“What is your first feeling after this match (Sinner victory 6-1, 6-2, 6-7 [6]6-3) ?
I want to congratulate Jannik on his excellent match. He deserves his place in the final. He totally dominated me today. I was shocked by my level, in the bad sense of the word. I didn’t do much good in the first two sets. I think it was one of the worst Grand Slam matches of my career, as far as I can remember. It wasn’t very pleasant to play that way. But you have to give him credit for doing everything better than me. I tried, I fought. And in the fourth, I lost my faceoff at 1-2 while I was leading 40-0… The level of my tennis really wasn’t great.
Did this level of play surprise you?
To be honest, during the whole tournament, I didn’t really perform at my best. I had a good match against (Adrian) Mannarino but most of my matches weren’t up to what I normally do in Australia. In a way it surprised me because I didn’t think it would be this bad in the first two sets. But on the other hand, I didn’t really feel like myself on the court during the tournament. We can say that the semis correspond to a good result but I always expect the best from myself and that’s not what I showed today.
This is the first time that you have finished a Grand Slam match without having had a break point…
This statistic speaks volumes. He served very well, with great precision and he was comfortable with his shots. And me… difficult to describe in fact. There are a lot of things I did today that I’m not happy with. The return but also my movement, my forehand, my backhand. Everything was insufficient. He was very dominant in his service games. If you are in his position, you can put more pressure on those of the other, that is to say on mine today. He delivered a perfect match.
“I just hope I get the chance to come back and play at least one last time (the Australian Open)”
Sinner has just beaten you three times in a few months even though he had never beaten you before, what has changed about him?
He always hit the ball very hard, whether forehand or backhand. He plays very fast, he likes to be aggressive. I think he has improved a lot on serve. He finds his zones very well and I think he has accelerated his ball speed too. It serves harder and more precisely. He is good in the movement and the mental part. He was always very calm, very composed on the court but I think he had difficulty winning big matches, in big moments. Everything is falling into place now. He has a great team around him with Darren Cahill. In a few days, he will have the opportunity to win his first Grand Slam.
You are 36 years old, do you think that age is starting to catch up with you or that the younger generation is reaching your level?
We’ll see (smiles). I still have big goals for the other Grand Slams, the Olympic Games and the other tournaments that I will play. It’s only the start of the season, it’s not a feeling I’m used to because it was amazing to be able to start my seasons winning here. This tournament hasn’t been up to my standards but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the beginning of the end, as some might say. We’ll see what happens for the rest of the season.
You have won 33 matches in a row here, are you proud of this series?
I’m still in the heat of the moment, it’s difficult after a match to think about things in depth. But I have a lot of reason to be proud of what I’ve accomplished here. The series had to end one day. I gave everything given the circumstances. It was a very special city (Melbourne), the best – by far – Grand Slam of my career. I just hope I get the chance to come back and play at least one last time and go through those emotions again. »
