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Tuesday, January 10, 2006
Kooyong Press Conference
By AAMI Classic Official Site
TRANSCRIPT OF AAMI CLASSIC PRESS CONFERENCE HELD AT KOOYONG LAWN TENNIS CLUB ON TUESDAY 10/1/2006:
INTRODUCTION OF PLAYERS AND ANNOUNCEMENT OF DRAW BY HOST
HOST:
Roger, you've started the year particularly well; obviously you're over all your injury concerns?
ROGER FEDERER: Yes, I would say so, for sure. I'm very pleased about it actually because after Shanghai I was wondering how it's going to turn out to be. My foot got really stiff, I need to still work on the foot, and to start off the year the way I did and the movement has been good so I'm happy to say that I can play at 100 per cent again.
Q: You won a magnificent trophy in Qatar. What do you do with a sword?
ROGER FEDERER: What do you do with a sword? I don't know. I got two now. It's good. I will take it to practice, maybe.
Q: Andy, another solid year for you in 2005. All these youngsters keep bobbing up all over the tennis circuit, is that a concern to you at all, does that make you concentrate any harder, work any harder off the court?
ANDY RODDICK: No, I just have to make sure to bring my walker to the courts and back every day. No, I mean, that's the way tennis is, it's cyclical, and I think it's exciting having players like Gael and Berdych played well and Nadal is leading the way, I think it's exciting to see a new generation coming forth. I don't like it but it's good for the game and these guys are good personalities, which will help.
Q: Ivan, welcome to you and congratulations on the Davis Cup performance. Is it starting to die down back home now, the excitement?
IVAN LJUBICIC: Just about, I guess. It was a fantastic success, obviously the crowd was really excited about it and now we have also two events in Croatia so tennis is becoming a big sport back home.
Q: Was that your greatest achievement so far in tennis?
IVAN LJUBICIC: Of course, by far.
Q: Anything that you've done ranked anywhere near?
IVAN LJUBICIC: Olympic medal, bronze medal in doubles is also a nice achievement but obviously nothing even close to this.
Q: Guillermo, welcome back to you and all the best for you in 2006. I just wonder whether this is the perfect way to have a buildup for the Australian Open, a Grand Slam event, being able to play in succession some of the world's best players?
GUILLERMO CORIA: It is important for him to play this tournament ....
Q: We wish you all the best. It was a difficult question to translate, by the way. David Nalbandian is joining us again and, David, it's always good to see you down here in Australia. I was reading recently about the way that you like play your tennis and the tactics that you like to employ. Do you enjoy the fact that players find it difficult to play against you?
DAVID NALBANDIAN: I always find difficult playing against them. I really enjoy playing tennis and move the opponents in the front of the net always is fun but I always try to do my best, I really enjoy my tactics.
Q: Tommy, how have you spent the break? You've been on the circuit for a while, do you need to rest your body or have you been training all the way through?
TOMMY HAAS: To be honest, I've had enough breaks with my injuries in the past two to three years so I'm happy to be injury‑free, enjoy my time off, obviously trying to get ready for this year and I had a pretty good start, I would say, the last week and happy to play against these guys this week and give it my best this year and see what happens.
Q: Gael, you had an interesting match‑up last week against Roger. Was that a great opportunity for you to see how much further you have to go as a tennis player to be at the top?
GAEL MONFILS: Yes, it was a good experience for me. I hope I will maybe next time improve a bit, maybe to take one set or take the match....
Q: You spent a bit of time out on the court with him, did you notice any weaknesses in his game?
GAEL MONFILS: Yes, a little bit.
Q: Would you look forward to playing him again this week, Roger?
ROGER FEDERER: I hope in the finals, not on the other finals.
Q: Nicholas, welcome to you. I guess it's a great thing for you to be able to be part of this tournament in the lead‑up to the Australian Open?
