Rafael Nadal Press conference after his win over Kamke at Qatar Open (Transcript)
THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.
Q. Good match to win for you.
RAFAEL NADAL: Thank you, yes, very important win. I spent a lot of time on court, so that's important for my preparation, too. I spent a lot of time on court and I won. That's the very important thing.
I think I played much better today than yesterday. The opponent played great. That's what I felt. Played very aggressive. Yesterday too and today too the opponent playing so aggressive. Going for every shot.
I felt that I was very comfortable with my serve during almost all the match, serving well and winning my games with not many problems. But on the return I create opportunities, but I didn't have the right points in the right moments to have the breaks. I won the three breaks with three double faults. So that's not the best news, because the break points are the points when you make the difference when you feel confident and play aggressive and you win in that point. So today was not the day.
Most important thing, yesterday I played here (demonstrating lower level) and today I played here (demonstrating higher level) and remained little bit more confidence on the break points to play with little bit more decision.
Q. Just to look forward, the news coming out of Australia is that the courts are really, really, really fast this year.
RAFAEL NADAL: Sorry?
Q. The courts at Melbourne Park are really fast, the surface is very, very fast.
RAFAEL NADAL: Yeah? How do you know that? You have been there?
Q. Because Australians tell me.
RAFAEL NADAL: Yeah? Very fast? Yeah? Shit. (Laughter). I thought Craig Tiley was a good friend.
Okay. Doesn't matter. I won tournaments on very quick surfaces, Montreal few times, and if I'm playing well, it's not a big problem, playing on very quick surfaces. But it's true that if it's very, very quick, maybe it's a problem.
Q. Can you talk a little bit about what Tobias did today to push you into the three sets, what he did well?
RAFAEL NADAL: He did almost everything well, in my opinion. He played great with forehand, played great with the backhand. He hitted fantastic shots from very difficult positions.
It's true that sometimes a little bit easier when you are playing with less pressure and you go on court knowing that you have to play very aggressive to have the points and to have chances to win the match that you see, you know, is an easy way to prepare the match and to go on court.
But then you have to do it the right way, and I felt that I was playing well. I felt that I had ‑‑ I had the break in the first game, easy ball with my forehand I played a great point. I missed that one and then he played great.
That's the real thing. I think that if he plays like today he will be high in the ranking. I don't know.
Q. Can you talk about your next match? I believe it's against Gulbis.
RAFAEL NADAL: Always very tough opponent. Always have very tough matches against him. He's a player that ‑‑he's a player you don't want to meet, because he hit every ball very hard with a very strong serve, first and second serve.
Then he hit every ball very, very, very fast from the baseline, forehand/backhand, so he's a difficult player to play against, but I gonna try.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.
Q. Good match to win for you.
RAFAEL NADAL: Thank you, yes, very important win. I spent a lot of time on court, so that's important for my preparation, too. I spent a lot of time on court and I won. That's the very important thing.
I think I played much better today than yesterday. The opponent played great. That's what I felt. Played very aggressive. Yesterday too and today too the opponent playing so aggressive. Going for every shot.
I felt that I was very comfortable with my serve during almost all the match, serving well and winning my games with not many problems. But on the return I create opportunities, but I didn't have the right points in the right moments to have the breaks. I won the three breaks with three double faults. So that's not the best news, because the break points are the points when you make the difference when you feel confident and play aggressive and you win in that point. So today was not the day.
Most important thing, yesterday I played here (demonstrating lower level) and today I played here (demonstrating higher level) and remained little bit more confidence on the break points to play with little bit more decision.
Q. Just to look forward, the news coming out of Australia is that the courts are really, really, really fast this year.
RAFAEL NADAL: Sorry?
Q. The courts at Melbourne Park are really fast, the surface is very, very fast.
RAFAEL NADAL: Yeah? How do you know that? You have been there?
Q. Because Australians tell me.
RAFAEL NADAL: Yeah? Very fast? Yeah? Shit. (Laughter). I thought Craig Tiley was a good friend.
Okay. Doesn't matter. I won tournaments on very quick surfaces, Montreal few times, and if I'm playing well, it's not a big problem, playing on very quick surfaces. But it's true that if it's very, very quick, maybe it's a problem.
Q. Can you talk a little bit about what Tobias did today to push you into the three sets, what he did well?
RAFAEL NADAL: He did almost everything well, in my opinion. He played great with forehand, played great with the backhand. He hitted fantastic shots from very difficult positions.
It's true that sometimes a little bit easier when you are playing with less pressure and you go on court knowing that you have to play very aggressive to have the points and to have chances to win the match that you see, you know, is an easy way to prepare the match and to go on court.
But then you have to do it the right way, and I felt that I was playing well. I felt that I had ‑‑ I had the break in the first game, easy ball with my forehand I played a great point. I missed that one and then he played great.
That's the real thing. I think that if he plays like today he will be high in the ranking. I don't know.
Q. Can you talk about your next match? I believe it's against Gulbis.
RAFAEL NADAL: Always very tough opponent. Always have very tough matches against him. He's a player that ‑‑he's a player you don't want to meet, because he hit every ball very hard with a very strong serve, first and second serve.
Then he hit every ball very, very, very fast from the baseline, forehand/backhand, so he's a difficult player to play against, but I gonna try.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
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