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MONTE-CARLO ROLEX MASTERSApril 19, 2014Novak DjokovicMONTE CARLO, MONACO R. FEDERER/N. Djokovic THE MODERATOR: Questions in English, please. Q. The first set you tried. The second set it seemed you couldn't do much more. What was going on for you? NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, just a match to forget for me. It's unfortunate that when you're playing at this level against Roger, big tournament, that you are not able to play your game because something else is, you know, taking away all your energy and effort. This injury that has been present for last 10 days, and I tried not to think or talk about it, I did everything I could really, I was on the medications every day, I was doing different therapies, injections, so forth. But in the end of the day, the end of the tournament, semifinals is a good result. But I'm disappointed that I could not play as well as I could have. If I was healthy enough... From the end of the first and the whole second, every shot was pain, especially with the serve. I couldn't do much more than this. I gave my best really. I'm not trying to take away anything from Roger's win. He deserves to be in the finals, no question about it. I'm just very disappointed I wasn't able to give better effort. Q. Knowing all the problems that players have had with their wrist, what is your idea now about what to do? Take a rest? Wait for a big event when you're really ready? NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, the good thing is I don't need to have a surgery. I don't have any rupture or something like that. I'm going to go see doctors tonight and then tomorrow again have another MRI, see if anything changed in this seven days since I had the last one. I just rest now. I cannot play tennis for some time. How long, I don't know. It's really not in my hands anymore. I'm going to rest and see when it can heal 100%, then I will be back on the court. Q. Did you consider pulling out at any stage during the match, worrying you would make it worse by continuing? NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I didn't want to pull out because then people start talking different things about me and my withdraws and so forth. That was the main reason. I just held my strength, whatever I had, and wanted to play till the end. Q. Did the pain kick in only today or was it there in the last couple days and you didn't want to let us know? NOVAK DJOKOVIC: The pain was there every single day from 10 days ago. At some stages it was very painful. Good thing, between the first and second match I had a day off so I didn't practice at all and I healed a little bit. Then again I started playing. Yesterday's conditions, long match, long rallies, heavy balls, definitely did not help the state of my arm. Since last night it was as it is now. Q. Trying to be precise, can we write or say it is a tendonitis or is it something else? NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I really don't know what's the diagnosis, to be honest. I heard so many things in last 10 days. Trust me, it's complicated. You can ask the official doctor. Q. This problem you have, is it the first time you have it in your career? NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yes. Q. Do you feel it's connected with the hard courts or some certain moment? NOVAK DJOKOVIC: No, this is the first time, to be honest. I think as a tennis player, you're likely to always have some kind of stiffness in your arm, whatever your stronger arm is. It's normal. We hit thousands of tennis balls every day. It's normal to feel sore a little bit here and there, but it goes away after a few days. You do a lot of stretching. You do a lot of recovers. I've done everything the same. It happened. Going to try to find out the causes. Q. You said before you don't want to withdraw and don't play this tournament. Do you think this is the strength of your character, of your personality? At the same time, it's your bad part? In the past, with the ankle, you play with the ankle because you have to play again and again and again. What about this part of your personality? NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Listen, I don't regret anything I've done in my life. I thought that at the certain moment it was the right thing to do. Last year I played with an injured ankle, but I won the tournament. This is the only time I won this tournament that is one of my favorites. There is also something positive in everything you do. I try to approach life like that. I am professional athlete. I fight. I compete. I don't like to withdraw from tournaments. I don't like to retire my matches. I like to play to the last point. When I shake the hands of the opponent when I lose the match, that's when the tournament is over for me. I will do anything in my power to play any tournament in the world where I am supposed to play ‑ especially here which is at home. I had two weeks between Miami and Monte‑Carlo. It's not like I was tired or I had some long trips or something like that. It just happened during the practice week. Sometimes it just happens. Sometimes it's not predictable. Q. About the injury itself. Do you remember how you first noticed it? Was it in training, during a match? NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, combination of things. It happened in two days. Obviously I practiced a lot. Maybe I started a bit too strong. The transition from hard court to clay, different balls, have probably taken its toll. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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