOMPSON:  It's an unbelievable experience to play in Hisense Arena in front of an Australian crowd, my home country, yeah.  It's pretty fun out there until maybe the third, fourth, fifth set.

Q.  How does it work out there?
JORDAN THOMPSON:  It would have been nice to stop after those first two.  It's a Grand Slam.  That's why those top guys are so good, because they keep their level for five sets if needed.
But, yeah, those top guys are more used to playing five sets than I am.  But I think that's where the wild card playoff is good because they make you play five sets, you know, to make sure you're ready, make sure the winner's ready to play five sets.
But couldn't get it done today.

Q.  You could tell that you had control up until the third set, right?
JORDAN THOMPSON:  Yeah, I mean, he was getting a little bit angry, letting a couple of things get to him.  But inside he didn't let his level drop.  That's why he's a top player.

Q.  In that third set, did you feel his level picking up a bit?  Given your big week at Kooyong, did you feel yourself dropping off a little bit?
JORDAN THOMPSON:  Yeah, I mean, I felt in a couple service games in the third, got to 30‑All.  Always hit an ace at 30‑All, which after a while I started thinking that I'm going to have to do it every time to win a game.  I did it maybe four times in the point at 30‑All.  5‑4 down in the third I missed a slice, and he hit a great return on the baseline.  I didn't serve to the best positions on those two points.

Q.  Is the short angle one of your shots?
JORDAN THOMPSON:  I always had pretty good hands when I was younger.  Hopefully I don't lose it.  But I would have liked to have sliced a bit better today.  I missed a couple of slices, which I usually don't miss.
But, yeah, my hands are probably one of my big assets.  When I'm out wide, just naturally if I can hit a squash shot or slice on the rise‑‑ I think I hit one on deuce.  I don't even know how to describe that shot, but it was a winner from behind my back.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports