00:00 Well done, Grigor.
00:04 Are you playing better now than 2017 when you won Cincinnati and the Nitto TTP finals?
00:10 I would like to think so.
00:12 Yeah, it's been an amazing week.
00:16 In a way, I was very happy coming into this week because I just wanted to see where I'm at mentally and physically.
00:24 So that was, I think, the biggest thing for me.
00:28 And next thing you know, a week later I'm in the finals.
00:31 So this is as good as it gets right now.
00:35 Grigor, congratulations.
00:40 You've had many highs throughout your career, but what does this second Masters 1000 final mean to you?
00:47 Yeah, it means a lot to me for so many different reasons.
00:51 I don't take this very lightly in the sense that I appreciate it a lot because I know how difficult it has been for me
01:00 in certain tournaments and months throughout the year.
01:06 So it's been a very... I guess it came at the right time.
01:11 I don't know. Honestly, I don't know what to say.
01:15 I think getting to this final means a lot more to me than some big moments in my career.
01:23 So right now I'm just staying in the moment.
01:28 I have one more match to play.
01:30 I'm going to give it all.
01:31 What's going to happen, I don't know.
01:33 But this week means, from a very different perspective, to me a lot.
01:41 Can you share what it felt to play like this in the last tiebreak?
01:45 Because it was some wild shots out there.
01:47 It seems you just couldn't miss.
01:49 Yeah.
01:52 Sometimes you get moments like this throughout the match that you read everything through a little bit more.
02:02 For me, he was serving against so well throughout the second set and I think the third set as well.
02:09 I wasn't really able to get a lot of points on his serve.
02:13 So when the tiebreak began, I said to myself, "OK, he's been playing very solid.
02:20 I've been doing a lot of good things right, but at the same time I've been very solid throughout the whole match.
02:28 So I need to lean on the things that I did well."
02:31 And of course, a couple of serves here and there, I read them very well.
02:34 Great returns, attacked the ball.
02:36 And next thing you know, I was far ahead in the tiebreak, so that was already a big thing.
02:43 Grigor, just following on from what you just said, that match was like a rollercoaster,
02:52 swaying from one side to the next.
02:55 What would you think on how you got out of that to win?
03:00 What was the one crucial thing that you could pinpoint?
03:05 Hmm...
03:07 Yeah, I think there were quite a few moments where...
03:14 I mean, there were games that both of us were serving amazing.
03:19 I think the game that I saved at 15-40 in the third set, that was a big game.
03:24 And I would say that played a crucial moment for me,
03:29 because the momentum could have changed completely and the match could have gotten away from me.
03:34 I mean, it could have gone...
03:36 Again, it's one of those matches that could have gone either way.
03:39 And I think that even the previous times that we've played against each other,
03:42 it has always been like this.
03:44 I feel like we know our game fairly well,
03:48 and then at the same time there were moments where it went his way,
03:52 then it went my way, then it went his way.
03:54 And that's just how it is in such a match.
04:01 It could have gone either way,
04:03 but I just felt like in the important moments throughout the match I was very, very solid.
04:09 Do you consider past records when you're up against somebody?
04:15 And when you look ahead to the final,
04:18 if you could evaluate both players individually on what you could face?
04:24 No, really, I don't think about this that way.
04:29 Again, whoever it is, it's going to be, I think, just as tough as any other match.
04:35 So there's no... I never look into those stats to that extent.
04:39 I'm not overthinking it.
04:42 I don't want to think that far ahead in a way,
04:45 like, "OK, I've played Novak so many times or Andriy so many times."
04:49 No, it's just every match is different in its kind.
04:52 So the only thing I can do is really control my own actions when I get out there.
04:59 And the one thing I know is that I'm going to go out there and just do my best.
05:04 Congratulations today.
05:08 Some people have called this last few weeks a Greek or Renaissance.
05:12 You're managing to beat people like Carlos, Daniil, now Steph,
05:16 that they weren't at the top when you were at the top.
05:18 How are you managing to deny them when they're meant to be the next generation
05:22 or they are the current generation?
05:24 Well, they are the current generation. That goes without saying.
05:28 As I said, I don't...
05:31 To be completely honest, I haven't really followed much on social media and things like that.
05:36 When I play, I'm very disconnected from everything.
05:39 I'm very appreciative of all the support and love that I've gotten throughout.
05:43 So many friends and people and everything.
05:47 I think the fans have been also amazing.
05:49 I've heard so many things from my family and friends.
05:51 "Oh, they said this or they said that."
05:53 So it's very humbling, honestly.
05:55 It's very humbling to be where I'm at in my career and, of course, my age,
05:59 which everybody keeps talking about it.
06:01 I don't feel like that.
06:05 I don't feel like... I feel like I've never left at the same time.
06:11 Of course, did I have a very hard time?
06:13 Yeah, I did.
06:14 I haven't been through lots of ups and downs.
06:16 Yeah, absolutely.
06:17 I'm not shy to say it or to think any other way.
06:24 I think just... I'm enjoying every moment that I get out there to play tennis right now.
06:29 I think, as an athlete, you never know when it might be your last time.
06:34 I mean, injury or something happens, God forbid.
06:36 Then so many other things that don't matter.
06:40 But what matters when you get out there is the time that you have a certain window throughout the match to live that moment.
06:47 And I think that's all I'm trying to do right now.
06:51 Hello, Grigor.
06:55 Grigor, the tennis player, is great for ages on the tour.
06:58 But most of us feel that Grigor, the competitor, might have been stronger than any moment of your career at this moment.
07:06 I mean, the attitude in the decisive moments, not only today but also against Daniel, the composure, the reaction at the end.
07:13 Did you feel that something clicked on that part?
07:16 I mean, being present in the great moments.
07:19 Yeah, I understand.
07:20 I think it's more... It could be also more of the experience.
07:24 I haven't had that much time to reflect on it.
07:29 It's been a crazy swing, I think, throughout Asia.
07:32 Then I came back home.
07:33 I had only four days at home.
07:35 So I haven't really had time to kind of think too much, "What did I do that is so different?"
07:40 or "Why am I reacting that way in moments?"
07:43 I said, "No."
07:44 And that brings me back to a point where when I get out there, I just want to enjoy that moment, like live in that particular moment.
07:52 And how the game would unfold, I don't know.
07:56 I have to play against an opponent, so that is completely out of my hand.
07:59 But the one thing I'm very happy and proud of with myself is the fact that I give myself the chance.
08:05 I mean, it could have... I might hit a forehand inside-out or inside-in that is that far in or out.
08:12 It's such a fine margin.
08:13 And I think for me, where I'm at right now, things in a way, they're going my way.
08:21 But also I'm looking for them as well.
08:23 I'm not waiting for my opponent to do something with it or I'm not waiting for them to miss.
08:28 I want to win or lose on my own terms.
08:30 And that brings me back again to another point, how everything has been happening on and off the court in my life is the same thing.
08:39 I can control my attitude.
08:41 And I don't want to feel sorry for myself for the past years.
08:46 I don't want to feel like I've missed opportunities.
08:49 Yes, have I?
08:50 Of course, too many.
08:51 If you ask me, have I made mistakes?
08:53 Yes, too many.
08:54 So there comes a point where it's like, OK, I'm accepting all that had been thrown at me, what I had to face.
09:01 And I continue.
09:02 I get to have another chance.
09:03 So when you get that chance, try to use it.
09:06 So I'm trying to give myself a chance.
09:08 Thank you.
09:09 Thank you.
09:10 [BLANK_AUDIO]