NICHOLAS KIEFER: Yes, of course I'm very happy and thanks to Colin and everybody who makes this happen here. I didn't expect it but then all of a sudden I got a call and it's a great warm‑up and good matches.
Q: In a tournament like this, do you look for weaknesses or is it a chance to experiment with your own game against some of the world's best players?
NICHOLAS KIEFER: You have three good matches and you can try some different things and try to be ready for next week.
HOST:
What we are going to do now is throw it open to the media for questions.
Q: Roger, this time of the year attention is always drawn, particularly for the world number one player, as to what their chances are of winning a Grand Slam and whether that actually appears on their radar at all. Is that something that you could be aiming for this year?
ROGER FEDERER: To win a Grand Slam?
Q: To win The Grand Slam.
ROGER FEDERER: I don't know. We'll know in three weeks if that's still an issue. It was very quickly gone after I lost the semis last year but, to be honest, I don't think about it; it's way too much and the guys on tour are so tough and on every surface you have basically experts so it makes it hard but it would obviously be nice to start off the year in great style and win the Aussie Open but that I know is very hard to do.
Q: Is it a motivating factor at all, the prospect that you could win The Grand Slam?
ROGER FEDERER: It's for everybody the same, isn't it? I think everybody should be excited about the new year.
Q: Roger, this time last year you took out the AAMI Classic after Doha but had a few injury concerns. How do you compare yourself to last year?
ROGER FEDERER: Obviously the injury, this last one I had, was the ankle, it was more serious than the injury I had two years ago ‑ it was just a little tear in my thigh, this year it was the ankle and obviously I felt better coming into last year as Doha and Kooyong but now after I played at Doha I feel good and I'm also hitting the ball well and we will see how Kooyong goes but I've been here in Sydney, practiced with Tony already, so I'm used to the heat and the conditions and this tournament I know it now, after playing it twice. I'm feeling good but I think maybe last year I would felt even a little better because of the injury.
Q: Lleyton has obviously had some time off for injury and also becoming a dad and now the news yesterday that he is suffering from a stomach bug. Do you still see him as your number one threat in the Australian Open?
ROGER FEDERER: Well, he's definitely a hot favourite because of the home crowd support and the great run he had here last year, just the good player he is, but then again we have other great players, many of them sitting here at the table, all of them, and it's going to be extremely hard. I see as usual four Grand Slams at the moment, big number of guys who have got a shot to win the first Grand Slam of the year.
Q: Andy, Andre hurt himself playing racquet ball. Have you now added that to your list of things not to do?
ANDY RODDICK: I think that's kind of a fluke thing. We play tennis all year, moving side to side on our ankles now all of a sudden he plays racquet ball and turns it, I think that's just unfortunate but it's not one of my hobbies so I don't have to worry about cutting it out.
Q: Do you have to be careful about what you do or don't do when you are not hitting tennis bulls?
ANDY RODDICK: Of course. I don't think you are going to see any of us going on a skiing vacation, or popping wheelies on motorcycles or anything like that. It's just stuff that happens. You've seen it before with guys playing basketball and twisting an ankle and it's just the kind of unfortunate accidents that happen sometimes.
Q: Roger, looks like you are going to start the Australian Open as the shortest priced favourite ever in the history of the tournament ahead of Sampras and other greats. Is the game over already, do you think?
ROGER FEDERER: Well, I don't know. I felt like last year was quite crazy, already they were going I already won the tournament before I even started to play. It's pretty calm this year, I don't know why, it's just a feeling I have but it's good to have the odds for you than against you but, again, it's the first Grand Slam of the year, we've all had a rest and everybody is looking for form, also myself so we will see how it goes.
Q: Does that put you under extra pressure to know that you are the overwhelming red hot favourite?
ANDY RODDICK: It's real different for him to be in that position, you know.
ROGER FEDERER: I haven't experienced it for a while so I'm not really used to it, yeah. I'm used to it so it doesn't ‑ red hot or hot favourite, whatever, I'm used to it.
