Andy Murray US Open Interview Wednesday September 1st

Andy Murray US Open Interview Wednesday September 1st

Q. Is it very nice to finally be allowed to start this tournament Wednesday?

ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, it is different to the other slams. I mean, I guess it's always been that way. I don't really know whether I like it or not. But, yeah, it was good to get off quickly.

Q. Because it obviously means you have a play -- to win this title -- seven in 12 days. Is that fair?

ANDY MURRAY: Well, it's a lot easier to play seven matches in fourteen days. Anyone would tell you that. It's just different here with the Saturday, Sunday, semi and final is always tricky for all of the players. It's always been that way, so not a problem.

Q. How do you feel to have your first round match under your belt?

ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, it was good. It wasn't necessarily the best tennis, but tricky conditions out there. It was very windy on the court. It was a guy I've never played against on the tour. I haven't really seen much of him play, so took a little time to get used to his game. But I did enough to win in straight sets, and that was the most important thing.

Q. Is it just about sort of getting off the court as quickly as possible when it's that hot out there?

ANDY MURRAY: Well, I mean, you would you'd rather win as quickly as possible in any condition, whether it's cold or hot, in the slams. But the only important thing is to win the match. If it's in five sets it's not ideal, but just want to try to win.

Q. People have been falling over, and Ljubicic has been complaining about how difficult it is. Obviously Cincy a couple weeks it was hotter than this.

ANDY MURRAY: Ah, similar.

Q. Is this tougher here than Australia because it's more humid?

ANDY MURRAY: Honestly, I don't find it that bad on center today. It was hot, but the wind -- it does get a lot breezier on that court than the outside courts. When I warmed up for my match this morning it felt hotter than when I was out there. And, yeah, it's difficult conditions definitely, but I don't know. I don't know. Australia is Australia's very tough as well when you play right in the middle of the day in Australia. I've played quite a few matches on the center court there. That's really brutal. There's not a whole lot of breeze there normally either, so I don't know what I prefer.

Q. This is the benefit of the hard Miami training coming out here. Can you just talk us through what precautions and preliminaries you do to deal with it? Obviously you take in a lot of fluids.

ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, the night before, as well, try and drink a lot, eat as much good stuff as you can. And then I use an ice towel pretty much from the first changeover. I wore a hat today. I've hardly worn a hat for the last four or five years.And, yeah, they're the only things you can do. I put a lot of sunblock on and train hard. That's probably the biggest thing you can do to help yourself.

Q. Does that become an issue? Because if you put a lot of that stuff on, you sweat and then you become a bit of a mess.

ANDY MURRAY: A mess?

Q. Well, the sweat coming through the sunblock. My experiences on holiday.

ANDY MURRAY: If you put it on quite I put it on like 45, 50 minutes before I go out there. If you put it on right beforehand, it's not great. Gets in your eyes and stuff. But I use the sweat bands too, so that normally stops it from coming down into my hand.

Q. What do you know of Dustin Brown? Have you seen much of him?

ANDY MURRAY: Not really. But, I mean, I've heard about him. He's got a big game, serves and volleys a lot, and, yeah, is very different to a lot of players on the tour. He's a good athlete. I haven't seen him play, so another unknown opponent, really.

Q. How would you describe what this hardcourt season did for your level of confidence entering this tournament?

ANDY MURRAY: Well, it obviously helped in terms of you know, match fitness was key because of the tough conditions. That's important to have, you know, played matches in it. But, yeah, I hadn't been that consistent. Well, I played badly after Australia, and then Wimbledon was really gave me the confidence again. I wanted to do well there. You know, then I came over and practiced hard, and obviously I've had a good run in the tournaments, which definitely helps.

Q. Would you say that your level of confidence, because of what occurred in this hardcourt season, is the highest it's ever been?

ANDY MURRAY: I don't know. I feel good, but I felt confident quite a few times in my career. You know, Toronto was a big boost for me to win against Roger and Rafa. But, you know, I don't know. I feel good. That's it.

Q. So basically you say you feel good, feel confident. Are you saying you're confident enough this tournament will give you a win? Give us an insight on how you perceive the tournament. You have Rafa and you have Federer. You say you feel confident. Do you think you feel confident enough that the game can take you over the top?

ANDY MURRAY: Well, it can, yeah, but I need to play my best, and am not really thinking that much about Roger and Rafa right now because I'm only in the second round. That's disrespectful to all the other guys that you might have to play on the road to get there to think about playing against them. For me, I love playing against those guys. But a lot of tennis, you've seen someone like Berdych who has been great in the Grand Slams this year lost in straight sets today; Soderling nearly went out the other day; Djokovic nearly went out. It's so pointless thinking ahead. I say it every Grand Slam. That's how I feel.

Q. Does that mean you're very impressed by the level of talent you see here so far?

ANDY MURRAY: I'm not impressed. I've been around it for the last three, four years. That's what the tour is now. You have to be switched on from the beginning of every tournament. All of the players play very, very well. And, you know, on any given day, if they play great tennis and you're not up to, you know, up to your best standard, then you can lose matches early in tournaments. It's happened to me before. I don't want it to happen to me again.

Q. To have beaten Rafa and Roger in the same tournament, does that have any special significance to you, to beat them in the same tournament?

ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, it was nice. Any time you beat those guys is good. But, look, beating Roger in a final for the first time was nice. You know, it's the easiest scoreline I've had against Rafa in a match, so I feel like I'm playing well. But, you know, I need to try and keep that level up if I want to win the tournament.

Q. In terms of the speed of the court and the balls, how does this compare with Toronto and Cincinnati?

ANDY MURRAY: This is way, way quicker than Toronto, and it's a bit different than Cincinnati.I just feel like it's really difficult to control the ball in Cincinnati. But here I don't think it's as tough to control the ball, but it's really, really fast out there. The balls get really small and fly, so they almost get they almost get quicker the more you play with them; whereas normally it would work the other way around.

Q. Do you prefer that?

ANDY MURRAY: I don't mind it. It's just different. It's just something to get used to.

Q. Going back to Dustin Brown, when you don't know too much about a player, how much do you try to find out, or do you just rely on getting out there and working it out for yourself?

ANDY MURRAY: Try and find out as much as possible. You know, you've got to try and get your tactics somewhat right. You do need to concentrate on your own game, as well. But it is important to know about your opponent and try and find out, you know, even if it's just little bits and pieces about them that might have helped you in the match.

Q. Did you have a chance to see Roger's shot between his legs the other night for a winner?

ANDY MURRAY: Yeah.

Q. What were your thoughts about that and how he's able to come up with these shots?

ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I saw it. I thought the one against Djokovic last year was better. But, no, they're difficult shots. They're very difficult shots to time. And if you time them well, it's very difficult for the opponent to reach them if you get, you know, reasonable direction, because you don't see it very often. So to judge your split step, like if you see Dabul the other night when he hit it, he hit a really clean, great shot. But Dabul was charging the other direction. He had no idea when Roger was going to make contact with the ball. So it is very difficult if someone hits a clean one to get your movement right.

Q. Why do you think the one against Djokovic was better?

ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, because Novak was at the net. It was a bit harder. Dabul was out of position when he hit the lob. They were both great shots.

