Philipp Kohlschreiber – Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Looked like a nice, solid performance.

PHILIPP KOHLSCHREIBER: Yeah. I think I’m happy with my performance. First match, you always adjust a little bit. But I felt comfortable in my game, very solid, moved my opponent well and served well.

Overall I think it was a good match.

Q. Happy to be back in Dubai? You always do well in this tournament.

PHILIPP KOHLSCHREIBER: Yeah, I’m very happy. I mean, I like the indoor season, but I prefer more the outside tournaments. It’s great to come from the winter in Europe, come here in great conditions.

I feel always very comfortable here. Yeah, Dubai is a great city. It’s a great tournament. Well, it makes it maybe a little bit more easier to play good tennis.

Q. What are your expectations this time?

PHILIPP KOHLSCHREIBER: I have none. Maybe everybody is talking about Roger, the really big names in tennis, they aren’t here. But still I think we have a very competitive draw. Of course, it’s a good opportunity in a big tournament for everybody to go deep.

On the other side, you have to play well to do that. If you play well, you always deserve it.

Q. Personally, where do you find your game going? Are there things you have learned over a period of time? I’m referring since you spoke about Roger.

PHILIPP KOHLSCHREIBER: I think I improved my game. In tennis or in sport maybe generally a lot of things have to do with the confidence. My year so far was a little bit rough. I had not a good start.

Yeah, I think I found my game in Rotterdam. Second round is not a great success, even if I played a good match against Roger there.

Yeah, I mean, I have to play a lot of matches. I try to do it here, as many as possible. For sure there are always aspects in the game you can improve. Also today I will find a few things.

Overall it was a very solid, convenient win. It’s the first round. I can raise my level for the second.

Q. When you’ve been playing so long, how can you say you still find things to improve?

PHILIPP KOHLSCHREIBER: Yeah, I mean, it’s very simple. I mean, people watch you, how you play, what are your strengths. They maybe take away your best serve, your most likely game plan. So you have to learn still new things to adapt, maybe not be too predictable for the opponents. You have to go out of your comfort zone more often.

Yeah, always things to do. Nobody’s perfect.

Q. You played an amazing match last year against Marin. Is the memory still fresh of that match for you in Dubai?

PHILIPP KOHLSCHREIBER: Not really. I mean, I know it was a very great or entertaining match. It was great atmosphere, I think one of the best I ever experienced. But at the end I also lost in the quarterfinals. I couldn’t say it was a great success from the tournament side. It was a great success how I played tennis.

Of course, I know I can play really great tennis, especially here in these conditions. That gives me a lot of confidence for this year that I do well, I can go deep. I have to find my game to, yeah, beat the other guys.