Q: Ivan, you've had the longest season of these guys and you still managed to win Chennai. What is your advice?
IVAN LJUBICIC: You play when you are ready. Obviously there are many tournaments out there, you just have to pick the ones that you feel like you are going to be fit to play and I felt like I was ready for Chennai and turned out that I was right, I'm feeling good, I'm fit and I'm going to play obviously tournaments when I'm fit. I hope it's going to be a lot of tournaments but depends on my body; obviously you cannot over play it but it was a long season but I had also holes in the middle, I didn't play much middle of the season so I still feel fresh.
Q: David, has your Masters Cup win in Shanghai given you more confidence that you can win a major now, is that a big step for you to take?
DAVID NALBANDIAN: Of course it was a big step but, like Roger says, there's a lot of good players in here playing the Grand Slam and everybody wants to win it so it's going to be tough but of course the Shanghai gave me more confidence so I will try to take the first one.
Q: Roger, last year as compared to 2004, and I am talking about results, just in the way that you play the game, how much do you think that you are a better player in 2005 as opposed to 2004, your ability to do different things or just how comfortable you were feeling, not just in results but in the way you were playing?
ROGER FEDERER: I think it was the experience I gained through all the years, especially 2004 playing without a coach, that helped me a lot, and I think you sort of take things away from that and understand the game better and you're more sure of what you've got to do in the right moments and how to prepare and little things like this for me made quite a difference and I thought 2005 was great, even though maybe looking back 2004 was better because of the three Grand Slams and the Masters Cup, but I hardly lost in 2005 which was absolutely fantastic. I think my game is improving a little bit, obviously it's just slightly because I don't want to go away from my game plan and I think I have to keep improving as the guys are improving too and they obviously want to beat you, they come up with new stuff too I've always got to be ready for them.
Q: Roger, do you prepare differently for the Australian Open, for major events that you do normal events?
ROGER FEDERER: No. To be honest, for the last three years I've been basically preparing the same way for slams and tournaments, maybe arriving a day or a couple days earlier or later, depending on what tournament I was playing and so on, but I've really gotten into this routine where basically the preparation is always the same.
Q: Andy, with injury clouds over a lot of the top players do you see this week's Aussie Open as your best chance?
ANDY RODDICK: Best chance of?
Q: Winning it.
ANDY RODDICK: Going into a Grand Slam you know if you are going to win it you're going to have to beat the top players, it's just the way it is. I don't really look at my chances of the Australian Open being dependent upon whether someone pulls out or plays, I think each person has to focus on their tournament and their campaign and how they're going to try to win it. I don't really focus on stuff that's too far out of my control.
Q: Andy, do you still put your trophies when you win them above the seat in the aeroplane?
ANDY RODDICK: Never.
Q: Tommy, it's not unusual to have players continuing well into their 30s. Now that injuries are becoming more of a factor do you think careers are going to become shorter and shorter?
TOMMY HAAS: I would hope it's the opposite, that I think we all look up to Andre Agassi and what he has accomplished in his early 30s and still is accomplishing but it's not going to get any easier either; there's so many young guns coming up and the game is very brutal on your body, week in and week out, and you just have to make sure that you try to stay away from the injuries in the best possible way and sometimes you just can't do anything about it but I think if you play the right tournaments, you don't overdo it, and you pick the right ones to play good in, I think you can stay in the early mid 30s and still play some good tennis.
Q: Roger, Davis Cup first round this year.
ROGER FEDERER: If I'm going to play or not?
Q: Yes.
ROGER FEDERER: I don't know yet. After the Aussie Open I will decide.
Q: Nicholas, how are you playing after the Hopman Cup?
NICHOLAS KEIFER: It's getting better and better, I'm ready to go. I had good treatment and looks good.
Q: Roger, what is the motivating factor in the Davis Cup decision, if you have success at the Australian Open?
