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ROGERS MASTERS

August 11, 2006

Jarkko Nieminen

TORONTO, ONTARIO

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Jarkko.

Q. Was everything okay when you fell?
JARKKO NIEMINEN: Yeah. It's just I wanted to check the ankle. I was a little bit like worried if something happened. But nothing happened. It was okay.

Q. Where did you feel the match fall out of your control today?
JARKKO NIEMINEN: Well, I think, no, I just -- I tried to fight until the end. I didn't feel that it was slipping away. He had 5-3 in the second set, I felt that now it's like last chance to come back, and I did it.
I had a few breakpoints in the first that I couldn't use those, couldn't break him even once in the first set. If you don't use chances against him, it's tough to win the set, tough to win the match. He used those chances better.
Overall I felt that when I was playing well, I was like controlling the game in some parts. But then like in the tiebreak, I was playing really well, and I felt that I was controlling well in the tiebreak. But then I played some bad games after that happened, and actually during the whole match, like two really good games and then some bad games.
It was a little bit too much up and down against a player like Murray. I think that decide the match. He was a little bit more solid in the end.

Q. What did you see from Andy today? Anything that surprised you about his game?
JARKKO NIEMINEN: Well, not really because I have seen him playing during this week. He has been playing very well, very solid, and I think he did the same today. There was nothing that really surprised me.

Q. Was there a fatigue element after that long match yesterday?
JARKKO NIEMINEN: Well, it's tough to say. I didn't feel bad on the court. I mean, I can't compare myself to be more fresh because yesterday it was a physically pretty tough match. I felt, like I said already before the match, I felt physically very good today. I mean, I was getting tired, but nothing really serious. It's tough to say if it affected a lot.
Yeah, well, anyway, it's tough to play a match every day in Masters against the best ones. Then if you play matches like yesterday, in the end it takes a little bit of you. I just didn't feel -- I felt pretty good physically. I don't think that was the reason that I lost.

Q. On the instant replay where you won the game, went on to win the tiebreaker, where you dead-on sure or were you saying that it was something you had to take a chance on, when you called for the instant replay?
JARKKO NIEMINEN: No, I knew it was very close. It was in the end of that set. I had at least one or two challenges left, so I just wanted to use it. I thought it's out, but it was very close.

Q. What do you think in general of the system that's been in use?
JARKKO NIEMINEN: Well, I think it's exciting for the spectators. It makes it -- that was a tight situation, and then the player wants to challenge. I think it's exciting. But I don't know for the players if it's really like deciding the match. I mean, I think the players usually see them like this ball going out. That's why it's nice now to have a chance to challenge and see if it really was, you know, out.

Q. He didn't win a point after that. Maybe that did have some effect.
JARKKO NIEMINEN: Yeah, I don't know. You have to ask him.

Q. Do you feel the opening game of the final set was pretty crucial because you'd got an advantage getting back into the match, winning the tiebreaker so easily, and had you held serve then, you could have continued the momentum?
JARKKO NIEMINEN: Yeah, I really felt that I had the momentum after playing really great tennis in the tiebreak. I tried to continue the same game in the beginning of the third, but I just couldn't.
He played some good points there. I made some unforced errors in the beginning. It was Love-2. I think it was important to think about the momentum in the game because I really played well in the end of second set, and then he could come back immediately, got a 2-Love lead.
Yeah, it was important. But I tried to play the same game in tiebreak.

Q. How promising a player do you think he is?
JARKKO NIEMINEN: Well, he's already a top player. He's a very good player. I think he can still improve a lot. This year he has improved a lot. He played great last week, playing great here. I think he plays more solid now than before.
It's tough to say with ranking what he can reach, but he can go really far. And he's still very young, so there's lot of time to learn.

Q. What impresses you most about Andy's game?
JARKKO NIEMINEN: He doesn't have too many weak parts in his game, and that's very impressive when you are that young like he is. He moves well. Like I said, there's not too many weak parts. Every stroke is pretty good. He plays smart, which is also not so usual for a young player.

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