Day 6 - Tommy Robredo
Saturday, May 31, 2003
TOMMY ROBREDO: I'm sorry if I sit down, but I have a bit of cramping.
Q. How does that rate among best wins?
TOMMY ROBREDO: Well, I think there is nothing better than this match, no?
Because if you are going two sets down with Hewitt, and you try to keep going,
keep going, try to come back at the game and win the third, then the fourth,
and then the fifth, after losing 3-1, there is nothing better, no? Beating the
world No. 1 like this, I think it's the best thing I can imagine before a
tournament.
Well, right now I'm excited, no?
Q. Did you think you were going to last the distance? It was a very exhausting
match, wasn't it?
TOMMY ROBREDO: Well, sure. If you want to beat him, you have to run too much.
Well, Lleyton is a guy, he always put another ball inside. You have to play
aggressive, aggressive. Well, I'm confident, that's why I beat him, because I
tried all the time, and I was very confident with my forehand. Well, I was
very good mental, no.
After losing the first two sets, I was very tired in the fourth, I was
starting to have pain on the legs. You know, it's difficult, no?
But, well, I think I did very good job with my mind, and finally I could beat
him.
Q. What do you think was different in the three last sets?
TOMMY ROBREDO: Well, I lost the first set 6-4, but it was a close match.
I lost -- I was 5-4, 40-15 for me, and I lost that game. I start 15-40 in the
second set, lost that game. Also with my serve, 40-15, he break me back. It's
tough, no, when a close match is leading for him for that small points, just a
close points, I think it's different, no? He had that chance and he get it.
Well, then in the third, fourth and the fifth set, I think he didn't have that
chance, no? Every time I had 40-15, I win that game. Every time he had 40-15,
I was trying to fight. I think that I break him like this, no? He was 40-15
and I break him. I think a match like this is pretty close, no?
If you could win important points, it can change the match, no? I think that's
what happened today.
Q. What do you think about the way he played? Very far from the line?
TOMMY ROBREDO: Everybody knows him, no? He's one guy who never miss one ball.
Every time you push him, he's pushing you more. And, well, it's tough, no?
Because if you don't make a direct point, he plays better, and then he's
leading the point. It's difficult to play with him because always is like this.
Anyway, when he has to serve good, he's serving great. He was making ace in
the important points every time. That's why he's world No. 1, no? Because
every time he needs something, he's doing this.
Q. 3-0 down in the fifth set, how did you come back? Incredible recovery.
TOMMY ROBREDO: Well, a little bit of good luck, a little bit to be consistent.
I was trying, no? Because sometimes when you are two sets down and you make
two sets all, then the other guy gets 3-0, you make like this (exasperated),
and you leave the match.
I was trying to keep focus because I was thinking, "I cannot lose right now
the fifth set if I come back after two sets down." I try, I push. A lot, all
of these things make me come back in the match.
MODERATOR: Questions in Spanish, please.
Q. You were saying the other day that you had nothing to lose in this match.
You've won so much. How do you feel?
TOMMY ROBREDO: Very happy, of course, as I said a moment ago. If you beat the
No. 1, it's fabulous. But to do it in this way, losing two sets to love, then
coming back, and coming back from 3-Love in the fifth set against the No. 1,
fighting like this in front of such of a crowd, I think it was an incredible
match.
Before we started it, I couldn't have imagined. Now that I'm here, I'm
delighted. Now I have to keep going and play the next match. If I play as I
played it today, I think I can win.
Q. Do you think such a victory will bring in a new dimension in your career?
Do you think it's a turning point?
TOMMY ROBREDO: No, I think my career will continue pretty much the same. We
play a few tournaments. Sometimes you beat a better player, sometimes you beat
a lesser player. I think the main point is to remain consistent, to win as
many matches in each tournament, and keep going.
The fact that you beat the No. 1, of course, is very fabulous for your morale,
because this means that the work you've been doing throughout the year has
really brought in results, and possibly it's a qualitative jump and you can go
further.
But it's just another match. This is something I need to remember, and play
the next match, whatever, whether it's against No. 1 or No. 200.
Q. What do you think in this match were the decisive points as far as you are
concerned?
TOMMY ROBREDO: I think it was the beginning of the third set because I really
fought, I really came back in a dangerous game. I saw that I was still
fighting in that third set, and he was beginning to make mistakes, which gave
me the mental strength to keep trying. That's what I did, I kept trying
throughout the match.
I won the third set. At the end of the fourth set, he was beginning to look
tired. He was making a few unforced errors. I think he realized that it was
going to the fifth set. What he needed to do is to break in the fifth set,
which he did. But I continued to fight on every point in this match, and
eventually I managed to come back and win another three games.
Q. If Ferrero wins his match, that's five Spaniards in the next round. What
do you think of that?
TOMMY ROBREDO: I'd prefer it if it were six.
Q. Well, there are five. What does this show?
TOMMY ROBREDO: Well, it shows that there are a lot of good players in Spain,
which we've known for a few years. There are no youngsters, but they're still
fighting. I think that's perfect.
I think that Spanish tennis is really in very good shape. I hope Juan Carlos
will win his match and there's five of us, that the five of us push through
the next round. Did Albert Costa win, by the way?
Q. Yes.
TOMMY ROBREDO: I wasn't quite sure. He was losing actually when I started my
match, so things changed.
Q. In this match, what was the importance of your mental strength? You were
losing, then you came back. You looked very calm, very convinced that you were
going to win.
TOMMY ROBREDO: Well, I think the main point in this match was my mental
strength, and also the fact that there were no bad gestures throughout the
match. I remained strong. I saw I was coming back in the third and fourth set.
I saw the effect of the audience.
It's difficult not to keep fighting. At the end of the match, there was one
moment of doubt, because I could see that he was doubting, that I missed a
couple of easy shots, then he missed an easy shot. I saw that I could break
his serve and win the match. That's what happened.
When I was leading 4-3, I kept trying to move the ball around, not make any
errors. I managed to resist the pressure. There wasn't that much pressure.
When you play a match like that against the No. 1, if you hit the ball too
hard and it goes out, well, everybody understands. If you're playing against
someone who's supposedly weaker than you, you get worried.
I think the fact I was playing the No. 1 helped me.
Q. If I remember right, you beat Ferrero once in a similar situation. Could
you compare the two victories?
TOMMY ROBREDO: Well, I think that was very emotional, that match. Juan Carlos
is a fabulous player. I think he was in the Top 5 already. I was younger. It
was a different match. I won the first set, lost the second. But it was a much
more equal match. The fifth set went to a tiebreak. It was incredible. We were
both playing, we didn't know what was happening. Each of us was winning a game.
When we reached the tiebreak, the crowd was really fascinated. We were hitting
the ball very hard. He lost the match
by not much. He could have won the match, I could have won the match. As far
as I was concerned, up to today, it was my best match. Beating Juan Carlos in
that manner was incredible.
But this victory I think goes even further, because Hewitt is No. 1. Even if
clay isn't his favorite surface, he was winning two sets to love, I came back
from 3-Love in the fifth, that was fabulous.
--
Tommy的英文好怪@_@ 後半段西班牙文翻成英文的部份好多了XD
--
※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.csie.ntu.edu.tw)
◆ From: 61.230.115.174