Tennisinfo.be December 2 2006
Translated by Gaby
© Tennisinfo.be
Exclusive: Tommy Robredo
During one of the press chats at the Tennis Oostende Prestige, Tennisinfo.be had the opportunity to ask Tommy Robredo some questions. You can read the entire interview here.
Hello Tommy!
Congratulations on your victory. What was the most important
in this match? To entertain the crowd, to go for the victory or to get a good
training during the off-season?
Right now we are in a time of the year in which it is important to regain
some rhythm during exhibition tournaments, which I also love to compete in.
It's a good way to get some practise and to stay in shape.
Do you expect Kristof Vliegen to be in the quarters or
semis of a Grand Slam tournament next year, or in the years to follow?
Actually, I hope to be there myself (laughs). No, he definitely has the qualities
and he's at no. 31 in the rankings, and to get there you need to be able to
play some good tennis, no? I was at that place a couple of years ago and look,
I'm no. 7 in the world right now.
Have you been to Belgium before and what do you know
about the people and the country?
Six years ago I played a challenger tournament here in Oostende, and when
I arrived last night I saw the tournament director and I told him that I recognized
the city. I have good memories of this place. Except then it was summer and
the weather was a lot better. Because that's not always the best here, is
it? (laughs) I remembered that there is a beach here and so this morning I
took a walk on the beach. There was nobody there, because the weather wasn't
too great.
At the moment there is also an exhibition tournament
in Spain, in Malaga. Why did you choose Oostende?
The organization contacted me during the tournament in Paris and it appealed
to me. The organization wanted to be sure that I would come and besides that
I'm a man of my word; that's how I ended up here.
What was your best tennis moment in 2006? The Masters
in Shanghai or your victory in Hamburg?
That victory actually put me on my way to have my second best moment
of the season in Shanghai. One helped me get the other. The Masters was a
really nice experience, not only are you together with the eight best players
of the world, also the luxurious surroundings made it great to be there.
- Jan Berton
You can view the article (in Dutch) here