Mesh Tennis

Q. Can you tell us your evaluation of how the match went today?
SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA: Well, I think she played incredibly well in the first set. Every important ball she hit winner on the line. It was line on the line, on the line.
Like I had some opportunities. I had one break point then and she played well. She served very good serves in.
I mean, I was not serving great, but she did me one break and I was too close to the break. She had outstanding first set. It’s no words. She played better.
But for second set, I felt like more pressure because I had to go for it a little bit more, and she broke me twice. She was serving so much better. For her it was so much easier to win games on her serve than I did on mine.
But I think I’ve been just not so great, I should be playing good against her. I played a little bit too much to her forehand.

Q. This is your third final this year. Did you approach this any different than the other finals?
SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA: I mean, every final you come another player also plays. I had different and better chances, like against Justine. Still it was amazing final. She just played better in the end, but it is great match.
Against Jelena I had chances. I use my opportunities. But today, I didn’t have that many chances. She just played better, I think.

Q. Was that painful for you, Svetlana?
SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA: Yeah, definitely. It’s always painful to lose, but I prefer to get to the final losing than to lose in second round. I still played pretty good tournament, though.

Q. Do you think you’re a different player in these finals than you are in the earlier rounds?
SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA: It’s not that it’s finals, it’s just she played better than me. That’s it. It’s not about how many finals I win or loss. She played better. It’s different.

Q. Do you think she can beat Justine any time soon?
SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA: It’s different. We have so different game, me and Justine, just players play so much in the court and different with Ana. She has chance, definitely.

Q. Can you talk about the fans? I guess a couple of times they were making some noise.
SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA: I don’t make any comments, okay? I’m not even thinking about going to that level.

Q. People are always asking you, it seems, about how you play in the finals. Does that seem a bit strange to you since you won seven tournaments last year?
SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA: I won nine, no?

Q. Was it nine?
SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA: That’s different. At least two more finals I won, you know, I didn’t lose.
Well, no, I know you guys, you have to have something to write about. Normally you don’t write - sorry to say that - normally you don’t write about positive things. You try to find something interesting for people.
I guess trying to find something about me losing finals, but that’s okay. I’m not going to go down on myself, you know. She played better. I have to improve some movements. That’s it. I’m just going to face next tournament better I can, and try to get to the final.
When I get to the final, I’m going to face it again. I’m going to do my best out there and let’s see if I can make it. I’m not going to get down on myself. But you can ask whatever you want, guys.

Q. So what do you have to improve?
SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA: Today’s match I had to be aggressive and play more backhand and serve a little bit better. But Ana, she play outstanding set. You cannot her playing better the first set.
And second set I didn’t move well. I felt a little bit more pressure. I was going too much and not moving well, so it’s hard to win like that.

Q. Looked like you almost turned it around because you break back and then hold. Seemed like everyone was thinking maybe you were back in the match. Momentum seemed to go back and you went back quickly.
SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA: There, I lost it, made a little mistake. I gave it a little bit to her, because I felt like I had pressure on me all the time. She wasn’t giving me any free points and she was attacking. It was, like, you feel like it’s her day, like it’s goes everything her way.
I was trying to stay calm and play every ball. Doesn’t matter what, many things been disturbing me. But still, I was trying to be there and play every point, and she just played better today, you know.
I would like to see her play when it’s not her day, you know. To figure out some different ways to win. That’s how I did today. I couldn’t find a way, but it wasn’t my great day of playing, either.

Q. Is there a particular point when you get a sense, this is starting to get away, when the pressure starts to build?
SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA: Well, you know, in the first set it was like quick moment 1, 2, you know? First games I was like holding my serve but tough, and she was holding so easy. Then I had opportunities to have Love-30. One game I didn’t play so good. And then advantage on her serve, and she played so unbelievable, like she served so well.
First of all, I have to read better her serve. Then in second set, where she broke me second time, it was pretty bad, though.

Q. Svetlana, Radwanska, who you beat in the quarterfinals, told me it was very different Svetlana this tournament than at Australian Open when she beat you. That means you progress. Do you think you can do better in Miami?
SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA: I can do better definitely. There is always room to improve, for sure. I was so different than when I played her in Australian Open. I lost little bit myself there during the tournament.

I don’t normally spend too much time getting things signed by tennis players, but I couldn’t pass up a few opportunities this year. Click on each image for a larger version.

Maria Sharapova:

IMG_0775
Originally uploaded by -robynw-

Rafael Nadal:

IMG_0777
Originally uploaded by -robynw-

Lindsay Davenport:

IMG_0778
Originally uploaded by -robynw-

_MG_6224
Originally uploaded by -robynw-

Q. Well played.
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Thank you.

Q. Did you think that was going to be that easy, and how well did you think you played?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I played really well. I — think tactically-wise I played really smart. And I knew that I had to be aggressive and take the control, take over the control of the match, try to go for the shots, which I did.
A bit too much in the start of the match, but the important — I think the turning point was that break on 4-3, first set. I had a bit of luck.
Anyhow, looking in the general stats of the match, I was really playing well and serving well. That is the base. It was really important.

Q. Where does this huge confidence that you have this year coming from? I think this is the biggest difference in your game in the last couple months.
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, you know, if you win more and more matches you get more confident. I think that’s obvious fact. But I’m trying to remain focused on results and tennis, because I already achieved a lot with only 20 years of age, and I know that people already see me as one of the best players in the world.
But I need to stay calm and just go step by step and try to get to my lifetime goal which is to be No. 1. It’s getting closer, but still, I don’t want to go too fast and skip some things. I really need to be consistent with my results in the most important events, major events. I started the year in the best possible way, but still, it’s not over yet. I need to play finals.

Q. How much better do you think you’ve gotten this year so far?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, I matured a lot mentally, I think, in the first place. I knew that mental ability and strength comes with time and with experience, of course.
I had a lot of the matches. I think I played most of the matches last year on the ATP Tour, which gave me a lot of boost, I think, and a lot of confidence. So I had some really important wins last year, which proved and made me believe that I can be one of the best players in the world and I have enough quality for that.

Q. This is a maybe/if question: Have you played Mardy Fish before, and how have you done?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: US Open 2006.

Q. You beat him?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yes. It was a really tough match.

Q. Is that the only time?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yes. No, actually we played in Hopman Cup this year. Again, it was 7-6 in the third set, I think.
He’s a really difficult opponent to play against. I think the match is still not over, but he’s in the lead, obviously playing on top of his shape in this tournament, has nothing to lose. He won against some great players throughout all tournament, obviously has nothing to lose today.
If he wins, he’s not going to have anything to lose even tomorrow. No expectations for him. He’s just going to go for his shots probably and be aggressive. He’s a big server. It takes time. If I play him, I need to be patient and wait for my chances.

