00:00 Yeah, I mean, as I said on the court,
00:03 I won some epic finals that was very close to losing,
00:06 so maybe this is a kind of a fair and square deal,
00:11 I guess, to lose a match like this for me here,
00:14 even though, of course, it hurts.
00:15 It's never easy to lose a close match.
00:18 But credit to Carlos, amazing poise in the important moments
00:24 for someone of his age to handle the nerves like this
00:28 and be playing attacking tennis.
00:31 And to close out the match the way he did,
00:33 I thought I returned very well that last game,
00:35 but he was just coming up with some amazing, amazing shots.
00:39 So yeah, congratulations to him and to his team.
00:44 What a tournament for him.
00:45 You know, what a match today to be part of.
00:47 I hope, yeah, everyone enjoyed it.
00:51 I move on.
00:53 Neil?
00:54 Yeah, I knew.
00:55 Neil from the--
00:55 Can I ask you about the two code violations you got?
00:58 First one, what are the timing of that,
01:00 just at that crucial time of the match?
01:02 And also the second one, did it just sum up your frustration
01:04 of the way the match was going?
01:06 There's not much to talk about that.
01:08 You know, it's just--
01:11 the second one was frustration, you know,
01:13 that I had break points in the second game.
01:17 Yeah, just a tough, tough couple of points.
01:21 And he played amazing to break my serve,
01:24 which was enough to win the fifth.
01:27 The first one was the time violation.
01:29 So yeah, it's not a great moment again,
01:34 but you just kind of have to accept it.
01:38 And you fought hard to get back into that match.
01:41 And I'm just wondering if you have to have a regret.
01:44 Is it that point for, you know, to get up a break in the fifth,
01:47 or is it a tie break in the second?
01:49 I would say tie break in the second.
01:51 Due to backhands, they've kind of let me down, to be honest.
01:55 Sad point, I missed the backhand.
01:57 He did play a backhand that was quite long in the court
02:03 and had a little bit of a bad bounce,
02:06 but I should not have missed that shot.
02:09 And then in six hole, again, another backhand
02:12 from middle of the court in the net.
02:14 You know, just two very poor backhands.
02:18 And that's it.
02:19 You know, the match shifted to his side.
02:23 It turned around.
02:25 He just raised his level so much.
02:27 You know, in the third, I wasn't myself for quite some time.
02:33 I managed to regroup and regain the momentum midway
02:37 in the fourth.
02:40 And I felt that the momentum shifted to my side.
02:42 So that was my chance.
02:43 That was my opportunity.
02:44 And that break point was, I think,
02:46 I played a really good point, kind of set up that drive volley.
02:49 And, you know, it was very, very windy today.
02:52 So the wind kind of took it to an awkward place
02:57 where I couldn't hit the smash.
02:58 I had to hit the drive volley, kind of falling back.
03:01 And I saw him peripherically running to the opposite corner.
03:06 And I wanted to kind of wrong foot him with that drive volley.
03:09 And I missed.
03:10 Yeah, and then obviously made a break next game,
03:13 which was enough to hold the serve all the way till the end.
03:15 But some regrets, I must say.
03:18 I had my chances.
03:20 And I could have, I think, closed out that second set tie break
03:23 better.
03:24 But credit to him for fighting and showing
03:28 some incredible defensive skills and passing shots that
03:32 got him the break in the fifth.
03:34 And he was a deserved winner today, no doubt.
03:39 Now back to David Waldstein, New York Times.
03:41 Do you feel like this is the beginning of a big rivalry?
03:46 Hope so.
03:47 I mean, for my sake, he's going to be on the tour
03:52 for quite some time.
03:54 I mean, I don't know how long I'll be around.
03:56 But yeah, I mean, let's see.
03:59 You know, it's been only three matches
04:01 that we played against each other, three really
04:03 close matches.
04:06 Two already this year in later stages of Grand Slams.
04:11 Yeah, I hope we get to play in the US Open.
04:13 Why not?
04:14 You know, I think it's good for a sport,
04:16 playing one and two in the world facing each other
04:20 in almost a five set, five hours, five set thriller.
04:25 It couldn't be better for our sport in general.
04:28 So why not?
04:28 [INAUDIBLE]
04:31 Are you surprised by how quickly Carlos has adapted to play,
04:34 to hard court and to grass, and he's beating you
04:36 and winning trophies so early?
04:38 To clay?
04:38 No, I'm not surprised because he grew up on clay
04:41 and his game is obviously suited and developed for clay
04:44 and probably slower, slower hard courts.
04:48 But yeah, grass, I must say that he surprised me,
04:51 he surprised everyone how quickly he adapted to grass
04:55 this year because he hasn't had too many wins on grass
04:59 in the last two years that he played.
05:03 And obviously him coming from clay
05:06 and playing the way, having the kind of a style that he has,
05:10 you know, I think Queens helped him a lot.
05:13 He was close to lose that first match, opening match in Queens.
05:16 And then he just started to gain momentum,
05:20 more and more wins against really good players.
05:22 And Wimbledon courts are slower than Orange Courts or maybe
05:27 Queens Court.
05:27 So it's more suitable for, I guess,
05:31 the baseliners like he is.
05:33 But I must say, you know, the slices,
05:36 the kind of chipping returns and the net play,
05:39 it's very impressive.
05:40 You know, I didn't expect him to play so well this year on grass,
05:46 but he's proven that, you know,
05:50 he's the best player in the world, no doubt.
05:52 I mean, he's playing some fantastic tennis
05:54 on different surfaces and he deserves to be where he is.
06:01 But if you had to pick one quality that you think is his
06:04 greatest strength, what would it be?
06:06 And is there anyone else you've played in the past or seen
06:11 play to whom you would compare Carlos?
06:13 I think people have been talking in the past
06:17 12 months or so about
06:22 his game being consisting of certain elements
06:27 from Roger Ruff and myself.
06:30 I would agree with that.
06:31 I think he's got basically best of all three worlds.
06:34 He's got this mental resilience
06:40 and really maturity for someone who is 20 years old.
06:45 It's quite impressive.
06:46 He's got this, you know, Spanish bull mentality of competitiveness
06:51 and fighting spirit and incredible defense that we've seen with Ruff over the years.
06:56 And I think he's got some nice sliding backhands that he's got.
07:01 Maybe he's got some similarities with my backhands.
07:05 And he's just, yeah, two-handed backhands and defense and being able to adapt.
07:11 I think that has been my personal strength for many years.
07:15 And he has it, too.
07:17 So I haven't played a player like him ever, to be honest.
07:20 You know, Roger and Ruff have their own, obviously, strengths and weaknesses.
07:25 But Carlos is a very complete player.
07:30 Amazing adapting capabilities that I think are a key for longevity
07:37 and for a successful career on all surfaces.
07:41 Just on the racket smash on the net,
07:47 I just wonder, you spoke about a few regrets you had during the match.
07:50 Do you regret that?
07:50 And we don't often see that kind of reaction from you.
07:53 Yeah.
07:54 What did you feel in that moment?
07:56 I mean, it was a frustration in the moment I answered to a colleague
07:59 two minutes ago about that.
08:02 There's not much to say about that.
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