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DUBAI DUTY FREE TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPSFebruary 24, 2014Dmitry TursunovDUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES D. TURSUNOV/L. Lacko THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. How tough was it playing that match in such terrific heat? DMITRY TURSUNOV: Is it terrific heat? Q. Well, it's pretty hot. DMITRY TURSUNOV: You should have been in Melbourne this year. Q. I was. Still pretty hot. DMITRY TURSUNOV: I mean, I don't know. I have two shirts and dark colors. I don't know. I felt okay. But, yeah, I mean, I haven't really felt that it's that hot. I did go to sauna last week, but honestly, I didn't feel it that much. Q. It took you a while to break him down. Then you kind of took over, didn't you? DMITRY TURSUNOV: Yeah. I mean, I had quite a few opportunities, though. Just couldn't ‑‑ you know, I had a lot of Love‑30s or 15‑30. Then I was in the rally, so I had quite a few chances to go up two break points but was making a lot of errors. I don't think it was a beautiful match in terms of shot making, especially the first set. But to be honest, it's pretty tough to play with a combination of the balls are pretty hard to control and then the courts. They don't seem very fast, but there are few bounces here and there that just kind of skids off, so it's pretty hard to time it. To be honest, like when we go on practice courts, which are a little bit smaller in size, the fences are a little closer, it's fairly easy to play. And then when you come out in this air field, the depth perception ‑‑I mean, it's just so much bigger that it feels like it's hard to find the range. I think every player deals with that, so, you know, I can't say that I'm having more difficulties than somebody else. It's definitely something that you feel. And you walk 20 meters to another court and you're playing fine. Then you come out here and the ball is flying all over the place. It's a little bit difficult, but yeah, hopefully it's going to get better. Q. Are you happy with the way you played? DMITRY TURSUNOV: I mean, it's hard to complain when you win, but, you know, I think there is quite a few things that I could have done better. But, you know, given the circumstances, I would rather play bad and win than play great and lose. So, yeah, gives me another chance to play better than today. I'm going to be Mr.Positive today (smiling). Q. Second round you could face either Rosol or Brands. What do you make of those opponents? DMITRY TURSUNOV: Well, they both serve very big. Both actually hit pretty big, as well. You know, it will be interesting to see how they play in these conditions. I guess it's a little more difficult controlling the ball than, let's say, the last couple of weeks in Rotterdam. I felt like the balls are a bit different. Just each one has its own characteristics, you know, like these ones unfortunately are the ones that you can't control. So they fly a little bit more. So I think that with their type of game, it might be ‑‑it might be difficult, but if the ball goes in, then it goes in pretty fast and it's going to be pretty hard to get it back. It's going to be a tough match, for sure. I mean, it sounds cliché, but that's what it is. I don't think there is any easy rounds here. It's definitely going to be a lot of big serving and a lot of big hitting from both of them. Hopefully I'll be able to find a key to break them down. Q. I think both you and Daniel reached the quarterfinals last year. Does that prove that you, you know, you both have ‑‑ DMITRY TURSUNOV: Something to defend (smiling)? Q. Well, you both can play well in these conditions. DMITRY TURSUNOV: Yeah. I mean, I wish that last year's results guaranteed me this year the same result, but it never works that way. You know, I have played a couple of good matches here in the past and then last year. So, yeah, these are tough conditions, but if you can kind of get through the first couple of rounds or through one match, you know, at some point, you know, you just wake up three, four days after arriving here and all of a sudden you're finding your range and your groove. You know, it's unfortunate we can't come in here a week before and practice and then really just work on things. So some people come here like yesterday or last night, so for them it's going to be very difficult to adjust. So, yeah, last year I played well, but, you know, we'll see how it goes this year. Q. Are the courts' conditions very different from last year? DMITRY TURSUNOV: That, I wouldn't be able to tell. You know, you can sort of tell from the last week, but, you know, there are some players that are able to tell, like, Oh, last year the ball bounced a little bit more. I have no way of measuring or going ‑‑ you know, my memory is like a goldfish. I remember only last week (smiling). So I think it's a combination‑‑ it's desert, so the air is thin, especially in the daytime, and it's very difficult to control the ball. Nighttime it's completely different. You have to hit a lot more through the ball, because the ball is just not flying so much. So it changes quite a bit. If you play a night match, you know, it's completely different conditions. But I'm pretty sure it's the same court. They probably use the same material, resurface it at the same time, so I would imagine that nothing changed. Q. What do you like about being here? DMITRY TURSUNOV: Well, I like getting to the quarterfinals (smiling). I mean, it's really well organized, and it's‑‑ you know, obviously they take care of the players, you know. Some tournaments are struggling financially, so it makes sense why some can do a much better job versus some are struggling so they have to cut corners here and there. This is not a tournament that cuts corners. I always get that key chain Dubai Duty Free (smiling). I mean, it's well organized. It's nice. You know, the weather is pretty nice. It's never ‑‑ you know, it's never raining. Plus, you know, if you lose, you can kind of go sightseeing, which I haven't done yet. Hopefully I'm not going to lose. Yeah, it's a nice city, nice setup. Q. Is it too early to sort of think about the quarterfinals prospect with Federer? DMITRY TURSUNOV: Yeah, I mean, in my opinion, I try not to run too far ahead of myself. You know, maybe first‑time players or especially the press likes to do that, Oh, Federer/Djokovic semifinals. But I try not to speculate that far. You know, I have a tendency to go in and out, focus‑wise, so I try to fix that problem in my game and by doing, by focusing, you know, kind of doing micromanagement right now, I'm not thinking about, Okay, what am I going to be doing, you know, after I win Dubai, then I have to be seeded ‑‑you know, it's too far for me. Let's talk if I win the second round. Then we can talk about quarterfinals. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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