TENNIS WIMBLEDON 2014 – 25th of June. S. Stakhovsky d. E. Gulbis 6-4, 6-3, 7-6. An interview with Sergiy Stakhovsky
Q. Clearly you like playing at Wimbledon.
SERGIY STAKHOVSKY: Well, I do. The results of today speaks by itself.
Q. And last year’s results?
SERGIY STAKHOVSKY: Um, yeah, yeah. Was not bad result.
Q. But can you kick on this time?
SERGIY STAKHOVSKY: Well, hopefully I’ll do everything in my powers to play better next round.
I believe I’m smarter. I learned from my mistakes from last year, what I’ve did wrong, and hopefully will be better.
Q. Could you compare this match that you did last year against Federer? Are there some similar aspects?
SERGIY STAKHOVSKY: No, not even close. Roger and Ernests on grass is like Rafa and me on clay.
Q. What do you particularly like in this tournament? The surface? The atmosphere?
SERGIY STAKHOVSKY: The surface. The surface is fast. It’s no bounce. It’s speedy. It’s exactly what I need.
So pretty much I have the chance of finishing that volley if I have it.
On other surfaces, not so easy.
Q. Is it difficult to play someone you like?
SERGIY STAKHOVSKY: It’s never easy playing Ernests because he’s the kind of personality you don’t know when he’s serious on court and when he’s laughing.
I was trying not to get too much in conversation with him, but it’s hard not to.
Q. You said you had learned from what happened last year after the Federer match. What is it that you have learned that you hope to carry forward now?
SERGIY STAKHOVSKY: Like 355 press conferences.
Q. You handle them very well.
SERGIY STAKHOVSKY: Yeah, but I didn’t handle the next match.
Q. Was there a letdown? Is that what it was?
SERGIY STAKHOVSKY: I don’t know. Just emotional emptiness. Just spent so much energy on different interviews and articles and everything that I was empty when I went on the court.
Q. You’re trying to avoid that now?
SERGIY STAKHOVSKY: Exactly.
Q. I know you’ve been on the ATP council.
SERGIY STAKHOVSKY: Yes, I was reelected.
Q. What are your thoughts on the next challenges for the ATP?
SERGIY STAKHOVSKY: There are always challenges. I’ve been there for two years and we just solved one problem. I mean, prize money on Grand Slams. Hopefully we’ll be able to solve them by this year.
So we did what we – we negotiated with Grand Slams fairly enough, and think that now we need to negotiate with our own tour in all fairness.
Q. You spoke about equal prize money before. Is that something you still think is a possibility or something you’ve given up on?
SERGIY STAKHOVSKY: Look, my position is never changing. The man is only as good as his word is. I don’t think that equal prize money is in the right place.
It’s not about the physical and anything else. It’s just the value of the product is different. That’s it.
Q. Have you had a chance to talk it Chris Kermode at all?
SERGIY STAKHOVSKY: Yes, a lot of time. Believe me.
Q. Anything you can tell us?
SERGIY STAKHOVSKY: I think he’s a great president. I think we’re very lucky to have him as our president. He’s a great person, he has a great personality, he’s a very decent man, and that’s exactly what our tour needs.
Q. Any particular issues you brought up?
SERGIY STAKHOVSKY: Not going to discuss it here.
Q. Who would you prefer for the president of the board now that Roger is…
SERGIY STAKHOVSKY: Not the president of the board, it’s the president of the council. I don’t believe I’m person who should be president. Let’s be realistic, I’m 90 in the world. We have Simon, we Wawrinka, so we have players who can represent us better just by their name.
So we will be looking at this more likely.