00:00Yeah, I mean, best match of the tournament for, I think, I mean, for me and possibly
00:09one of the best matches that was played on the men's side.
00:14Just super proud to push this one through in the four sets.
00:21Carlos brings so much energy and intensity on the court and always demands the best of
00:33his opponent in order to, yeah, for his opponent to have a chance to win against him.
00:39So I knew that that coming into the match, I thought I started off very well.
00:46It was quite an even match and then, yeah, the accident happened physically with me in
00:54the end of the first.
00:58I lost the first set, came back, somehow managed to win the second and then started to feel
01:07better, I guess, towards the end of the second, beginning of the third, started to move better.
01:13And yeah, I mean, every set was super close.
01:19The crowd was into it.
01:22So much energy on the court.
01:23It was amazing.
01:24It was, it felt like it was finals of a slam, to be honest, I mean, I wish it was.
01:31So I mean, credit to him for fighting and I think we both gave all on the court tonight
01:39and hopefully people saw that.
01:41I think we've seen over the last six months how you were able to find a level when you
01:48really, really needed the Olympic final today when you were under this sort of pressure.
01:53I just wonder, now that you've said it kind of felt like a final, obviously there's the
01:59physical element, but what about the emotional element of trying to go again now?
02:04How challenging is that going to be for you, do you think?
02:07Well, I mean, it's definitely going to be challenging from every aspect.
02:11I mean, I'm playing Zverev, who is in a great form and he's going for his first Grand Slam
02:17and he's been close and I think, I mean, I've seen him play and I practice with him as well
02:23here.
02:25I mean, I think he loves the conditions.
02:27He's got big serve and it's just, he's super dangerous opponent on the surface against
02:34anyone.
02:36Extra day with no match comes at a good time.
02:39Yeah, as I said on the court, I have to assess the situation tomorrow when I wake up.
02:47I'm going to try to do as much as I possibly can with my recovery team, with my physio
02:55today, tomorrow and the next few days.
02:59Probably skip training tomorrow, I'll see if I'm going to train in two days or not.
03:04I'll take it day by day.
03:06Now it's really about recovery.
03:09I'm concerned, I am, to be honest, physically.
03:13But if I manage somehow to be physically good enough, I think mentally, emotionally, I'm
03:23as motivated as I can be.
03:25So it's, yeah, this match drains both players and almost three and a half, four hours of
03:36incredible battle and high intensity, of course, it has its toll.
03:42But at the same time, I think it has more toll on the physical side rather than mental
03:47and emotional.
03:48Actually, it feels like you're feeding off this kind of wind.
03:52So I mean, that's how I feel now.
03:55So I hope to be able physically to be moving freely and to be able to be ready to play
04:04five sets, because I don't think I'm going to have mentally or emotionally an issue to
04:09face or to motivate myself or anything like that.
04:14You had this week, you know, obviously the Channel 9 drama and then such a brilliant
04:21opponent like Carlos and you're finding injury.
04:24How are you able to find your best tennis when you're backed against the wall and facing
04:29the most adversity?
04:32I think I've experienced that a few times in my career and experience helps of understanding
04:39how to face adversity and draw the, I guess, the right necessary strength and energy that
04:49you feed off in order to win a tennis match, to win a tournament.
04:54Yeah, I mean, it's I don't recall last time there was any slam without some some form
05:02of drama, to be honest, but I guess that's that's part of it.
05:06And, you know, we are out here competing and giving our best to to to grab a grandson
05:13title.
05:14So, you know, a lot of things happen on the way and that's OK.
05:20You know, I I'm just pleased with the way I was able to play throughout the entire tournament,
05:28including tonight against one of the best players, best player, one of the two, probably
05:35or three best players in the world in the last three, four years.
05:38So just a great win.
05:41Very proud of it.
05:45This is obviously your first massive test with your new coach.
05:51Yeah.
05:52I'm just curious how satisfied are you with how that's gone?
05:56You must have been curious about how it's been.
05:58Yeah, I mean, I've I felt I felt to do it in the end of the match, you know, feel more
06:03and more connected with Andy every day and just, you know, we we we face we face challenges
06:11every single day.
