|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
ROLAND GARROSMay 29, 2014Dominic ThiemPARIS, FRANCE R. NADAL/D. Thiem THE MODERATOR: Questions in English, please. Q. First big match on Chatrier. Can you speak about your feeling? How hard is it to play against Rafael Nadal? DOMINIC THIEM: It was a great feeling to play on this court. Yeah, I expected it, everything that came after. He lost one match here in ten years or something, so I knew that it's gonna be the biggest challenge in my tennis career. Q. You did not seem very intimidated, given all that and knowing all that about him. You seemed to go out and find your game right away? DOMINIC THIEM: I started okay, yes. In general, I didn't play bad. I played okay match. Of course, I tried to play my game all game long. Q. You said that maybe in two or three years' time is your time to play against like big players, but I was wondering which kind of outcome you can take from today. Because actually, you could find some ways to hurt him, as well. DOMINIC THIEM: I was learning a lot from today's match, for sure. It's really important to play against these guys a lot, against these top guys, because it's more important than every practice, I think. I hope I can take a lot with me from this match. Q. Don't you think you have to improve your position on court to try and play not so far, much closer to the baseline, to struggle less? DOMINIC THIEM: Of course. But it's not the only thing I have to improve. Especially against Nadal, who gives you a lot of pressure. It's not easy to come close to that baseline. I think Djokovic is the only player who does that against him. It was clear for me that I couldn't make it in my first match against him. Q. Did you get any advices from Ernests before the match? DOMINIC THIEM: Of course he gave me some advices, but I cannot play his style of game because he has unbelievable first serve. Even against Nadal he can, he has a lot of free points with the serve, and I'm a different player. So of course he gave me advices, but we are two different players. It's not really possible. Q. Nadal had some tough matches this year on clay. Do you think he's maybe a bit more vulnerable than in the past, or do you think he's just as strong as the player who won, you know, eight titles here? DOMINIC THIEM: He had some tough majors, but he won also a lot. I think everybody wants this crisis, which everybody says he has. I don't think he has. I think he played quite a good match, didn't make many mistakes. But I think there are only a few players who can hurt him in this tournament. Q. What were you most pleased about in your own game today? And what surprised you most about Rafa's game? DOMINIC THIEM: I played okay. I did a lot of rookie mistakes, but against a player like him, yeah, you always want to keep the points short. I didn't want it, but, yeah, it's tough. His game, yeah, it was pretty much what I expected. Q. Many players say that his ball just arrives differently because of his extreme spin and things like that. What was your ‑‑did you have any trouble handling that? Did you find it different from other players? DOMINIC THIEM: I think the conditions today, they took it away a little bit, the spin, because it was a little bit soft court. So the topspin wasn't that aggressive, but still it's tough to handle it. I really like my backhand down the line, but against him, it was a little bit more difficult to control. Q. What is the most difficult challenge against him? DOMINIC THIEM: He doesn't give you anything. I was serving 213, 215, even on the line, and he brings the returns back. I think he made two mistakes on second serve, so you have to play every rally. My serve is not enough pressure, so it was basically I played my service games, it was the same like he served, so of course this was a little bit difficult for me. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|