An interview with:NOVAK DJOKOVIC
2009-10-15 23:25

THE MODERATOR:  Questions, please.


Q.  How are you able to look so fresh or look so fresh at the end of the
season while your rivals and colleagues are getting injured and having to
withdraw?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC:  I'm trying to keep my body in good condition all the time,
you know.  I'm not saying they're not; it's just that, you know, I always was
taking care of the body in general and health and always putting that as a
priority in front of everything, and the bottom line is that, you know, you
want to stay healthy after your career.

It's great if you are successful in what you do, but, you know, you don't
want to live up to 30 and then just have big problems with the knees and back
like most of the professional tennis players do when they finish their career.
So, you know, I've been working on physical strength and fitness a lot in
last couple of months, and it's been paying off.  It's playing one of the key
roles, I guess, in the situations like this.  When you are playing week after
week, it's important to be physically strong, and that gives you advantage
over your opponents.


Q.  Watching the game, it looked quite comfortable out there.  How was it for
you on the court?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC:  Well, it was comfortable.  You know, I didn't play the last
couple of games of the first set that well, but, you know, the important
thing is that I played as much as I needed to to win.

And straight sets win is something that I needed just before the, you know,
quarterfinals, and now the opponents are getting much more difficult and you
have to put in extra effort now.  I'm aware of that.

My opponent is Simon who I played couple of times the last two years, and we
had great encounters.  One of them was here actually in Shanghai last year in
the Masters Cup, played semifinals, you know, 6 4, 7 5 in the third set, so
he's considered as one of those tricky players on the tour which you don't
want to really play.  And it's not fun to play him, because he gets a lot of
balls back, and he moves very lightly on the court.

I'm well aware that's going to be a long match.  I just hope I can put up
good shots in important moments and get another win.


Q.  During this tournament, did you have any opportunity to watch other games
like on TV?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC:  Well, yes.  Yes, I did mostly when    mostly here in the
club when I'm waiting for my match.  I've watched some others, yeah.


Q.  Any games that you liked?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC:  Well, I don't know in particular.  (laughter.)