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N. DJOKOVIC/A. Murray 7-6, 4-6, 6-0
An interview with: NOVAK DJOKOVIC
THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.
Q. Congratulations.
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Thank you.
Q. Talk about first of all obviously brutal conditions from one side of the court.
You guys cut your serves like in half. All the breaks occurred there. What was it like out there?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: You described it in a good way. It was just very tough, brutal conditions for both of us.
First set was really up and down for both of us, and we tried to stay mentally tough, both of us, and kind of hang in there, battle, and wear down the other player physically.
There were lots of exchanges, a lot of long rallies. I was expecting that coming into the match, but one thing is to really expect and the other is to really experience it and really go through it on the court.
So wasn't easy, but as I said, it was the same for both players. I played a good tiebreak; managed to hang in there. Wasn't really a great
tennis display. A lot of unforced errors.
But in these conditions you just want to try to stay with the other player and extend the punching exchange and try to wait for the opportunities. I did have some opportunities in the beginning of the second set where I maybe could have gotten the break and maybe win the match in straight sets, but he came back. He played better in the second.
Then the third the beginning was, again, important part. First two games were pretty long. I managed to win those. After that, I felt like he was
getting tired. That's where the momentum was on my side. But generally it was just a physical battle between the two of us that play similar game. You know, we haven't served that well, so we haven't had that many free points, as a matter of fact. With first or second serve we needed to earn every single point, to work for it.
That's why this particular match was very tough.
Q. Earlier in the week you said about life is good. Without jinxing you, is this another 2011 we're looking at right now.
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I hope so, but it's just the beginning. I don't want to predict anything.
I don't want to put some additional unnecessary pressure on myself. There is already a lot of expectations of course. Everywhere I go I have to
deal with it.
But I could not ask for a better start of the season winning three big titles. Hopefully I'm able to use this for the clay court coming up. That's extremely important for me obviously leading up to French.
We'll see. I feel good about myself right now on the court, and just going to take it slowly, one tournament at a time.
Q. Nole, you made your second Masters 1000 double two years in a row.
Seems like you're playing your best tennis. You're so confident against your top opponents, like Nadal, Federer, even Andy, and you showed it today. Do you feel like it's really Nole time?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I'm trying to enjoy the moment and also utilize this time of my career where I'm probably playing the tennis of my life and I'm feeling confident and physically fit.
I'm trying to use that. That's what I'm thinking about right now. I am aware that this cannot go forever. There is going to be eventually a change of generations, some players that are going to start playing better and be stronger.
But until that time comes, I'm going to try to stay as long as I can on the top and fight for biggest titles.
Q. You are also the first player in history to have this double, Indian Wells Miami, for the third time. Do you keep track on those records, and what does it say on your domination and what do you feel regarding this?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, it's obviously nice and flattering to hear that I have achieved another record. Of course I do pay attention of that. Any kind of achievement that goes into history books I'm hugely proud of and I appreciate it very much, because I work hard for it and I do cherish it.
Again, it's not something that obviously takes away my discipline. It just allows me to motivate myself even more. Just going to try and keep the same routine and mindset so far which helped me to achieve all these results.
Q. As the third set was unfolding, did you have thoughts about what happened in Melbourne with the fourth set going 6-Love as well?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Not really. I just tried to stay in the moment and win every single game that I played in that third set. I didn't want to
give him an opportunity to come back. I think it was 4-Love game that went also the distance. We played a lot of points.
I heard a couple times he was encouraging himself saying, Come on after he saved some break points. You could see he felt that maybe that's the game that if he would win that he can come back maybe. He was trying as well; he was battling.
Just I played a very good third set and allowed myself to win another title.
Q. I want to ask about at the end of the second set, that little towel grab and exchange where you got a warning. Can you explain that?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I'm sorry, because I didn't pay attention on the ball boy and I just screamed at my box. As a matter of fact I haven't cursed at all in my language, but chair umpire gave me a warning about that.
