TENNIS 2014 ROLAND GARROS – 2nd of June. A. Murray d. F. Verdasco 6-4, 7-5, 7-6. An interview with Fernando Verdasco
Q. You lost after a very tough match. Did you have problems of like you expected to win the second set maybe? You put lots of energy. Did you have a lack of concentration after losing, after being two sets down in the beginning of the third? And do you think that Murray has improved on clay? How did you find his game regarding his chance for the tournament?
FERNANDO VERDASCO: Well, about the first question, I didn’t expect nothing about winning the second set or anything. You know, I was just trying every point to win, every point, next point, next point, next point.
But I think I didn’t have my best day. He played better than me. He played very deep.
Also I need to say that the court, I didn’t like it. It was much faster than Philippe Chatrier, so for his flat shots was I think a good advantage.
So it was you know, he had played I think very deep, very good shots, very good control, close to the lines, but the court was very fast compared to the Philippe Chatrier. Completely a different tournament.
And I don’t think that one tournament like Roland Garros must have two courts that different. So for that part, I’m not happy at all.
And for my part, I didn’t play a good match, of course. I played short, many shots. He was able to step in, and he did it pretty well.
He have also big part of his win he played well. And I cannot say like much more. I tried, I fight till the end, but it was not my day. He had a good day.
About his chances for the tournament, I don’t know. I think the favorite is still Rafa for me, and he will always be the favorite here, because the final is in the Philippe Chatrier, not in the Suzanne Lenglen. Like I said, it’s a different court. It’s a different tournament. One court from another.
This court is much slower. So I think that it’s going to be different once he play in this court.
We’ll see, but, yeah. I cannot really say nothing else.
Q. You have been working with Thomas Enqvist for a couple of months now. What are your thoughts on your cooperation so far? Will you continue to work together throughout the year?
FERNANDO VERDASCO: Well, I said two days ago or yesterday, sorry, about my relationship with him. I said that I’m very happy and we are working many things.
You know, I cannot really say nothing different that I said yesterday, so about keep working together. When we start we said that we would speak again in Roland Garros, because we didn’t know each other. We were gonna be together for this clay court tournaments. And after here, after Paris, we will talk and we will see if it was worth it for him or it’s worth it for me.
So I cannot really tell you anything else, because I didn’t speak yet with him.
Q. In the third set you had an amazing run of saving break points, and then on the last point you had a service winner that was overruled by the chair umpire, and then there was some argument going back and forth. Can you explain to us what exactly happened? What you said, what he said, what Andy said when he got involved.
FERNANDO VERDASCO: I think it was just a thing, just a thing of the game. I don’t really want to talk about that kind of stuff, because I don’t think it’s worth it.
I don’t think it’s worth it for me, I don’t think it’s worth it for anybody, so it’s better to just forget about it. That’s it.
I was just fighting for the ball because I just thought that once I served to the line and Andy returned with the frame to the crowd, Pascal was saying that the lineman was calling out. I said, I don’t care because it was he didn’t miss the serve because the lineman call out. He missed the serve because, the return, because my serve was to the line and he couldn’t hit it with the strings.
So it was completely out of sense to serve a first serve again. I said to call the supervisor, and Andy said that it was fine, and it was a point for me.
So just, you know, just normal thing, something that can happen. Nothing more important than that.
Q. When you talked to Pascal Maria, did that provide motivation? Starting to play very good tennis?
FERNANDO VERDASCO: Well, it didn’t happen that much. Room to maneuver, I had to give it up, it was either now or never, otherwise I was being ousted from the tournament, and Pascal Maria agreed.
As I said during the questions in English, I don’t believe that the fact that the serve ball hit the line led to my defeat. On the other hand, I did not want to give that point away for free. In that case, I said, I should call the supervisor.
And, you know, Pascal is very peculiar. Sometimes he will take things in a certain way, and I said, Look, in that case, I want to talk to the supervisor.
Because several times I had bad experience was Pascal Maria. He’s not the kind of umpire I get along with. I can tell you that.
Q. So that means you’re going to get a sanction?
FERNANDO VERDASCO: No.
Q. Because you talked badly to the umpire?
FERNANDO VERDASCO: I didn’t.
Q. Well, they said you called him stupid.
FERNANDO VERDASCO: I didn’t.
Q. Because you said, I don’t want to talk to you because you always steal points from me?
FERNANDO VERDASCO: No, I don’t think I said that, and if I said that it was a slip of the tongue.
Q. Talking about Pascal, Rafa also complained about him. He said that every time that Pascal Maria was on court Rafa got one or two warnings. What’s going on?
FERNANDO VERDASCO: Well, I just told you. There is nothing else I want to tell you about Pascal Maria.
I had many different experiences with him. He is an umpire that many players remember vividly and not because of his qualities.
