Chennai, Jan 08: Somdev who stunned Carlos Moya in a centre court action here at the Chennai Open was visibly excited on his match-winning game. Speaking to the media after the victory, the Chennai lad had lot to share and express. Here are a few from the victory man :
I always believed i can pull this off
" I think I believed that from the very beginning that I can pull this off. I think that’s the key before entering into matches when you’re playing great players. Sometimes people tend to give too much credit to the player before stepping into the court. I think I did that too a little bit. I fought back on I think I did the right thing to come back, but that’s just me being a little too much intimidated with the fact that it was carlos moya on the other side. After few baseline points I realized I was hanging in pretty well that made me believe I can actually win this game."
'Counter Puncher'
" I think it’s a good sign when u see a player on the other side forcing to win. that’s a really good sign for a player like me - the ‘counter puncher’."
On Moya
“ He played a couple of lazy shots and I took advantage of it. That’s the kind of stuff that happens a lot of times”.
On his game
“ My serve is a huge part of my game and I feel a lot of my games revolves around holding my service. Once u get to a better level of tennis you realize that. I kept working on my serve and kept getting better and better”.
What was on his mind during the match
“ I kept telling myself just do what is working. I knew moya was getting a little impatient. I kept warning myself about not getting away from the tactics and not to act like a superman out there. I just wanted to stick to the game plan and not do anything extraordinary”.
On calling himself a 'Counter Puncher'
“ Yes I am a counter puncher I don’t want to fall down. I feel mentally strong during my games. I like to feel like I am never going to quit and that’s the kind of player I want to be.”
Bright thing for Indian Tennis
He signed off saying, “Hope you guys think that today’s win is a bright thing for Indian tennis”.
- Bharti G
Jan 08, 2009