Q. You were you yelling in frustration?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yes. I was yelling in frustration, yes.
Q. Do you ever feel like matches like this, when you know how much you have to fight to beat Andy, do you ever just say, It's just not going to happen today? Do you ever doubt yourself in your mind that it's going to happen?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Of course I go through moments of doubt, as everybody else. I'm sure that every player, every professional athlete, has some moments of doubt when they feel like they're not as confident on the court.
But it's important to keep those moments short, and when they happen, to kind of reset your mindset to the positive approach and encouragement.
So that's what happened today. Even though I lost the second set, even though it's frustrating, when I sat down on the set changeover, I did have another inner talk and kind of switched to a positive encouragement and stimulation. I just gathered my thoughts and all the energy into right direction, and that helped.
Q. Is there something about Andy, because you go back so far and you know probably how dangerous he is, that's kind of a mental trigger for you to fight through the fatigue barrier perhaps more than you might do against others?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, I'm aware of his qualities and tennis that he can play, the shots that he possesses and the talent, the potential.
He's also multiple Grand Slam winner and somebody that knows how to play and perform on the big stage.
He's won so many big titles, so he deserves respect and he deserves to be where he is: in the finals of big events. That's why he's tough to play against. He's one of my biggest rivals, there is no doubt about that. I do sometimes play well; sometimes I don't. That's also because he plays well.
We play very similar styles game so we do push each other. It's like playing cat and mouse game trying to outplay the opponent and outsmart him in certain kind of types of points.
But majority of the points that we play against each other are very long, lot of long exchanges, and it's just physically very demanding.
That's something I expect whenever I play him.
Q. Can you talk a little bit about your fitness routine and how you've made that such a big weapon of your game and how you've really transformed that part of your game from your early career?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, that was a big improvement I think in my career just to be able to sustain that consistency in fitness throughout the
whole year regardless of the amount of tournaments or matches that I play.
So of course big contribution is given by my fitness coach and the entire team that makes sure that I'm fit and I'm able to perform on a high
level consistently throughout the year.
Of course there is times of the year or matches like today that you do go down at times and you feel tired and exhausted, because also I have played in the last month and a half many matches traveled a lot. So I felt the consequence of that a little bit today.
I managed to, again, rely on the energy supply that I have in my legs and my fitness to basically, you know, hold on and make it through, all the way through the match and play the third set the way I have played, like I haven't really been exhausted too much even though we played over two and a half hours.
So that's something that I definitely, I would say, you know, credit or benefit to my fitness, which is a big part of it. But it's not the only
thing. Obviously tennis is an individual and very complex sport. It requires a right balance between the physical preparation and mental strength and emotional, I would say, calmness and self-belief.
You kind of holistically need to approach it and be at your top.
Q. The other qualities you just mentioned, I guess they're a factor in that you've now won ten finals in a row, whereas before you had a period where you were struggling in finals. Has Boris been helpful in that? Something that's come with maturity?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, certainly he has been contributing to my mental approach to these big matches, tournaments. We talk a lot about the way I need to handle the emotions on the court and how I need to direct my thoughts and prepare myself for fighting and for battling and winning these trophies. So I'm sure that he's been a big part of this success.
Q. Novak, one question about Davis Cup: Will you play in July in Buenos Aires?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: That's still far away. I don't know yet. I don't know. It's hard to say at moment.
Q. With your win today you have 22 Masters, putting you just one behind Federer.
The more and more you start to pile on the accomplishments the more we hear your name in the greatest of all-time discussions. Do you feel like you've done enough in your career that you feel like you belong in these discussions, or you feel like you have a long way to go?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: It's hard for me to judge if I deserve or not to be part of those discussions. But if I do hear that I'm part of those
discussions, that's something that of course makes me very happy and kind of gives a nice credit to what I have achieved so far in my career.
But I still believe that I have many more years in front of me, and hopefully I'll be able to deserve even more to be part of those discussions.
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Photo Source: Al Bello/Getty Images North America
