M. Safin - Day 3
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
Q. Coming next is Feliciano Lopez. You are three head to head, you
lose two. Feliciano is winning 2?1. What do you expect in this match?
M: Well, it's a difficult match, first of all, because he's a lefty, he
has his serve. To play against him on grass, it's actually very tough,
especially that he pass first two rounds. He must be playing pretty good.
He had a very tough match in the first round, so it's going to be a really
tough one.
I think it's one of his favorite surfaces, is grass. Grass, indoors and
really fast hard court. So is a tough match, and let's see if he can serve
as well as he was serving days before.
Q. When did it come to you that you no longer feared grass, if that happened?
M: Two weeks ago.
Q. Two weeks ago, in Halle?
M: I pass through the difficult moments in my life, really difficult times on
grass during my seven years of my career. And I couldn't really find myself
comfortable on that surface until I played Halle. I made, like I said, some
good results. I beat some tough players there. All of a sudden I felt
comfortable. I felt really comfortable moving on it. Just I think it's one
of the most important things, actually, when you're playing on grass, is to
move. If you serve well, and to find actually the return, all of a sudden
all this came to me and I felt pretty good.
Q. Why do you think that was all of a sudden that it just came to you after
so long?
M: Well, I don't know. There's a lot of things in life that we don't know why
they're coming exactly this moment. It's just coming. I don't know how to
explain it.
Q. So what are your feelings right now about grass as a surface?
M: That I'm comfortable playing on it and I'm confident and I make some great
results two weeks ago and I made some great matches here, I think, for the
first and second round. This was pretty good ? pretty good performance,
especially today. That's how confidence coming back, especially on grass.
It's really important to have a confidence ? confidence and a comfortable
feeling on it.
Q. Roger Federer was in here before and said when you were playing together
in Halle, he never had seen you so relaxed out on court. He suggested
perhaps it has to do with the knee injury, that you've got in the back of
your mind if things don't go well, there's a ready?made reason for that.
Is there any truth to that?
M: Well, I don't have any reasons. If I don't want to play, I don't want to
play. It's just there is no ?? I don't need to find a really good reason
for myself, you know, so I don't have to feel really depressed after the
match and saying I'm going to lie myself, no, it's because of the knee.
It's because of nothing.
You know, I felt I found my game, and I was feeling comfortable, and I had
nothing to lose ? especially in the final against him, because he won two
years in a row, even three. I was enjoying really. I was enjoying the match.
I had my chances and I was really playing great tennis. I had nothing to
complain about. I was serving well and I was returning well. I had my
chances actually, and I couldn't take them. But I have no regrets. I have
no ?? I don't need to find a reason. I don't need to find a reason so I
have to take off the pressure.
I have a different problems, you know, dealing with the pressure. But I
don't need to say to myself, "Well, if I'm not playing well, it's because
of my knee." No.
Q. Do you think Philippoussis can come back from where he is? His ranking is
going to be pretty low after that, to get back into the Top 20 or 10?
M: Philippoussis?
Q. Yes.
M: Yeah, but with Mark it's a little bit difficult story. If you follow him
for the past five years actually, he had so many injuries. And he's a tall
guy. I mean, like he's pretty heavy. He needs to take care of ?? needs to
take care of himself really, you know, like need to travel with a doctor.
But from other point, when he start to fall down, like everything start to
collapse, like the knees, the ankles, the back, it's difficult to come back.
Because it's tennis coming one thing after another, after another, after
another. And then you just are falling apart and you find yourself, you
know, like completely ?? you cannot play then at the end.
Actually, I don't know how many years, about for five years, he had like
four or five injuries, but bad ones. You know, he didn't play for one year.
Then he didn't play for six months. Then he didn't play for three months.
So, of course, it's difficult to find the confidence. Of course, it's
difficult to find the game. Like today, he got injured again. So it's
difficult, you know, to say that if you're going to be back in the Top 20.
Of course, his potential is he can be even in Top 10. But this is not the
case. I mean, like, the poor guy is just ?? the body is not helping him.
Q. Do you think he was at full strength today?
M: Well, I felt a little bit in the third set, yeah, he couldn't really move
to the sides. That's how I made to him a break actually. And I cannot say
much because he had a great potential actually as a player.
Q. Is this the first time you've really had fun playing Wimbledon? How
important is that to your success?
M: Again.
Q. Is this the first time you've enjoyed yourself here?
M: Yup.
Q. And how important is that for you as a player to be having fun?
M: Actually, for every single player in this world, it's really important to
have fun on grass, because it's tough surface. Everybody knows. Nobody can
lie to you. Like it's difficult to make a break. It's difficult to play on
the baseline because a lot of bad bounces. So you have to play kind of a
game that is not really comfortable for you, is not really your game,
because you need to adjust yourself to the grass.
And if you're not having fun, it's just ?? it's impossible to do anything
good here. You can't have any expectations if you are suffering and if you
are struggling. That's what happened to me for the past ?? actually, during
all my career, except one lucky year that I made it in quarterfinals.
So now that I'm enjoying, of course I have my expectations. Of course, I
want to play well. Of course, I want to do well. Unfortunately, I don't
have really easy draw this year. But I probably deserve it, because the
years before I had the easy ones and I couldn't make even past the first
round.
I have to pay the price, I guess. But I think the way I'm playing, it's
okay.
Q. If you're having so much fun on grass now, how far realistically do you
think you can go in this tournament?
M: Geez, we're just in Wednesday. I cannot speculate about. I didn't even saw
the draw. I know I have to play next match against Lopez. I don't want to
see any more the draw, because every time I trying to look in the draw and
I try to see where more or less I can get, then, it's like I'm like losing
the next day.
So I'm trying to go step by step slowly and doing my job and try to focus a
little bit, try to be focused on one match. One match after another I think
is the best for me. I have no pressure then. I'm playing my match. I'm
enjoying whatever, I win, I lose. Who comes next, it doesn't really matter
if you're playing well.
Q. How are your inner feelings about your knee? Is still okay?
M: Like I said always ?? well, "always," for the past two months. Some
movements are really bothering me. Sometimes I can't ?? it's just a lot
of pain. I have to deal with that. I cannot give up the secrets. But it's
painful. Sometimes it's really painful.
Q. What was your first contact with a grass court?
M: '98.
Q. Where?
M: Here. I got the wildcard actually. Lost to Medvedev. No chance. '99 why
I play at all.
Q. So it started right away when you touched it, smelled it, felt it?
M: And I felt that is not my surface.
Q. You mentioned the pain. How much pain have you felt during this tournament,
if any?
M: I'm saying, yeah, I have continuously pain. Some movements ?? after some
movements, it's like it's really painful. It's really painful, but I have
to deal with that, because then the pain goes away and then comes back.
It's not a continuous pain, like I'm struggling all the time. It goes away
a little bit, but then it's come back. It's coming back after certain
movements.
I have to really ?? well, I get used to it.
Q. Which knee?
M: Left knee.
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