04/05/2011 13:10 CEST - INTERVISTE

Juan Martin Del Potro (03-05-2011)

Q. Hello Juan Martin. Congratulations. I would like to ask you how you feel and what happened there in the 2nd set when you called the physiotherapist.
A. Well I feel good, happy because of winning, now it’s just my hip is bothering me a bit from Estoril from the semi finals there. I’m trying to play with this bother and I'm trying to cope with it, but the important thing is to win against any pains you have and I played against a player like Youzhny which is 13th ranking in the world. My first round wasn’t easy at all but now I've got to treat myself for the next day.

Q. Hello, this is Juan Martin Good Afternoon. Now you are going to play against M.Cilic and in the next round you may play against Rafa. How do you feel about it, do you want to play against him?
A. Well Cilic is a very difficult player to play against, we have very long matches and we've known each other since we were 12. We are same level players and I would like to be well for tomorrow, play a good match and I am simply thinking about tomorrow and that’s it.

Q. Can I ask you a couple of questions in English? How close do you feel to be back to the form you were when you won the US Open 18 months ago?
A. I'm feeling better day by day and I'm improving very fast but I don't know if I'm playing better or worse than 2009. I just want to continue improving my game, my body and overall physically. I want to be ready to fight all of the players for the second part of the year so that what im trying to work on.

Q. Obviously you’ve got to play Cilic first but if you get through that, it would be almost certain that you play Rafael Nadal in the third round. That would be the perfect test of where you are?
A. Well I told you, first I have Cilic and we know each other very well and it would be tough for us both, hopefully it will be a good match and I will beat him. If I win I will see my next open but first I have Cilic.

Q. Hello, Juan over here. Do you think things are going faster than what you thought? Are you surprised of what you have reached this month? Djokovic has said that by the end of the year you are going to be in the top 5. What do you think of this, how are you living it?
A. I think I'm getting there, and fast as you can see in the results; but I've got a long way to go and I'm still thinking in being prepared for the second part of the year. I don’t want to give any advantages talking about tennis nor physically because there are a lot of differences, especially in the top 10. There are quite a lot of differences and that’s the reality. I hope in the short term those differences can be smaller but nowadays those are the people who are leading tennis, especially the first 5 players and I know it’s a long way but I hope to be there as soon as possible.

Q. Thanks two questions. I want to talk about your hip. You finished the match with a lot of pain because after the first points after that incident we could tell that you couldn’t run. How did you finish, did it last for a moment only?
A. Well it’s a pain that I've had since Estoril and maybe it could be because it has been a long time since I played here in clay. I always want to win and I think of winning no matter the amount of pain and it's a type of pain that allows me to play. I don’t want to retire and even less if it’s a Master 1000 like this one in Madrid where there are lot of people looking at me to do the best I can and that’s why I continued on the court, because I knew I could win the match.

Q. Yesterday we were here with Juan Carlos Ferrero who also had an injury quite severe and had surgery. Do you think it’s easier to get back on such a high level in tennis? as you two are young but even though there is a difference of years between you two
A. Well no, to get back at a good level is not easy after a long time out of the game and to recover from a severe injury is not easy at all. I can imagine how much he is suffering because I had to suffer that too and I didn’t like it. I hope he can get back to his tennis and that as soon as possible he can be back on his level of playing and if not I'm sure he's making all the effort he can just like I am and all the other players that give their 100% to be as good as they can.

Q. Juan, I get you out of tennis for a moment. The staff was nice you and prepared you a schedule so that you’ve got time to be able to see Barça – Madrid, I'm sure you are going to see the match, we know about who do you support back in Argentina but, who are you supporting here: Real Madrid, Barcelona?
A. What a question here in Madrid ehh!!! I don’t know. I hope it’s a good game and that its fair, the best teams in the world are playing here without doubts and I hope that the best one wins.

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