00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:02 [SIDE CONVERSATION]
00:27 Novak, how do you feel mentally considering your results
00:31 on clay this year?
00:34 Mentally for the tournament here?
00:37 Yes.
00:38 OK.
00:40 Well, low expectations and high hopes.
00:42 I'm sorry, you have to give to the next person.
00:48 Thank you.
00:49 Yes.
00:51 Hi, Novak.
00:52 Maybe a similar question, but in general this year,
00:56 you have not played as much as you usually would
00:59 or had as much success as you're used to by this point
01:03 in the season.
01:04 Do either of those things affect you coming into this tournament?
01:09 And you sort of touched on this just now,
01:12 but perhaps could elaborate a little on it.
01:16 Normally, you think of yourself, it
01:18 seems like, as somebody who's a favorite to win
01:21 any tournament you enter.
01:22 Do you feel that way coming back here this time?
01:27 Well, I would say that I know that what I'm capable of,
01:30 and particularly the Grand Slams,
01:32 I normally play the best tennis.
01:38 And at least I aim always to play the best tennis.
01:41 And I was, for most of my career, able to do that.
01:46 So that's the goal.
01:48 And I've been saying for quite a while that, in terms of clay,
01:54 I want to peak here in Paris, in Roland Garros.
01:57 And last year I had an amazing year, particularly here
02:03 in Roland Garros.
02:04 And hopefully I can have a great tournament.
02:07 Of course, it does affect me, the five months
02:12 that I had so far in a year that haven't been great,
02:15 in terms of my tennis.
02:18 And that's why I have a kind of an approach that
02:24 is focused on a daily basis, more trying
02:26 to build the form and momentum so that I can have a better
02:31 chance to reach further in the tournament.
02:36 Max, and then Bill.
02:37 Hey, Novak.
02:42 So what have you drawn on during these five months,
02:47 in terms of your experiences?
02:49 You've experienced just about everything in your career,
02:52 ups and downs.
02:53 And are there other periods that you've thought about,
02:55 and sort of where you found your way out of holes
03:00 that have come to mind and could potentially provide a road
03:05 upwards this time?
03:08 I wouldn't call them holes.
03:09 They're rather bumps on the road.
03:13 I've always looked ahead.
03:16 What is the next challenge?
03:18 And what it takes for me to be better than I was last week.
03:23 So that's the kind of a mindset that I keep nurturing and keep
03:28 having.
03:29 So it probably won't stop until I stop
03:32 playing professional tennis.
03:34 I mean, that's the only way I know
03:36 how to conduct myself as a professional tennis player,
03:41 and also compete at the highest level.
03:45 As I previously answered, I know what my qualities are.
03:50 I know what I'm capable of.
03:51 And if I have the right conditions in terms
03:56 of the way I feel physically, mentally, game-wise--
04:01 and then, of course, you need some luck as well.
04:03 And on a given day when you're playing matches
04:07 against the best players in the world,
04:10 that things come together and you win a slam.
04:14 I've experienced that 24 times in my career
04:17 and many other finals and semifinals.
04:22 So I know exactly what I need to do in Grand Slams environment
04:27 or Grand Slam competition, so to say.
04:31 It's a whole different type of tournament and a feel
04:36 for the tournament than any other, really,
04:41 tournaments that we have in the calendar.
04:43 So yeah, that's kind of it.
04:49 Novak, you have spoken about how important resilience
04:52 has been in your career.
04:55 Can you just mention the one or two points in your career
04:59 where you really felt you were the most resilient?
05:02 And does that give you particular satisfaction?
05:05 And what do you need to be so resilient?
05:09 I mean, resilience is definitely always very much needed in life
05:16 in general for anybody.
05:19 Life throws different challenges at you.
05:25 I mean, in this case, as a professional tennis player,
05:29 you have to kind of be more accustomed to losses than wins.
05:37 And if you have a season or two or three or four,
05:41 whatever, in your career where your winning percentage
05:46 of the tournaments that you play is more than 50%,
05:50 you're lucky.
05:51 Because most of the tournaments you play, percentage-wise,
05:54 you're lower than 50% of winning in a year.
05:58 So that's what you have to accept and adapt to,
06:03 the feeling of failing or losing most of the times,
06:09 most of the tournaments where you participate in a year.
06:12 And then you have to face injuries, et cetera,
06:15 in a career that is long.
06:17 I mean, in this instance of my career, I don't know,
06:22 one major injury-- thankfully, I didn't
06:23 have too many major injuries.
06:25 But one that I had was in--
06:28 kind of started in 2016, but then carried on to '17,
06:32 where I took six months off.
06:34 And then in early '18, I had surgery of my elbow.
06:38 And that has alternated my biomechanics
06:41 for the serve, my technique.
06:43 I had to completely readjust my game.
06:46 And I dropped the rankings out of top 20.
06:51 So then I had to build the rankings
06:55 and kind of start over again.
06:58 So I've had several of these particular situations
07:03 in my career where I had to kind of find a fresh start,
07:09 so to say.
07:11 And I was managing to do it in some instances earlier,
07:16 in some instances a bit later.
07:19 But I was managing to find the right game, the right mindset.
07:24 And yes, so I'll try to use that kind of particular experiences
07:29 that I had.
07:30 I mean, when it comes to experience,
07:32 I think I have quite a lot of experience.
07:35 I'm playing on the tour and experienced, really,
07:38 as you said, highs and lows and ups and downs
07:40 and various things.
07:42 So I'll try to use that in a positive way,
07:45 in a positive fashion for this tournament
07:47 and the rest of the season.
07:50 Hendovac?
07:51 No, no, no.
07:51 It was Ketri.
07:52 Ketri.
07:52 Hi, Hendovac.
07:57 Just on the low expectations, high hopes things,
08:00 how low are we talking?
08:01 And when was the last time those expectations were
08:04 this low going into a major?
08:08 It's tough to talk about.
08:10 It's very subjective.
08:11 And I almost feel a bit embarrassed
08:15 to say what my expectations are.
08:20 Anything but a title, for me, is not satisfactory.
08:24 So it always has been like that.
08:27 And I know it might sound arrogant to a lot of people,
08:32 but I think I have the career that backs it up.
08:35 And in a way, me playing still at this highest level,
08:42 one of the major reasons is trying
08:44 to write more history of the sport
08:46 and win the biggest titles that--
08:51 Paris is definitely one of them.
08:53 So that's why my hopes and goals are always the same.
08:57 But I have to lower the expectations.
08:59 And when I say that, I mean maybe not thinking too much
09:05 ahead in advance in terms of the tournament
09:08 and who I might face in the later rounds,
09:11 but really taking it day by day, step by step,
09:14 and really building my game.
09:15 Because that's what I have been struggling with,
09:18 not really playing on a consistently good level.
09:21 So I obviously need that in order
09:25 to have any chance to go to the final match.
09:29 Hi, David.
09:37 Will you be watching Nadal's forev tomorrow?
09:39 And what do you expect from that match?
09:43 Well, yes.
09:46 If I don't have anything smarter to do at that point,
09:49 I'll definitely watch.
09:50 I don't know.
09:51 Are they playing night session?
09:53 Day session?
09:54 Well, that will make it a bit more difficult for me
09:56 because I have obligations during the day.
09:59 But I will try to catch as much as I can from that match.
10:03 I think everyone will want to see what will happen.
10:08 Last one, Kyle.
10:10 Kyle.
10:12 Sorry, I can't help her.
10:13 Hi, Novak.
10:17 Just wondering how you feel physically
10:19 because you were struggling in Geneva.
10:21 And it seems this year it's been a bit up and down.
10:23 Have you point out a reason why you've
10:25 been struggling to find your peak?
10:27 Because you're used to finding it usually pretty much
10:29 at this period.
10:30 Yeah.
10:31 Well, it's various things that were happening
10:36 in the last couple of months.
10:37 But I don't want to get into it.
10:39 Hope you understand that.
10:40 I just don't want to open the Pandora box
10:44 and talk about things.
10:47 Just really try to focus myself on what needs to be done,
10:51 what has happened, happened.
10:54 And it's in the past.
10:56 It's something that I can't affect anymore.
11:03 But I can learn to rectify certain things
11:07 and right certain things that are wrong and really not
11:13 serving the purpose of my highest performance level.
11:17 So that's what we've been working on as a team.
11:21 And hopefully, it will give us good results here.
11:25 [MUSIC PLAYING]
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