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BNP PARIBAS OPEN

March 17, 2009

Rafael Nadal

INDIAN WELLS, CALIFORNIA

R. NADAL/D. Tursunov
6-3, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You want to talk about that match a little and Tursunov?
RAFAEL NADAL: Yeah. Well, it wasn't one of my best matches, true. It was tough to play against him, no?
He didn't give me a lot of rhythm. He played good shots but at the same time mistakes. I had more mistakes than usually.
But, you know, then I won 6-3, 6-3, so it's a good win. I'm in the third round and I'm happy for that.

Q. What do you have to do to get past David Nalbandian? You haven't played him for a while, but you've had problems with him each time.
RAFAEL NADAL: More than problems. 6-2, 6-1 and 6-4, 6-0 is more than problems. (Laughter).
Well, I don't know. Well, in the past, sure. I don't know. If I win tomorrow, I gonna tell you what I did better than the last time.
Well, I think the important thing is play well. I didn't play well the last two times. He was playing very well in the moment and I didn't play very well.
So the first thing is play well. Second, I have to play ready, because he has the control of the point, gonna be almost impossible, no? Because he playing tight, and he moves all the time. He has very good control.
So I have to try to play long and try to play hard all the time with the good intensity and very good rhythm. I going to try.

Q. You're playing doubles here. What is your thinking on why you're playing doubles?
RAFAEL NADAL: Well, first thing, because it's two-weeks tournament, so I have days off. Second, because I like to play doubles, no?
I don't play a lot, but I think this tournament is the right tournament to play, no?
So that can help me to improve and to continuing get rhythm on this kind of surface, because I played on clay for one week and a half or two weeks before come here.
So we decide to play doubles because I had a match before the first singles and for practice a little bit more.

Q. How did you feel about going out to play Mike and Bob, the No. 1 doubles team tonight?
RAFAEL NADAL: Always is gonna be I hope a nice match. We gonna try our best for have a good fun and play good match and have a good result.

Q. Have you expressed any concerns about the scheduling? You don't really have much time between this match and your doubles match here tonight.
RAFAEL NADAL: That doesn't matter, because I didn't play doubles yesterday. I play Friday and I play Tuesday, right now.
But anyway, everything is okay. I gonna play. I think the doubles match today can help me to play good shots and to improve the tennis for tomorrow.

Q. When you were young, did you always want to be No. 1, or did you discover later that you could be No. 1 and want to be No. 1?
RAFAEL NADAL: No, when I was, you know, kid, I don't know -- I never thought about to be No. 1, no? I enjoy playing tennis and try my best in every practice, trying to improve every day. But no, never thinking about be No. 1.

Q. When you win, you always bite your trophy. What's the significance of that?
RAFAEL NADAL: Well, I don't know. I did when I won first Masters Series in Monte-Carlo 2005. Later I started to do it. I don't know.

Q. Do they all taste the same?
RAFAEL NADAL: Doesn't mean too much.

Q. Roger Federer and Allegro took two games from the Bryans. Do you have a target higher than that?
RAFAEL NADAL: Win three.

End of FastScripts

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