Q. It’s 5-1 in the second. Does that surprise you?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: It does a little bit. You know, I think his style of the game suits to Roger, but obviously Roger is not playing well today for whatever reason.
But, of course, you can’t play always well. I think for Roger it is not so good that he didn’t play quarterfinals and he didn’t have a tough match. You know, Fish is ready for it. He’s obviously deserving it. You know, he plays better.

Q. Let’s say Fish does close it out. Would you feel a bit more confident playing Mardy Fish than — not saying you wouldn’t feel confident playing Roger, but more confident play Fish than playing Roger?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, probably if you play No. 1 player of the world in the finals, in the finals of any tournament, I think it’s much tougher than to play against somebody who has not been in so many finals of the major events.
But again, looking at his results and the players he won against this tournament, it’s not going to be easy, for sure. You know, winning against best player in the world, 6-3, 5-1, it’s just fantastic result.
As I said, he’s going to go for his shots. He has a big serve which he can rely on and he improved a lot from the baseline.

Q. Three different Serbians in three different finals this year in Indian Wells.
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Again, Serbian Open, probably. It’s becoming a bit boring to see so many Serbians. I think it’s just unexplainable and fantastic to see so many Serbs in the top of the men’s and women’s worlds in both singles and doubles.
We are all doing so great. It’s just fantastic to see, as well, how much people in our country appreciate what we do and respect our results and, you know, we can’t ask for better.

Q. It’s only the been a year. Are you saying you’re bored of the Serbian success?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: No. I’m just saying every single tournament the last couple months there’s always some Serbian in the finals. For our country, it means a lot.

_MG_6304
Originally uploaded by -robynw-

Q. You seemed to have trouble finding your game most the day, and you appeared to have an injury. Give us an overview of what happened.
RAFAEL NADAL: No, sir, no. No injury. I didn’t feel very well playing tennis. I had more mistakes than usually. Well, I feel a little bit tired from last two matches. That’s sure. Because, well, in the runs I feel a little bit more slowly than days before.
Well, if you play against one player like Novak you have to play 100% if I want to have chances to win.

Q. Can you compare him from this time last year when you beat him in the finals?
RAFAEL NADAL: No. I can’t compare Novack with last year. I play more times after the last year final from here, so we can’t compare with other matches. I play like four or five matches. And, well, this one is the one who — one he beat easier to me, I think is the one I play worst. That’s sure. Well, the true is he play better than me, and for that reason he beat me. Difficult to say more things.

Q. Do you know why you didn’t play your best today? Were you not feeling so good getting on the court, or did you know beforehand that you were not maybe 100% in your tennis?
RAFAEL NADAL: No. I have very tough matches in the rounds before, very tight matches. You have to be 100%, so he play, for sure, less hours than me on court, easier matches, and he play better than me, so cannot do a thing. That’s it.

Q. Did you still feel that you can take confidence from the matches you won this week?
RAFAEL NADAL: For me it’s a very positive tournament, no? Play semifinal in the first Masters Series of the season in hard court, beating two big players against Blake and Tsonga.
Today unfortunately I didn’t play my best, and day was easier than I would like. But tennis is like this. The positive thing is I’m in semifinals, no? I have to think in positive and try to go to Miami with my best chances. I going to try my best for play a very good tournament there, no?

Q. Which tournament suits you better, this one or Miami, because of the conditions? Where do you feel more comfortable?
RAFAEL NADAL: For me here is very good conditions, no? Semifinals, Champions semifinals. I think in no other tournament in hard court I have this results, so maybe this one is very good conditions for me.
Miami I have final after one quarterfinals, third round, and fourth round, something like this. Not bad, too.

Q. What did you take the medical timeout for? What was happening with your foot?
RAFAEL NADAL: Yeah, I was — I don’t know exactly, no? But very tough in English for me. I improve but not a lot.
MODERATOR: Just next to the nail, next to the toenail. It was just, you know, bothering me. It was hitting — every time I was pushing near the toenail.
RAFAEL NADAL: I’m not saying that this affect something in the match. It’s not an excuse.

Q. Even though you were tired and he was playing well, you did have some chances.
RAFAEL NADAL: Yeah. I had the break in the first set. Well, he break me in the next game so it’s too soon. If I won that game 3-1, I can get more confidence because he had start the match having some mistakes, too.
It was tough, the break back after my break, no? So, well, after this I feel he (in Spanish).
THE MODERATOR: With very little he was hurting me much more than I was doing to him.
RAFAEL NADAL: And I think that this thing happened because I was a little bit slow, slower than the day before, no? So I can’t go to the ball and continuing running 100%.
So he play very inside the court. He always beat me the position inside the court easier than I can do against him. With his backhand, cross backhand, it is bothering me a lot.

Q. It seems like with Djokovic now as opposed to last year - I think you played him seven times in the last year - it’s hard to hit through him to find places to exploit him.
RAFAEL NADAL: He’s a very complete player, no? Very good serve, very good backhand, very good forehand. He’s moving fast and moving well. He has very good position on court.
He has the position — feel the position inside the court very easy, and that’s very difficult when you’re playing with these fast balls. He can do it, so that’s exceptional quality.
So, well, the only way for beat him is the way when I play against him in Shanghai: Very aggressive. All the time playing the ball with — touching the ball with big powerful backhand, forehand, and try to play very good.

Q. On a hard surface, how would you compare a guy like Novak to someone like Roger in terms of being difficult to play against?
RAFAEL NADAL: I don’t know, no? I don’t like to compare the players, no? Everyone have his style, so that’s it.

Q. Did you feel you were moving slower than usual right from the very start of the match or a few games into the first set?
RAFAEL NADAL: I feel slower from the beginning, I think, no? Well, I am coming more tired during the match, no? I think I start the match —
BENITO PEREZ: Spark.
RAFAEL NADAL: I don’t know in English. Sorry.

Q. How good do you think Novak is playing right now? He’s had such good result this year. Do you think he’s maybe even better than Roger right now the way he’s playing?
RAFAEL NADAL: Another comparation (sic).

Q. Really more his level.
RAFAEL NADAL: Right now he’s No. 1 on the race, and he going to continuing be No. 1 because he has a very good result here, no?
I think he’s not better than Roger, but in the first part of the season he play better than no one, so going to have big chances for be No. 1 this year for sure. Why not?

Q. What do you do now? Do you rest a little bit? Take some time off? Disengage everything? Or do you go back out there and work hard?
RAFAEL NADAL: Well, I have a lot of hours this week on court. I have to rest one day, that’s sure.
Tomorrow I going to have day off, and I think fly tomorrow night to Miami. I going to practice in Miami late Monday, late in the afternoon.

Q. Will you do anything on your day off? Play golf or anything, or just sit around the room?
RAFAEL NADAL: Yeah, sleep a little bit and well, love to play golf, yes. That’s it. Maybe watch a little bit the final tomorrow. I don’t know. Depends.

Q. Nothing special, Rafa, for Easter? You know it’s Easter Sunday.
RAFAEL NADAL: Nothing special, no? I would love to go to Los Angeles for watch the Lakers, but Gasol is injury, so I am thinking. I don’t know yet.

