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ROLAND GARROSJune 1, 2014Fernando VerdascoPARIS, FRANCE F. VERDASCO/R. Gasquet THE MODERATOR: Questions in English, please. Q. Can you talk about how you handled the break overnight and were you worried that the momentum would change? How did you handle that? FERNANDO VERDASCO: The best way as possible (smiling). But, yeah, is never easy, no, when they stop a match when you are two sets to love up and you are starting the third, no? Because you know that you need to be 100% since the first point or everything can change very quickly. Even more when you are playing against a player from the place like Richard here in France, no? So I knew that as soon as he got a little bit of the fans or crowd and the people would be supporting him would be helping him to get advantage in the game. So that was my goal, no, is start 200% like last game yesterday, knowing that it was the last game when they told us, same today. And try to at least get the score for few games and then try to break him as soon as I can, of course, no? To at least release the pressure and play better. So I think the match today went perfectly like I expected, and, like, I wanted to be. I'm very happy. Now will try to recover for tomorrow's match. Q. Yesterday the coach of Gasquet told me Fernando is playing his best tennis like in Australia, your semifinal. Is it your feeling? FERNANDO VERDASCO: Well, I really played very good this match yesterday and today. Best tennis like Australia? I don't know. I mean, I think there, because it was also hard court, the conditions, the tactics, the way of play might change a little bit because of the surface. But, yeah, I think I played a pretty good match. Right now I just, my goal and my focus is all 100% to try to keep playing the same way as I did this match with Richard. Q. Andy is still stuck in his match. It's not over. But can you just talk about the last time you played him was Wimbledon and you were two sets up. Can you talk about just how you're going to approach the next match if you do play him? Will you be thinking about that Wimbledon match at all? FERNANDO VERDASCO: Well, I don't know what I will be thinking right now. But, well, as soon as I came to the press conference they were 10‑10, and they are both playing well. I don't know which one is gonna win. Both are good players. With both it's gonna be a difficult match. I mean, I just said before, my goal right now is to try to keep playing the same way as I did today and yesterday no matter with who I play. And, you know, I cannot really say anything else. Just try to be focused on myself, try to play my best, try to keep the same mentality, as the same way moving, the same way hitting the ball. If the other guy is better than me, whoever is in front, then well done for him. THE MODERATOR: Questions in Spanish, please. Q. It was easier than what you expected. You had good feelings, I guess. Did you sleep well? Were you worried or did you feel comfortable on the court? FERNANDO VERDASCO: I felt good yesterday, and I felt good today, as well. I felt good on the court yesterday. Then we debriefed a bit. We talked about the first two sets, and we talked about how I played. Then I tried to have the same game level. I tried to have the same attitude. I tried to have the same let game. I felt good yesterday, and I wanted to maintain the same level today, which is what I managed to do. There were a few tricky games, and there were difficult points to play, but I pulled through. I'm very happy about it. I'm very happy with the way I won this match. Generally speaking, I clearly did not expect to win with such a comfortable score 6‑3, 6‑2, 6‑3 against Gasquet. I would have never imagined that. But yesterday I gave 100%, and everything went fine. Q. Why did you change so much between the time you played Cuevas and the moment you played Gasquet? FERNANDO VERDASCO: Against Cuevas I started playing well. Then there was this moment when I could not return the ball in the court. It was quite impressive, actually. But I managed to refocus and to win the match. Then against Gasquet, things were totally different, mentally speaking and also physically speaking. I felt much better, much more stable, much more regular from the first game to the last. There are always a few points you play better than others, but the key was the fact that I was very regular. Otherwise I would have never won a match against Gasquet on the Chatrier court in Paris when he played at home. Q. Would you say Gasquet played below his level because he was injured? And second, what do you think about the fact there are five Spanish guys playing the quarterfinals this year? FERNANDO VERDASCO: Well, as for Gasquet, I can't answer this question. You need to ask him the question. Gasquet is a very talented player. He can play very well. And in fact, I think he was feeling uncomfortable. I can't tell if he was 100% present physically speaking. He knows about his physical condition. I don't. But in any case, he played very well yesterday. His backhand was very solid. His cross shots were wonderful. Looking at the shots he played yesterday, you would have never believed he was out of the court. But he's very talented. Now for the question about the five Spaniards in quarterfinals, I'm delighted, and I hope there is a larger number of Spanish players who can go far in the tournament. As a Spanish player I'm delighted there are so many Spanish players in the quarterfinals. Q. You're gonna play Murray. FERNANDO VERDASCO: Oh, he won, did he? Q. Yes, 12‑10. So can you tell us, what do you think about him? He played more tournaments here than you did. He won Grand Slams already. FERNANDO VERDASCO: Well, playing Murray is never easy. He has wonderful tennis, and he won Grand Slams already, so I think he deserves all my respect. It's not going to be an easy match. Then after Murray there is Monfils, Garcia‑Lopez. When you say that the draw is quite open, this is not really true. Monfils is a very tough player. So in order to win this tournament, you need to keep all this in mind. Monfils, excellent. Garcia‑Lopez, excellent. Murray, excellent. So it's not an open tournament. Not at all. My objective right now is to rest and prepare the best I can to play this match against Murray. This is going to be a very tough match again. I will try and give my all. I have nothing to lose. He is a favorite because of his ranking. So I will try and play my best tennis, and I hope I'll be as regular as I was yesterday or today. Q. Have you heard about the fact that Nadal has had problems with his back and his service slightly slower? Do you reckon he can still continue to play at his best level? FERNANDO VERDASCO: Even with this, he can play any player at this level. Q. You had this Wimbledon match against Murray more than a year ago. Was there anything you could have done a year ago to win? Did you learn something that you will use tomorrow? FERNANDO VERDASCO: Every match is different. You can't compare a match in Wimbledon when he was playing home on grass with a match here in Paris. And it doesn't mean I'm going to win. Maybe he's gonna win in three sets. All I'm saying is it's a totally different match. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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