Novak Djokovic Interview
Friday, June 6, 2008
French Open
Q. You had him constantly under pressure on his serve in his last six service games. What adjustment did you make at that point in the second set to finally get on top of his serve?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: It was the third set that I managed to do something about his game and about today's match. The first two sets, especially the second set, was pretty bad for me. I wasn't finding any rhythm and making a lot of unforced errors.
He was using wisely. You know, he feels great on this court. He never lost there. I just, you know, decided to go for the shots and try everything or nothing, you know. I just couldn't do anything else.
I wasn't moving the way I moved in our last match in Hamburg, you know. I was making more mistakes than I should have. You know, he showed again that in the most important moments he's very strong mentally, and why he is the defending champion of the French Open.
Q. How would you describe the mental toll that playing him takes with so many long physical rallies?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yeah, well, especially here, you know. Not many people know that center court is quite slower than the other courts, especially Suzanne Lenglen and Court 1. They are pretty fast.
Center court suits to his game, and you basically ‑‑ sometimes it's really frustrating when you can't make a winner. My game is based on aggressivity. I try to go for the shots, and I either make mistakes or I make winners and try to put pressure on my opponent.
With him, it's really difficult on this court. Physically‑wise, I had enough time to rest and to prepare, but on the court I didn't feel ‑‑ I didn't feel well.
Probably there is pressure combined, you know, mentally and mental ‑‑ mental ability with the pressure. It's combined with the physical preparation and strength, so there was a lot of stress on the court. Obviously I didn't feel well.
Q. Set point goes by. Was it a sinking feeling when you saw that ball go by?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Unfortunately, yeah. I don't know how many people noticed today, but there was a lot of wind and tough conditions to play.
From the one side, whoever played from that side was really dominant, because he played with the wind. From the other side, I had that set point, and, you know, I returned that serve.
Unfortunately I ‑‑ he got me on wrong foot. But, you know, he played well. All credit to him.
Q. You're two sets to Love down; you're two breaks down. Everybody thinks the match is over. At that point you staged a remarkable comeback. Where did you find it within yourself to come back like that?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, the point from start of the second set till 3‑Love third set was so quick that I didn't, you know, I didn't even notice it. It's so much errors and he played really well. He used it.
So, you know, in the split of the second I'm two sets down and double break down, but I was still trying, you know. I didn't want to give up.
It's semifinals of the Grand Slam. Of course, there's a lot at stake on that match and everybody's watching it. I just ‑‑ I just don't like to give up, so I wasn't trying to give up.
And as you could see, I did everything I could. In this moment I wasn't performing the tennis that I usually can perform, and I think I can do better. But, you know, the better player won today.
Q. Do you think it's possible to beat him on this court here, best of five?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Everything is possible, you know. The way he plays now, it's really tough. Of course, he's a favorite in every match he plays against whoever he plays on this court. He never lost here.
Of course sometimes the people wonder, is it possible or not? But everything is possible. Nobody's unbeatable.
Q. I was going to ask an extension of that. If Roger does win this, do you think it's possible he's ready to beat Rafa on this surface?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, he wants it a lot, so he has a lot of motivation for French Open title. That's the only title he didn't win, so I think everything is possible.
Q. Do you have any advice for him, how to play or...
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I need to give advice to Roger? (laughter.)
I think no. He knows the best.
Q. Coming back to the match, 54% first serve. It's not enough, obviously.
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: No, this is one of the things that I wasn't really happy about today in my game. My serve was really bad, low percentage. Even when I got the first serves in they were pretty slow and no angles, so it wasn't really effective.
If you play against ‑‑ if you are intending to win against Rafa on this court, on his court, you have to serve well. This is what I didn't do today.
Q. As you were making your resurgence, do you feel you were reading his spins a lot better? Was that helpful?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, yeah. You know, I just need to play my game whenever I play him, you know. I need to be aggressive. He's best defensive player in the world, and he plays every point like it's a match point.
He produces a lot of spin, which makes my life a lot tougher on this surface. You know, especially when he opens up the court on the backhand side. He was playing smart, so, I was, you know, making unforced errors like I shouldn't.
Q. On to grass now?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yeah. Grass court season is always something that I look forward to. We all know that the grass is much slower than it used to be, so baseline players have much ‑‑ a lot of success in the past years.
I played semifinals at Wimbledon last year. I have no reason not to expect any big results, so I look forward to it.
Q. As you look back on this match, or will look back on this match and the tactics, you have enough groundstroke power to play two ways with him: You can play risky and go for your shots, or try to hit with him and wait a little bit longer. Did you wait too long in this match to play a little bit riskier tennis, start going for your shots?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Now if I think about it, of course, if I could change some things, I would change some things. But in that certain moment it is not easy, because there is a lot of other things, you know, mental stress and pressure that you need to cope with.
So if you're planning to play something and then you just ‑‑ it's not easy to get the right outcome, you know, at that point, because, you know, there's a lot of things involved. Yeah, you know, with him you need to be aggressive.
But in the other hand, you need to ‑‑ you know, you need to stay calm and just stay with him all the time mentally and in the game, as well. Try to be patient, but go for the shots.
Maybe I was supposed to go more to the net, which I didn't.
Q. You played a lot of Grand Slams, and you're also a Grand Slam champion. Can you imagine what it's like to come to a Grand Slam and have never lost? What kind of mental pressure does that take to be able to handle that?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: That's a question for him. I don't know. I still ‑‑ I still don't know how he feels.
Q. You look like a little bit depressed. How tough is this loss?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, how you want me to feel after a loss? You want me to laugh all the time?
I expected a lot from this match, of course. You know, I feel sorry that I lost. I'm not depressed, far away from that, you know.
I'm only 21 years old and I played so much, you know, semifinals of the Grand Slam tournaments, and won couple majors and a Grand Slam itself, so I have no reason to be depressed. I just look forward to the future.
