Monday, 13 May, 2012

An interview with: Rafael Nadal

Q: Rafa, how was your fishing day the other day. NADAL: Good. I had a day off in Majorca the other day. My first feeling after the match was to come to Rome to the next day but after talking to the people around me we decided to come home for some days and spend some time with my sister. She lives in Barcelona and I don't have a lot of time to see her so I spent some time with her and with my family and fishing on Friday morning early. Being in the middle of the sea with fantastic weather and I was able to swim a little and so it was fantastic for me. 
Q: What do you expect form your fishing week here in Rome?
NADAL: Just the same. Try my best – try to play my best and if I am able to do it then I will have the chance to have a good result…..but just to do the same and try to play like I did in Monte Carlo and Barcelona and we got back to normal conditions and that makes the ….. readapt to play and I have 3 practices in the clay – once in Majorca and yesterday here --- today is was very windy and difficult to practice but the feeling is there and I am happy how I am playing. 
Q: …[inaudible]….
NADAL: I didn't understand nothing.
Q: Do you compare your opponent to a type of fish.
NADAL: A lot of history about my fishing day. The fishes are there – I cannot see nobody when I am there – and I can see the opponent – it is a different history – I don't understand rivals – we are here in the same tour and we are colleagues and we have to play against each other and I try my best to compete and beat as many as I can.
Q: Before coming here – you met Novak – did you talk to him about soccer or about the blue clay the other day. 
NADAL: We have always a good relationship with each other. We always talk about things but when I talk about someone I don't say what I talk about …. The blue clay is past and I said what I had to say in Madrid about my feelings about that. My feelings are there .----- my goal now is Roma and I don't think about blue clay I think of Roland Garros. I lost and I didn't have the level that I needed to win. I am here in Rome and it is one of my favourite tournaments and I love playing here – I always have a fantastic feeling playing here I love the crown and its always a big emotion to come back to this fantastic place – I am motivated to play my best. 
Q: We has such a fantastic final with yourself and Novak..
NADAL: For him
…[Laughter]….
Q: Well, it was a great match to watch. NADAL: Well, 64 64 – it wasn't such a great match to watch. 
Q: I'd like to know what you have to do to beat Novak or whoever you might have if you want to win this time. 
NADAL: I will think about Mayer – I lost him in Shanghai last year and so let me think about the first round. It is stupid to think about the final now –I don't know any tournament that starts with the final. You know – here we are in a Masters 1000 and so you have a lot of good players and every point is difficult but I will try my best since the first round and if I am able to play my best I will go to the final. 
Q: Given that the conditions were so different last week, was it that Federer was able to adapt better that a lot of players and does this show how the conditions can affect a tournament. 
NADAL: I said before about last week – its over and I think about Rome ……..Federer is a fantastic player – probably the best in history and probably the best to adapt to every court but that is the sport and tennis… That is the real thing and the problem is not to adapt to the court but the conditions have to be similar to every court. If we think about changing the balls to play every tournament with the same balls for the clay court season and then this is possible but then we play on different courts. How strange is that. I don't know why we are talking about the tournament. I want to congratulate Roger and that's it. 
Q: Now with the Olympics, you are the only current player to have a gold in the singles. Would it be particularly special to win another at Wimbledon. NADAL: No – Wimbledon aren't an Olympics. 
Q: No, I wasn't going to say. Would the gold medal be more of a priority that winning another Grand Slam.
NADAL: I am thinking of Rome now and that is the real thing. Every tournament is very important. Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the Olympics and to win any of these is fantastic and so I cannot say I prefer the Olympics so Wimbledon and I will be there and try my best in every moment and have the right result to compete then this will be a dear form. Wimbledon is difficult because you play the best of five sets and you play on a surface where sometimes the match is decided in a few balls – you can imagine how I will be playing the best of thee in the Olympics. It is the perfect tournament for surprises and for perfect scores and so it is going to be a big challenge for everyone.  The Olympics are probably the most important event is sport – in tennis we are lucky to have a fantastic tour – Olympics are probably the most difficult event to win for a tennis play. When you start your career you can probably have one change or two change to win the Olympics – you can have three but you have a very long career and the timing has to be good. This is why it is difficult and I am lucky to have won.
Q: Is it important to get into second place before Roland Garros.
NADAL: I don't know how things are in the race. I know I am 100 points behind Roger with is like 500 points or 550 behind Novak. My positions not bad – I had a good start of the season – 2 or 3 hard matches – the final in Australia – that made a big decision with 100 points and semi finals in Miami I didn't play for an injury of the knee and last week with the conditions. That is a tournament which is usually a favourite for my game. That is why I am number 3 in the race and not number 2. I am happy I am in Rome to keep playing as I play – to arrive with number 2 or 3 isn't going to change my game. If you are number 2 or 3 then that doesn't change. You just have to win. You have to win in the semi finals – even if you are number 2 or 3 doesn't make a big difference and I want to keep playing and end the clay court season and start the grass court season. 
Q: Rafa – you seem to track the rankings. You seem to know what points you have and what the other players have. Do also the other players do this?
NADAL: I think everybody follows. I don't know much about the entry – seriously but the race says what you have been doing during the season. When I start the season in January I see it like a league – a soccer league – you start and then you finish and the entry is there bit the race is when you know how you are doing – but the race is the real points that you are playing …. That is the real thing that I follow.  You start from zero and you finish at number 6 or number 5 and then you come back to zero again, that is my way of seeing sport. 

