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Q. You're ninth semi-final through 10 appearances here in
Shanghai. What does this one mean at this stage of your career?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: It means more because I don't get many opportunities. I
mean, I have a selective schedule, so, and I haven't played at my highest level
throughout this year, except maybe few occasions, Wimbledon, Olympics, and so
forth.
So, you know, but China has been always a happy place, a place where I
really played my best tennis throughout my career. So, you know, these kind of
matches, against teenagers, (laughing) it's something that really motivates me,
you know, keeps me going, and pushes me to really dig deep, and to show to the
world that I still got it, you know, in my legs, can still go the distance with
the young guys. So, I'm super glad that I managed to win this very challenging
match.
Q. Was there any point in the match today where you thought, Oh,
my God, I am too old to be doing this?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Not really, to be honest. In terms of, mentally I felt good.
I mean, I did feel quite tight at the end of the first, and I wasn't playing my
best tennis at that point, so I was a bit upset with myself for not closing out
the first set.
But I bounced back, you know, I started off the second very well, won 6-1.
Third set, I had a lot of opportunities in his service games, but, you know,
his serve is tremendous, so much pace and power and precision, very difficult
to play him. I know him for three, four years, I've been following his rise
through the rankings, his development. He's a nice guy, super talented player,
great prospect. He's got a bright future, for sure, if he keeps going. He's got
good people around him, his physiotherapist used to be my physiotherapist,
Sascha. So I still follow him, he knows that he's one of my favorite players to
watch, and I'm always supportive of him, so, you know, hopefully we can have
some more encounters and big battles.
Q. Are things okay with your left knee?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yeah, I mean, it's a strange feeling, to be honest, those
couple of points in that game, but after that it was fine. So, hopefully when
it cools down I'm not going to have any troubles with it, because I already
have troubles with the right knee, so it wouldn't be great. Yeah, let's see
what tomorrow brings.
Q. After the three games, and challenged by the three young guns,
do you think your form, level of performance has been to the ideal level that
you can chase for the 100th title?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I mean, it's quite relative what the ideal is. I think you
can always do better, but I think I played really well this tournament.
I was challenged by Michelsen in the first round, and today tough matches
with the big servers. I'm going to have a big server opponent tomorrow, Fritz,
so I have to be ready for another difficult match, tight match. Quick
conditions, if you serve well it's quite a big advantage. I know what's
expecting me, but, you know, hopefully I can be fresh, and now we are entering
the last, you know, four players of the last couple of matches of the
tournament, and, yeah, I mean, now is the time for me to really try to step it
up even more, and hopefully I can get a chance to be in the finals.
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