“Was it long, three years without a final?”
It feels good, that’s for sure. I have had a few injuries since my last final, three years ago at Bastad, and it was not easy to come back to this stage of the competition. Nice to get there in Umag, a great place. And I’m happy to have the opportunity to try to get a title on Sunday. In any case, it’s nice for me to come back to the final. It’s nice.
With every lap in Croatia this week, we see you sweating a lot, with soggy polo shirts. Isn’t that too physically demanding?
I had been here eight years ago, I knew what to expect. I wanted to come back to Umag rather than go back to Gstaad. Because I knew it was also a great tournament. But it is true that these are complicated conditions. It’s very humid, and even though it was a little cooler this time, it’s still dirt. On hard, there may have been more serves that do not come back, more points with three strikes, but there, the balls are very heavy and all the points are disputed. I had to force myself to win this game. It was complicated, I fought, I really suffered to win.
You were particularly offensive in the last round …
In the third set, I had no choice but to move forward in the court, because I was hit, so I tried to be smart, to serve well, to make the right shots. . I went to get it (to smile).
This qualification for the final validates your choice not to have gone to Tokyo for the Olympics. This decision must not have been easy to make, right?
It was not easy because it is very beautiful to play the Games, but you have to admit that since I was not playing in either mixed doubles or men’s doubles in Tokyo, my chances of a medal were very low. When I retired, it was Jérémy Chardy who was right behind me, and he had made a better start to the season. I think I was not at the level of the Olympics, quite simply. Afterwards, if I had had a double to play, I think I would have been capable of a podium, but not with only the single … “
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