Q. Congratulation, Mardy. Could you have played much better today?
MARDY FISH: Yeah, just, I don’t know. I got a text message from somebody close to me that just said, 3 and 1 would have been better, but 3 and 2 works. Obviously he was joking.
You know, this wasn’t obviously Roger’s best day, but hopefully I had a little something to do with that. You know, I put the pressure extremely, from the word go, you know, on him, and you know, I wanted to start out — sometimes in big situations or against guys who return real well - and I consider him the best returner in the world - that I’ll tend to receive — I want to toss, tend to receive, and just to kind of get my feet under me.
I said, What the hell. Let’s go for it and let’s start it off and try and jump start him as best I can. Obviously it was a dream start to go up 3-Love and have a couple break points there at 3-0. He had a break point against my second serve game when I was 2-0. That was a huge game to get through that.

Q. How does this compare to hitting ball out at Shea?
MARDY FISH: That was pretty cool. I’m a huge sports fan, period. Shea Stadium is a pretty cool place, but it doesn’t compare too much. I would trade that home run for another win against anyone, really.

Q. When you’re rolling like that, Mardy, and you know what that guy is capable of, is there part of you that’s saying, I’ve got to brace myself, because this isn’t going to be it yet?
MARDY FISH: Yeah, I won the first set, and obviously I wasn’t thinking this, because if I was thinking this I probably wouldn’t have won, but I was thinking, okay, I won the first set, but now he’s going to kill me, right?
Now he’s going to be me at 0 and 0. I put the pressure on him, and it’s the only way I can really describe it. I mean, it was pretty — it was pretty quick and it felt, you know, felt like it went by even faster, and it’s a great win.

Q. Can you think of another upset in tennis history that maybe compares to this one?
MARDY FISH: I don’t think I’m that bad. (laughter.)
I have been top 20 before a couple times, but let me think. I don’t know. I’m blank. Let me come back to you on that one.

Q. Roger made that point in here before. He said, look, I don’t care what the guy’s ranking is. He’s been in the top 20. We know he can play. In terms of your game, a match like today, does this make you think maybe you’re at an even better level than you’ve ever been before?
MARDY FISH: Possibly. I’ve always thought I’ve had the capability of getting in the top 10, and that’s always — you know, that’s always been the goal, is to try to get into the top 10 and, you know, be one of those players that, you know, the hunted.
I’ve always been the hunter almost my whole career, and you know, I’m capable of — I felt like I was always capable of beating everybody, but it was always here and there. It was always sporadically.
Putting together these wins this week, you know, gives me a heck of a lot of confidence to know that I can beat three guys in the top 10 so far, and, you know, hopefully one more to go.

Q. When Roger has his occasional defeat, most of the players who have beaten him say it’s just a matter of believing. Most people go out and don’t believe.
MARDY FISH: Uh-huh.

Q. Did you believe today?
MARDY FISH: Well, I think it helped to get off to a great start, you know, to be brutally honest. If he goes out there and he beats me 6-2 in the first set, I’m not thinking things are going to go too great in the second.
So, you know, it’s nice to get up. It was nice to win that first set and, you know, then you say to yourself - take a quote out of James’ book - Todd Martin told him, If you can win one set you can win two. I actually thought to myself, okay, I won one set, you can win another one.

Q. Is there something clicking in your game these last couple weeks that maybe hasn’t been there for the last…
MARDY FISH: Yeah, I mean, you know, apart from just playing really well, you know, for me, you know, a nice solid game plan, nice pretty easy game plan, you know, staying aggressive and trying to take that first ball after the serve.
These courts are really slow, so it’s not really a serve-and-volley-type tennis like I try to do normally on a faster surface. It’s more of a serve-and-go and a serve and, and you know, take one or two cracks and then try to go, or try to take the initiative.
These guys I’ve played in the past few rounds are not comfortable really — I mean, they all defend really well, but the way their bank accounts have grown is because they’re aggressive and they’re the aggressor. You know, when I’m the aggressor, I’m not sure they like that as much as they like being the aggressor.

Q. Obviously Roger’s run these past four years has just been incredible, really nothing like it. But now there have been some losses, and shock of shocks. Is there a different sense you think with players who are come on court against him?
MARDY FISH: No. I mean, to answer your question, brutally honest, no. I mean, no one thought — no one in the locker room — I mean, yeah, we’ve heard — you know, we just kind of laugh at it. We just kind of think it’s kind of a joke. You know, oh, my gosh, Roger hasn’t won a tournament yet this year. You know, he’s only played two tournaments. You know, semifinals while he had mono is pretty good.
You know, that match I actually talked to him in the locker room about his match, about Australia, and he said he had a bunch of chances and it could have gone either way. Novak played really well. He just had a bit of bad luck in the beginning of the year. He came up against a really tough draw in the first round of Dubai, and, you know, played a guy that’s 11 in the world in the first round.
You know, if you’re not on top of your game — I mean, everybody’s real good, and if you’re not on top of your game, you know, somewhere down the road guys are going to get you.

Q. 2003 it was thought maybe your time had come: Cincinnati, 2004 Olympics maybe. Did you think it would take this long, 2008, when you could put together a string this long and sit up here, big press conference, big final coming, you just beat the No. 1?
MARDY FISH: Yeah, I would have thought it would have come sooner than that. I also would have thought I would have been a lot healthier than I have been in the past few years.
You know, I missed five big tournaments last year. I’ve got five zeros on my ranking from French Open to Monte-Carlo to, you know, Montreal to Miami, all those tournaments that I missed.
Those are opportunities that, you know, that go on, as well. But, yeah, I obviously would have thought that how great, you know, how nicely my career did start when I was 20, 21, 22 years old, that I would have liked to have kept it going and stayed there, you know, around 20.
Tried to put myself in the position to, you know, to really get into the top 10 like I talked about.

Q. How calm or how nervous were you serving for the match?
MARDY FISH: I was more nervous maybe than I ever have been with two breaks, serving with two breaks. (laughter.)
Usually I’m relatively comfortable with two breaks in a set. You know, and again, I just kind of kept telling myself that, you know, there’s somebody else on the other side of the court. You just try to blank out who it was and just trying to play the ball and kind of, you know, keep control of what I could control on my side.

Q. Did you hug yourself a little bit too hard there? Just got a slight feeling of, right, I’m not quite believing what’s going on here today?
MARDY FISH: I figured I did it one time, I might as well keep doing it till I’m done.

Q. It’s just a precaution, is it?
MARDY FISH: Oh, this? Sorry, yeah, this is — I try to hit my serve as hard as I can every single time so my arm starts hurting every once in a while.

Q. The trophy they give out here to the winner because of the corporate sponsor…
MARDY FISH: Yeah, it’s cool looking, isn’t it?

Q. Yeah. It’s kind of a big fish. Do you think that might be an omen?
MARDY FISH: Yeah, that would be nice. I’ve seen it before. It’s one of the coolest trophies we’ve got. I’d love to have it on my mantel.