Q. Is that something that you work on at all?

ANDY MURRAY: Um, I occasionally hit it. If it happens in practice you just always try you know, if you're in a situation in a match, you always try and get back and put up a lob, you know, if you can.So you don't hit them that much. No, I practice them sometimes messing around in practice a little bit.

Q. How do you do?

ANDY MURRAY: Ah, yeah, not bad. Not bad.

Q. Would you try it in a match?

ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, for me, a lot of it depends on the scoreline and if purely -- if you can't get there anyway, then I would try it. My opponent today tried a sort of a similar shot, you know, not through the legs but, you know, similar shot. So if you are, you know, in a really tough position, then I'd go for it. If not, always try and stick up a lob.

Q. Novak said he'd be more concerned about damaging himself with a racquet. You wouldn't worry, too?

ANDY MURRAY: You've got to be careful, yeah. (Laughter.) I have never had any problems when I tried it.

Q. This year in Russia we are celebrating 10 successful years in tennis. Just want to know what do you think about Russian tennis in whole and about the last ten years of Russian participants in particular.

ANDY MURRAY: Well, yeah, they're definitely one of the strongest nations. On the women's side what they've done has been pretty incredible. The results on the women's side have been great. And then on the men's they've always had, you know, a lot of top guys: Kafelnikov and Safin and you know, guys like Youzhny. They've obviously won Davis Cup, as well. They're one of the toughest teams to play in Davis Cup. They've done very well.

Q. Talking about Davis Cup, are you intrigued that the next opponent would consider playing with Great Britain?

ANDY MURRAY: I don't know. I don't mind if it's yeah, I don't mind. If it makes the team better, I guess that's a good thing. But you never know. I don't know how English or British he feels, and I think that, for me, is something that's quite important when you're playing for your country.

Q. Do you think we might see more serve and volley in the evolution of the game in the near future?

ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I think so. You know, the players are definitely getting bigger, so I think that, yeah, with that you'll get probably more -- I don't think it's ever going to dominate the game again like it used to, but I think you'll start to see more in the next five, ten years, yeah.



Interview from usopen.org
Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images

Rafael Nadal Photos at US Open 1st Round

Rafael Nadal Photos at US Open 1st Round

Enjoy some tennis pictures of Rafael Nadal during his first round men's single's match win over Teymuraz Gabashvili on day two of the 2010 U.S. Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center...

Rafa´s girlfriend, Francesca "Xisca" Perello, was there cheering on the world number 1....








Photos from Getty Imafes/AP/Yahoo

2010 US Open Day 3 Results Wednesday September 1st

2010 US Open Day 3 Results Wednesday September 1st

US Open Tennis 2010 Grand Slam
New York City, U.S.A.
30 August-12 September, 2010

Wednesday, 1 September

Singles - First Round
[4] A Murray (GBR) d L Lacko (SVK) 63 62 62
M Llodra (FRA) d [7] T Berdych (CZE) 76(3) 64 64
[12] M Youzhny (RUS) d A Golubev (KAZ) 62 63 63
[14] N Almagro (ESP) d P Starace (ITA) 46 64 64 76(5)
R Harrison (USA) d [15] I Ljubicic (CRO) 63 67(4) 63 64
[18] J Isner (USA) d F Gil (POR) 64 63 64
[20] S Querrey (USA) d B Klahn (USA) 63 46 75 64
[25] S Wawrinka (SUI) d M Kukushkin (KAZ) 63 62 62
[29] P Kohlschreiber (GER) d T Kamke (GER) 62 46 62 64
J Chela (ARG) d Y Lu (TPE) 64 46 63 63
S Stakhovsky (UKR) d P Luczak (AUS) 67(8) 75 64 62
D Sela (ISR) d X Malisse (BEL) 76(1) 75 62
D Brown (JAM) d R Ramirez Hidalgo (ESP) 64 76(6) 75
M Granollers (ESP) d A Seppi (ITA) 26 57 63 62 63
G Garcia-Lopez (ESP) d L Kubot (POL) 63 62 76(4)
G Simon (FRA) d D Young (USA) 61 64 62
M Chiudinelli (SUI) d J Sock (USA) 61 64 16 61
V Hanescu (ROU) d C Berlocq (ARG) 62 64 63

Singles - Second Round
J Tipsarevic (SRB) d [9] A Roddick (USA) 36 75 63 76(4)
[17] G Monfils (FRA) d I Andreev (RUS) 63 64 63

Doubles - First Round
[1] B Bryan (USA) / M Bryan (USA) d A Dolgopolov (UKR) / B Phau (GER) 63 62
[4] M Bhupathi (IND) / M Mirnyi (BLR) d Arnaud Clement(FRA) / N Mahut (FRA) 61 64
K Anderson (RSA) / V Hanescu (ROU) d [7] J Melzer (AUT) / P Petzschner (GER) 46 63 76(1)
[15] M Fish (USA) / M Knowles (BAH) d M Lopez (ESP) / P Riba (ESP) 36 64 64
E Schwank (ARG) / H Zeballos (ARG) d C Fleming (GBR) / K Skupski (GBR) 62 76(6)
M Kohlmann (GER) / J Nieminen (FIN) d S Bangoura (USA) / N Pasha (USA) 63 61
D Marrero (ESP) / R Ramirez Hidalgo (ESP) d J Hajek (CZE) / K Vliegen (BEL) 63 75
M Gonzalez (ARG) / S Ventura (ESP) d M Berrer (GER) / V Troicki (SRB) 64 64
J Chardy (FRA) / C Kas (GER) d A Falla (COL) / S Giraldo (COL) 67(2) 64 63

US Open: Andy Murray advances into second round

US Open: Andy Murray advances into second round

Andy Murray crushed Lukas Lacko 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 in the opening round round of the US Open 2010 tennis tournament.

Murray will next face Dustin Brown, who beat Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo 6-4 7-6 7-5.

"It was brutal conditions," Murray said. "It was pretty hot on the court and breezy too, but I was happy to get through it in three sets."

Murray broke Lacko in the fourth game of the first set and held through to win it on his 4th set point.

The Scott and his opponent exchanged breaks in the second set but Murray broke again in the third and seventh games to take a 2-0 set lead.

Lacko double-faulted away a break in the third game of the third set and Murray powered home with ease from there.

“I managed to get through in straight sets, so I was pleased, but it was a lot tougher than the score suggests,” Murray said.

“When I was on the side with the wind in my face I was leaving the ball very short so I’ll try to get more length into it next time, but overall it was very good.”



Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images
Source Reuters/AP/Yahoo Sports

Rafael Nadal Blogs from US Open

Rafael Nadal Blogs from US Open

Rafael Nadal is blogging from the 2010 US Open tennis tournament... Here is his first blog post before his opening match.... Enjoy

Hello everyone,

Here I am again writing this blog, this time from New York. Last time I wrote to you all was after my Wimbledon win earlier this summer. I know it was a couple of days after but I made it … so here I am again, excited and happy to write this blog. It kind of brings me good luck, but the most important thing is that it allows me to communicate directly with all of you and tell you what I think, what I feel.

