Australian Open Sunday, 21 February 2021 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Ivan Dodig Filip Polasek Press Conference FILIP POLASEK: Yeah, I always thought. I never really tried to come back. It was the accident, a nice one. Yeah, I mean, it wasn't like I was mentioned to come THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. back. It's just happened somehow. Q. Talk us through the match. Must be a massive Q. How did you come back? thrill despite everything going on that you can all leave Australia with this trophy. FILIP POLASEK: The friend of mine convince me to play, like, club matches in Germany. Then I realize I IVAN DODIG: Yeah, I think today was one of our better don't have the problems that I had before. Also, I mean, match. Even though through the whole tournament we then I hit with at the same time as I was played great , every match was better and better. playing the club matches. He was kind of making fun I Final was I think one of our better matches through all should come back. I was like, No, c'mon, buddy, no way. this one and a half years we are playing together. That's most important. Then a few things put together, I felt healthy. I said I try to come back. Yeah, I mean, I took a month off, kind of It's always very satisfying and we can be happy if we can no pay one month off. It turns for another two, two and a produce great tennis on most important matches like a half years from now. final. Yeah, myself and Filip must be happy and proud of this one. Q. Joe and Rajeev have had an 11-match winning streak. What was it about your combination today Q. Filip, you retired from tennis 2013 and had five that was too strong for them? years away from the sport. Does that make the victory more special for you or emotional because IVAN DODIG: We knew last year they won here. We you were away for so long? know they're playing great in Australia. I think the surface this year is very fast. They are always very FILIP POLASEK: I wouldn't say, like, it's more dangerous especially on the faster surface. emotional. I mean, it was nice when I come back. Straightaway, a year after my comeback, I play semifinal But we played against them. We also knew that we are of Wimbledon. If that would end up this way, that would playing good. The key, like I said, we just didn't give be like highly possible. them any free points. Normally in doubles, in this high level, the team who makes more easy mistakes normally Now it's like I get used to it. It helps me. It helps me also is losing. Today even from their side, there was not so the last year experience here the semifinal, and other big many easy mistakes. It was just we were having better matches we played. I think all those experience we put quality I would say on the return. They didn't I think have together today and we were able to play our best tennis any breakpoint on our serve. when it matter most, which is nice. That's by itself pretty satisfying, I have to say. It was our day, I would say. Things was much better. It was a good match level. Today we just had it a great Q. Could you tell us what you did in the time that day and things was going to our way. you were away from tennis. Q. Can you tell us about your daughter. What is the FILIP POLASEK: I was coaching, mostly like kids eight situation? to 13 or 14. I had the problems with the back. I couldn't really move, I couldn't play like the pro level or even as a FILIP POLASEK: I mean, the fiancée was pregnant. We coach. didn't know. Originally the day was 19th of February. With the original day, Australia would be kind of nice. Q. Did you ever think you may not come back onto Aussie usually end up end of January, pretty much no the tour?

