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Roland Garros
Paris, France
04-06-2011

Rafa Nadal

Pre-final interview

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Q. You and Roger have met 24 times over the years. Are there any match or matches in particular that you have especially fond memories from that you remember especially well?
RAFAEL NADAL: Against Roger?

Q. Yeah, throughout the years.
RAFAEL NADAL: I think we had a lot of fantastic matches: final of Rome, final of Miami 2005, final of Rome 2006. For sure the 2007 final of Wimbledon, 2008 final of Wimbledon, Australia.
A lot of important matches for our careers. A lot of emotions in these kind of matches. That makes this match always very special, no? Always we play these matches when we were No. 1 and No. 2 or No. 2 and No. 1. That makes it special always.

Q. Were you surprised to find out it's Roger again, and what do you think of his level after yesterday's match?
RAFAEL NADAL: No surprise. You are more surprise than me, for sure. We know how good is Roger. Roger is having I think, in my opinion, a good season. He lost only against Novak in Australia, Dubai, Indian Wells, against me in Miami, against me Madrid.
Always there in semifinals, finals, winning in Doha. So he's having a very good year, no? Impossible to be every week at your best. What Roger did in his career is something impossible to repeat for the rest of the players today, I think.
So he's fantastic, and he's not surprise for me. He's very, very good player. Always is honor to play against him, and for sure is not surprise to see Roger in the final of another Grand Slam.

Q. Does it change the way you see the final, though, with in Roger in it rather than Novak, the way you think about it?
RAFAEL NADAL: Well, yeah, it's a little bit different match. At the same time, I know I have to play at my highest level to have chances to win, because he is playing fantastic. The match of yesterday probably give to him a little bit more confidence. So he know he was playing fantastic during all the tournament.
But after the victory of yesterday he must feel very confident, no? Was fantastic match yesterday to watch, in my opinion, so I had lot of fun watching that match.
Nothing new against Roger. I know what's gonna happen. I know he gonna play aggressive, for sure. I have to try to play long, to play consistent all the time, and try to be aggressive when I have the chance.

Q. If you compare your feeling this year with the other finals you played here, do you feel is anything different this year? Can you compare it with your level of play, with your confidence before the other finals you played here?
RAFAEL NADAL: No. Every year is completely different. I cannot compare every year, because every year is different.
But the only final that I really felt very confident was in 2008, because I feel myself playing better than ever that final. The rest of the finals you go on court, you know, you know you play against one of the best players of the world in everyone. Gonna be the fourth against him, against Roger.
You know that when you play against him you can win, but you have a lot of chances to lose, too. You have to accept both things, try to play your best, and we will see what's going on.

Q. Does that not, though, give you a huge lift mentally to know he only won a handful of games last time you played in a final here?
RAFAEL NADAL: Sorry?

Q. Does that not give you great encouragement to remember that in 2008 he won only four games against you in the final?
RAFAEL NADAL: No, that doesn't make that...

Q. Can you use that to your advantage, remembering how brilliant you were on that day?
RAFAEL NADAL: Is three years later, so is impossible to compare matches three years before than three years later. That's something that is impossible to think. Every day is different, so every year change a lot of things.
And I say before the feeling of every year is completely different, so is impossible. I gonna go on court knowing that I can lose 100%, and I can win, I hope. So I gonna try.

Q. You watched the match yesterday. From what you saw in his game, what will be the key tomorrow for you and with those balls that we've talked a lot? Did you get used to these balls now?
RAFAEL NADAL: The balls? The balls, everybody talked a lot about balls because is a new brand, but the balls are pretty similar, in my opinion, to last year. The balls are really good ball, so that's not for the ball one player gonna win, another one gonna lose.
I saw him yesterday playing fantastic in every moment. My key always the same: play at my best. Sometimes is not enough. But if I play my best, hopefully gonna have my chances.

Q. It's been two‑and‑a‑half years since you met last time in a Grand Slam final. Are you happy to see him again on such a big stage, Roger?
RAFAEL NADAL: What's a big stage? Stage because...

Q. Such a big tournament, like a Grand Slam tournament.
RAFAEL NADAL: Had one in Australia. I didn't play against him in Australia, but he won Australia. Last year at the end of the season he won the Masters Cup.
So is impossible to have bigger stages than these ones. So is not for two years‑and‑a‑half that Roger is not in a finals of Grand Slam? Is not for two‑years‑and‑a‑half that Roger is not playing well. Roger is playing well almost every time.
Last year he lost unbelievable match in the semifinals of the US Open. So he was there all the time playing fantastic. He had fantastic end of the season last year winning, I don't know, a lot of tournaments.
So for me, I am happy to play against him, because always is an honor to play against the best player of the history. Because play against him always represents something very special.
But not because I saw him another time at his top level, because I always saw him with enough potential to win in every tournament.

Q. There is a chance that it could rain tomorrow, or that the conditions could be very wet. Do you think that would be an advantage...
RAFAEL NADAL: Rain tomorrow?

Q. A lot of rain.
RAFAEL NADAL: Rain?

Q. They say it could be raining tomorrow.
RAFAEL NADAL: Yeah.

Q. So if the conditions would be like that, rather wet, do you think that would be an advantage for Roger because your topspin balls maybe don't bounce as high, or is it more an advantage for you because his serves maybe are not as good as they are in fast conditions?
RAFAEL NADAL: For me, I prefer the sunshine always, and higher bounces. So for my game is better if the ball is fast and if the bounces are higher.
If rains, if the rain is there and the day is cloudy, sometimes the ball stays lower. So that's a little bit an advantage for him.
But seriously, I don't have the power to control the weather, so if rain, I gonna think that is an advantage for me; if sunshiny, gonna think is advantage for me. I have to think positive all the time because I cannot control that.
THE MODERATOR: Spanish questions, please.