 
Now the transcript:

 Q. Can you talk about the rain and what happened yesterday at all?

RAFAEL NADAL: You watch me on the TV or not?

Q. Yeah, I did.

RAFAEL NADAL: You want me to repeat everything?

Q. Well, wondering if anything has changed since then to your match today. Andy Roddick had to move courts. Just curious if you've changed...

RAFAEL NADAL: I don't know what's going on with the match between Andy and David. I don't know exactly how was the situation. I normally don't talk a lot about the things I don't know. So I prefer ask them what's happening, and that's it. Is from another match, so they gonna have better information than myself. I was playing.

Q. How hard was it for you to start the match today knowing you were down 3-Love, down a break, and you had to think about it overnight and come back out today and start another day?

RAFAEL NADAL: It's best of five. Playing against Muller, he has fantastic serve, so I know I can go on court and lose the first set. That's the normal thing, no? But I go on court, try my best every in moment and trying to produce any opportunity to have the break back. I did. I had the break. I was very happy, because I started the match with good feelings. It's not easy because he plays aggressive, he plays with mistakes, but at the same time with winners. So it's difficult to have the right rhythm against him.

Q. At the start of the seventh game, were you thinking that that was the time to break him? You were very active in the return of service.

RAFAEL NADAL: In the 4-2, seventh game?

Q. Right.

RAFAEL NADAL: I try my best in every return. (Smiling.) I don't feel more active in that game than other games. I felt that if I don't have the break there gonna be very difficult to have the break later, because with the 4-2, I have to go back to the other side against the wind with new balls, 5-2. So I thought that if I don't have that break with the 4-2 to 4-3 I gonna lose the first set.

Q. Specifically about today, what do you think about your game is working and what do you think really put him off balance?

RAFAEL NADAL: I think I did well. I did what I had to do. I served with high percentage. I don't have a lot of unforced errors. I had very few. When I had the chance to attack, I did. I played few fantastic passing shots today. That's important against one player like Muller. For the rest, I said before, is difficult to find the rhythm, to hit six, seven, eight balls with good feeling against a player like Muller. But what I can do, I did well.

Q. You're looking at playing four matches in four days, possibly.

RAFAEL NADAL: I am in quarterfinals.