104766-1-1004 2021-02-21 07:22:00 GMT Page 1 of 3 worry. Aussie was postponing, we didn't know what was mean, I was just trying to keep going as long as possible. going on. Once they decide they go on and they move the weeks, we were discussing that. We had some Q. Ivan, when you won Roland Garros 2015, how did discussions. you keep believing you could one day still have another Grand Slam? I am happy that she said, Okay, I can go. We make the deal. She said, I will hold it up, and if you make final, IVAN DODIG: Yeah, I always believe. I'm playing then you can miss it. Actually she holds it together, I doubles for last 10 years. I'm one of the best doubles have to say, absolutely up. Because on Thursday we players for many years. I know that I have level. made through the final, on Friday it came then. The thing is through my career I played singles mostly Yeah, it's the second daughter. It's nice. I been with the and was always combining with doubles where doubles first one, the delivery. I mean, this one I missed it. It's was not in beginning my priority. But once I decide to quite sad. But to end it up this way here, it's very nice. play more doubles, of course, was not easy to change. I I'm also pleased they are both healthy. I going to see knew that I have a good quality which my results always them soon. showed through every year that I am one of the best. Yeah, I needed also to work on some things. Q. Where was it born and have you seen it? Many guys think that good singles players can also be FILIP POLASEK: Yeah, I have the pictures and videos. good doubles players, but that's for me mistakes. It's Good thing these days there is, like, easy completely different tennis. You have to adjust the style communication. It get born like Australian time midnight of your game to the doubles, try to improve things where from Friday to Saturday. That night I didn't have much you need more for doubles, some things from the singles sleep, I have to say. I was quite thrilled. Yeah, I went to you cannot use in the doubles court. bed, like, at 2 a.m. and woke up at 6 already. Yeah, I had it always good results. I didn't have doubles The good thing was we had another day extra and I can Grand Slams, but I won three mixed doubles. I played sleep well before the final. finals, played a lot of semifinals. Just didn't make that final step. But I always believe I have that level. Q. Filip, coming back from the injuries you were having, was there anything you had to do to work on When I start to play with Filip, first Grand Slam we played rehab or healing yourself or was it with time? semifinals, I knew that we have good chemistry. It's just a matter of time like when we will achieve that. We are FILIP POLASEK: I mean, at that time it was more like great combination. We are playing good tennis. I think the time. The body kind of find itself. But after I come we have good team around us. This is the great reward back, I knew it. I mean, I have to do it something for for all of us. This should also motivate us to pushing for myself. Since I come back, I was working quite hard on more. the rehab stuff. I'm still now. I mean, the usually warming up routine, now we cut it thanks-fully for a bit Q. Was your brother in watching you play like 20 minutes. At the beginning it was 30 to 45 the final? minutes, just the warming up routine before I step on court. IVAN DODIG: Yeah, we have early in the morning our final. They was all there early on the feed. Even my kids Yeah, I need to take care of. I mean, always after the was on the TV. Everybody was watching, all the family long trips, like this ones, I need a few days off to see the were supporting. I am happy that we deliver great tennis physio. It's not even close to the problems what it was most important on the court, to win the Grand Slam. It's before, which I'm happy about it. great for me personally, for my family, for everybody, for all Croatia, the people who love the sport and supporting Q. You were hitting an incredible number of return us. winners. What were you seeing so well? I am really happy the way how we ended up this Grand FILIP POLASEK: I would say it was a good feeling. I Slam. mean, usually I am the one who is more up and down. Ivan, he's always putting on our team the consistency. Q. Ivan, you were talking about how different the He always brings so many returns. Always he brings all doubles skills are. By the quarters, I think it was the balls in and helps me a lot. He gets me through the only Herbert of the last 16 guys in the tournament as moments when I am not hitting great. a singles player. In the rankings, there's less and less top hundred singles players. Do you think the But today I pick it up from beginning. It was good. I doubles players are getting better at the doubles side

104766-1-1004 2021-02-21 07:22:00 GMT Page 2 of 3 of the game to make that distance? after Grand Slams how it was. Yeah, definitely it's a great achievement. I'm so proud of it. IVAN DODIG: Yeah, that's the key I think. I have those experience where I was playing for many years singles. I We don't want to stay on one. We now try to push, to get knew when I play singles I think on that moment while we even more. are playing singles you are still playing good doubles if you like to play doubles because you have a quality. FastScripts by ASAP Sports

I would say when you play singles, you are not so much bothered with doubles so you don't have so much pressure when you are going to play doubles matches. That's how I felt when I played singles, because you always was feeling my singles is priority, and doubles play. I always play doubles. I never had fun on court, I always wanted to win. But I definitely had less pressure than when I played singles.

When I switched to play doubles, then everything is different because the thing is doubles improved a lot. You can see in last five, six years we have so many coaches in doubles. Now every good team, even top-50 guys, they have coaches in doubles, fitness guys. Doubles change completely than 10 years ago when I start to play. You need different skills than before.

That's why I think the singles guys who are not playing often doubles I would say for them it's kind of not easy to win tournaments, to win big tournaments. You can see those, even the top-10 guys when they play some Masters Series, they have huge quality, they are unbelievable players, probably every of them is better player than doubles players, but that's not the point. The point is they don't play doubles. We know how to escape the good parts of the game. We don't want to play what they want to play. That's the key.

You will not see so many singles guys playing end the tournaments very often. But of course if they play consistency like Herbert is playing for many years, then he will be always great player. But this is not happening so much.

Q. (Question about if this feels like a dream or magical moment.)

FILIP POLASEK: I mean, definitely. I mean, to get the slam is always the dream come true. As Ivan said, since we starts playing together, after I have to say the first Wimbledon for me was really like kind of the fairytale. After we won the Cincinnati title, we kind of confirmed we really are in the group of the top doubles players. Since that I pretty much start believing, like, we can really win the slam. We did it everything for it.

It's tougher when you have that kind of mark on you, like you want to win a slam. Especially in Slovakia, we never had the male who would win any slam, any competition. I mean, I'm the first male winning the slam, which was even more pressuring. I mean, the guys were asking me

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