World No. 1 Novak Djokovic met the media on Monday at the Madrid Open to an swer a few questions in a pre-tournament news conference.
On the tournament and the blue clay:
“Well, I think the tournament has done a great job in the past couple of years in making the players feel good. They invested a lot in this whole new complex. It was an indoor event a couple of years ago. 2009 was the first year we had the clay court tournament in Madrid. It’s a very interesting venue and the players feel good here. We have good conditions, good facilities, great food and that’s what matters the most – it’s a very beautiful city. This year is quite different from any other tournament. We have the blue clay court for the first time in the history of our sport. It is definitely interesting for everybody to see what’s going to happen throughout this week. In my opinion, it’s different. There are certain differences between blue clay and red clay. We can talk about this for a long time but I try to keep its as short as possible now that we have blue clay in front of us for this year. I tried to prepare for it as best I can and it’s obviously the same for everybody. The only thing that is a little bit disappointing from a player’s standpoint is that this was decided without the players agreeing on it. So that’s the most disappointing thing really. I haven’t tested the courts and as far as I know most of the top players have not tried blue clay. If you don’t have especially the top players testing the court and agreeing on this change, that should mean something. There should be a value in what they say but unfortunately that wasn’t the case. I’m not blaming the tournament because the tournament is fighting for their own interest. The ATP should have done a better job in representing the player’s rights and protecting what they want and what they say. This is what we have now, this is the situation. I just hope for the players we will not have any injuries and that we can have a decent week of tennis here.”
One Roland Garros:
“Well, Roland Garros is the second grand slam tournament of the year and the most important on the clay courts. It is the ultimate goal for the players to perform to their best. I try to take one tournament at a time. I had a very good 2011, especially winning here and in Rome back to back so there are certain expectations and pressures but I have learned how to deal with this, playing at the top level in the last couple of years. I just want to take it very slowly, step by step and see how it goes here. Obviously, I want to do well everywhere I play.”
Video from the ATP World Tour