“How do you manage an evening after an interrupted match where you have just had two match points?
I let go of everything, I didn’t think about anything. I had already experienced this kind of thing during a match with Kyrgios and I couldn’t stop thinking about the film all night. What’s going to happen? Where am I going to serve the first point? And you don’t sleep, it’s horrible. So I disconnected with my team. We watched the football match with France. I didn’t ask myself any questions. And fifteen minutes before going on court, I started to get back into it. I managed it well, I didn’t lose any energy. Jim (Chardy, his coach) helps me a lot with that. He’s so calm that just by looking at him, you tell yourself that there’s no point in stressing.
However, it was not easy to come back to 6-6 in the fourth set…
It felt like I was a little tense at the end, right? (he laughs). You have to find the right balance between going for it without getting excited. At 6-3, he gives me one more ball, one more ball and I hit the forehand that just goes out… The last shots I play, I feel like I’m flipping the coin. At 6-6, when I took a little blow to the head. I said to myself: “Dude, stay calm…” and at 6-6, I make a great point. On the last match point, I was happy that he missed the volley. My passing was so bad that he was surprised to have such an easy volley!
Anyway, glad it’s over. I had some chances in the 4th set, with some incredible moments, when I asked for a challenge while I hit a winning shot in quick succession, the two match points before he hit me four winning serves… A lot of things happened. Mentally, it was boiling. Yesterday (Friday), they wanted to reschedule us on court 1 (covered). They went to see Medvedev first, who said it was out of the question. Then I, like we weren’t going to have a choice. And I told them: “I don’t want to play the tie-break on another court, it’s quite strange, I don’t mind coming back tomorrow…”
The reward for all this is Alcaraz…
I don’t really want to project myself. It’s the kind of match I love to play. That’s why I play tennis. I’m not afraid, I’m in a mode where I say to myself: “If you want to win, you have no choice.” I’m more in action than in reflection. I’m going to try to savor it, to play my game and we’ll see. I have a chance of annoying him. I’m ready to seize opportunities. I talked to Tiafoe in the locker room, who wasn’t far away against him. He told me that there were times when Alcaraz left a little space, when he had missed a little… READ FULL STORY HERE>>>CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING>>>
Is this a player you like to watch?
Who doesn’t love watching him play? I loved watching him in his final last year here and in the Roland Garros. He produces a lot of play!
You had already played in the 8th final at Wimbledon, in 2019 against Djokovic. If you had to compare with the player you were at the time?
It has nothing to do with it. Everything that was happening back then was new. I have much more experience. I was more carefree. Now I know I can rely on solid foundations.”
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