00:00yeah I mean sport what if a couple days ago was one of the toughest days I've had in in my career
00:17I was in a very very dark spot and I could tell you that I hated this sport and here we are two
00:29days later and I'm I'm feeling great about myself so it's it's incredible but more than anything
00:41regardless of the result today I I had made peace with myself and that was a big big moment I knew
00:57the way I wanted to play and I was going to commit to it from the first point to the last and I was
01:05okay with the result not going my way I had made peace with that and I just wanted to play my way
01:12so um more than anything it felt it felt good to play on my terms
01:20when did that making peace with yourself actually click in um was it that night was it the next
01:31morning did you just have to be on your own completely and even when you were in that
01:38quote-unquote dark place did you reflect back on what you've actually achieved this year
01:43I mean you're second only at the moment now to Alcaraz for match wins and lead the tour with hard
01:50court wins and things like that I mean so just if you could reflect on comment on all that
01:56um to be honest I'm incredibly lucky with the support system that I have the people I've got around me
02:09um every single one in my team even you know Katie um
02:18they were able to
02:22how they tried to talk some sense into me um and get me out of a very dark place and
02:33sometimes when you're in that dark place you make peace and you you start to care less
02:42right and and ultimately you can focus on other elements and not
02:48the results and for the first time in a long time I forgot about
02:54the what-ifs the results what happens if I miss this shot what happens if I lose this match
03:01and I just committed to the way I wanted to play from the first point to the last and
03:07a couple days ago I didn't and that's what hurt so much so today I knew that no matter what I wanted
03:16to be proud of my decision making my aggressive mindset and I wanted to go out there and and try
03:26to win the match
03:27Alex we're just fresh off listening to Taylor analyze your performance and he often says he sees the
03:34offensive side of you in that matchup and obviously it's nice in those top 10 matchups you've
03:40gone just ahead of him now 6-5 I mean just
03:43playing him compared to the other contemporaries in the top 10
03:48yeah look um
03:51it's it's interesting because I felt like I made
03:55a lot of leeway in
03:58in the top 10 category last year and then I I got injured right and the second part of the year
04:11I played a lot of these top 10 guys I came here to Turin and I felt like
04:17I had gained a lot of momentum in these matchups and I lost it all just because I couldn't
04:27really compete against them so
04:29it was it was tough and and to be able to come out today and
04:36again like
04:38it's my first top 10 win of of the year and
04:42and it kills me to say but I
04:45I feel like I should have better results than that right they just haven't come so
04:53to be able to finally get one win here in Turin to be able to come against someone who's
05:01playing aggressive tennis who's got an amazing serve his ball speed is
05:07up there with the highest he's
05:10you know had an incredible match against Carlos because he's
05:15off the ground hitting the ball huge and and dictating and today
05:19I matched him right and I took it to him and at times I would even say that I was the aggressor
05:27out there right and and it just shows that I've got that in my repertoire
05:33you know I just gotta come out of my shell more and just show it right
05:40Alex Simonetano Eurosport Italy it sounds like more a relief than joy
05:47yeah it's it's no and then I wanted to ask you also what went through your mind at that match point
05:555-2 when he canceled that because I was close and I saw your face and then again
05:59low 30 in the next game I just want to I'm very curious because I saw your face
06:05honestly it is probably more relief than enjoyment right because as I said it's not only just a match
06:19a couple a couple days ago it feels like there's been a lot of matches this year that just
06:24have slipped away from my hands so it's relief after a long year to get
06:32over the line and and get you know something go my way right and
06:39after that match point I just started laughing with my team because I was like
06:48I mean there's something up there that's against me I've got the evil eye of something that you know
06:56I'm just not allowed to win matches anymore right and then I go love 30 and and honestly it took some
07:04of the best tennis to date I hit an incredible ace then 5-30 I served and volleyed I just had the
07:14ultimate aggressive mindset and even in the toughest moments which I could have easily gone back into
07:21default and try to play solid and and kind of give him play not to lose I played to win and and that's
07:31why I was able to win tonight so I'm very proud that's well done today um just zooming out a bit when
07:38you sort of first started on the tour it was kind of tail end of the big three era and now we've got
07:43two players you know really dominating the slams does it feel sort of comparable to that time and
07:49for you like looking ahead do you feel confident that you can really go and challenge them in the
07:55biggest matches next year I feel like I've I've gained a lot of momentum um recently in these types of
08:06matches right and I've gone from a stage where hey it's you go out there you compete but you're not
