00:00It was a pretty solid performance from my side, yeah. Honestly, I said before the match
00:09that the last two matches that I had I didn't take my chances and today I managed to take
00:15my chances.
00:16Well done. Congratulations. Questions? Hands? Willie?
00:21Of all the matches you've played in your career, how would you compare the way you played this
00:25evening against everything else?
00:29I would say level-wise it probably wasn't the highest level. I think because I've had
00:39some matches where I've played and I felt way better than I felt out there today. But
00:45I think the way I composed myself and the way I tactically played the match, that was
00:51up there with one of the best matches that I've played. But the level, yeah, it was high,
00:57it wasn't honestly. I've had matches where I've won one-on-one and I've played a match
01:02where I've hit 50 winners and 15 unforced errors. So it was kind of like that.
01:07Alexi, Rich Jones from the Mirror. Yeah, there were some amazing passages in that match, especially
01:13late on. You've hit some great winners, Novak hitting some winners, the crowd really, really
01:18getting into it. Just talk me through what's going through your mind at that moment. You're
01:21under the lights, it's late at night in Grathrash, there was some incredible atmosphere out there.
01:25Tell me what was going through your mind when you were hitting some of those winners.
01:28Yeah, it was amazing. I stepped out on Arthur Ashe about 20 minutes before the actual match
01:34and that was the first time I've ever been on Arthur Ashe. Just to kind of get a gauge
01:39of how the stadium looked and how big it was. Honestly, the crowd was amazing. They kind
01:48of stepped up. When I hit those passing shots, it was quite amazing to feel the crowd on
01:54my side. I managed to kind of win them over towards the end of the match, which was amazing
01:58also.
01:59Yeah.
02:00Alexi, congratulations. Matt Felderman from The Athletic. What is going through your mind
02:06because when you're playing Novak, who's clearly not having a great night, partly because
02:13you're playing really well, but also he's just hitting a lot of double faults, things
02:17like that. But at the same time, you're looking at a player who's won 24 Grand Slam titles
02:24and has come back so many times from two sets down. How are you sort of squaring those things
02:29and staying calm and thinking your way through to the finish line?
02:34Yeah, honestly, all of the things that you mentioned were in my head. He wasn't playing
02:39his best tennis. I was waiting for him to kind of step up. I felt like he did in the
02:43third set, but my level went down. I didn't make too many first serves. Yeah, and also
02:50there's countless times when he's come back from two sets to love down, and I didn't just
02:54want to be one of those moments where Novak kind of stepped up and came back from two
03:00sets to love down.
03:01And that was going through my head, and it was kind of extra motivation for me not to
03:05do that and to win that fourth set. I kind of had to pump myself up, swear at myself
03:10a few times to kind of get back into the mood of winning. And I managed to do that, and
03:19that was amazing.
03:20Alex, what time do you reckon you'll get to bed tonight? With your adrenaline and your
03:26recovery, I imagine that's a big focus.
03:29Yeah, I just did ice bath like literally two minutes ago, so I'm a bit cold right now.
03:33But I think I struggle to sleep after matches like this. I tend to go down probably four
03:43or five hours after the match, so probably around 4 a.m., 4.30, I'll probably be asleep.
03:47What's the plan for the recovery to make sure you're ready for that?
03:50Yeah, I'll sleep in as long as I can. So far this week I've been waking up quite early,
03:55so hopefully I can sleep in a little bit. And then, yeah, we'll do some kind of recovery.
04:02And honestly, I think we'll do some fitness in the morning and then go on the court for
04:08half an hour and then do some more recovery.
04:12Great.
04:13Lacey, have you ever come anywhere near experiencing the emotions you felt on that match point
04:21before, and has it totally sunk in yet?
04:28For me, winning Montreal was way bigger than today, just because it's a title and it's
04:38a Master 1000 title, and that felt unbelievable. Today, it was something that I kind of thought
04:50I could do. Winning a Master 1000 was not something that kind of crossed my head, but
04:57my two experiences against them earlier this year in Australian Open in Wimbledon kind
05:02of gave me the confidence to go out there tonight and believe that I could win, and
05:05actually do it and believe it. So, yeah, when I did it, it kind of felt that kind of
05:12proved me right, proved what I was thinking right. And, yeah, it wasn't something that
05:19was unbelievable like Montreal, for example.
