Tuesday’s “Feeling Hot! Hot! Hot!”After the match, Nalbandian admitted to being a little tired after playing six matches in Washington, and that he tried not to overwork his legs, both in training and during the match, cautious not to reinjure himself. However, he said he did not give any thought to withdrawing from Toronto, as he “needs matches to feel good.”
David Nalbandian
Tuesday’s Everything and Nothing
Nalbandian, who had pulled out of Wimbledon in fear of aggravating his injury and having to miss the Davis Cup Quarterfinal, said that winning a Grand Slam remains his personal career goal. Minutes later, he agreed that the US Open will serve him well as a warm-up for the Davis Cup Semifinal.
Tuesday’s “A Friend in Need is a Friend Indeed”
The profound quote of the day comes to us from Sam Querrey. Querrey, who beat fellow American Michael Russell in three sets, was asked whether it was “fun” to play a friend. Querrey responded with this bit of philosophy that often applies to life outside of tennis: “It's always fun to play your friend and it's not fun to play your friend, because you want your friends to do well but you want to do a little better than your friends.”
Tuesday’s Kingdom for 500
When asked to comment on Sam Querrey’s development after his three-set loss to the 16th seed, fellow American Michael Russell said that Querrey is “like, the King of 250s,” referring to the lower-tier ATP World Tour tournament titles Querrey has been tallying up this year.
Querrey also talked about scheduling and his desire to win at bigger events. The American, who won in Los Angeles two weeks ago but faltered in last week’s Legg Mason Tennis Classic, a 500-level tournament, said that winning at the lower level is “still getting matches under my belt, still getting wins and confidence.” However, he does not plan to play any 250-level events for the rest of the 2010 season.
Tuesday’s Lady in Pink
Roger Federer, who wore a pink shirt and brown shorts in his win over Juan Ignacio Chela, was a “chatty Cathy” in today’s post-match interview, eager to answer questions and joking with reporters. At one point, a journalist began his query with, “Maybe it's not a fair question, but…” Federer interrupted, saying, “I'm excited about this one.”
Tuesday’s Any Way You Want It
Roger Federer, who has only lost one set to Chela in their now five career meetings, said this today about strategy employed in the match: “Well, I guess today I could play any way I wanted to, because Chela sort of allows you to.” Watch what you say, Roger, the Argentine has been known to spit at players for less.
When asked about his feelings on expanding his team to include another coach in Paul Annacone, Roger Federer responded with a story:
“I came on Tour in a classic way with a coach and me as a player, and we traveled and did the same stuff that all the other players did, you know. Mirka, my girlfriend back then… she didn't travel with me all the time because obviously she was playing, doing her own stuff.
…Then I quickly realized, because I was playing about 60 to 80 matches per year, it was good to have a massage therapist... So all of a sudden the team grew...
…I never had a problem adding people to the team; but I remember one time at Wimbledon, I think it was back in 2002 when I was one of the favorites, I had a massive team and big house and stuff…was a bit scary to me that all of a sudden, you know, you had huge expenses, and I felt like I needed to almost to play well because I had no, um, how do you say, no excuses, let's say, really if I lost, because I had the coach, I had the massage therapist, I had the manager, good house, had the good entourage. I felt great. I had good preparation. Then I lost in straight sets… That's why it's just a learning process in the beginning, and you have to feel with what you're comfortable with. And sometimes smaller is bigger and sometimes bigger is better. Depends on how you feel and where you are in your career and your stage of your life.”
Guess Peter Lundgren can thank Mario Ancic for his dismissal as Federer’s coach in 2003.
More photos from Tuesday's action at the 2010 Rogers Cup in Toronto
Photos by Mariya Konovalova
