Q. How are you feeling at the moment?
KEI NISHIKORI: Feel good, of course. I wasn't really expecting
this, not easy, but 6‑2 in the third, that's not easy against him, you know.
Yeah, I played well. I was a little bit tight of course, but he didn't
make much first serve in the third set and I was able to attack his second.
I was even more aggressive in the third set, so, yeah, I played well. I'm
pretty happy the way I played.
Q. The courts are different this year; last year it did favor Roger's
game. How do you think you were able to be aggressive and keep putting
pressure on him? He was always on the defensive. How did you do
that?
KEI NISHIKORI: Yeah, I guess I like this court. It was a little bit
slippery, but it was really good for me. You know, I can hit a lot of
forehands to his backhands. I was able to hit backhand down the line and
I can change the rhythm a lot.
Of course he made some unforced errors and didn't make first serves, so I had
much more chance than him.
Q. I know you've had some very good wins in your
career, but a first win over Roger Federer is always extremely special.
Talk about that in your career, to beat a player of his quality.
KEI NISHIKORI: Yeah, well, he was my idol. Actually, you know, to
beat him, that was one of my goal for my tennis career. It happens on
clay and it's amazing. You know. It's not my really favorite
surface, you know.
I lost second or third round last week and I was a little bit struggling, so I
didn't have much confidence.
But I played good two matches this first and second round, and beat Roger
is ‑‑ yeah, I need couple days to celebrate.