TAT: Does this win give you more confidence on hard courts? You haven’t played a lot of hardcourt tournaments this year, playing more on clay.
VT: Well, yeah, I could say that I play on all surfaces pretty good. I’m from Europe, so I play more tournaments in Europe. I like clay. I’ve had some good wins on clay. I try to mix it up. I try to stick with one per season. When it’s clay season, I play on clay. When it’s hard season, I play on hard.
TAT: You’re at a ranking where you have to decide whether you want to play challengers or ATP events and try to qualify. How do you decide which to do each week?
VT: Well currently, with my ranking, I’m in almost all the main draws for all the ATPs. Well, not the big ones, for example, Masters Series in Toronto and Cincinnati. But those weeks I stayed in Europe and played some big challengers on clay. It depends if you want to play qualies in the big events, or stay and maybe get more points when you’re seeded in a challenger. It depends on the week, and if you want to travel more.
TAT: So, you base a lot of your schedule around wanting to stay in Europe as opposed to surface?
VT: Not really. After this I’m going to play in New Haven and U.S. Open. And after that, I have Davis Cup in Europe. And after that, I travel to Asia to play some tournaments there. I mix it a lot. I’m normally playing all the tournaments around the world, like every other.
TAT: You’re playing Bobby Reynolds in the next round, who upset Gicquel. Do you see this as a big opportunity to possibly make the quarterfinals here?
VT: Well, Bob is also a top-100 player. He’s playing good this year. He’s beaten some big names. He’s a tough opponent on hard courts. I’m expecting a tough match. We’ll see how it goes.
TAT: You’re from Serbia, which has had a lot of success recently. There’s sort of a gap between the top three Serbian players—Djokovic, Ivanovic, Jankovic, and everyone else coming up, with Tipsarevic sort of in the middle there. How do you work on trying to get up there where they are? Or do you think it’s an unrealistic expectation?
VT: No, everything is realistic. Someone gets it earlier, someone gets it maybe later. There have been players have made it pretty late in their careers. I try every day, and work every day more and more. And I hope one day it’s going to pay off, and I’ll be at the top also.
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Interviews 
Viktor Troicki Interview
Viktor Troicki Interview
Wednesday, 13 August 2008 16:44
Viktor Troicki Interview
Written by Ben Rothenberg
Following Viktor's win over Denis Gremelmayr in the first round of the 2008 Legg Mason Tennis Classic.TAT: Viktor, congrats on your win today. What do you think the difference was between you and Gremelmayr?
Viktor Troicki (VT): Well, I could say that I played really good today. I came to D.C. a few days earlier, and I had time to prepare. I was serving very well during the whole match and did not give him any chance to break me. I had a few good return games and used chances when I had them. So it’s a really good win today, especially since he played pretty good last week, making the semifinals in L.A. I’d like to say that I’m happy, and I’d like to continue this way in the next rounds.
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Tennis Interviews