- Beginning of the season - time to be determined. Some favorites prefer to gradually get pulled in, others start without swinging. What tactics did you choose?
- You have to listen to your body. If you have the strength to play every day, fight for every ball, this must be done. If a sharp start affects health very much - you walk barely after the match, you can’t catch your breath for a long time, you fade - it’s better to slow down. But it’s not worth it to artificially give yourself an indulgence, to play half-heartedly, then to the full. A professional athlete is tuned for a long time to strive for the best result, and from such "I want here, I do not want here" failure may occur, and then it will be impossible to set yourself up for any particular match. At my first tournament in 2007, I reached the semifinals, losing only to the talented Scot Andy Murray. And quite satisfied with this beginning.
- Last season turned out to be very successful with you: five tournaments won, including the first in the Masters career, the victory in the Davis Cup, and the third final place in the ATP ranking. What will you strive for this season?
- It’s time to swipe at one of the Grand Slam tournaments, but the main thing, of course, is not to give up your positions and find stability.
- Is it possible to take a step forward in the rating?
- Why not? I believe that now, with the exception of Federer, all the top ten tennis players are approximately equal in class and success depends only on how they prepared for a particular match or tournament. And so it will be very interesting to watch their matches. And the fans for some reason say that the intrigue in men's tennis has died.
- But Federer really is now a cut above all and seems to be able to beat his closest competitors without really straining.
“But Roger is still not a robot, but a man!” Even he can make mistakes and get tired, and injuries do not bypass him. I agree that he is the undisputed leader of men's tennis, but I do not agree that he is invincible and everyone needs to forget about victories in tournaments with his participation. There have been many examples in the history of tennis when very strong players unexpectedly began to turn in due to health problems, personal life, something else, and those who were not enough in second place took their place.
- Your physical condition often raises many questions. After the final match of the Davis Cup against Nalbandyan, you almost fainted ...
- The season was difficult, I played a lot of matches, - that's tired. Now he is completely healthy. It happens that you pull your back or put your foot wrong, but a good massage and proper warm-up before training can fix everything.
- Why did you refuse to play for the national team in the Davis Cup this year, referring again to fatigue?
- It's just that now we have enough young players in the team who can play at a good level, but who do not qualify for the main squad, because veterans stayed there (laughs). Zhenya Korolev, Igor Andreev, Igor Kunitsyn - it's time for these guys to play for the Russian team. But by the way, I’ll add, I didn’t refuse to play for the national team in all matches. If I feel good and call me, I will definitely come.
- Does our team have a chance to repeat last year’s success?
- In terms of composition, we are among the three strongest, then everything will determine the character. Incidentally, this is another reason to give way to the young - they are hungry for victories, which means that there should not be hat-tapping sentiments.
Andrey IVANTSOV