Q. Right. But the person from your side of the draw to emerge will have to play four matches in four days.

RAFAEL NADAL: That's not fair, but that's what it is. Here in the Grand Slams, if I am in the position of the US Open or Wimbledon or Australia, Roland Garros, I will do the same. Why not? I had a lot of interesting meeting with the TV, with everybody, that for sure is better to have the final on Sunday for them. But not for the players, because our part of the draw will be in a very difficult situation for the player who will be in the final. The semifinals maybe, too, because two days in a row playing tough matches is difficult. The matches, quarterfinals, semifinals, four rounds of Grand Slam normally are tough matches. If you don't have rest, you have a big chance not be enough fit to play well the next match. But the problem is we need to have the right representation in these tournaments. You know, I don't know how, but things like this cannot happen. Having the semifinals on Saturday, you know, is something crazy for the players. Last year it was the final on Monday. So is something that in my opinion cannot happen, and the players are important part of the show. My opinion. No, the tournament -- I said is not only the players, the tournament is not important without the players. Is a big tournament, and that's the true. The US Open is -- probably more important is the US Open than the players, but the players are a big part of this show. The fans are a big part of this show. Yesterday you cannot like fans going on court for five, ten minutes, because never stops the rain. So the problem, in my opinion, is not the organization of the US Open. The problem is we don't have enough power in these kind of tournaments. That's what have to change very soon.

Q. Last night when you left here, can you speak about what you did, when you got to sleep. Was it difficult to sort of come down off the night?

RAFAEL NADAL: Calm down? I'm very calm. (Laughter.) Seriously. I was upset when I went on court raining. That's upset for me, but I am a really quiet guy. Seriously, you know, I went to sleep earlier than ever, and finally I did. I slept at 11:00.

Q. Don't you think that players have some responsibility if situation is like this? Don't you think that already in the past the players should have done something to fight against a Super Saturday? They should have done something to avoid the first round that ends on Wednesday and all those kind of things? Because you have more power than you think, but you should be more united than you are. That's my opinion.

RAFAEL NADAL: Thank you.

Q. I want to know you, what you think about it.

RAFAEL NADAL: About?

Q. About all this, what I said.

RAFAEL NADAL: I think the players have a good union. We don't want to fight with nobody. We don't like the problems from yesterday. We like to be here. We like to be in good relationships with everybody. The problem is to change situations seems like for the right way is impossible. So probably we have to find another way.

Q. To just follow up on that, there are people...

RAFAEL NADAL: If you want to keep talking about that, you know, I am not feeling very comfortable, especially because sometimes the words can be too hard, but is for my English. My arguments can be less than usual for my English. So if you want to talk about next match, if you want to talk about, I am happy. But keep talking about that, for me in English will be tough. I said what I have to say, and I don't feel any more comfortable talking about that, especially because my English is not enough good to talk about that.

Q. Can you just say what kind of reaction you've gotten from other players who maybe weren't even here yesterday but heard what you and the Andys did?

RAFAEL NADAL: Everybody's agree. I think everybody's agree that these things have to change. We don't wanted in the past to change the situation without doing the right things. Was impossible talking. I have to talk with the players. We have to talk together at meetings and everything. But we have to fight stronger to have more power or, you know, I said before... (Spanish.) BENITO PEREZ: Representatives, feel that they have more power, more things to say so that they can be better represented.

Q. Would you address the topic of your next match, as you suggested, facing Andy Roddick? How would you describe that challenge for you?

RAFAEL NADAL: The match is not over. It's two sets to love, but David is back up. Andy is a fantastic player. He's having one of the best careers, being in the top players for, I don't know, 11 years, 10 years, 9 years. That's a lot. That's amazing. So I have big respect for Andy, especially he's very tough to be there for a long time and he did. So will be a big test for me if I play against him. Even if I play against David Ferrer. Quarterfinals, the matches must be very tough, and that's what's gonna happen, gonna be a very difficult match against Andy, against David, because that's the normal thing.




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