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ROLAND GARROSMay 26, 2014Rafael NadalPARIS, FRANCE R. NADAL/R. Ginepri THE MODERATOR: Questions in English, please. Q. How does it feel to get the first one over with, Rafa? RAFAEL NADAL: Good. I think I played after the first game that was not good, I played a solid first set. I start first six games of the second I didn't play well, and he had a terrible game with the 3‑All, a lot of mistakes. After that I think I started to play a little bit better again. So in the third I finished the match playing not that good, so it was a solid start, happy for that. Q. Difficult conditions sitting in the locker room wondering if it's going to rain or stop? How did you handle that? RAFAEL NADAL: Mentally it's a bit always these days tired ‑‑I really thought I would not play today during the day, so it makes the mentality doesn't stay at 100% all the time. And then the tension is there, and the motivation to play here always is very high. So you are ready. Q. I know we don't know who your next opponent is, but can you just talk about Mathieu or Dominic Thiem? RAFAEL NADAL: I know very well Mathieu. Anyway he's losing two sets to love, and Thiem I heard very, very good things about him. I didn't see him play, but I know he's a young player and he's a very dangerous opponent. Always the same: To win against anyone I need to play at a good level and I need to be ready for fight and for everything that I will need to do to win. And with that I can see I need to be aggressive and need to find a rhythm on the legs and play solid points, find real ways to win the points. That's it. Q. Last year the first couple of rounds for you were a bit tricky. Are you feeling kind of relieved or confident this time your first round was not like... RAFAEL NADAL: I don't know. Doesn't matter, no? In the end it's day by day not ‑‑it's difficult to compare years, difficult to compare opponents. Important thing is go on court, try your best every day, and try to improve a little bit in every practice day and every match day, and that's what they did a lot of times during this tournament. That's why I had that success, and I gonna try to do it this year. I think I started a little bit better than last year, but still last year I arrived with a lot of victories on my shoulders, this year with a little bit less. We'll see. Important thing is that I am in second round. I won the first one. I have two days for practice, to keep doing the right things and to arrive on the second round hopefully ready to play well. Q. This is not strictly related to Roland Garros, but how would you describe your relationship with your racquet? RAFAEL NADAL: With my racquet? Q. Yes. How do you feel with it? And what does it represent with you? RAFAEL NADAL: I know my racquet since a long time (smiling). No, that's the best thing that I can say about my racquet is for some reason I am playing with this one. It's because I feel the racquet give me what I need for my game and is long, long time ago that I am playing with Babolat, since the age of 10 or 11, I don't remember. Always Babolat did the best possible for me, trying to help me in what I really need. I think is great to be part of a great company of Babolat and a great company in the world of tennis. I have a great relationship with them, and that makes the things a little bit easier. Q. Some people were a bit surprised that you were scheduled on Suzanne Lenglen today. I was wondering if it made any difference to you. Were you expecting to play on Chatrier, or you didn't really care? RAFAEL NADAL: Doesn't really matter a lot. Always playing Roland Garros is a pleasure for me, is a really honor, and is a special feeling. So all the memories at this place give me are unforgettable. And doesn't matter if it's Chatrier or Lenglen or another court, be around here in Roland Garros always gonna be great. And I started in Lenglen this year, is a great court. I am not sure, but probably next one I gonna play in Chatrier. That's it. Q. You did come to the net a few times today like when I was watching match. Do you feel that consciously do you need to go more to the net specifically against tough opponents in the later rounds, maybe Almagro, Ferrer, and Djokovic perhaps? RAFAEL NADAL: My opponent is Thiem or Mathieu. It doesn't matter what's going on later. Important thing is get ready for the next round, no? If you go to the net, it's because you have the good position on court, because you are hitting the ball well and you have the advantage on the point. That's the only way to go to the net. So is not ‑‑if you go to the net you will, you know, the thing is you need to go to the net against tougher opponents. That's not the thing. The thing is if you go to the net it's because you are playing well. You need to go to the net, yes. But if you're not going to the net is because you are not playing enough well. Q. First round is past for you, first round past for Novak. Who do you think is favorite right now, you or Novak? RAFAEL NADAL: You care; I don't care. I don't have to write, no one plays. So write whatever you want, whatever you feel. Because for me, the only thing that matters to me is I won today. I'm happy that I'm in the second round and I gonna play on Thursday again against a tough opponent, and that's all. THE MODERATOR: Questions in Spanish, please. Q. Are you satisfied with the result today? Are you happy with the way you moved on the court? RAFAEL NADAL: Yes, absolutely. I mean, the result is not all that great, but I think I played well. Some balls I didn't play very well. I played well at the beginning of the match, then not so well. I won this round, but it was a bit difficult because of the weather, but it was very important for me, because it gave me the opportunity of having two days' break so that I can practice. That's always positive. So I'm happy. Of course I'm happy. When you win, you're always happy. Of course, as always, I had ups and downs, and I could have played being a bit more aggressive. First