F. VERDASCO/F. Serra

6‑2, 6‑1,6‑4


Q. It seems you felt really right on the court, but playingon Sunday, how do you feel about this?
FERNANDO VERDASCO: No, it's not too early, playing a Sunday,even though usually I play on a Monday or Tuesday. But I felt good, really, on the court,generally. Well, sometimes I felt betterduring the match with ups and downs, but more or less ‑‑ more or less, Ifelt good.
Really, what I was good at was myserve. I could hit back really well, andI can tell you that Serra plays really a tough game. He hits the ball, and you need to hit on hisbackhand. Otherwise, you know, he hitsthe ball deep, and it's very difficult to fight back.

Q. So you're No. 8. It's a good yearfor you. You've played many tournaments,and you were always reaching quarterfinals.
FERNANDO VERDASCO: Well, this draw was a tough draw. The most difficult player will beAlmagro. We played quarterfinals lastyear, and he's going to do his best to fight back during the quarterfinals. And during the fourth round, Davydenko, forinstance, you know, the seeds. So it'sgoing to be a very tough draw for me.
But today, I want to think about thenext match. That's all. To win all these matches, the one after theother, and go as far as I can.
Now, I reached the 8th finals orround of 16, and I want to do this at least this year. And then I'll have to play against Rafa. It's going to be difficult, but I'll see if Ican play quarterfinals against Rafa. I'll take this.


Q. Now, in Australia,you reached the semifinals. You had manytough matches before you reached the semifinals. Is it very important for you to have, to winin three sets?
FERNANDO VERDASCO: Well, it's very important to win in threesets for tournaments like the Australian tournament, but then, you know, if youlose a match, never mind if it's five sets or three sets.
What's important is to win the firstmatches in three sets only. And in Australia, I won the first three without losinga set, and that was really good when I played against Murray. I felt better than usual when I would reach the round of 16 during aGrand Slam.
But here, you know, I've justmanaged to win the battle in three sets, and I'll try and continue thisway. I'll try and win in threesets. I'll try and of course be thewinner of these matches, and not take or not use too much of my energy againstvery tough players like Rafa, Almagro, Davydenko and others.
It's going to be tough, but I wantto win. And if it's five sets, then it'sgoing to be five sets. But what'simportant is to win the first rounds and not to put too much effort intothis. And then to play well, for thefinal.

Q. Next match is going to be Wednesday for you. How are you going to get prepared? Because that's like beginning the tournament.
FERNANDO VERDASCO: Well, yes, of course. It is complicated to play on a Sunday,because then you have two days off. Thatis to rest. And that's a bit somethingthat bothers me, you know, to wait for two days. Usually we play every single day or we haveonly one day of rest between two matches, but then this is the way it is.
Let's look at the positive sides ofthings. I'll have two days of rest torecover, to practice, and to be 100% ready for the second‑round match, and toplay as well as today or even better.

Q. Apart from Nadal, if I look at the upper part of the draw or the firsthalf of the draw, it's tougher than the bottom part or second half of thedraw. It would have been better for youto have the second half of the draw.
FERNANDO VERDASCO: Well, I think that both parts of the draw aredifficult, because it's a Grand Slam. Ifit's not against Warinka or Davydenko or Nadal, well, they're going to have toplay against Djokovic or Federer or Berdych. They're tough players to play against.
There are many dangerous playershere. But, you know, Davydenko was hurt,injured, I mean, and he's gone down a little. He's No. 10. I've played againsta player who was top 4 or top 5. Nowhe's down to No. 10, as I said. So,Warinka is someone who had a very good season on clay, and usually they're moredifficult to play than Berdych or Gasquet or others.
But, you know, I didn't think aboutthe draw, really. That's the draw Ihave. I mean, that's all we've got.

Q. Sometime ago you said you wanted to win as many tournaments aspossible. Now, it seems that you'reconvinced that you can win. You can makeit. Now, according to you, do you thinkyou can win matches in this draw? Areyou still convinced or was it a major change for you?
FERNANDO VERDASCO: Well, I didn't say that before. I thought differently. In the past I would say I could have a chanceto win, and now I would have all chances to win, no? But in the past I said, I'll do my best. I'll try and have the best scores and reachthe finals.
But this year I started with theAustralian Open and I started thinking I can win the Australian Open. That's the difference. I didn't say I would win the Australian Open,you know. When you play, the playersthat you have today, you can't be convinced you're going to win thetournament. This would be totallystupid, silly.
However, I started thinking I couldwin the tournament, and as far as Roland Garros is concerned, Rafa is really afavorite compared with Australia,because he's won Roland Garros for four years. But I'm convinced I can do something. I need to trust myself. Otherwisewho's going to trust me?
I'm the one to play on the courtwhen I start playing against Nadal, Djokovic, Murray, you know, the ones abovethe crowd and Federer, as well, if you I don't trust myself then I'm nevergoing to take this leap forward, I'm never going to improve and be in the top5, so you see, at this level, what is very important is to be convinced thatyou can make it and win. And then I'llsee if I can win or not.

Q. Well, let's assume you could play against Rafa. Do you think it's going to be tougher for youto win compared with what happened in Madrid? You know, there was the surface that wasdifferent, and the venue that was different.
FERNANDO VERDASCO: Well, you see, for a Grand Slam, it'sdifferent. For the first round, untilthe quarterfinals, you don't really suffer. If you don't suffer too much, if you feel still physically good, it'sokay. But if, during the first roundhe's going to have longer matches, he's going to have more difficulties. Well, he shouldn't have any difficulties,because if you look at what he did in the past, it wasn't tough at all for him,to start with.
But as I said before, what'simportant for me is to play as many matches as I can in three and win them inthree sets, to reach quarterfinals against Rafa, possibly, and then to betotally fit physically.
Last year, you know, apart from thefact that, you know, I had my ankle problem in Hamburg, I was not practicing enough beforeRoland Garros, and I wanted to go to the round of 16 the year before, because Ihad not had any practice, and in theory, I couldn't play Roland Garros.
My doctor had said, had advised meagainst it. You know, Ventura in five sets, Chela in four sets, Iwas strong enough. But my strength hadgone down, and playing against Rafa was not possible. But now, if I can reach quarterfinals, I'lltry and be fit and have the best physical condition, because, you know, fivesets against him is going to be much more complicated than three sets.
It's always easier to surprise himif it's a set only, and just one set, if you think by that time, I mean, if youonly think you can win the match in three sets. But I have hopes I can win the match.


(via www.rolandgarros.com, photo/Reuters Pictures)

Fernando Verdasco - Roland Garros 24. May Interview