Let me start by saying that I got here to NY 10 days ago. I came straight from Cincinnati after I lost in the quarter finals against Baghdatis. Since then I have been practicing as much as I could here in NY. I say that since it rained a lot the week previous to the event. However I got in good practice time and I feel ready.

Many thanks to all and hope to be writing this blog for the next 2 weeks!!!!

Photo by Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images

Rafael Nadal Vanity Fair Interview

Rafael Nadal Vanity Fair Interview

Rafael Nadal was recently interviewed by Vanity Fair Magazine where he answered a set of quick questions.... Enjoy the interview....

What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Playing tennis, competing, winning, but also being at home in Spain, in Majorca, with my friends and family.

What is your greatest fear?
I don’t think I have one in particular. I am pretty calm. Just some small things that I better not comment on :-).

Which historical figure do you most identify with?
A gladiator …if they really existed.

Which living person do you most admire?
Just normal people from my hometown, from my country.

What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Selfishness and no respect for the others.

What is your favorite journey?
Travel to and back from a tournament knowing I have given it my all.

What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Excellency.

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
I use “Vamos!” a lot, but not sure that I overuse it.

What or who is the greatest love of your life?
I have more than one—I have three: my parents, my sister, and my girlfriend.

When and where were you happiest?
Competing and back at home.

Which talent would you most like to have?
Roger Federer’s ability to play tennis easily.

What is your current state of mind?
Calm and serene.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?
To have worked hard and achieved what I never thought I could achieve in terms of winning what I have already won at my age.

What is your most treasured possession?
My tennis titles and my life in general.

Where would you like to live?
I live where I would like to live. I live in Majorca, Spain, and I am not sure there are better places. (I have traveled a lot, so I can be sure of this.)

What is your favorite occupation?
Tennis player.

What is your most marked characteristic?
The strength, both mental and physical.

What do you most value in your friends?
The word says it all. To be a friend means that they are always there, for the good or the bad.

How would you like to die?
Knowing I always tried to do well.

If you could choose what to come back as, what would it be?
I would be me again. I am having a lot of fun, really!

What is your motto?
“To improve, be a better person and player, and to try my best.”

Rafael Nadal´s Autograph for Charity

Rafael Nadal´s Autograph for Charity

A few days before the official start of the 2010 US Open tennis championships, Rafael Nadal participated of the Arthur Ashe Kid's Day event.

During this event, the world number 1, signed tons of autogtraphs for fans but he also signed some items for the Arthur Ashe Ebdowment for the defeat of AIDS.

As always, Rafa shows his big heart and we can see that he is always ready and with good will to help other!

You can participate at the online auction at http://endowment.arthurashe.org/.

Sam Querrey US Open Interview Wednesday September 1st

Sam Querrey US Open Interview Wednesday September 1st

Q. Can you explain the shot to the privates of your opponent there?

SAM QUERREY: That was an accident. I mean, he hit a dropshot, and I ran up there and it was kind of better than I thought. So I kind of got a little confused where I was going to hit it. I kind of went at him. I didn't mean to hit it there. I felt bad because he's my buddy.

Q. He said before the draw came out you guys have been practicing together. Were you surprised to see his name next to yours when the draw came out?

SAM QUERREY: A little bit. You never know who you're going to get, so it's kind of bummer to play him. We practiced together pretty much the last two months, the whole summer. He's one of the few guys I didn't really want to play. That seems to happen a lot.

Q. Did he surprise you at all today? Obviously you say you've been practicing with him so you know his level. He came out pretty strong against you for a kid who's stepping into a pretty big spotlight.

SAM QUERREY: Yeah, I think he was a little nervous at the beginning. That's normal. I was a little nervous, too. He played well. He's got a good lefty serve, big forehand. I was impressed with how he played.

Q. How's the heat out there today?

SAM QUERREY: It's so hot out there. I was struggling. I was like my legs were cramping, and his were, too. Fortunately his were just a little worse than mine. But, I mean, it was hot.

Q. Have you had it worse this summer?

SAM QUERREY: D.C. was bad. It might have been a little more humid there. But this one, I mean, like, one of the top couple hottest matches I've played in all summer. So, I mean, I have been hydrating well and doing everything right, but it's just hot.

Q. Would you be in favor of a heat rule for the men?

SAM QUERREY: No.

Q. Why not?

SAM QUERREY: Ah, I mean, tennis is -- we talked about that in the council meeting the other day, whether or not they should close the roof if it gets to be, you know, over a certain temperature. I think, you know, tennis is a physical sport. You should be rewarded with the hard work you put in. If the heat is too much for some guys, you know, if you're the more fit player, you shouldn't get penalized for that. I don't think so.

Q. They wouldn't be closing the roof here, though.

SAM QUERREY: No. (Smiling.)

Q. They won't be building one, either.

SAM QUERREY: It's pretty rare when it gets rained out.

Q. Your experience is obviously different, turning pro coming out of high school and turning pro. Seeing his level of play, would you ever tell him you think it's time to go pro, or do you think it's a smart move for him to go back to Stanford?

SAM QUERREY: Um, it's tough, he can definitely play with the pros. I've been practicing with him all summer. He's playing well. He takes sets off guys in practice all the time. I think either decision is a good one. He can improve at Stanford and he can improve playing the tour. So either way I think it is, you know, the right decision.

Q. What was the difference today? I know you were playing at a higher level than him generally, but were there a couple of things that really helped you push through and take it?

SAM QUERREY: Just a little bit of experience, you know. In that third set at 5 All just making the extra ball, and, you know, drew a couple errors. But that was pretty much it.

Q. You got a winner on a volley, and then hit two aces. Then I think you hit, if I've got this right, third set right then, that was pretty key for you when you went up 6 5.

SAM QUERREY: Yeah, and then at 6 5 I just told myself, Just make every ball and make him win if he's going to win this game and send it to a tiebreaker, make him earn it.

Q. Did it help you to play an extra set? More conditioning for the rest of the tournament?

SAM QUERREY: No, I would have rather been in and out of there in an hour. My legs were tightening up. I could have done without it. I guess it lets me know I have to drink more.

Q. I understand it's supposed to remain brutal out there. So feeling how you feel today, do you change preparation knowing it's going to be that bad next time around?

SAM QUERREY: Somebody told me it's going to rain Friday when I walked in here. Yeah, I mean, I think I have been drinking a lot. Talking to trainers and coaches, I'm going to keep more than I have. I fell like I've been having six bottles of water a day, six Cytomaxes, six Gatorades, coconut waters. You know, I'm going to up that to 10 of each a day.

Q. Aside from hydrating, there is really nothing to be done?

SAM QUERREY: I could probably do a little better job of maybe like my match today I didn't have like the biggest breakfast. I didn't hydrate especially well before the match. I could maybe a little better with that. But overall, I think I drank a lot. But I guess I've got to drink more.

Q. Did you really feel it at the end of the fourth set, the dehydration and cramping?

SAM QUERREY: Yeah, I mean, if he would have won that set, that have been an entertaining fifth set. I mean, he was cramping worse than I was. I don't know what that would have been in the fifth set. Just serve and one shot.