06:13People don't see that, obviously.
06:14I mean, we try to make the most out of every day and grow together.
06:22And he's been as committed to my career and this tournament as he can be.
06:30So it was a kind of a gesture of appreciation, respect for him and the fact that he's he's
06:38out there, you know, and he doesn't need to be and that he accepted to work with me and
06:44that he's, you know, giving all his support to me, to the whole team and trying to make
06:51it work.
06:52And this was a huge win for for all of us, including including Andy and myself, you know,
06:58for the relationship.
06:59So, yeah, that's that's the why I went to him, because I just felt felt very grateful
07:04that he's there.
07:05All right.
07:06I think I understand the court that it was a similar injury to two years ago, and that
07:11was a hamstring injury.
07:12Yeah.
07:13So is it is it your hamstring that saw or was it the groin?
07:16I'm not going to go into details, but it is very similar to what I had a few years ago.
07:202023, to be exact.
07:24And I haven't done any tests, obviously.
07:26I mean, I've done tests with the physio that when I took me off the court, when I had a
07:32medical timeout and he strapped me and gave me and then the doctor gave me some medications
07:37and so forth, painkillers that kicked in after 20, 30 minutes and he did help.
07:43And then I had to take another dose, I think, at the beginning of the fourth.
07:48But yeah, now that it's cooling off, I can I can start to feel different things.
07:52So, yeah, let's let's see.
07:55Let's see how it goes tomorrow and day by day.
07:57Last one.
07:58Carlos was admitting that after he got injured, he got a little bit distracted and maybe lost
08:03his focus a bit.
08:04Did you notice that?
08:05And also, I did.
08:06How did you take advantage of that and how do you stop yourself from getting distracted
08:10in your career when you see something across the net?
08:13Yeah.
08:14No, no.
08:15Look, I saw it.
08:16And I, you know, try to use that to my advantage in a sense to, you know, to take the initiative
08:25of the rallies and, you know, his hesitation and, you know, he was trying to play at some
08:30point quite a few drop shots and, you know, make me run.
08:35I've been in the situations as well where opponents, you know, struggle with injury,
08:40but keep going and then you're like the opponent is going for everything and then he's staying
08:46in the match and then all of a sudden as the match progresses, the opponent feels better.
08:51And then you're, you know, you're starting to panic a bit with your game.
08:55So I understand the feeling, you know.
08:58So yeah, I just, as I said on the court, tried to understand how I feel.
09:06I didn't feel great, the second set, but I, you know, went for my shots and I kind of,
09:12I was really close to the line and just had to be more aggressive.
09:16And I, as I said in my previous answer, felt better and better as the match progressed,
09:22particularly end of the second and the entire third till mid-fourth set was the best that
09:28I felt in terms of the movement after that injury.
09:30So I felt like it wasn't restricting me as much, to be honest.
09:35I felt pretty much normal.
09:39And then, yeah, end of the fourth was a little bit worse, but still was okay.
09:46So yeah.
09:47Look, I feel for him.
09:49I understand that he's not comfortable to play someone that you don't know if he's going
09:54to retire or not, or is he moving?
09:56Is he running?
09:57Is he going to go?
09:58You know, what's happening?
09:59So, you know, I felt that he was looking at me more than he was looking at himself.
10:05So that was, you know, I was just trying to be, yeah, self-observing what's going on
10:12in my body and at the same time focus on every point in every game and try to hold my serve
10:20and put pressure on him.
10:21That's what happened, you know, put myself in a position where I could possibly break
10:24and I broke his serve at five-four.
10:27It was good enough to clinch the set and then, you know, set old and, you know, you start
10:32to feel better and then, you know, he started to hesitate to play with a bit more hesitation
10:40from back of the court.
10:41He was missing a bit more.
10:43So yeah, I started to play more freely and it kind of reminded me of 2023, really, when
10:48this happened.
10:49I just had to, like, when Jim Courier actually asked me on the court today, so, you know,
10:53about it.
10:54And it does remind me a little bit of that feeling and probably have to do the same,
10:58you know, on Friday.
10:59Again, I don't know what's going to happen in the next few days, but hoping for the best.
