Ivo Karlovic Interview - Cincinnati, July 31

CINCINNATI, OHIO

I. KARLOVIC/R. Federer
7-6, 4-6, 7-6

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. How do you compare this victory to, let's say 2003 when you knocked out Hewitt in the first round, defending champion there?
IVO KARLOVIC: Well, I mean, then it was different. It was my first Grand Slam main draw and I was nobody in that tennis world, so it was a huge surprise to me and to everybody.
Now, today, against Roger, I mean, I already played against him six times and it was always close. It was always a close match, so I knew that I'm going to have a chance today.

Q. In the last six matches that you've played against him, you won exactly two sets. They were all close. What did you do differently today that you didn't do in the past that may have helped you pull through?
IVO KARLOVIC: Well, I think that I believed a little bit more that I can win, and I played really well in the tiebreaks. Really, really well.

Q. Did you believe in yourself more because of Federer's recent performance? Did you think you had a better chance because of the way he's playing?
IVO KARLOVIC: No, I believed in myself more.

Q. Why? How come? Why this time you felt like you believed in yourself more?
IVO KARLOVIC: Because in the first two rounds I played really well and I held my serve good. I just know if I stay in there I'm going to have a chance.

Q. Was it different playing him today because he's been struggling lately? Is it is different Federer out there from your perspective on the other side of the net?
IVO KARLOVIC: Well, I don't know. He didn't have a lot of unforced errors. He was playing well from the baseline, and I had almost no chance to break him.
So I think that he was playing on the same level as before.

Q. So he's still the No. 1 guy in the world as far as you could tell the way he played and kind of was out there?
IVO KARLOVIC: Yeah. I mean, on the rankings he's still No. 1, so yeah.

Q. Why did you challenge the last point, I think it was the last point, or close to the last. At the end of the last tiebreak you had a first serve that was close and you had four challenges at that point.
IVO KARLOVIC: Yeah, because it was obvious that it was out. It was close, but it was out.

Q. You felt sure it was out?
IVO KARLOVIC: Yeah, I was sure. It was out or no?

Q. You challenged it, so I don't know. I didn't see it on TV.
IVO KARLOVIC: I don't know if...

Q. What do you do next round to avoid a letdown coming off a win against Roger in your match against Kohlschreiber?
IVO KARLOVIC: Well, I mean, I'm just going to play my game. I'm going to try not to put a lot of pressure on myself and to enjoy the tennis.

Q. You had 21 aces today versus 6 for Federer. Did you see any weakness in his return game that you focused perhaps more on your serve than you did in previous matches?
IVO KARLOVIC: Not really, no.

Q. You played nine previous tiebreakers with Roger. He won eight of them. What was the difference today? Just a lot law of averages catching up, or something different?
IVO KARLOVIC: Well, I don't know. I mean, I knew that he cannot win always the tiebreaks, because it is some kind of also, I mean, lottery. So I was focused, and I served well and I won.

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