Q. Did he say anything after you targeted his nether regions?

SAM QUERREY: I went up and said, Sorry. You know, we kind of laughed it off a little bit because we're buddies. But, yeah. It happens.

Q. Were you ever on the receiving end of one of those?

SAM QUERREY: No, we talked about that. I can't remember ever getting hit there.

Q. Where are you mentally right now compared to where you were in Paris? A lot has happened since then. You beat Murray in LA, but you seem to be in a different place.

SAM QUERREY: Much better. I'm feeling good out there. I'm just trying to stay positive and keep my mind off things. A lot of it, I think, is this Power Balance that I have been wearing. Kind of after every point I have to adjust it and pull it back up on my arm. So it almost gives me something to do after every point. I can't, you know, spend time getting mad at myself, because every point I have to like adjust this. So it's just a little bit of a habit and I think a tendency. I think that's really been helping me.

Q. Coming out of Paris, if I remember correctly, you were, I'm done, I'm done traveling. Seemed a little burnt out.

SAM QUERREY: Yeah, I was.

Q. Mentally, where are you? Do you feel fresher coming in here? It's been a long, hot summer? How did you recover from that?

SAM QUERREY: I recovered well, because I went home for six days and then came back and had a great Queen's and great Wimbledon. You know, I had some time off before LA. Had a good like two weeks. In Cincinnati I lost to Ferrer like on Wednesday, so I almost had another two full weeks to kind relax and prepare myself, which was really nice. I'm coming into here feeling really fresh.

Q. What do you know about Ryan Harrison, and what are your expectations for John later on?

SAM QUERREY: Ryan, I mean, I've known Ryan for four or five years. I have hit with him since he was like 15. I was thrilled for him. When I walked back into the locker room, it was like 4 2 or something in the fourth set. So I'm really excited for him. He works really hard, and he did a great job qualifying. I'm ecstatic for him. Hopefully he plays Stakhovsky next round, I think. I mean, if he plays well he can win that one and he could be I think he's 18 he could make the third, fourth round here.

Q. What do you think of his potential?

SAM QUERREY: It's good. I mean, I think the best thing about his game is that he really wants to be a good tennis player. You know, he goes out there and tries really hard and wants to be good. That's a big part of it. He's also a great player, too.

Q. What about John Isner?

SAM QUERREY: Yeah, he's got a couple more hours to go, and hopefully his ankle is feeling well. It's still a little swollen. He's not known for just grinding side to side, anyway. You know, I'm assuming he's gonna, you know, serve big as always and probably take a few more chances on the return games than he normally does so he can kind of shorten the points. I hit with him the other day. He seems to be all right.

Q. Do you think it could be a problem because he hasn't had as much preparation as he would have liked?

SAM QUERREY: Possibly. I'm not sure.

Q. How much difference mentally do you think there is between, say, top 8, 10, 12 players and the next group or maybe the top 4? In other words, when people play matches, do you think that it's in the head, Hey, I'm playing Federer. This guy is great. Or, Hey, I can go out there and just play with him. Do you have to sort of learn how to play with the top players?

SAM QUERREY: You definitely have to learn. I remember the first time I played Roger when I was 18. I went out there knowing I was gonna lose.

Q. Why?

SAM QUERREY: I was 18. He was like amazing. It was in Miami. It was a night match. I didn't know I was going to lose, but I assumed I was gonna lose. First time, I don't want to embarrass myself out there.But the more that I played, you know, Roger and Rafa and Andy and practiced with them, you know, you take the occasional set off them in practice and take a set here or two in the match and you beat a top 10 guy, then you kind of start to get the belief. You know, even if you know, I beat Roddick next last year who was ranked 7. When you see him beat these guys, it kind of gives you the belief that you could beat these guys too. It definitely takes a couple of years to get used to, you know, practicing with them, playing with them, and, you know, then you can beat them.

Q. Ryan, I believe, said that this is the first time he's beaten a top 20 player. I could be wrong, but I believe that's what he said. Do you remember when you did that, who it was, and what did that do for you?

SAM QUERREY: Yeah, first time I beat a top 20 player...

Q. Or however you remember it.

SAM QUERREY: I remember the first time at Indianapolis I beat James Blake and he was top 10. That was awesome. I remember the feeling. That was the match I had 10 aces in a row, and I think I had 30 in the match.It was kind of a steppingstone of your career. It's really exciting. I'm sure obviously he's pumped up, and I'm sure he'll have a lot more wins like that.



Interview from USOpen.org
Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images

Harrison upsets Ljubicic at the US Open 2010

Harrison upsets Ljubicic at the US Open 2010

Ryan Harrison upset Ivan Ljubicic 6-3 6-7 6-3 6-4 at the US Open first round.

Harrison will play against Sergiy Stakhovsky in the second round.

The young American made it to the main draw after winning 3 qualifying matches.

"To win on this stage here and to take out a top 20 player in the world is definitely the biggest win of my career," he said. "I've always believed in myself. I have always had confidence in myself, so obviously I'm extremely excited and really pleased with what happened.

"But at the same token, I'm really going to look forward to trying to get back into my routines of the day off, and looking forward to trying to get ready for the second round."

"Obviously the more matches you play at a certain level the more comfortable you get," Harrison said. "I mean, that's just kind of the way it is. The more you're in a situation, the more accustomed to it you get. This being only my second main draw of a slam, I took some time to think about it before, looking back at things that I didn't do well and things I did do well. I just took a second to think about how I was playing toward the end of that match (in Australia) and how I was really able to have success, and just tried to tap back into that mentality."

Harrison dictated points from the baseline since the start of the match. He hit high level passing shots and claimed a break at love in the sixth game for a 4-2 lead in the first set.

The second set was on serve until they reached the tie breaker where Ljubicic began to look a bit sluggish and tired but thanks to unforced errors from Harrison, the Croat leveled the match.

In the third set, Harrison broke Ljubicic in the sixth game and then held at love at 5-2 to close out the set.

In the 4th set the young American was able to get a 3-2 advantage. Ljubici managed to break back to even it at 4-4, but Harrison immediately broke him and served out the match.

Harrison is considered one of the top young U.S. players and is the first American male teen to beat a top 20 opponent at a major tournament since a Andy Roddick knocked off No. 11 Alex Corretja at the 2001 U.S. Open.

Before that, you need to go all the way back to 1991, when a Michael Chang beat No. 17 John McEnroe in New York.



Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images

Video: Novak Djokovic: "Shade is like sleeping with my girlfriend!"

Video: Novak Djokovic: "Shade is like sleeping with my girlfriend!"

Novak Djokovic tells Brad Gilbert during an interview after his first round win over Viktor Troicki 6-3, 3-6, 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 that the shade during the match was like sleeping with his girlfriend.

Novak Djokovic heated comeback at US Open

Novak Djokovic heated comeback at US Open

Novak Djokovic battle past Viktor Troicki 6-3 3-6 2-6 7-5 6-3 to reach the second round of the 2010 US open tennis event.

Djokovic suffers a lot when he must play under hot conditions. In 2009 he retired in the Australian Quarterifnals due to heat illness. He also withdrew from Wimbledon due to a blister and the Serbian Open because of breathing problems.

