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ROLAND GARROSMay 26, 2014Robby GinepriPARIS, FRANCE R. NADAL/R. Ginepri THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. What did you think when you saw your draw after doing so well and getting a wildcard and seeing you got Nadal first round? ROBBY GINEPRI: Bit of a downer. Midway through practice, practicing with Jack Sock, they were all on the changeover and they were like, The draw is out. Do you want to know who you play? I said, Sure. They said, Nadal. I don't think I made another ball the rest of that practice. So tough pill to swallow for sure. Always wanted to play him on clay and see how good he is. He showed me a lesson today. A lot of positives to take away. It was fun out there today, even though the scoreline didn't really reflect it. Thought the match was a little tighter than it showed, so... Q. Does he look to you like a guy in a slump? ROBBY GINEPRI: No. I don't think a No. 1 player in the world can ever be in a slump, especially on his home court. I think it's probably one the toughest feats in sports to play Nadal at the French Open. To beat that guy in five sets takes a lot. Q. Does his ball come off the court differently than other guys? Is he hitting the ball in a way you haven't seen before? ROBBY GINEPRI: I was a little nervous about that because I haven't seen a big ball like that in a long time. Obviously coming from Tallahassee challenger no one is hitting like that. I wasn't able get on the ball like I wanted to. In the beginning it was super heavy out there and it got really thick and slow. Balls got pretty heavy, so I knew that was a big advantage for him. Obviously I wasn't able to dictate the way I‑‑ normally do and stay in the court. He makes you play a different style, the way he wants to play and construct his points. I had to adapt a little bit. I was in a lot of the first set games; I just wasn't able to get on the board in the first set. Relaxed a little in the second and showed I could hang with him a little bit. But you throw in a double fault here or unforced error there, he's going to make you pay. He doesn't go away one point. Takes a lot to keep that intensity, and I just hadn't been able to have that type of the match in a long time. Q. Pretty deep into the third set you were playing a scramble point and doing pretty well up at the net; you guessed right and hit a flick dropshot. Certain winner. Then he returns it to score his winner. What goes through your head when you go through exchanges like that? ROBBY GINEPRI: Just another point, honestly. Just trying to make a point on every ball, anticipate, and I was slipping a little bit out there. Just trying to give the crowd what they want. Just entertainment. Any time you can get in long rallies with him, you know, you don't really want to get on the defense or he's going to run you side to side. I wasn't able to stay on the aggression side. You know, could have used my forehand a little bit more today. Maybe backed up, looped the ball a little bit more. But I came out with a certain game plan, I just wasn't able to execute it the way I wanted to. Q. Basic locker room question. Didn't have a chance to see whether you've played Federer or not, but if you had Federer and Nadal, say, in a slow or medium hard court, best of all‑time, which way do you go? What can you say? ROBBY GINEPRI: I mean, that's a tossup really. It's all matchup styles. Preference, I would prefer to play someone like Roger over Rafa just because my game matches up a little bit better maybe against Fed. At the same time, I don't think you can go wrong with that. Q. Isner said you got up early the other day to practice on Chatrier. I guess you were not the only one surprised by the court placement. ROBBY GINEPRI: Yeah, I was pretty much certain that we were going to play on Philippe. Threw us a curve ball. Guess I shouldn't have got up. Could have slept in and rested up. Every day is a different day. I adapted; he adapted; it's not a big deal. I'm sure he'll play the rest of the tournament on the main one. Q. You were in the second set. You had that one terrible game with four huge errors, I believe. Was that just a lapse of concentration? Too much focus? You need a break? What? ROBBY GINEPRI: No, I mean, two forehands I overcooked. One I just kind of didn't get out of the way. I kind of just forced my hand. I didn't hit over the ball. The other one just flew on me in the last game, I think maybe having some break points the previous game. But it happens. I was aggressive on them. It's not like I pushed the ball and gave him easy balls to make, so... Q. You've played a lot of these tournaments and you've also been playing in some lower‑tiered tournaments. Is it hard to make that transition? ROBBY GINEPRI: It's easy to come to a challenger and then to play a Grand Slam now. The tough part is going to be to go to Nottingham challenger and to play quallies tournaments of other tour events. So that's the real mental challenge of the sport. But this is what you play for. This is why we practice and why we get out of bed every day, so... Q. What's the plan the next few weeks? ROBBY GINEPRI: Tough to say. I was hoping to stay over here, but depending if my ranking can get me into quallies of Wimbledon. I am around 275. I know their cut is 250, 260. You know, it's a gamble. I'll chance it to probably stay over here. If not, go back and train and get ready for the hard courts. I love this time of the year. Good three‑, four‑week training block will never hurt. Q. Obviously it's tough times for our tennis. What are your thoughts on what we can do to sort of kick it up and try and get to a higher level? ROBBY GINEPRI: I don't think there is any secret formula that's out there. You know, the more Americans we have the more options we have. I think that's where we're lacking. A lot of other countries have a little bit more deeper selection of the crop. You know, I always said that like the way Argentina trains and Spain and even over here in Paris, you know, there are about 10, 15 guys in all one hub that train each other. In America we're so spread out, Florida, California, Texas. You know, makes it a lot easier when you're seeing four or five different styles every single day that you can matchup. The camaraderie, they get together and push each other, I think that's what American tennis is lacking. Q. Last guy to reach the fourth round here. Do you think that can be done this year? ROBBY GINEPRI: Anything is possible. Honestly, I haven't looked at the draw. I don't know who is matching up with who. Hopefully it can be done. Q. You talked about beating Rafa on clay as one of the toughest things in sports.  Can you think of anything else that's as tough? ROBBY GINEPRI: Well, here at the French I think is the toughest. Obviously he showed he can be beat the last several weeks. But, I mean, this is definitely one of thetougher things I've had to do in the sport, for sure. I was looking forward to the challenge today. He's had so much success here and in tennis in general, so it was a good opportunity for me to come out here and see what I had left in the tank and see actually how good he was. I've been wanting to play him on clay. Just so happens to be on his favorite tournament, so... FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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