Q. Your matchup with Novak going into tomorrow’s championship?
MARDY FISH: We’ve played a few times. We had a 7-6 in the fourth at the US Open in 2006, and a 7-6 in the third. We played Hopman Cup, which is an exhibition-type tournament. It was in the final, and I would assume that he wanted to win as much as I did.
We’ve played two good matches. Obviously he’s on a heck of a roll. I might call Andy to try to see what he did in Dubai this afternoon and try to get some tips on that. But, you know, it’s another one of these matches where I’ll go out and try to control what I can try to control and see what happens, give it everything I got.

Q. Have there been times this week where you said to yourself, I cannot believe this is my forehand?
MARDY FISH: Maybe. Maybe. Maybe, you know, maybe not saying, Oh, wow, I can’t believe I made that shot. But I guess consistent is a tough word to put it, because I am trying to just try to stay as aggressive as possible with it.
I’m not trying to hit winners, complete winners off it. I’m trying to beat him with pace, try to beat Roger with pace today up the line and crosscourt. It seems to be working.

Q. When you walk up to the net, having played a match like that and won a match like that, does your mind race? What am I going to say to him when I actually get there?
MARDY FISH: It’s tough.

Q. Do you say, Sorry?
MARDY FISH: Yeah, sorry, man. (laughter.)
I’ve been on the losing end four times to him, and he’s won 53 tournaments, so I don’t feel too badly for him.

Q. You kept him under pressure early on and sustained it, but was there anything in particular about his game today which surprised you?
MARDY FISH: Well, you know, he’s always been, you know, extremely solid from the baseline. His forehand is just maybe the most deadly shot in the game.
You know, he had some — he hit some great shots out there. He’s got a different spin than people — than other guys put on the ball on his forehand, so it’s always tough to hit it, just to hit it back.
I tried to beat him with, you know, with pace on the forehand side and tried to get over the backhand as much as I can.
You know, obviously I don’t think he played his best tennis. But I’d like to think maybe I had a little bit to do with it.

Q. Can you possibly go into more detail on that spin, how is it different than…
MARDY FISH: He just puts so much topspin on it and he can flatten it out and he can spin it — Nadal has a spinny forehand like that, as well. He always spins it and it’s always heavy.
Roger can flatten it out. You have no clue where he’s hitting it. He can pull it up the line on you as quick as he can hit it inside out.

Q. The celebration today after was so much more subdued than yesterday. It’s a bigger win. What was going through your mind at that point?
MARDY FISH: I got some huge raspberries from sliding yesterday, so I figured I wouldn’t do that. I don’t know. It’s just one of those — just kind of I’m not sure what just happened, but I might as well go up to the net because I think the match is over, kind of celebration.
You know, it was pretty surreal, you know, for something, for the score line kind of like that.

Q. Morgan Pressel is here. Tell us how your golf is.
MARDY FISH: Hi Morgan. Yeah, I can play okay. I know your uncle.
MORGAN PRESSEL: Yeah.
MARDY FISH: Aaron Krickstein. He came to my charity event. Congratulations on your major. Last year here? See, I know golf.
My golf game is good. I’m +1. I’m pretty excited about it. I’m a lefty, though.
MORGAN PRESSEL: We’ll play sometime.
MARDY FISH: Okay.

Q. You have a made a point of mentioning the crowd support this year. What is it about the crowd this year? How has it been different from other venues here in America?
MARDY FISH: You always get — in the States you always get — you know, the fans are always behind the U.S. players. You know, I think everybody likes an underdog, and certainly that today and yesterday, as well.
You know, yesterday the support was so big and just got me through, got me through the match when, you know, if I was playing on the same surface and on the same stadium in Argentina, I don’t think I would have won that match. You know, they helped me out today. It was huge, and I’m forever thankful for that.
This is my favorite tournament of the year, one of my favorite tournaments of the year, and I’ve always wanted to play well here, and really go deep, and it feels great.

Q. Why is it one of your favorites, Mardy?
MARDY FISH: I just love the area, the weather is always extremely nice, and they’ve got plenty of golf courses around, even though I haven’t had a chance to play this year yet.
It’s just very relaxing, people love tennis here, and it’s a great venue, and, you know, the hotel is real close, so it’s real nice.

Q. You spoke very positively about this match here yesterday. You said, I just beat a guy who beat him, meaning Federer, the past two times. I feel I can beat anybody right now. One would suggest that you almost expected to beat Federer?
MARDY FISH: I don’t necessarily think that, but I did, after yesterday’s match, feel like I could beat anyone after that. Not necessarily the score line yesterday, but just beating someone like David that is so good in tight matches, and like Lleyton who’s so good in tight matches, that’s a good feeling. Gives you a heck of a lot of confidence.

Q. We’re looking at 90 degrees again tomorrow. Do you think that helps or hurts your game?
MARDY FISH: I think it helps me. I grew up in Florida. It’s 90, would be nice in the summer. It’s over 100 there always, and the humidity is so low here it just feels like sun, so it feels nice.
So I love the heat. I love the summer months, you know, playing in Cincinnati and Indianapolis and Montreal, places like that where it’s real hot. Hopefully it will be hot again.

_MG_6232
Originally uploaded by -robynw-

Q. Was it as surprising for you as it was for us?
ROGER FEDERER: Well, I guess so. I don’t know how much it is for you guys.

Q. Very.
ROGER FEDERER: I’ve had a great record against him, you know, always sort of had sort of controlled matches against him, but today was different. He came out playing very, very well.
Yeah, he played great today. I mean, I can only congratulate him. Fantastic.

Q. Are you well, Roger?
ROGER FEDERER: I’m well, yeah. How are you?

Q. I don’t have to run.
ROGER FEDERER: Well, I didn’t have to run much either, today. (laughter.)

Q. Is it very tough one to explain? Okay, he did play extremely well and hit some great shots. I suppose we are always expecting a little bit more from you.
ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, I mean, look, the danger of best-of-three matches is it can be over in no time. We all know that. Today it sort of felt like a practice match, you know.
He was just trying to go for everything and it sort of worked. Didn’t even play particularly bad on the break points and I just — every time, you know, he read the right side on the serve and he kept the ball in play. When he wanted to attack, everything worked. He would never miss, really.
When I needed maybe a miss once in a while. So that was just impressive by his side, and I couldn’t do much to control it. I didn’t even think he served particularly well. It was just impossible to return his first serve, which it normally is anyway, you know. But I couldn’t get into his second serves, and that was the disappointing part about today.

Q. Can there be a situation almost where your match sharpness, when you miss a match, say perhaps you needed the match against Haas?
ROGER FEDERER: I was a little bit deflated yesterday. I was ready to play against Tommy. I think it would have really given me great rhythm if I were to win against him and come into have met him and come into the semis today.
This way the practice session was just another one. Maybe during the match today you could feel that, but it’s not an excuse. I mean, Mardy played incredibly well today. It was just incredible.