Q. Good morning, Rafa. I guess you saw the tiebreak in the first set during Roger's semifinal yesterday. I think you saw the entire match. Most people say this match is just as impressive as the one you played in Wimbledon. Would you say that's one of the most beautiful matches in the last years, just a very good match?
RAFAEL NADAL: No, it's a very good match. It's a fantastic match from a tennis standpoint. They both played at a very high level, playing spectacular points. But when you see it on TV, it changes things. You can't appreciate it as much as when you're on the court.
But his level of tennis was absolutely excellent, and I don't think you can compare a final in Wimbledon with a semifinal. I don't think the final in Wimbledon represents the same thing as the semifinal yesterday.
When you talk about quality of game, then I don't know if it was better yesterday or in Wimbledon. But I think that there are far more elements you need to take into account, and there are more matches in a Grand Slam.
In Wimbledon there was much more at stake after I had been in the final for two times and I had lost. If I won, that was a great opportunity for me to be No. 1 again after being No. 2 for three years.
Obviously there was this problem of the rain and darkness at the end of the match. But from the tennis standpoint, it was an excellent match yesterday, even though darkness was back at the end of the match.
Although it was an excellent match, I don't think you can compare the two.

Q. You've seen Roger Federer playing that well on clay as you did yesterday?
RAFAEL NADAL: No, I didn't see all the match. I just saw parts of the match, so I can't tell you. But I saw him playing a very high level of tennis.
I saw him playing Monfils, as well. But I couldn't watch more. He only lost one set all the way to the final, so it means that he played a very high level. I think it's not a surprise Roger made it to the final, because he always made it to a final just playing always his matches very well.
So it's not a surprise for me to see him playing in a very constant way. Over the last month, maybe he gave you a feeling that he was not all that consistent or that constant and he lost a few sets, but he played very well in Rome.
He is a very consistent, and seeing him playing so well is not a surprise to me.

Q. I know you already answered this question in English, but you always say that Roger is "the" best player in history, and this is exactly what he says about you on clay. So I think we can expect a wonderful match tomorrow.
RAFAEL NADAL: Well, I don't know. Wonderful match? Well, a final in a Grand Slam is always a very special match. Now, is it gonna be a wonderful match? Well, it all depends, you know.
In a final you have great tension, and this is not always easy to manage. So the final is not always the best match in the tournament. We have played some of our best matches in the finals and it's always been very special. It also witnesses our rivalry over the last years.
Now apparently there are other players, but we will see what happens. If it was not a huge match, then ‑‑ I'm going to do everything I can to play my best and try and win; if it's not the case, Roger plays at a very high level and he can win.
But I'll try and win.

Q. Rafa, 24 matches you win here; five times you won the final. So at the beginning of the tournament this year, you had some doubts with the weather, with the new balls. But then you didn't lose any set, so would you say that the image you have as "the" player who can't be defeated here in Roland Garros makes the other players look ‑‑ smaller players like Andujar who lost in three sets?
RAFAEL NADAL: No, I don't think you can compare the match of yesterday with other matches during the first and second round, because you have to be really prepared. If you're not prepared, you have to go home. I was prepared. I had the preparation that allowed me to win.
I think the success I had in this tournament since I started playing here is something which is difficult to explain. I mean, it was impossible for me to explain a few years ago, but it's a dream that came true.
The positive thing about this is that we all tend to try and see whether I played better, worse, or the same. Without going into details, I was in a final six times, and I won five times out of six.
And it's difficult to improve such results, but then from a mental and physical standpoint, the consequences are quite huge. So for me it's a dream that came true. So many victories over the last years, so many victories would tend to make things look a bit confused, and you don't really understand what's going on this year.
So probably coming here, that's the reason why I didn't start the tournament well. But I did improve in the second week and in the semifinal, and I've reached the final again here in Paris. As I said before, maybe people expect too much ‑‑ we can all make mistakes, and we all need to realize what happened during this tournament.

Q. Would you say that the weather is going to have an influence on the match tomorrow? What can you say about the weather tomorrow?
RAFAEL NADAL: Well, I don't know more than you do. I'll log on the Internet and look at the weather forecast. I have no crystal balls to tell me what the weather's gonna be like. If the conditions are very wet and if it's very hot, then it makes me think that the rain is going to come.
If the weather is bad, well, we'll cope with it. We are hoping it's not going to rain. If it does rain, well, then we'll wait.

Q. When you are down in a game or in a set because of the weather, because of the rain, of the atmosphere which is very heavy, would you say that Federer is quite robust and can cope with the situation? Would you say you're better than him at that?
RAFAEL NADAL: Well, to be honest, someone with 16 Grand Slams under his belt, having been No. 1 or No. 2 in the world for so many years, who is a holder of the records, thinking that he's not solid enough to cope with the conditions despite his talent, I think that's a big mistake.
Even if a player plays very well, even he is an excellent player ‑ and he is such a player ‑ there are always problems. He had to overcome many problems, many bad weather conditions. So facing problems, overcoming problems, is what such great players can do.
As for me, I'm used to fighting. I've been able to cope with difficult conditions in the past, so I will fight too.

Q. Given the results between the two of you ‑ especially on clay ‑ and given the difficulties he has with your game, would you say you have an advantage from a mental standpoint?
RAFAEL NADAL: No, I don't think so. I don't want to think about it anyway, because you walk on the court and you know that the other one can take the lead at any time because of his spectacular serve, that he can attack with very powerful first serves, that he can have winning returns with an exceptional quality.
So I don't think that he has an advantage or that I have an advantage. All I know is that I need to play my tennis, to play very well, to strike perfect shots each time, so that I can have all possible opportunities to win and make him realize that it's not gonna be easy to play against me.