05:23Does it sort of feel like a situation where this is just one step, the job hasn't been
05:30completed as yet?
05:32Yeah, for sure. Like I said in Montreal, for me, the biggest part about Montreal was that
05:38I was able to back up big wins. And for me, that's something that I've really had to work
05:43on. I've had the capability of winning a big match, but not being able to back it up. And
05:48this week in Montreal, I was able to do that, and hopefully I can continue it this week
05:52because this is probably the biggest win of my career so far, ranking-wise. And, yeah,
06:00hopefully I can back that up.
06:02Lev Akavis from Sportico. Congratulations. Did you follow the Boudic-Carlos match last
06:08night? What were your thoughts when you saw that result?
06:12I was asleep at 10.30, so I actually didn't see any of the match. So, yeah, I woke up
06:19this morning and showed my girlfriend straight away and shot kind of like it was crazy. And,
06:26you know, results like that happen, and I thought to myself, why not me today? So, yeah.
06:31Willy.
06:32You next play Francis Tiafoe, somebody you haven't played before, but from what you know
06:37of his game, what you've seen, how would you describe him and the matchup between the two
06:42of you?
06:43Yeah. He's actually a really good friend of mine, so we get along really well off the
06:48court, and it'll be interesting to play against him. We've practiced a bunch of times, and
06:54yeah, he's a very tricky player, and probably he's got one of the best hands on tour and
06:59comes into the net a lot and likes to mix it up, so that's going to be the tough part.
07:04And I'm just going to have to kind of, you know, play my game, serve well. Today I felt
07:11like I didn't really serve that well, considering, you know, the percentages and stuff. So, to
07:17me, I'm going to have to improve on that. But honestly, playing Francis will be quite
07:24an experience, because there's been a few times where I've kind of lost the round before
07:29having to play Francis, and he's always telling me, man, why do you keep losing before we
07:33play each other? So, yeah, luckily this time I was able to do it, and hopefully it'll be
07:38a good match.
07:40With Alkaraz and Djokovic out, how would you describe the opportunity you and others have?
07:46For me, I'm not thinking that far, you know. I'm going to give you the cliché answer that
07:51I always give, is it's always the next match for me. I focus on the next match, and that's
07:55it. So, my focus is on Francis. If I get passed out, then we'll focus on the next one.
08:01Got a couple more.
08:03Can we say that the winning week in Montreal has changed at all regarding your game, your
08:10confidence, and the mental part?
08:13Yeah, definitely. It's given me a lot of confidence. And I said earlier this week that, for me,
08:19the most important part was to take that confidence from Montreal and bring it into this week,
08:23but not only this week, but hopefully for years to come, because all these top ten players,
08:28top five players, they play on this confidence all the time, and they steadily build on it,
08:34and that's what I kind of want to do, and hopefully I can.
08:37We'll take two more. Craig, you'll have the last question.
08:40Alexi, you've talked a lot on the fact that you had that real belief that you could beat
08:43Novak after meeting him twice in Grand Slams. Just wondering, is that belief and confidence
08:47in yourself something that's always been there, or has it built up over the last few months
08:51or years?
08:53I think, in my past, I've always had the one-off result of beating a top player, and I think
09:01the last two matches against Novak really gave me the confidence to come out here today
09:05and win, and it's something that I believe that I have the game to be able to beat these
09:11top players, and for me to be able to do it and back it up is a big thing for me.
09:17Craig, last question.
09:19Do stats mean anything to you? And what I want to just say, in case you haven't heard,
09:23that you're only the second Australian to beat Djokovic at a major, and the last one
09:30was Hewitt in 2006. Do those sort of things mean anything to you?
09:38Yeah.
09:39And I'm just the fifth Australian to beat him.
09:41Yeah, for sure. I think to be mentioned in the same name as Leighton, one of our greats,
09:48is always unbelievable, but yeah, it's a great feeling. I think I was the first Aussie to
09:56win a Masters 1000 since Leighton also, so that's also a great feeling. So hopefully
10:02I can continue that trend and do some more things that Leighton has done in the past.
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