Q. How do you explain a man ranked 98, hasn’t done anything for a long time, to come out and beat three top 10 players like that?
ROGER FEDERER: You’ve been around the game. You know it’s possible. He’s been — it’s not like he’s been 98 for the first in his life, he just made a career breakthrough breaking into the top 100. The guy has been top 20 before, and he’s had big matches before.
Should have won Cincinnati a few years back beating Andy before he became No. 1. We know how good Mardy can be. Let’s not talk about 98 in the world. We know he’s way better than that.

Q. Will you go right to Miami?
ROGER FEDERER: Pretty much, yeah. Haven’t booked my ticket yet. Wasn’t planning on leaving today, but we’ll see now. (laughter.)

Q. I know it’s sort of tough so quickly after a match to put it into perspective, but you’ve had a couple - for you - not great results this year. I mean, how do you feel your game is at the moment, Roger? Where would you say you?
ROGER FEDERER: I thought it was very good this week. I’m happy with this week. Today it’s hard to judge, because Mardy took everything on the rise, you know. Not many rallies out there, so it’s hard to judge, you know.
But all in all, I’m happy the way this week has been going for me, you know. Obviously the walkover is sort of an awkward situation, but you have to take them when they come around. So semifinals to start off with at the first Masters Series is a good thing again, and I hope I can go from here and win in Miami and on to clay.

Q. When did you find out Tommy was out? Was it in the morning early?
ROGER FEDERER: Around noon, maybe. Yeah, I mean, just sort of waking up and seeing, feeling good, and that’s when I got the news, basically.

Q. What you did you do for the rest of the day since you didn’t have the match yesterday?
ROGER FEDERER: Well, I came over to practice. Not much.

Q. The way things are going this year so far, do you just feel that you’re short on match play?
ROGER FEDERER: Umm, not even particularly, you know. I did play very well against all these guys this week. Today, you know, obviously it’s a tough result, you know, but what can you do? It happens sometimes, you know.
So just better make it not happen so frequently, you know. But can only give credit to Mardy. I couldn’t do much today, and these matches sometimes come around. I’m surprised myself it hasn’t happened more in the last five years, you know. You always think one guy can outright dominate you on any given day.
People weren’t able to do it against me, so that speaks for myself. But today Mardy was really impossible to beat, it almost looked like. He was never in doubt. Everything he took it on the rise and hit winners, so it was just a great performance by his side.
I don’t even have to go too much into the match, you know. That’s why I’m maybe not that disappointed. It’s been a good week for me, anyway. I feel I’ve got the matches in I really wanted, you know. So I feel better than still 10 days ago, that’s for sure.

Q. We’ve seen so little of you this week, it’s almost to us as if you haven’t been there. I wonder if you kind of feel the same way.
ROGER FEDERER: Not really. I don’t know what you mean, but I’ve been here (laughter.) I’ve been practicing every day at the courts. I don’t know where you were, but I was here. (laughter.)

Q. What are your thoughts about the final tomorrow between with Fish against Djokovic?
ROGER FEDERER: Sure, interesting match, you know. I mean, Novak also having outstanding performance against Rafa today, you know. Also is probably comfortable in the scoring line, so it should be entertaining.

Q. When you do have a loss, do you still find you can learn things from them and advance your game in a way even from the losses?
ROGER FEDERER: Usually can, but not much about today. Went too quick, and couldn’t feel anything was there to be done very differently.
Could have served better, sure. Could have returned better, sure. But the guy was on top of his game. Took his chances and it was over in a heartbeat, so…

_MG_6232
Originally uploaded by -robynw-

Q. Seemed like you had more energy in the third set than the previous two sets. Were you eating anything on changeovers or drinking anything? You had a lot more energy in the third set.
SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA: I guess I’m just fit. I felt pretty tired, you know, out there.

Q. Didn’t look like it.
SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA: But I guess it’s my strength. I train a lot, so I felt great out there in the third set, and I think I really stepped inside and played inside, not so far behind.

Q. You’re the first person to beat Maria this year. How does that feel?
SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA: It feels great. I don’t think Maria plays like always she can play, you know. Neither did I. But I think it was very good, interesting third set.
First, so so; second better; and third we got both our game. It was a good match, and I feel great winning.

Q. So what were your thoughts going into the third set? Because as you said, you played very well with the forehand, you served better, didn’t play so defensive, and you really took the match from her.
SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA: Well, I thought we both didn’t play first set well. Second set, I had my chances. I had Love-30, and I was just a bit too far behind. I figured out how to play better, my coach helped me a little bit, and then I stepped in and I felt much more comfortable.
I’m not a player who has to defend so much as I did maybe in the end of second set, so that’s why probably lost it. But Maria, her strokes is very — she stroke the ball very well, and she has extremely long shoulders. So it’s really hard to move her around and the ball comes pretty flat, so you got to really have very good reaction to react.

Q. Did you sense that she was not all that keen to play, that she didn’t have anywhere near as much energy as you did? Looked like you had a lost more bounce, a lot more zest for the game than she did?
SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA: Well, I don’t know. I wasn’t looking at her energy. I saw her concentrate on every point, and she always positive. I watched her play Daniela and I watched her play today. We both didn’t play well first set, but we both tried our best and stayed focused. I know Maria’s not loser. She’s not going to quit the match.
She’s going to play till the last point, and I really took it away from her. I think it’s my credit I played well in the third set.

Q. How much of her playing is a mental battle, especially in the third set?
SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA: I think it’s mentally better for me, even she won second set. But with this heat on hardcourts, outdoors, I think I’m just little bit fitter. But in the third set I have little bit advantage because I’m used to her game already a little bit more.
But, anyway, I mean, she’s great server. It’s going to depend actual a lot on serving when you play her.

Q. Any particular reason why you both struggled a bit for rhythm in that first set?
SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA: I guess I didn’t play player who plays like her and she didn’t play player who plays like me, so we both were very different. Sometimes I was expecting the ball come much faster in the first game and I was so frustrated it was not going that faster as I was expecting it to.
I was too much behind, and I had so many opportunities and I got broken, I broke her, and then, you know, I saw she was not 100 percent there. Myself, I wasn’t there, either. So it was very frustrating. It was no rhythm. With Maria you don’t play long rallies at all. It was maybe few, which was great rallies. It’s maybe two, three shots, and it’s never good, you know, never can get the rhythm.

Q. Can you talk about your success here these last two years? You’ve done very well to make the finals back to back years. Can you just talk about what’s contributed to that success?
SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA: Yeah, I feel great here. The ball bounce well. I like these balls. I love these courts. It’s very good atmosphere for me. I can stay focus, because it’s not so much moving around. I get bored, but still I’m on my thing.

