MASTERS SERIES MONTE-CARLO
Date: 2007-04-20

MASTERS SERIES MONTE-CARLO

April 20, 2007

Rafael Nadal
MONTE-CARLO, MONACO
The Moderator Questions, please.

Question Can you talk about this match?
RAFAEL NADAL: I played well. I played a complete match. I kept focused all the time. He was attacking a lot but it was not important because I came up winning.

Question Aren't you afraid that you were not challenged enough winning in straight sense until now? Is it going to be a problem for the next matches?
RAFAEL NADAL: I know tomorrow I have a very tough match. Winning easily is good because it gives you confidence in your game. Even though you cannot get used to the pressure.

Question You lost three times against Berdych, but this time it's going to be on clay. This time will it be different?
RAFAEL NADAL: I hope so. We'll see tomorrow, but it's going to be very difficult. He won the last three times. He's a very strong player. He attacks a lot. I will try to be aggressive also in order to bother him.

Question Is there something in his game that bothers you?
RAFAEL NADAL: It's obvious. Although the first match I had a mathchpoint, the second match I had a set point, and the third match I lost in three sets.
It's good for his confidence, but my confidence comes from the facts that I am another time in the semifinals in Monte-Carlo for my third year here, and I won the last two times.
This is on clay, my best surface, but I'm aware it's going to be difficult tomorrow.

Question How is your relationship with him now?
RAFAEL NADAL: It's neither good nor bad. There's no relationship at all. There's no problem for me to say hello when I see him, and he doesn't always do that himself.
These kind of things happen on the court sometimes. But it was in Madrid. I'm someone who admits his errors, but he has to admit also that his gesture at the end of match is not the kind of thing you do.
Still, anyone does what he wants, and personally I regret what I said after the match. I won't think about all that tomorrow. It'll just be a semifinal in Monte-Carlo, a difficult opponent, a great player.

Question Are you already starting to think about a possible final against Federer?
RAFAEL NADAL: It would be stupid of me to think about that at this stage given my very tough opponent tomorrow against whom I lost three times. It's going to be a difficult match. I'm thinking about that match first and trying to do my best.
And also Federer has a tough match against Ferrer who's playing well at this moment.

Question We know all the players are supporting Monte-Carlo as a Masters Series. Does that mean you don't want Shanghai to become a Masters Series?
RAFAEL NADAL: There's a complete error of concept in that. We just don't want Monte-Carlo to be downgrade, but this has nothing to do with Shanghai. If Shanghai becomes a Masters Series we'll all be very pleased. It's just that we want to protect Monte-Carlo because of its long history and because the players enjoy that tournament a lot.