TENNIS Internazionali BNL d’ Italia – N. Djokovic d. R. Stepanek 6-3, 7-5. An interview with Novak Djokovic
Q: How did you feel playing in these conditions?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: One of the most difficult conditions I’ve played in my life. Play when it’s very wind on the court, especially on clay, the clay comes to your eyes. It was very difficult to get any kind of rhythm, Stepanek is a very experienced player, so that’s why I had to be super-focused every game because I know he has this variety of shots. It was a little bit frustrating when I drop the serve twice in the 2nd, but the positive is that I managed to stay mentally tough till the end and win.
Q: What did you expect to do well today and what did you expect you might have to work on during your future matches here?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: The conditions are very demanding, mentally, as play against experienced players you couldn’t get much rhythm: you don’t have long rallies, long point. I am going to try tomorrow, which is my day off, to have some practice, work on my baseline shots and hopefully get more consistency from the base line because the clay court is different from the hard court: you need to be more patient, you need to construct the point. I expected to be a little bit rusty on the court, the conditions didn’t help, but generally was a good win, I am happy with that and hope to elevate my performance on higher in the next one.