Yesterday, during their match, both players supported temperatures up to 109 Fahrenheit (43 Celsius) but Djokovic refused to quit and gave everything he had.

“I’ve been in those situations before, played a lot of long matches in very difficult conditions, feeling very exhausted,” Djokovic said.

“You kind of start panicking a little bit when you don’t feel great physically. Then your opponent takes the advantage. And it’s not easy. Definitely those moments are very challenging for an athlete.”

Djokovic took the first set but he came out in the second looking tired and out of sorts.

Troicki took advantage of that and thanks to his good serve he claimed the second set to level the match and continued his momentum in the 3rd set as he jumped into a 3-1 lead and kept going all the way until he won it.

In the 4th set, suddenly Djokovic got back into the game, generated big power to win the rallies and Troicki never regained the lead.

In the 5th Troicki started to look exhausted, moved awkwardly for shots and crouching between points, as if his muscles rebelled against the very act of standing.

Djokovic was able to prevailed after a tough battle against a close friend of his.

“We grew up together playing in juniors. We’re practising together for a long time. We know each other since we were I think nine years old,” said Djokovic about Troicki.

“My first tournament in my life that I’ve played, it was under-10, I won my first round and then I played him second round. He destroyed me.”



Source Reuters/usopen.org/Yahoo
Photo Getty Images

Gonzalez concerned about knee injury

Gonzalez concerned about knee injury

Fernando Gonzalez, who was forced to retire from his first round match at the US Open, said he fears for his future as a player because of his knee injury.

“I’m worried and I’ll have to see what will happen,” said Gonzalez. “I’m not thinking about retirement quite yet but I’ve had a really bad six months and, if this was to go on for longer, maybe two years, then I would have to see.”

Gonzalez has a career-high ranking of fifth but has fallen to 29th because of his fitness.

“It’s been 30 weeks out now and I will now take more time out to make the right decision for what I have to do,” he said. “The prognosis isn’t that bad but that doesn’t solve the problem that it’s still really painful.”


Source AP/Reuters
Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images

Nalbandian wins opener at 2010 US open

Nalbandian wins opener at 2010 US open

David Nalbandian beat Rik De Voest 7-6 3-6 6-4 6-7 6-4 to advance to the second round at the US Open.

It was not Nalbandian´s best performance but it was a remarkable demonstration of resilience after 18 months out of continue competition due to injuries.

The match lasted four hours but the result was proof of the Argentine´s will to win.

“It was good,” Nalbandian said. “I didn’t play last year because of the injury … I’m just so happy to be here, I just try to be do my best all the time.”

“(Physically) I feel good so far,” he said. “But, first of all, I just want to enjoy every match I play.”



Source Reuters
Photo Getty Images

Andre Agassi nominated for Tennis Hall of Fame

Andre Agassi nominated for Tennis Hall of Fame

Andre Agassi heads the list of 2011 nominees for the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

Agassi is nominated in the recent player category while Thelma Coyne Long and Christine Truman Janes are nominated in the master player category, and Mike Davies and Fern Lee “Peachy” Kellmeyer in the contributor category.

The inductees will be announced early next year.

Ryan Harrison US Open Interview Wednesday September 1st

Ryan Harrison US Open Interview Wednesday September 1st

Q. You played Ljubicic before this year. You probably watched him for a few years. Was this a good matchup for you? Was it a good matchup going in?

RYAN HARRISON: Yeah, like you said, I played him in Indian Wells. I know kind of what I'm going to get from him. He serves very well. Off the ground he's pretty steady, doesn't miss a lot. He relies on you to make some mental errors and uses his experience and his serve and his ability to play to his advantage. I knew playing him in Indian Wells, I went out there I was pretty nervous. I lost the first set 6 2, but I was able to kind of put myself into a rhythm. Later in the second set -- I actually lost the second set 7 6. Coming out today I was looking forward to getting back into that rhythm and playing as aggressive as possible and using my transition game to help me.

Q. Is this a big step forward in your mind of what you can achieve?

RYAN HARRISON: It's definitely the biggest one of my career so far. So to win on this stage here and to take out a top 20 player in the world is the biggest win of my career. I've always believed in myself. I have always had confidence in myself, so obviously I'm extremely excited and really pleased with what happened.But at the same token, I'm really going to look forward to trying to get back going back into my routines of the day off, and looking forward to trying to get ready for second round.

Q. There's a lot of talk with the McEnroes, John and Patrick, about the future of American tennis. Who is the next big American star. Do you embrace that and want to be that guy?

RYAN HARRISON: Absolutely I want to be that guy. I have a ways to go. I've qualified and still have a ways to go to get there, but I'm definitely working has hard as I can. I'm really putting all the work in. I'm trying to stay open minded with everyone who is giving me their opinion and really trying to listen as much as possible and take in as much as advice as I can. Then just trying to work on the game and work on transitioning up to trying to hopefully being a full time tour player.

Q. Who has given you the best advice?

RYAN HARRISON: Roddick has been helping me since I was 15, 16 years old. Every time I see him, he's always been extremely helpful and really talked to me a lot about some of the things he experienced when he was first coming up. Obviously coaches, Patrick McEnroe, Jay Berger, Diego Moyano is working with me most of the time now. My dad coached me from the time I was two years old, and he's been you know, he's been always there for me, always there to support me throughout my entire career. He's been unbelievable about being on me to stay humble and stay you know, stay I guess just to the point where I can really focus on taking it one at a time and just taking every day as it comes.

Q. Did you really lose to your father in the city championships when you were 11, and what were the scores?

RYAN HARRISON: That's a true statement. He beat me 6 1, 6 3, and it was at Querbes Racquet Club in Shreveport, Louisiana.

Q. What was it like leading into that match?

RYAN HARRISON: With my dad or this one? (Laughter.)

Q. I know this one is bigger. With your dad.

RYAN HARRISON: With my dad? Obviously that was seven years ago, so I think it was more of a fun deal just because it was obviously I mean, obviously I was trying to win. I mean, I'm an 11 year old kid playing my dad. I wanted to win more than anything in the world at the time. But he played on the tour. He played four years in college at Oklahoma State and Ole Miss. He was a good player. He really knew how to play, and has obviously taught me my game since I was really little. So he went out and put a good beating on me, and I took it well. Everything was fine, kept working, went out to the practice court next day.

Q. First time you beat him?

RYAN HARRISON: First time I beat him I was 12. It was about a year later.

Q. Correct me if I'm wrong, you were never ranked higher than 7th in the world as a junior. Are you a late bloomer at 18? What's come on for you now?

RYAN HARRISON: Well, I was never ranked higher than 7 in the world, but I could still play juniors this year. That's the thing. I mean, I started playing pros when I was 16. I made semis in the Australian Open when I was 15. I played the rest of the Slams throughout that year. I got to a point where I felt like I could start making some strides professionally at the Futures level and trying to start qualifying for some pro events. My goal was always to play professional tennis. I always wanted to go out and give myself a chance to play the highest level. Once I felt like I played all the big stages, I played all four Grand Slams, and, you know, I got to 7 in the world like you said, I felt like at that point I could start transitioning to the pro tennis, because I got to experience everything could I as a junior.

