DOHA: Third seed Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic is eager to hold on to his top billing at this week’s Qatar ExxonMobil Open.
Ranked six in the world, Berdych last year lost the final of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open to David Ferrer of Spain.
“I have to say that my off-season went pretty well. I managed to squeeze few days for the IPTL and also managed to have some break after the (regular) season,” Berdych said yesterday.
“I still got a very good, solid portion of the days where I prepared well with my fitness and tennis and everything went well,” the tall Czech added.
“My body is strong so no issues there. I have no injuries at all, which is always very important,” .
“Everything went pretty well, as I planned, as I scheduled. The only thing that is missing is just the start of matches,” Berdych said.
Questions and answers with Berdych.
Q: Sergiy Stakhovsky is a tough first-round match of the year. Talk a little bit about him.
A: I played him couple of times last year. It was a period of the year that we played almost like the weeks back to back and had couple of matches. I mean, he’s a very tough guy to play, especially the way he likes to play. He likes to change the game a lot, playing a lot of variations. These days he’s not really a easy player. It’s the first match of the year so I’m just going try to focus on my stuff, my tennis. I will try to be very focused from the first point till the last. I just want to go there and have a good match.
Q: Can you talk to us about your main goals for the season?
A: This season is going to be really packed, especially since it’s the Olympics year. For me there is one more thing that I am looking at and that is to play the first round of the Davis Cup to get my qualification for the Olympics. It’s gonna be a little bit different than the last year. Last year I just tried to use all the time for myself - just for the direction of my career. But this year I will look at Davis Cup as representing the country is always high on my priority list of my goals. I’m going to definitely include that.
I’m expecting a long, tough season. I want to stay healthy and that’s gonna be the main thing. Then I want to play the whole season. I want to compete with all the top guys and be competitive. It’s been a while since I put myself into the top 10 and held on to that spot. There will be new, younger guys coming in and trying to grab that position.
So I would like to hold on to my place and move forward from that.
Last year I managed to get the fourth spot and finished the year in sixth place. It would be great to change that number this season.
Q: What about the Rio Olympic games 2016 goals?
A: Olympics, it’s quite in advance to think about it. It’s once in four years and I’m definitely going to play singles. If everything goes well and if I get Radek (Stepanak), I would like to give a shot with him. It’s a competition that you have the easiest way to get a medal because you play the least amount of matches. I will see how the season goes. Till then I’m going to accumulate wins and play. If everything goes well, and if I’m feeling strong and fit, I’m going to try to play all three.
Q: Coming into this year, is Djokovic the one that all the players are chasing?
A: No, I think every opponent and every player stands in their position. No matter what number is in front of your name, he is just opponent for the day and you just have to be focused on that one. Once you pass him, the same thing again. If you’re gonna be looking too far ahead, you might lose some things which are right around you. I have been used to do that all my career. I’m just going try to stick with that, try to work on my things and just keep going, I will keep working hard and hoping that one day I can move myself and just get higher in the ranking.
Q: We have seen a tweet of yours after training that you were pretty tired and you were saying that your coach is very demanding with your training. How does he make you try to raise your level?
A: Yes, you’re right. This was definitely one of those from my off-season and I think it was very good one. I think I have been able to raise my fitness level and working on that direction and that aspect of the game, because I think it’s becoming more and more important in men’s tennis. Especially with my height and also I would say weight it’s something that need to really keep working and keep being strong. The rallies are getting longer. Matches are much more difficult, much more demanding. That was one of the big aspects that I have been working on and also the few things that they are.
Q: It seems a bit colder and windier than usual here. How important the conditions are going to be a factor in the matches, especially that they are usually late?
A: That’s true, not my first time here. All I remember so far was nice, warm days. This year is a bit different, but the other hand I spend already a week here, so I hope I’m going to be able to use that just to be more used for the conditions. It’s all about how you are going to prepare for that day and adjust accordingly.
The Peninsula
