"Be humble, but not foolish"
JUAN JOSÉ MATEO - London - 12/06/2011
He says he took his tenth Grand Slam title because he brings together the essential mixture of obstinacy and self-sacrifice. The formula seems simple, but at 25 years old, very few can implement it to overcome the confidence crisis that he went through in Paris.
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Q There is a photo of you on a wooden bench, tired and in the locker room at Roland Garros. It is a photograph of the moments immediately following your victory in the final over Roger Federer. What was going through your head then?
A I was very pleased with myself. With my enthusiasm and support of my team I had achieved something that 10 days ago seemed almost impossible. In that image ... It isn't clear, but what I was crying in the locker room. I arrived there and I wanted to sit and. .. was an exciting time because I knew that I had won something that days before seemed impossible. I won with a determination to change the situation in addition to the daily work of many months and years. I was pleased to have been able to take the initial failure, or more than failure, the disaster of how I was playing and from there improve bit by bit every day.
Q After that photo, you came to center court and met with the basketball player Pau Gasol. What values bind two champions like you?
A All the winners have always one thing in common that is basic. There is always humility and all those things that are very good and beautiful. Great if you have it, and he does, but there are many people who have won a lot, and are arrogant. What makes you win and wanting to win and wanting to do whatever it takes to win. Wanting to work when you don't want to. Knowing that if you are in a difficult place things will change. Being stubborn enough to think that things will go well even when they don't the first time, or the tenth. The mind must be prepared to accept difficulties in order to overcome them. Undoubtedly, all champions have this.
Q Did you recognize that in Severiano Ballesteros? When he died, you won a game and signed "Seve" in a room after the victory. There were 24 years of age difference between you and, yet connected.
A I did not live during his peak, but I met him. I am a great lover of golf. I've watched all his videos. Seve had the added difficulty of being a pioneer in Spain and created a profile, style, worldwide. His greatest virtue, no doubt, was that he wanted to do that and he was prepared to do whatever it takes to get there. If you think you can get there, no matter if you do with an hour of training or 10 million hours. The important thing is to come. That was Seve. I played 18 holes with him and kept in touch. He was an excellent person.
Q Was it for that way of thinking, that you were training on grass, 24 hours after winning the biggest clay tournament?
AThat comes from experience. The first year I won Roland Garros in 2005, I was not prepared [ lost in the first round of Halle ] . It also come from my desire to always improve on all surfaces; wanting to be good everywhere, something I was clear on. In 2005 I failed, I was overcome by the happiness of winning my first major, there was a drop in tension. Once I got my second Roland Garros ... Bam! My head began to think about the next tournament[in the grass].
Q So now were you mentally ready for the journey from RG to Queens?
A Am I tired? Yes. Do I want to be here? No. I feel like being at home. It's been since the Davis Cup in Belgium [March] that I've spent a week at home. I think this is a sacrifice that can help me do better at Wimbledon. Perhaps it may not help me. What is certain is that I'll feel more at ease with myself having done everything right to play well at Wimbledon. Having that peace with yourself can allow you to play better at a given time.
QDid winning in Paris will remove a weight off?
A Winning Roland Garros, my 10th Grand Slam, is a step forward in my career and given me the confidence to play the rest of the year with more tranquility. Is it a weight off my back? Perhaps, yes. I am not obligated to win, but it is a very great personal satisfaction to be a top year, winning at least one major tournament a year. This year when I played being healthy, I made four finals and won three titles. Then there's the history. I always say I do not care, but of course I care. What happens is that I have no time to dwell on it because the next day I'm playing another tournament. Of course I care about history. Of course I think about having the same titles at Roland Garros as Borg. Of course I care about being one of the few that have won the most Grand Slams. Of course I care. I love the sport and what makes sports great is the history. Be humble, but we should not be foolish. With 10 titles, am I among the greats? Yes. It's a great personal satisfaction.
Q In Paris you started of bad but ended up playing well...
A It has happened many times. In all Roland Garros I started playing badly. None entered playing well. This one especially, I was playing a tad more nervous than before. At the others I had not lost four finals in one year [all against Serbian Novak Djokovic]. That's hard, but we must also see that I was there at all those finals. I did not to win those final, but accepted the defeat well enough to return to fight from the first day for the next tournament. At Roland Garros, seeing that he had been unable to win any of those four finals, I was insecure when dealing with the tournament. Hence the problem. Once past the first week, I saw that and I had no other option but to play well ... And that's when I started to play well. The requirement led me to play well.
Q "He was out playing Rafa" summed up Carlos Moya of the start of final against Federer. How do you handle this situation, the number one, is being outplayed when he's supposed to be the best?
A I understand the question but my answer is different. When I play, I do not think I'm number one, but I'm in the final against Federer at Roland Garros and I know that when he plays at his highest level, he is virtually unstoppable. However, the matches do not last five or seven games. I know that playing at the highest level for three hours is very difficult. If successful, you shake hands and go to home because he is brilliant and very hard to beat. I also know that if I get to the right level, if I catch the rhythm, I will make it hard for him to play so well. If I start to play long, high, to make the points last longer, he can begin to make mistakes. My goal is to reach at least that situation. I do not feel humiliated or outplayed. I feel I have come into play. At that thought, to wait for the right moment to catch a little air. The excellence must be maintained all the time. I remain stable all the time. When he plays well, he wins, and when he's not playing so well, he loses. Finally, in the middle is where you win.
Q You have conceded only 19% of break points in the six finals you have played in Paris. How do you do that?
A Somehow, you have to win the final. The matches of this size and demand that you play to the limit. The one who saves the most situations wins. The important thing is to have confidence, and a clear idea of what you want to do. To make sure the anxiety and nerves do not get the best of you and make you do what you do not want to do. I am fortunate that so far, I've always played more nervous the first matches, in which perhaps there is more room for error, than the finals, where there are fewer.
Q Why do you recommend reading The Boy in the Striped Pajamas?
A Because I found it very harsh, but, in that harshness, there is a message. When you do it to others, it's not so bad, when it happens to you, is very serious. They [the Nazis] killed left and right, but when it happens in their own home ... it sobering. Whenever there are two ways of looking at life, it's the same situation. Interesting.
http://www.elpais.com/articulo/depor...lpepidep_1/Tes