Q. Was variety a big thing for your dad? Did it matter to him?

RYAN HARRISON: In my game?

Q. Yeah.

RYAN HARRISON: Definitely. He wanted me to have an all court game where I could you know, I feel like I'm quick enough to play defense when I need to. I'm comfortable playing at the net, and I still can use my forehand and my backhand up the line. I felt like there's a -- you have to have a base of the way you're trying to play and the way you go out there and play people. But the all court game really allows me to kind of taper my opponent a little bit more. Obviously if you have a guy that doesn't pass as well, I will be looking at serving and volleying, transition a little bit more. If you've got a guy that's pretty inconsistent, then at that point I'll use my speed and ability to stay steady from the ground.

Q. Watching you on Court 11, you didn't seem to show a lot of emotion during the match. Is that your style? Are you a calm player, or just trying to stay cool today?

RYAN HARRISON: I usually do show a lot of emotion. I can usually get pretty fired up. I talked to my dad a little bit last night. He was playing three out of five sets, playing in the heat in the midday, you're gonna need to save your energy. You don't want to get extremely fired up early and start getting to a point where you're stressing yourself out and burn off nervous energy that you don't need to burn off.So at that point, I just tried to, you know, pick the right moments. Obviously you can't pick an exact point, but it's more of a feel thing. Toward the later ends of the first set, obviously the tiebreaker in the second set, I was trying to pick myself up and get the crowd involved. And then especially in the beginning of the third set, once I lost the second set and was trying to get back on top, I really was trying to use the crowd there and use the energy to come back in a positive manner. I felt like I did a good job of it.

Q. What are the sort of things that Andy has told you about working at the game and maybe about playing another player? Can you recall any of the specifics of that?

RYAN HARRISON: Um, you know, Andy has always been great about making sure that I keep working hard. I mean, most of the time whenever he's talking to me he's talking to me a lot about working on certain parts of my game. You know, working on X, Y, Z, trying to you know, basically taking me aside and saying, Look, this is going to make you win now in futures and challengers, but you won't be able to do this in two years. So you're gonna need to work on this. And then obviously whenever I play certain players, he'll say, you know, I've played this guy here; this is what I had success with; this is what you do well.

Q. Can you recount the specific for that?

RYAN HARRISON: Um, you know, it depends. It all depends on the match.I mean, for example, you know, like I said before, I'm comfortable playing defense and moving and playing defensively. But at the same token, you're not able to do that at the highest level. I mean, you'll get guys in the futures and challengers to make some mistakes and to kind of give you a little bit more openings. And at this level, you're gonna have to go out there and really earn everything. It's more of a this is my offensive game and this is your offensive game, and I'm going to play and I'm going to try to show you that what I can do is better than what you can do.

Q. What have you learned since you've played in Australia, and do you feel any different coming into this level of a tournament now?

RYAN HARRISON: Obviously the more matches you play at a certain level the more comfortable you get. I mean, that's just kind of the way it is. The more you're in a situation, I guess the more accustomed to it you get. I kind of -- this being only my second main draw of a slam, I took some time to think about it before, looking back at things that I didn't do well and things I did do well. In Australia I lot 6 2, 6 4, 7 6, so clearly as the match got on I got a little bit more comfortable and I got a little bit more closer to playing at that level because I was getting closer in the score. So I just took a second to think about how I was playing toward the end of that match and how I was really able to have success, and just tried to tap back into that mentality. And then obviously I feel like I've improved in the last eight months, and so just try to use some of the things that I do better now.

Q. It's rare for a qualifier to beat a ranked player. You seem like you thought you could do thi. You don't seem overwhelmed by it. Like, Oh, my god I did this.

RYAN HARRISON: Obviously I'm extremely excited. I'm really excited for myself, and I'm really happy. I've got a great team around me. I'm really thankful to have all the great support that I have. By the same token, I have another match; I got second round. So you always hear about everybody, you know, you have a big win and there is a lull match in there that you don't play so well. The entire focus from the time I get back to the hotel tonight till when I play again on Friday is going to be preparation for the second round. Because, you know, at the same token, I'm extremely excited. I did always believe in myself and believed I was capable of doing this. I believe I'm capable of going out and having success again second round.

Q. Ljubicic said that he thought the fact that you came through the quallies as opposed to getting a wildcard probably helped you. Do you feel that's the case?

RYAN HARRISON: Absolutely it did. Playing on these courts week before, winning matches, I mean, winning builds and confidence builds winning. It goes back and forth. But winning those three matches and, you know, getting used to the courts and used to playing a certain style of play has helped me an extreme amount going into today.

Q. What did he say to you afterwards? Anything?

RYAN HARRISON: He just said, Great playing and good luck. He's a class guy. I mean, he's been out here for 12, 15 years, and I have an extreme amount of respect for him and everything he's done and the way, you know, the way his career has been. I think he's been up to No. 3 in the world. Whenever I was coming up as a little kid, seven, eight years old, I used to watch him play on TV in later stages of Grand Slams. So I've always had an extreme amount of respect for him, and I'm really happy to have success today. But at the same token, I think he's a tremendous player. I mean, he's a great player, and he's proved that time and time again for the last 15 years. He was just saying, Good luck and congrats.

Q. What level of schooling have you had?

RYAN HARRISON: My mom was an ex school teacher. She home schooled me and my little brother from the time I was in sixth grade, and then she stayed pretty on me and him from the time we were little about school. Because obviously her being a school teacher, she was able to teach us in a home schooling environment that was better than most home schooling environments would be, because she had the experience of teaching. That's what we've been doing ever since, and I graduated my senior year at a high school last May.

Q. You actually were not in attendance at that school?

RYAN HARRISON: No, I was doing online school.

Q. She was not pushing the college route at all?

RYAN HARRISON: Um, you know, my parents' biggest thing was for me to be happy, me to be doing what I dreamed of doing from the time I was five years old. She's always heard me talk about playing the US Open, playing Wimbledon, or playing professional tennis. So whenever I was presented with an opportunity to sign with IMG, which was turning professional at 15 years old, you know, it wasn't obviously you know, she's never played tennis; she's never played athletics, so she didn't really you know, she didn't really know too much about it. But she knew that this was my dream and this is what I wanted to do. And with my dad obviously playing professionally and throughout college, I'm sure had a lot I haven't asked him specifically but I'm sure he spoke to her about it a lot. They were, you know, they were very supportive of me pursuing my dream, and I'm really thankful to have the support that I do.

Q. Have you trained in Boca with some of the USTA developmental coaches, and what's that experience been like?

RYAN HARRISON: I have been down there training one time. That was the week before the wildcard event for this event, which was a couple days before I came up here. They've been extremely helpful. I mean, most of the time you're on the road, which is kind of the lifestyle of us, and so we're on the road a lot. But at the same token, we're working on things and trying to transition things into our game at the same time we're in actual events, because you're just trying to improve and trying to get better. They have been extremely helpful to me, as well as Nick Bollettieri and those guys in Bradenton.

