Fed, Murray, Rafa Talk Court Speed, Expectations and More on Eve of Australian Open

By Chris Oddo/ Saturday, January 11, 2014

The big four (minus a certain three-time defending
champion) gave pre-tournament press conferences today in
Melbourne. Here are some snippets of what each had to
say:

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Rafael Nadal:

Nadal thinks the courts are playing fast in Melbourne.
“Completely different conditions than what I remembered of this
tournament,” he said. “Faster conditions that I ever played
here in Australia.”

The 2009 Australian Open champion added that he’s really not
sure why the tournament’s organizers decided to speed them up.
“I really don’t understand very well why they change because
the last couple of years, Australian Open had amazing matching,
long ones, good ones for the crowd,” he said. “I don’t know why
the people who decide to make the conditions that fast.”

On another note: While it is important, Nadal says he isn’t
overly concerned about the No. 1 ranking right now: “When you
are getting older, thinking about the No.1 ranking is tougher,”
he said. “You have to take care a little bit more about your
body, your health. For me the main goal is try to be here for a
long time, for not only one more or two more years. So my
priority is try to play as long as I can in my career.”

Andy Murray

Andy Murray is keeping expectations light ahead of his first
Grand Slam action since having back surgery in September. It’s
one of the themes that he’s hammered home for weeks, and it is
a pretty intelligent way to go about things for the two-time
Grand Slam champion. “Obviously I need to be pretty patient
with myself and not expect too much,” Murray told reporters.
“But you never know. I’ve done a lot of training the last few
months; it’s just I haven’t played many matches. So, you know,
if somehow I can work my way into the tournament, feel a little
bit better every day, then I might start to raise those
expectations. But for now they’re not going to be obviously as
high as they were the last few years. Just concentrate on my
first match.”

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Murray was also asked about so many of Ivan Lendl’s peers
throwing their hats into the coaching ring. “I don’t think
winning a major necessarily makes you a great technical coach,
but I think it will definitely help tactically and mentally,”
he said. “But the one thing, the player needs to put the work
in. The player needs to be willing to put the work in in the
gym, on the practice court and stuff. It doesn’t matter how
good the coach is, you can have a great coach, but if you don’t
put the work in, you’re not going to get results.”

Roger Federer

Federer also chimed in on the pace of the courts at Melbourne
Park. “It’s a little bit faster than last year, but not a whole
lot,” he said. “I played the other night against Jo, things
clearly slowed down in the nighttime. It’s not going to be 40
degrees at nighttime either, so the ball’s going to slow down.
For that reason you need a faster‑paced, you know, court just
to help the guys who want to play for a little bit more,
otherwise it becomes a game of just waiting, being patient, all
that stuff, which is not a problem if the tournament wants to
see that kind of a tennis.”

Sounds like Federer likes the courts and wants day matches.
We’ll see how that works out.

The 17-time Grand Slam champion (and four-time Australian Open
champion) also chatted with reporters about his new racquet,
saying he had wanted to change for a number of years, but his
stellar results didn’t create any incentive to do so. “I’ve
wanted to change for a number of years, but I kept on playing
well in the slams, kept on playing well on the tour,” Federer
said. “Things were just going so well I only did minor changes
to my racquet. Since 2002 I haven’t fiddled around the racquet
head size… Now I’ve really been putting in a lot of hours on
the racquet. It feels good. I’m really looking forward to
playing now with that racquet here at the Australian Open as
well after playing Brisbane already.”

As far as the draw, which could lead to matchups with
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the 4th round,
Andy Murray in the quarterfinals and
Rafael Nadal in the semis, Federer remains
detached about it. “Yeah, a draw is a draw,” he said. “You guys
debate it; I play in it. That’s basically it. I focus round for
round. That’s the only focus I need to have.”