Radek Stepanek Quotations

I have found my rhythm and am winning matches, which is the most important thing.

I don't have an explanation for today's game. I felt good going into it, but somehow things did not work out.

I beat the defending champion from last year and I think that today the conditions were tough for both of us, ... It was our first match on clay so the tennis was not that pretty. But I'm pretty happy with the win because I remember the Davis Cup from last year when it was two sets all and I lost 6-0 in the fifth set, so this one was payback time.

I am surprised with what I have done but I have been pretty confident since the tournament started,

I have already played him three times and I knew what to expect from him. I was hanging in there waiting for my chances.

I saw him playing in Queen's and know he played a couple of good matches.

It feels great. I will remember this day forever.

Jonas played a perfect match today, ... I was caught up by his very quick playing from the beginning with his kick serves, his returns, passing shots...all of them were so powerful. He didn't let me play much, he controlled the game and played very aggressively.

That was the crucial part of the match. It gave me a lot of confidence because before that I was really nervous.

Whether it came early in the set or in the tiebreak, I knew it would come.

This year has been very, very difficult but the way that I have been feeling this week is the best I've felt since the clay court season in 2004,

When you made me a dark horse, you gave me some extra motivation.

During those finals, I was just not good enough. I knew my time would come.

I should have closed the first set in the tiebreak earlier than I did, but I tried to stay positive all the way through and I think that was the difference between us.

I've lost three finals before this one and I'm very happy that I won. When I got up in the morning, I knew this was going to be my day. I played my best match in a long time. I controlled the match until the end.

This feels great, I have been waiting so long for this day after losing my first three finals.

It was a good win but what I am aiming for is a title and not just another semi-final or final.

It's very tough to break him because he has a very big lefty serve,

I never expect an easy match but today it was easy... I played my best tennis with an excellent service game. I have never served eight straight aces before.

I'm in the final, I'm excited and fired-up. I felt the power and support of the crowd and I just did it.

I'm in the final, I'm excited and fired-up.

I'm satisfied with my form this week, but I'm not happy yet. I'll try for that tomorrow. I had couple of weeks off and I'm hungry to play and hungry to win.

I needed some time into the game, but in the second and third sets I played great tennis,

In the beginning of the second set, he looked to be a little tired and I felt fresh. At the time he showed he was a little tired, I was the one who controlled the game.

He can change the pace of the serve, he's serving high kicks, he's serving big bombs, he's serving with slice, so it's very hard to get a rhythm on the return.

He pushed hard early on and I decided to play more aggressively in the second set.

The key moment was the tiebreak. I was more aggressive and I managed to put him under a lot of pressure from the baseline.

The first set was very tough, Luis played incredible well and I wasn't close to getting a break point. I had to survive and hang in there waiting for my chances. The chance came right away in the second set, and I picked up my game and I was controlling it until the end of the match.