Q. Have you played a lot of tournaments in hotter weather than this?

RYAN HARRISON: Um, actually last week the wildcard tournament well, two weeks ago. The wildcard tournament in Boca we were playing midday, three out of five sets. I was playing the finals against Tim Smyczek, who beat me there and got a wildcard here. It was probably about 105. The on court temperature was 125 degrees, and there was a complete heat rule in effect the whole time during that event. So training there for a week and a half to two weeks before was great preparation coming up here. Whereas it is extremely hot here and it is tough outside, it's not what it was in Boca.



Interview from USopen.org

US Open 2010: Ivan Ljubicic Interview Wednesday September 1st

US Open 2010: Ivan Ljubicic Interview Wednesday September 1st

Q. Was the serve the biggest problem?

IVAN LJUBICIC: No.

Q. What was the biggest problem?

IVAN LJUBICIC: The weather. The weather was my biggest enemy today. I mean, throughout my career I struggled with the heat. I'm not really coping really well with that, and I tried all kind of different tactics to deal with it. I never find the right one. So today was no different. Then everything else just comes together. I mean, I was not returning well, serving well, and Ryan was on top of his game. When everything gets together, it was pretty comfortable win for him.

Q. What is your issue with the heat? Do you sweat too much?

IVAN LJUBICIC: I sweat a lot, and I just feel really bad. I mean, I can't move, I can't it's just it gets to me really quickly actually. Already in the first set I was struggling with it. It's really physical problem.

Q. Would you be in favor of a heat rule for the men?

IVAN LJUBICIC: I would be in favor of indoor tour altogether, if you ask me. (Laughter.)

Q. No, but seriously, would you...

IVAN LJUBICIC: No, I mean, we saw some players struggling big time, and there is like comments say it's the same thing for everybody, but really not. Somebody is struggling more than others, and I think it's just not fun. I think people out there are coming to see good tennis, and, you know, days like this, it's all about everything except tennis, you know. It's just trying to hang in there and hit some balls more on the court than the other guy or other girl, whoever plays.

Q. Would a break help, 10 minute break?

IVAN LJUBICIC: A break doesn't really help. Australia they have a pretty good rule. When it's too hot, you just don't play. I think that's something that it's sensitive. Now it's where is the limit, that's something that you, you know, the officials need to decide. But, again, some tournaments we have it; some tournaments we don't. When we don't, we have to deal with it, who can, who cannot. That's it. Life goes on.

Q. Hardcourts make it worse?

IVAN LJUBICIC: Definitely. I mean, the concrete, it's just brutal. I mean, you get heat not from not only from the sky, but also from the bottom. So it's definitely not helping.

Q. You've faced him before. What does he do well? He seems to mix it up pretty well.

IVAN LJUBICIC: We played at Indian Wells, but the conditions there are very different. It was much slower court, and it was easier for me to handle him from the baseline. Today was very quick court, and then he played definitely more solid today than he was in Indian Wells. He's 18 year old kid. He definitely is gonna play every day better and better.

Q. Here in the States, we're always looking for the next great player. He's 18 and one of the kids that's talked about. Obviously it's hard to gauge somebody's potential at 18.

IVAN LJUBICIC: I'm really not good in that. I would never say that some top guys did what they did, and other way around. So I would really try not to make any comments of that. But he's definitely good, good player. I mean, he qualified here, which is, I think, great for him. You know, not just to get wildcards left and right whenever he needs and really try to struggle through the quallies. That definitely helped him for today's match, as well.

Q. Are you playing next year? Have you made that decision?

IVAN LJUBICIC: I haven't made that decision yet, no.

Q. Is it in the balance, or how's it looking for you at this point?

IVAN LJUBICIC: I don't know. If I find the right motivation to work hard and go back there and compete, I will. But, I mean, you know, it's not like I'm thinking about it. I just want to do this season and then take a nice, long break and then see what then, you know. There's time to make those decisions.

Q. Do you think if you hadn't won at Indian Wells that that decision would be kind of made by now?

IVAN LJUBICIC: I wouldn't think that I would or I'm gonna make that decision based on my performance. It's just really about motivation, if you're able to go out there and work hard other than play. Because playing, it's never a problem. It's really, you know, that December workout for four, five weeks that you basically never touch the ball and you have to do all the physical work. That's something that it's -- you gonna feel it. I think you gonna feel it if you're up or not for the next season. So we'll see.

Q. You're a veteran. I'm wondering if through the years the amount of hair gel players are using has increased.

IVAN LJUBICIC: Well, it's definitely a problem. (Laughter.) No, the guys are it's difficult. The older you get, the more difficult it is, of course.

Q. But are you surprised? I mean, when you came on tour, did you see that there was as much use of that as there is today?

IVAN LJUBICIC: No. Well, depends of the mentality of the player. Doesn't really mean you know, some guys are really careful how they look. The others don't. So it's up to them. For me, it's not about a look, but it's not like I have something to play with. (Laughter.)


Interview from USOpen.org

Watch Tennis US Open Live Online Free Video Streaming

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Watch 2010 US Open Tennis Online

Wednesday September 1st 2010
2010 US Open Tennis Championship
Grand Slam
New York City, U.S.A.
30 August-12 September, 2010
US Open Day 3 Order of Play

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Rafael Nadal US Open Interview Tuesday August 31st

Rafael Nadal US Open Interview Tuesday August 31st First Round

Q. Do you prefer to have a night like tonight to start a tournament: a very difficult match to get under your belt? Or would you rather play for an hour and 10 minutes and get it over with?

RAFAEL NADAL: I prefer play one hour and 10 minutes. Win easier, no? Everybody wants win easier. That's no excuse about that, no?

I think that no one wins easy, no? Roger did last night. Djokovic, very tough match today. Soderling five sets win yesterday.

So no one match is easy, especially in a big tournaments, no? The pressure's there. You play against players that they don't have much to lose, so they play aggressive. This is difficult to stop.

I had a difficult match, but I think I did play well.

Q. Did you feel like you played well other than the serve? Were you happy with all the parts of your game?

RAFAEL NADAL: Well, my serve worked very well tonight. There have been a few aspects. The concentration was high all the time. The forehand is working well. The backhand is not that bad that I had last weeks. So improves a little bit. Just remains a little bit of this confidence to have a little bit more, you know, to improve a little bit that level, to go to the next step.

That's the only thing for me, to remain, to play with a little bit more aggressive, a little bit more calm. The basic things I think are in the really right way.

Q. You said on court you know you have to serve well to win here. Have you been working on that a lot this summer?

RAFAEL NADAL: All my life I worked a lot on my serve (smiling). Not this summer, no; all my life.

Q. When you go out in a first‑round match against a guy who could be dangerous, do you say, I don't want to play too crazy because maybe I can get into a bad situation, so maybe I'll play a little more safe and see what happens?

RAFAEL NADAL: No, is difficult go first round and play crazy and play aggressive and play like if you are playing the final, no, because you need this confidence during all the tournament to play like you do in one final, no?

So you go on court. I know Gabashvili very well. You go on court knowing he gonna play aggressive. He gonna go for the big shots. So I just tried before the match to think that I have to play regular all the time. I have to be very focused on my serve and I gonna have chances on the return in a few moments, no?

If I gonna be well with my serve, on the return for sure I gonna have my chances. I had, and I had a few terrible mistakes with the breakpoints. So I went for two tiebreaks. Is important for the confidence. I played well the two tiebreaks, I think.