08:15really getting a lot of chances do I do feel like I'm I'm getting my chances right even here against
08:23Carlos in the first set five three up uh five four two serves like I'm putting myself in in pretty good
08:31positions um you know Yannick I played a good match against him in Beijing in Vienna he he got the
08:42better of me as well but I do feel like I'm I'm heading in the right direction right and I'm gaining
08:50momentum and I do think that they feel it as well right um and as we've seen if Taylor played an
09:00incredible match against Carlos and was very close to to stealing that match and we're going to see
09:06tonight what happens with Carlos and and Lorenzo but I do think that you know we're going to be
09:14knocking on the door right they've played at an incredibly high level for an extended period of time
09:22we are just going to keep on getting better and wait for for our opportunity right because
09:31at least I'm hoping that they're not going to show up every single day of the year right
09:36so yeah that's that's probably the thought process going
09:40just quick question about tonight uh will you watch the match
09:48I don't know going in I had no idea I got told again on the court the the situation and I still
10:02don't believe it and till this point I don't believe it that I've got you know a genuine chance to
10:08to get through but as I said I I made peace with myself and I'm proud of my efforts today
10:18whatever happens tonight will happen and
10:23I would love nothing more genuinely nothing more to be able to switch off completely and not think
10:32about it for one second now can I do that I don't know I will have to wait and see I don't know if
10:40if we're going to be doing room service in the hotel room or watching it together and just
10:47living and dying every single point or we're going to try and go out to dinner and forget about and
10:53just enjoy a good day at the office I can't tell you right now
10:58don't switch off just yet um what if it happens and you you do get in um what is something like
11:10that going to mean to you yeah it's it would be a pretty good feeling it's all theoretical and
11:21hypothetical right now I don't want to you know think too much into it until it actually does happen
11:30or it doesn't uh but again it would be nice to have another opportunity and and play some more
11:39tennis here in Turin uh as I said I've I love Italy I love playing here and I just just haven't been
11:49able to get get a win until today so now that I've gotten started hopefully I can keep the momentum going
11:55first of all congratulations well done uh this morning there was a meeting with Andrea Gaudenzi and
12:05we were talking he was talking about the length of the masters or 1007 and some some of the top
12:14players don't like that they go on for 12 days because you don't have a rest even if you rest between
12:20one match and another I don't know what is exactly your position but I wonder if you would accept the
12:28idea that I should allow myself to suggest to Gaudenzi say what if the top eight players would have two
12:38buys instead of one when they went when they want to get to a tournament a little later and they
12:45wouldn't get the points and wouldn't get the money to start to play from the third round but they
12:53could have that option or or just play 12 days like everybody else and of course you would need to change
12:59a little bit the draws in order to to prepare that situation I'd like to know of course when there is not
13:07a back-to-back master 1000 because in that case you still have to stay there
13:16yeah well what I think with that particular idea is I don't think it's is fair for for someone ranked
13:25nine in the world right to not get they're still in the same position right where they've got to
13:30play the same 12 day events and they've got you know two tournaments in a month so it probably doesn't
13:38really fix the the situation I do think it's something that that needs to change as we've heard
13:47many players talk about it is a long time playing and engaged in a tournament right because what a lot of
13:59people don't understand is yes you might have a day off in between but yeah it doesn't it's not a full
14:08day off you're practicing you're going to the courts you're warming up you're doing gym this at the other
14:15and for us players you know we go to at the start of the year Indian Wells Miami and that was the first one
14:24to be the 12 days you spend the month to play two tournaments and the toughest thing as a player is
14:33you're seated and you make fourth round you know you could potentially you play fourth round in
14:39Indian Wells fourth round in Miami you could potentially play six matches in a month right which is
14:47is it's not enough and you're spending a whole month away from home practicing in a hotel living
14:56at a suitcase not really enjoying your time off and you're only playing six matches right I think
15:04you ask any of the players out there they will all rather the one week events because you go out there
15:13you play once you're done you're done and yeah it's it allows for us players to switch off and I think
15:23we've seen this year the amount of injuries it's been the highest it's ever been on tour right and those are
15:34not great numbers for for our sport you know we need to be looking after the players and their bodies and
15:43obviously what's happening at the moment is not really helping that thank you