Q. What do you do try to not be bored here? Have you found anything to do?
SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA: I’m still bored. I want to go to outlet but my coach said, No, you stay at room. I’m like, Okay. I read a book, I go to the Internet, I watch movies. I love American TV. I’m lucky, so I can watch so many shows like Mtv and E Channel and watch a little bit gossip, so I’m interested in something.
I’m pretty cool, you know. You have so much free time here that can — I can think a lot, so I kind of clean up my head. So it’s good. It’s good.

Q. How does that compare when you go to Miami?
SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA: Well, Miami is crazy, you know. I love this atmosphere, you know. I’m so emotional, and sometimes I give too much emotions to stuff, not tennis. You know what I mean? Like tennis is first thing for me, but sometimes I feel like I need more attention to that.
I need — I still try to do that. Like in Miami probably I would go away of all things possibly of what I can go away. But it’s hard, because everything I do I want to do it the best. Like I talk to you guys, I put myself into it. I want to explain whatever I feel.
I go to do aces for the tournament, I try to do my best. It spends energy there, there, there, there. Sometimes I need more focus on the tennis.

Q. How was it different at Wimbledon from, say, here?
SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA: It rains. (laughter.)

Q. Really? It rains there?
SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA: Sometimes, you know, few times, few years.
Well, Wimbledon is different. Like if you would put me play with Maria, it’s going to be even less rhythm in Wimbledon playing her. In Wimbledon, it’s too much crowd, it’s too much people who — like I like to meet new people, I like to chat, I like to communicate.
But you have to realize this takes your energy away. So I have to sometimes take me away from it.

Q. So how did you win the US Open? That’s the craziest of all.
SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA: I was young. Nobody wanted even to talk to me, so I was like (waving hand). They were like, Hey, oh, she plays tennis there on the back courts, you know.

Q. What are your thoughts of the women’s final being moved from Saturday here? It extends it for you at least one day.
SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA: I don’t mind. You know, a final is a final. How many days?
But probably Saturday would be better because of next week Miami. But still we’re not going to play till Friday, so that’s fine. If it’s better for tournament it’s good for us.

Q. Let’s look ahead to the possible opponents. First, if you could talk about playing Ana and then if you could talk about playing Jelena.
SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA: You know, I was thinking about it this tournament. Like I’ve been going match by match by match. If I going to face playing Ana, I feel ridiculous because I was the oldest player on this tournament. I didn’t play nobody older than me, and I’m only 22. These girls are all like 19, 20. I’m like, Oh, my God, I’m 22.
Last few years I was newcomer and was like, Oh, my God. It’s so frustrating me so much. The girls play me extremely well. I lost to Ana in Madrid, yeah. I had chances there. It’s good to play her.
I would love to play both of them, and both matches would be extremely tough. She plays well, she serve well, she improve so much her movement on the court. It’s going to be tough match, and definitely because I lost last time. But I took few revenges already here. Hopefully one more.
With Jelena I played in Dubai. It was extremely hard match. It was like two-and-a-half hours. We run miles and miles on the court. It was extremely interesting, so I’m looking forward to any of them, and it’s going to be very hard.

Q. How important will it be to finally get a title?
SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA: For me it’s very important, because I’ve been to the finals and I know what’s that, you know? To play it, you know? To really play it, not to think about that it’s finals, play it.
So I think this time I can get it better, you know. Like I will need to put myself out there and play my game, you know? Not thinking about something else. Both can win, because we’re all top 4, top 3 players in the world. So it’s 50/50. Nobody has much priority to win, so we just play. Anything can happen.

Q. You said earlier this week that an Olympic gold medal would be more important to you than a Wimbledon title, and maybe a French Open title. Do you think the Olympics are much more important to Russian tennis players than other countries, than other tennis players from other countries?
SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA: I haven’t been talking to other players, but my family it is like that because my parents are so much Olympic tradition.
Definitely I’m not going to compare, when they ask us to compare I don’t have another way to choose Olympics or French or Wimbledon. But for me, every tournament, it’s very important, and I’m going to give my best every single week. This is how you get better.

Q. If the winner of Sunday’s final had to sing karaoke in front of that center court crowd, would you welcome the challenge?
SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA: Look, who wins, rules. This is the thing which I remember, and I know it’s like this in tennis and everywhere. So the winner rules. If I win, means I rule.
Look, if I win, I’m happy. I can do pretty crazy stuff if I win. I’m not promising anything.

Q. If you win, what would you do with that trophy, the big fish trophy?
SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA: I love this. I love the trophy. I really like the dolphin.

Q. Well done, Mardy. Was that one of the most satisfying wins of your career?
MARDY FISH: Yeah, possibly. With someone like David’s, you know, ability to come back and ability to win tight matches, you know, that one feels just as good as, you know, Hewitt does, for sure.

Q. Did it feel like maybe you lost it when those two match points didn’t go your way?
MARDY FISH: You’re never in a great situation when the guy is serving for the match. You know, I felt like I had some pretty good opportunities there. You know, score-wise I didn’t really get into many points, except for many maybe the second set. At 4-All in the second set I had some chances there. I think I had three break points there.
He had played well on those break points and made a lot of first serves. When he didn’t make second serves he hit some tough ones and I was able to capitalize on a couple of missed first serves there in the tiebreak right at the end.

Q. Mardy, why here, why now?
MARDY FISH: I don’t know. I mean, you know, I’ve hired a trainer since last year at Wimbledon to try to stay as healthy as possible. This is the best my body has felt in a long time. That’s got to speak volumes. You know, I’m probably stronger than I’ve ever been, and possibly fitter than I’ve ever been, so I feel great, I feel fresh.
I was saying to Kelly, it’s been a long time since I’ve been — played four or five matches into a tournament, and still my body feels really good.
You know, yeah, we had a couple days off there and lost first round of doubles, but that’s got to speak volumes, as well.

Q. What’s it been, massage or stretching?
MARDY FISH: No, we put a lot of work in the gym. Not much massage. We put a lot of work in the gym, and, you know, concentrating on my knees and trying to strengthen my arm and trying to take away some tendinitis that comes when I serve a lot on my biceps. And the patella tendinitis that a lot of guys seem to be having a lot these days comes and goes, but it feels great right now.
That’s all attributed to Rory and I just getting into the gym and putting the work in.

Q. 3-4, 15-40; 4-5, 15-40 losing match points, dropping serve. What’s going through your mind?
MARDY FISH: I’m thinking hopefully he’ll double fault at 15-40 so I can win that game, and sure enough, he did.

Q. He comes out and serves for the match and you’re a break down. You looked like you were done then.
MARDY FISH: Well, I mean, yeah. Yeah, I mean, I kind of felt like I was done, to be honest. You know, I had chances, you know, and just didn’t — you know, I’d be lying to you if I just said, yeah, I felt like I was going to break right there and win the match.
Again, yeah, I mean, I had — I didn’t give up, and I had some chances. I lost first point of that game, as well.