set I didn't play all that well, but then I started improving my game, and I think I managed to take initiatives quite a few times. In the beginning I didn't play that well, but my game improved. After I won the first break it became slightly more difficult, and it's also true that at that moment I couldn't serve all that well. But it doesn't really matter. At 3‑3 I played balls outside the court, but then I came back and everything became simpler. Q. Can you tell us the whole process in Madrid, in Rome? Your confidence came back. You're more competitive. Is it because you played quite a lot? RAFAEL NADAL: Well, Madrid is a Masters 1000, and I didn't play that much until the final. I lost no set. I think I never played any long match until the final, so this is a tournament during which I didn't spend that much time on the court. But after Madrid and mostly after the two first rounds in Rome, which were very difficult with very difficult conditions, with a lot of wind, very cold, I think I started being what I used to be in the past and playing the way I used to play in the past. My game was back, much better than during my first tournaments on clay. Had it been possible, had I been in a position to use my shots in Madrid or in Rome or in Barcelona, the process would have been far less complex for me. And maybe I would come here with slightly more confidence. But I think the beginning of the season on clay was positive. And with regards to my feelings here with regards to what other people tell me when they see me, watching, I think I'm fit, but you want to come to Paris having played well in the other tournaments. Q. Are you as nervous for the other tournament as you are here? RAFAEL NADAL: Different feelings, of course, but it's not a rule ‑‑I mean, it depends on the games and the match. For some matches, you know, that your opponents are tougher than others and of course you're more nervous when you walk on the court. When you feel you don't play well, you feel you'll be out very quickly, and you don't want that. You never want to lose in the first round of a Grand Slam. For me, the only difference between the first round and the other rounds is that when you come back after a series of good games, good matches, you're more confident, you know what you have to do in the next round, and you can capitalize on what you've done in the previous matches, so you feel more confident. But of course, nothing ‑‑everything can be a surprise. Many things can happen. And you always ‑‑you're always a bit more nervous in the first round. Q. You were telling us about your concerns in Monte‑Carlo. Has this disappeared? And can you tell us about the final of the Champions League? RAFAEL NADAL: Okay. Let's face the facts. In Monte‑Carlo the match was what it was. Everything went very fast. And to be very honest, I can't exactly remember how I felt three or four weeks ago. And then when you take a rest and you start practicing again, you get back to your routine, you forget about everything that happened. I don't think about Barcelona or Monte‑Carlo anymore. I'm just focused on my matches and today could only think about Ginepri. As for the Champions League final, it was very moving, lots of emotions, and in Madrid, everyone is very happy. I feel very sorry for the Athlético Madrid because they lost, and that was very cruel. They were leading during the entire match and losing at the last minute during extra time, that's very tough. But, you know, that's soccer. That's the game. You can't blame the players that played very well to achieve such a result. And for Madrid was a beautiful victory, winning European Cup after so many years. Four years in a row they were so close to winning. So of course we need to congratulate all the players, the coach, all those without whom this victory wouldn't have happened. So I'm so happy for all my friends I have in football. I'm very happy for Madrid, as well. Q. Coming back to Madrid, you said that Berdych was hitting his balls very high and that you had difficulties returning and you also complained about the sun, the lack of sun, about the cold. RAFAEL NADAL: Yeah, it's true. The sun, either you have too much of it or not enough of it. But when it's very hot and there is not much wind, the court is much faster. That helps me quite a lot. I'm not trying to find any excuses. That's tennis. We want to talk about tennis. We are here because we love tennis. And when the ball does not go as far as I want it to go, I'm the only one to blame. Maybe it's because at one stage I was not running fast enough or maybe I was not strong enough on my legs. Had I run faster, I would have had more time to position myself, to position my arm, and return better. Of course I have ups and downs, just like any player, and we all have in this sport. But I also managed to play very good games in Rome. The matches were very difficult, but the conditions were nightmarish, really. It was very difficult to play in these conditions. But after that, I think I played very well when I played Murray. There was less wind. The weather was slightly warmer. Against Dimitrov it was at night with wind. Not as cold as during my match against Simon, but I managed to return deeper. I was calmer. I could position myself much better on the court. And when the ball arrived, I could return it not taking too many risks. I did that and I felt I could not attack, I managed to play safely and create some difficulties for my opponent. It's always very difficult to win against him, but I think I played well. Today it's true that the court was very heavy. The balls were very heavy, very wet. I had a question, why don't they dry the court before we start playing? The court is soaked with water. Why don't they do anything? Well, anyway, there are moments when I played better today. Others when my let game was not all that good, when I couldn't run as much as I should have. But that's the way it is. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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