Estoril Open 2003 News and Events

Jiri Novak
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Czech star Jiri Novak answers your questions from Estoril and talks about life as a tennis player, what it was like to play in the Tennis Masters Cup and why he's concentrating more on his singles game. Here's what he has to say… Q: What was it like to play in the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai? - Joao

JN: It was amazing. I was always dreaming about this tournament, where there are only the eight best players in the world, so it was totally amazing. It was such a great and nice experience, and I'm very happy about it.

Q: What is your favorite part about being a tennis player? - Jack

JN: The sportsmanship and the relationships. When I was small, I was watching a lot of sports and my hero was always Ivan Lendl of the Czech Republic, so I always wanted to be a tennis player and especially a good sportsman and I'm very happy that I just decided to play tennis because it's an individual sport and I'm very happy about being a tennis player.

Q: Before going into a big or meaningful tournament, how do you prepare yourself mentally and physically in order to perform well at the tournament? - Jonathan

JN: I don't make any differences between the big or the smaller tournaments. I just try to play every match with full power and concentration. Sometimes it's just a little bit different if you are on the road or if you have a couple of weeks before a tournament but basically the preparation is exactly the same.

Q: You are a great tennis player, you played great in Davis Cup, but you are not as successful in Masters Series tournaments. Is there a reason for this? - Petra Olbrechtova

JN: I like to play the team competition because I am representing my country. With the home crowd and with everyone in the Czech Republic supporting you, it's a great feeling. But in the Masters Series, you are playing so many tournaments that it happens you can lose in the first or second round, but last year I had some great results in the Masters Series tournaments.

Q: Who do you think are the most powerful players to play against on the ATP circuit? - Anon

JN: For me, the best player in the world is Marat Safin because I think he can play well on all the surfaces and he has great potential.

Q: What is the best way to return a big serve, how do you train for that or get there slowly for a weekend tennis player like me? - Kai

JN: It's tough to say but you have to make so many decisions. You have to read the serve of the opponent and keep your concentration. But it's also a question of the surfaces, whether you play on the grass or faster surfaces it's much more difficult to return the huge serves. There's not so much a special kind of practice, it's more a question of experience.

Q: Are you still going to be focused on doubles as you were before or you are concentrating yourself only on singles and doubles is something less important? - Peter Donoval

JN: I'm concentrating more on the singles. I did it last year and I really improved my singles ranking. My goal at the moment is to do that this year. I've already achieved a lot in doubles and I want to do better in singles.

Q: Why are there so many top doubles players from the Czech Republic? And do you deliberately swap partners among yourselves from time to time to try out the different combinations? - Kathy

JN: It's tough to say why there are so many good doubles players from the Czech Republic. We have great tennis schools and from world tennis, such as Novacek, Lendl, Navratilova, Novotna, and I think in doubles it's a lot easier to get in the Top 50 than in the singles, so there are a lot of players trying to play tennis and they're doing great in doubles.

Q: Which is your favourite country to go for vacation and why? - Kiri

JN: My holiday is always when I go home to the Czech Republic, because I'm travelling a lot and I'm spending 30, 35 weeks away from home, so I don't plan to spend holidays away from home, so my best holidays are always when I go home.