Q. When you and Kelly were talking about your struggles in tiebreaks earlier this week, what did he pick up on? What did he pass along to you?
MARDY FISH: He didn’t necessarily pick up on anything, because he wasn’t in Australia when I lost a couple down there. He was at the others in San Jose and Memphis and stuff.
But you know, he just gave me a few examples of some things that maybe I could think about when I’m in the — you know, I just — a lot of times, you know, I get into a tiebreaker and I think, okay, almost my work is done. I mean, I’ve gotten there, I’ve held serve. Oh, it’s okay if you lose this set because you didn’t lose serve, and we’ll just keeping going in this match, anyways.
That’s not really the right frame of mind to have. Try to stay as aggressive as possible, you know, within — you know, but keep your margins pretty nice, and try to make a lot of first serves and just try to stay as positive and as focused as possible.
You know, all those things. Obviously you don’t really think about, you know, all five or six during that time. But I try to think about the first serve for sure in the beginning. It’s nice to start without an ace. You start up, and that’s a good thing.

Q. When a guy has done the things you have in tennis - I’m thinking of your play on the Davis Cup team and things of that order - is it humbling to have to accept a wildcard?
MARDY FISH: In what?

Q. You have a wildcard into this event, right?
MARDY FISH: I don’t. I was given a wildcard. I got in at the last minute. But to answer your question, let’s just pretend I got a wildcard.
You know that I’ve got a lot of work to do. You know, I came into this tournament ranked 98 in the world. You know, my results from Memphis, after Memphis of last year all the way through New Haven were pretty pathetic in my eyes. You know, I feel like I had a pretty good start to the year.
I’m trying to keep my eye on - if I do look at the rankings - the race more than the — you know, it’s a marathon, it’s not a sprint type cliché. And, you know, trying to keep my eye on that.
I know that, you know, this week before this match was my third quarterfinal in six tournaments, so it’s a pretty good start for me, pretty good start for anybody.
You know, I know, again, I know that I’m a long ways away, but after — whatever happens tomorrow, you know, should be probably around 50 in the world or so with not one match to defend until New Haven, which is in the middle of August. So it’s a pretty good situation to be in.

Q. How did you get into this tournament if it wasn’t on a wildcard?
MARDY FISH: Well, my rankings six weeks prior to this was 83 or 82 or something like that, and I was one of the last few in, I think.

Q. If you compare this tournament to Cincinnati or the Olympics ranking-wise, these last three matches are better quality players for the most part. So can we say this might be your best run ever?
MARDY FISH: Well, I mean, I made the finals of those tournaments. It’s tough to say that, you know, if I don’t win tomorrow that semi is better than a final. But, you know, I mean, some of these guys are — Nalbandian, I remember when I played him there in the quarters. He had just come of off a finals in Montreal and lost to Andy, and Schettler was having an amazing year then. Philippoussis was playing pretty well back then, too.
I mean, it’s tough to say. But, you know, I leave that up to you guys. This is a great — it’s a great run so far, and definitely well-needed, big time needed for me.

Q. Does it seem a little bit unfair that you play a match like that, your reward is to play the world’s best player, and he’s had a day off?
MARDY FISH: Yeah, as if he needs any more ammo, if you will.
No, I mean, you know, we’ve all gotten walkovers and we’ve all — we have all been sick and we’ve all pulled out. But, you know, hopefully he’ll be a little too rested, maybe. Maybe a little too…

Q. Do you think you’ll have enough left in the tank judging on how you feel today?
MARDY FISH: Oh, yeah. I’ll be fine. We’re not on before 3:00 tomorrow, so that’s almost 24 hours. And I am 26, so I’m still pretty young.

Q. You mentioned your forehand has improved, and it’s pretty obvious to me. How did that happen? Did you do a lot of work on it?
MARDY FISH: Obviously, yeah. I mean, it’s a shot that comes and goes with confidence, you know. Even if people say that my forehand isn’t as good and I still feel confident with it, I don’t, you know, I don’t necessarily care.
I do feel like I’m hitting it, for some reason this week, better than ever. I think one of the attributes to that is that I’m much more aggressive this week, I feel like, than previous weeks. You know, I’m never going to beat Hewitt and Nalbandian from the baseline. Obviously I’m going to serve, try to serve as best I can and get my free points here and there.
But, you know, I’m never going to — never going to beat them, break serve against them, from the baseline, just playing from the baseline. Just playing from the baseline and trying to stay solid.
So, yeah, you know, but again, I’m hitting my backhand really well, too, and that’s a huge shot for me. That that kind of opens up the forehand for me, gives me some short balls when I take my backhand down the line. Opens up the court for my forehand, which I can go crosscourt or down the line.
Yeah, it’s a confidence shot for sure, and confidence is pretty high right now.

Q. Can you talk about the company you’re in in the semifinals? It’s the top three players in the world. You’re the Cinderella guy?
MARDY FISH: And me. (laughter.)
Well, you know, I guess the only thing you can go by is what your ranking is. I obviously don’t feel like I’m the 98th ranked player in the world or playing like that. You know, I don’t — you know, I’ve got a lot of self-confidence. You have to out here to stick with some of these guys.
Yeah, I mean, it’s nice. It’s a nice breath to be in although it’s just one tournament. Hopefully I can use this result no matter how it ends, to keep moving on.
Again, like I said, I don’t have anything — I didn’t win a match on grass last year. That’s my best surface. So I’m really looking forward to the rest of Miami and rest of here and through the year.

Q. You were talking about crowd support. Everyone loves a Cinderella. That has to be huge?
MARDY FISH: Yeah, they were huge. You know, again, like Doug said, it was tough to lose that one and get down and, you know, come back, but they were — you know, they were there and supportive the whole way. I’m extremely thankful for that.

Q. It also must be nice to be the last American standing at a big tournament.
MARDY FISH: Yeah, I mean, you know, I guess it’s not really nice. I mean, I’d like to have some of my buddies around.

Q. Yeah.
MARDY FISH: You know, I don’t hang out too much with Rafa or Novak or Roger, but (laughter.)
You know, it would be nice to have James stick around and be in the other semifinal or playing him or whatever.
But, you know, I’ll try to take it on for what it’s worth.

Q. Judging by matches you’ve played against Roger in the past, what sort of mindset do you have to take into it? Do you have to play the way you have already this week? Do you feel you’ve got to do more because it’s Roger?
MARDY FISH: No, I mean, you know, I just beat a guy who beat him the past two times. You know, the thing is you have to walk out there and you have to feel like you can beat him. I feel like I can beat anybody right now. I feel like I can win tight matches against really high quality players who are really tough, you know, in tiebreaks and third sets and things like that, and that gives you a lot of confidence.
You can’t go out there thinking, Okay, this is a nice result. Let’s think about who I play in the first round of Miami. I mean, this is not a situation that I’ve been in week to week and, you know, I’ll definitely look forward to it.