ROGER FEDERER: It depends on the result at the Aussie Open a little bit. I want to see how that goes, I wanted to first see how the foot goes, I'm sort of over it now but now that I'm heading into the Australian Open I don't want to make a decision on the Davis Cup so I might as well just wait and see how it goes and shortly after the Australian Open is over I will make a decision about Davis Cup against you guys.
Q: Last year you said your priority was to protect your number one ranking, that that was very important to you. Have your priorities changed at all in terms of any of the things that you might be able to achieve this year?
ROGER FEDERER: I've protected that ranking for quite sometime now so that is my big goal for this, I have got to play consistently well. Obviously one Grand Slam a year would be nice, I've done that over the last three years so hopefully I can do that again this year and my favourite would be Wimbledon of course because it means the most.
Q: How do you set the bar higher given that you have achieved those things over the past few years?
ROGER FEDERER: I don't need to set it higher. I've got to keep on improving my game and enjoy it. Stay hungry for wins, that is not a problem because I enjoy it and once you arrive on the big stage it's no problem for motivation whatsoever so you don't need to set the bar higher because it's already difficult enough to maintain.
HOST: David, we talk about momentum in sport. How important is it to start the season well in tennis?
DAVID NALBANDIAN: It is very important. More important is when you feel healthy and that's more important than your game and maybe during the year you can start winning matches and feel more confidence but if you don't feel healthy that's tough. Of course when you start very good the season it's very good for the rest of the year so everyone is going to do the best that they can from here.
HOST: Ivan, I just wonder with the victory in the Davis Cup what that might do for tennis in Croatia, do you think?
IVAN LJUBICIC: It's definitely going to be very big. We have obviously soccer team which is the favourite sport in Croatia, not only in Croatia (indistinct) in skiing so we are trying to challenge these sports but I think it is big now after my win in .... in 1997, Goran winning in 2001 Wimbledon, now we did 2005 so it's kind of every four years. I hope we're not going to wait another four years for something big but it's good and we heard back home that more and more kids are playing tennis.
Q: You mentioned soccer. Croatia is drawn in Australia's pool at the World Cup. What would be very fearful of Australian soccer?
IVAN LJUBICIC: Well, as I know it a lot of Croatians are playing actually for Australia but it's a tough group, obviously Brazil is the favourite one but the other three teams they have to fight for the second spot.
Q: Which would mean more to Croatia, a win in the Davis Cup or a win at the World Cup?
IVAN LJUBICIC: World Club obviously; soccer is the biggest sport by far but still to be world champion in anything it's great stuff so we are still enjoying this one.
Q: Roger, life without Andre, does it feel different without the old guy around here in Australia?
ROGER FEDERER: It is a pity because we had a good match in the quarters last year and he has had some unbelievable results here in Australia so obviously it's a pity because everywhere he goes and plays he's a favourite to win. I don't want to say it's better for us but it definitely takes away a huge candidate to win and I guess if he's not here it means he doesn't feel like he's ready to win the tournament. It's a pity, I always enjoy playing Andre and I think everybody does because of what he has done to tennis and all his results make it obviously very special to be playing tennis with him.
Q: Roger, what kind of work were you able to do with Tony this time around and how did it differ to the things you did last year?
ROGER FEDERER: It was very similar. We had about 10 days both times and work on everything, focusing on all the strokes and just working hard and getting ready for this season. It's nothing particular I could mention what we did, it's just spending time together and spend time on the court. It was good, good weather instead of being in zero degrees back home in Switzerland I just thought that was just a better preparation.
Q: Did you actually spend Christmas here or back home?
ROGER FEDERER: I was here for Christmas.
Q: That's become a bit of a routine for you?
ROGER FEDERER: It was the first time.
Q: I thought were you here last year.
ROGER FEDERER: I was in the plane last year for Christmas. This year was New Year's; it's getting better.
HOST:
We might wrap it up there and I know you would like to join me in thanking the players for their participation today and wish them well for the AAMI Classic.
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