Q. You were hitting 130 miles an hour on your serve. Is there a change on your serve, or it had to do with the conditions or what?

RAFAEL NADAL: And wait. Wait for the next one, I going for 135 (smiling).

No, I am trying to serve a little bit more like Wimbledon because the ball here is very soft. Is not getting a lot of topspin. I try to play a little bit more flat. And for that reason, I am serving faster, I think. That's it.

Q. Talk about playing Istomin. He's played pretty well the last few weeks.

RAFAEL NADAL: Yeah, he's playing well. He had a very good tournament in New Haven. Yeah, sure is difficult opponent, good player. I played against him in the second round of Queen's. I had a very difficult match, 7‑6 in the third ‑‑ 7‑5 in the third.

Well, is really close than the match of today, I think. But he plays a little bit more calm than Gabashvili. So, I don't know, I just have to keep playing like I did today, a little bit more aggressive, a little bit more confidence. That's it.

Q. Are you as comfortable at this Grand Slam as you are at the others?

RAFAEL NADAL: Is the more difficult for me, especially I think because the ball. The ball is the more difficult thing for me because the ball I think is more easy to play that ball for the players when they have the flat shots, no? That's much easier for them than for the topspin players. That's the only thing.

But I won Olympics with this ball. I won in Beijing in 2005 with this ball. I can do it.

Q. You're about ready to unveil your new, big, flat forehand?

RAFAEL NADAL: That's almost impossible. The thing is play with topspin, but play very aggressive all the time, play with very high rhythm. That's the way.

Q. There's a doubles player here who is playing with a two‑handled racquet.

RAFAEL NADAL: I met him.

Q. Does that strike you as crazy?

RAFAEL NADAL: For me, yes (smiling). For me, yes. For me is no reason to play like this, yeah. Is add the complication on the game, you know.


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Novak Djokovic US Open Interview Tuesday August 31st

Novak Djokovic US Open Interview Tuesday August 31st First Round

Q. When you were talking to Brad on the court afterwards, you alluded to fan support that you received that helped you turn things around out there. Can you comment on that?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, especially from the first couple of rows in the stadium court, you could hear people what they say. Most of the comments throughout the whole match was positive my way. They tried to kind of lift me up. I had, of course, big support from my box. It was difficult for all those people even to sit on that heat. Yeah, I'd just like to thank everybody who was with me, kind of give me strength and wings to turn the match around.

Q. While you were playing, it was 109 degrees on the court. Talk about that experience.

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, look, you know, it was very hot. It was just very hot. It's same for everybody. That's all basically I can say. You know, heat issue is something that, you know, it's just there. You cannot affect it. The weather is weather. You just have to try to be patient and wait for the shadows, like I did (smiling).

Q. What is your worst, hottest, most uncomfortable moment out there?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Look, I've been in those situations before, played a lot of long matches in very difficult conditions, feeling very exhausted. You know, you kind of start panicking a little bit when you don't feel great physically. Then your opponent takes the advantage. And it's not easy. Definitely those moments are very challenging for an athlete. But I overcomed it once again and this is what matters most to me.

Q. When you start to panic, talk about that moment.

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I just told you. I mean, I don't want to get into that too much. I mean, I just talked about heat issues too much. I'd just like to keep it simple.

Q. What was the turning point for you? What did you find that helped you to turn things around out there?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I guess middle of the fourth set is when I started kind of reading his serve a little bit better, especially on the advantage side. When I made the break, it obviously gave me more confidence and I got back into the match. Then I had, more or less his every serve game, chances till the end of the match. I was just trying to tell to myself, Okay, you know, he makes a serve winner. He was serving extremely well. The whole match he was serving unbelievable. I never saw him serve that way, which gave him a lot of free points, a lot of aces, winners, things like that. So I just tried to tell myself, Hang in there, you know, the chance will come. He will get tired, as well. Under those conditions, in a long match, he did. When I got the chance, I used it. You know, I got the match.

Q. How well do you two know each other? What is the history of your backgrounds?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: We know each other for a very long time. We grew up together playing in juniors. We're practicing together for a long time. We know each other since we were I think nine years old. My first tournament in my life that I've played, first match officially, it was under 10. I won my first round and then I played him second round. He destroyed me. We keep on talking about that. But we are very good friends for a long time already. We won many things together with Davis Cup, a lot of matches. We won European team championship under 18 together. So we share a lot of nice moments. It's never easy to play a good friend on the court. Just bad luck for him today because he's been playing really well, you know, lately. Today he was the better player on the court for a while. Just too bad.

Q. Is it an added challenge to play with someone you have an emotional connection with?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: It is. You try to put the winning attitude when you step into the court. You're a professional. You have to do what you have to do. You have to try to win regardless of who is across the net. There is always in some moments a little more respect, just better behavior to the opponent because he's your close friend.

Q. You said you never have seen him serve like that.

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yep.

Q. What was different today?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, he made a lot of aces. As I said, he made a lot of free points. I don't know the statistic, but I'm sure it's around 80% of the first serve in throughout the whole match. Was incredibly efficient, good angles, giving himself an easy shots after that. It was just a big weapon for him.

Q. Have you seen the Federer video on the Internet when he knocks the can off somebody's head?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: No.

Q. Did you see the replay or the actual live shot of his tween the legs shot last night?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: No. I've seen it live last year passing next to me (smiling). That's enough traumatic experiences for me. Today when Viktor tried to do the same thing, I said, No, no, please. He was running for the ball between the legs. Please miss it. Please don't embarrass me again.

Q. When it happened last year, did you see the moments of your lives pass...

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: They keep on repeating that. I mean, it's amazing shot. Just incredible. At that stage, as well. It was the last game. You know, once in a while you get that shot.

Q. It had a lot of zip on it. It wasn't just putting it back in play.

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I got to the net. I did what my coach wanted me to do: covered the long line. I was just standing there, following the ball. Okay. Everybody applause. I applause.

Q. As somebody who does very good imitations, is that something you can imitate?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: No, definitely not. I am not as good as he is in that. I'd like to be very careful with my racquet (smiling). You know what I mean.

Q. You made a comment about sleeping with your girlfriend out on the court. What was that analogy to?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I don't know. He asked me for the comparison of the feeling, what kind of feeling was it to feel the shade. The sun came down and I didn't have any more heat, what kind of feeling was it. It just came up to me. It's one of the best feelings, I guess, when you're sleeping with your close one. So I compare it to that.

Q. Must have felt good.

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: It felt unbelievable (smiling). Let's get back to tennis now (laughter).


Photo by Michael Heiman/Getty Images
Interview from USOpen.org

US Open Photos: Novak Djokovic vs Viktor Troicki

US Open Photos: Novak Djokovic vs Viktor Troicki

Novak Djokovic beat Viktor Troicki in his first round men's single's match on day two of the 2010 U.S. Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center... Djokovic needed 5 sets but was able to walk out of the court with the win... His girlfriend, Jelena Ristic, was there suffering and supporting him...

Enjoy some great tennis photos from this match....








Photos AP/AFP/Getty Images