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ATP MASTERS SERIES- MADRID


October 24, 2004


David Nalbandian


MADRID, SPAIN

THE MODERATOR: Questions in Spanish for David Nalbandian.

Q. Safin won...

DAVID NALBANDIAN: I think he did play a great match and I did help him to win actually. Though I didn't play my best tennis, he didn't give me chances. He had great opportunities. It was a sliced match, and not many long points, and that was difficult for me.

Q. Every time you play against Safin, he wins. Was that mentally influencing you?

DAVID NALBANDIAN: I think every match is different. It's different to play here than in Paris or in Moscow or in Monte-Carlo. They're all different matches. One always wants to win. Every day you feel different. Some days you feel better than others. I think today was not my day.

Q. You are in a good position to win points towards Houston. Is that your intention in Basel?

DAVID NALBANDIAN: Of course. It would have been great to win and be closer, but I still have chances, of course. They're going to play next week, too. I don't know how the math is now, but I think I have to win the two next tournaments.

Q. Can you sum up your year, because you've had great moments, you've had peaks, injuries? Have you enjoyed your personal life, too?

DAVID NALBANDIAN: Actually it's been a bit difficult. It's difficult to get the rhythm to play tournaments when you have to stop because of injuries. When you go back, you see you've been out. You don't get to enjoy it when you have so many stops. There's many tournaments you miss. For instance, I missed the Davis Cup. I didn't enjoy it.

Q. After such a difficult season, are you happy with the week you've had in Madrid?

DAVID NALBANDIAN: Yeah. Actually, yeah, because I'm starting to feel -- well, I'm enjoying my tennis. However, I would have liked to have won the tournament and be closer to Houston because I see now it's a bit more difficult for me. But I'll still fight for it because I know I'm playing well again.

Q. What happened exactly with your toe and when?

DAVID NALBANDIAN: Well, it was against Dent.

Q. Against Dent?

DAVID NALBANDIAN: No, during the match, I mean. It didn't make any difference today. I didn't play well. Marat proved that he's one of the best when he gives his best.

Q. Was the second set a key point of the match?

DAVID NALBANDIAN: It would have been great to win that set, no matter what it took. I didn't have any aces today, if I remember correctly, or very few. It's important because he started points very quickly, with great serves. But when we were 3-1, I think I made a few errors that he took advantage of.

Q. Safin said today that you respect him too much and you were nervous sometimes.

DAVID NALBANDIAN: Yeah, well, I had many chances, chances of being more aggressive and winning more points. But I didn't take advantage of them as I would have liked to have done. Whether I respect him or not, well, I respect everyone as a player. I think everyone plays good tennis. Doesn't matter who you play against; you always want to win. I have a good relationship with him, but every time we play together, he wants to win, and I do too.

THE MODERATOR: Questions in English.

Q. You normally return very well, Roddick's serve particularly. Today you seemed to have problems returning Safin's serve. Was his serve more difficult or the fact that you play in altitude? What makes the difference?

DAVID NALBANDIAN: I think he serve really good, and we have a little of altitude here, but also we feel it. So if you don't hit the ball in the right moment, the ball flies too much. But with his second serve, I didn't return so bad. I put the ball in. I tried to play the points, but I do a lot of mistakes. When he get the first chance to do an approach or a semi winner or a winner, he make it. He put some operation at that. We fight too much the game of my serve, and then he won -- he served like, I don't know, three aces or two aces, and then I know I have a very good return, but sometimes the other guy serve better, like today.

End of FastScripts….

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