Q. Did you think that two weeks ago?
MARDY FISH: What’s that?

Q. That you could beat high quality players, 7-6 in the third?
MARDY FISH: I mean, it definitely helps to win one of those, and then — you know, it really helps to beat someone like Davydenko 3 and 2 and have a shot of even being 1 and 2 and losing my serve 5-1 in the first set. To beat someone that good or that easily or that well, and play that well, that’s top 5 in the world and is going to be top 5 in the world for a while because he’s miles ahead of everybody else in the top 10, that gives you a huge amount of confidence right there to just feel like you can play with everybody.
And if I can beat someone like Nikolay, you know, 3 and 2, I feel like I can beat everybody. So that’s a good thing.

Q. Is it a deliberate change in your strategy or technique between the way it is now than, say, a year or two ago, or just experience making things get better?
MARDY FISH: Yeah, I feel like having Kelly Jones come back into the mix — I’ve never been higher ranked with him. I’ve never — I had my results in Cincinnati and the Olympics when he was there.
I kind of maybe got away from my ultimate game plan, which is to stay aggressive. Excuse me, serve and volley some and try to, you know, take first ball strikes and things like that, not give anybody any rhythm is the key. And, you know, I got away from that. I guess I’m back doing it now.

Q. You’ll be entering middle age as a tennis player pretty soon. Is there a maturity issue at play here when you look at the game now?
MARDY FISH: Yeah, sure. I think one of the things was when I had my wrist surgery in 2005. I was out that whole year and really gives you a nice perspective on — it’s not guaranteed. Nothing’s guaranteed in this sport.
You know, everything you want and want to achieve you have to work hard for. Coming back from that, and my goal coming back from that, trying to get the comeback player of the year was a huge part of that. Getting that in 2006 meant a ton to me, because I felt like I took almost every opportunity I could. Stepped away from the sport and tried to understand, you know, what it was that I needed to do away from the court, on the court, things like that. And that helped a ton, as well.
But I mean, you know, just growing older and get are getting married soon, it all, you know, adds up.

Q. How much credit should Kelly Jones have for what you’re doing?
MARDY FISH: He should take all the credit. (laughter.)
No, he’s a huge part, because obviously it’s nice to have a friend travel with you, first and foremost. It’s nice to have someone who you trust. It’s nice to have someone who’s got a great game plan that works and that wants to implement the game plan that truly works.
And, you know, again, like I said, I got away from playing my game, playing aggressive, and playing kind of almost hit-or-miss type tennis and not giving anybody any rhythm. That’s my style, and he was the one that came back in the picture and showed me how to do that.

Q. Do I understand that you worked with Kelly previously and you’ve gone back to him?
MARDY FISH: Uh-huh.

Q. How much of success against top guys, or just even being a top 10, top 20 player is actually loving the fight, committing to the fight, not worrying whether you’re going to go out there three hours, 7-6 in the third, dropping match points, the ability to keep yourself in those matches?
MARDY FISH: Yeah, you’d be hard pressed to find people who don’t love to compete out here. It’s really hard to not want to win a match like that out there when you have, I don’t know how many people were there, but it felt like 50,000 were cheering for me.
And, you know, it’s really hard to not want to win that match and not want to try to come back. You know, everybody’s competitive. It’s such a cliché, Oh, he’s so competitive. Andy is so competitive. James is so competitive. Everybody’s competitive. Everybody wants to win. You know, you’ve got to want it more than the other guy.

Q. Trainers name?
MARDY FISH: His name is Rory Cordial.

Q. So what is it about you in Olympic years?
MARDY FISH: What’s that?

Q. What is it about you and Olympic years?
MARDY FISH: Yeah, I had a nice 2004. I don’t think that’s kind of a coincidence, though. Maybe I could do it on a Davis Cup year and just do it every year.

nasdaq 599
Originally uploaded by -robynw-

Q. You served for the match at 6-5 in the third set. Did you expect to close it out at that point? It had been a pretty tight match.
DAVID NALBANDIAN: Well, of course. The third set was very tight. We didn’t break each other until the end. I think he played a very good game at that moment. He just do one easy mistake and then he played great. Not much to do, except that maybe I have to play more with the first serve in that moment but he played great.

Q. Were you at all surprised about how well Fish has been playing? I mean, he had struggled the last few years, and he’s having a pretty good start to the year. Was anything out there about him surprising to you?
DAVID NALBANDIAN: No. He’s always dangerous. On this surface, when surface fast, he’s very dangerous all the time. So it’s not — it’s not strange for me that see him play like that.

Q. About you, he just said — of course, he has to play Federer next. He said, I just beat a guy who beat him, meaning Federer, the past two times. I feel like I feel I can beat anybody right now. Do you feel he’s right in that? Do you feel that Fish is playing so well right now that he could beat anybody?
DAVID NALBANDIAN: You have to see tomorrow what’s going on. It’s not easy to win a lot of matches with good guys in a row, but if he play like today, why not?

Q. Would you mind giving us your thoughts about the semifinals here?
DAVID NALBANDIAN: Well, it would be tight for all of them. Rafa and Djokovic was the final last year, so it’s going to be very tough, interesting.
Federer’s match will be more serves and more short points, so it’s going to be different but will be tight, too.

Q. You know, it’s hard to beat Federer any time. But how much harder do you think it will be for Fish since Federer didn’t have to play today? He had a day off.
DAVID NALBANDIAN: Well, it’s tough to say. Roger, he didn’t play long match for all the tournaments so far, and Mardy play long match against Hewitt and against me, so maybe he’s a little tired.
You never know. Semifinals you have to serve well to beat all the match. I don’t know. Have to work on it.

Q. How would you evaluate your performance here in this tournament?
DAVID NALBANDIAN: Well, I try to expect to be a little farther, but the first two matches was very complicated both times. I served two quick matches that made me confidence, and then again with Ferrero I play much better, feel much better on the court, and today could have made it but — I feel I played good today. It was a little windy, so it was a bit tough. I’m going to Miami that I play good tennis here.

Q. 2007 didn’t seem to start out well for you, but then you really turned it around in the second half of the season and have been playing very well so far in 2008. What’s made the difference for you?
DAVID NALBANDIAN: Nothing. Just playing, be concentrate on the court. It’s normal that tennis players or sportsmen that you can’t be always 100 percent on the court. Sometimes you win; sometimes you lose. Simple. The season is so long. You can’t play great all the time.

Q. Were you looking forward to playing Roger again and maybe beating him a third time in a row?
DAVID NALBANDIAN: Why not?

Q. Do you have some insight or some secrets on how that’s done?
DAVID NALBANDIAN: Yeah.

Q. Would you like to share them or something?
DAVID NALBANDIAN: No.

Q. So you really think you could beat him again? You’re looking forward to it?
DAVID NALBANDIAN: Uh-huh.

_MG_6058
Originally uploaded by -robynw-

I never would have thought Federer would fall apart to Fish, even though Fish has been playing well in this tournament - but it has happened 6-3 6-2, and Roger Federer can get his PR team (aka Mirka) back on to the excuses.

Feds will continue to feel the pressure of such a famed #1 player being unable to grab a title in 2008 so far (something he hasn’t done since 2000).

Interviews to come…