Tennis at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Men's doubles

Transcription

Our priority as players was always playing in the singles, but we knew each other very well. Fernando and I grew up playing doubles together from a early age, and we had a particular style playing doubles, very different to other players. We use to play on the baseline, almost like a game of singles. The other players didn't like to go against us. You are worried about how the match is developing, you never know what can happen in a 5 set game. You can be the better pair one moment and then the worst pair. We won the first set, and then we lost the second set. Fernando had played nearly 4 hours before our game, but the key was to stay in the game. We knew we would have a chance of winning. Obviously it was not the nicest of things to have a team mate who had already played to his maximum four hours before, and then going against the German pair who had being preparing for this game for two days. We were not playing on a level field, but that was the game we had to play. There was no other way. We could not play three days later, that was it. This was probably the most important game in our lives, we could not get afford to get distracted We had to just play the game. My grandfather taught me that the game is not over, until you lose the final point in a match. When the referee says it's finished, or when you shake your opponents hand, that is when the game is over. We won the fourth set, and fifth set was a war. We could win or lose, but we would give 110% in this game. We may faint on the court, but we would not leave until we gave all we could give. We are level four all, in the fifth set. Advantage to us. Schüttler is serving, or Kiefer, I can't remember When we broke their serve, I positioned myself to hit the ball with my right hand and play the ball to Schüttler. We took the lead 5 - 4, then you get one minute break to sit down. Then Fernando is serving for the match. So we did not have time to think, If we are losing or we are winning. You don't have time to think, as an athlete you are not thinking on those things.