Malgré Arthur Cazaux, malgré Arthur Rinderknech, malgré Benjamin Bonzi ou Manuel Guinard, il n'y avait pas de Français en demi-finales de l'ATP 250 d'Adélaïde. En revanche, deux Américains étaient présents mais un seul a pu se hisser en finale. Ce n'est pas Tommy Paul (n°1). Vendredi, il pouvait se retrouver dans le Top 10 pour la première fois de sa carrière s'il battait Félix Auger-Aliassime (n°5). Mais au terme d'une rencontre accrochée jusqu'au dernier point, le Canadien a fait la différence (7-6(3), 3-6, 6-4). Il disputera sa première finale depuis Madrid, en mai dernier, pour aller chercher un titre après lequel il court depuis octobre 2023.
Video : @TennisAustralia
Video : @TennisAustralia
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00:00Congratulations, what's the prospect of another title leading into the Open, what would that
00:09mean for you?
00:10Yeah, well, it would be the perfect way to start the year for sure, you know, first single
00:16event for me.
00:19The plan, yeah, in the past I haven't played every time the week before Slam, I feel like
00:25the first years I would play more than around 22, 23, 24, not as much, but the ranking being
00:33a bit lower nowadays and I haven't won a lot of matches in a row lately, I feel like the
00:40goal here was to just compete, play more matches, give myself a chance to win matches, and so
00:47far it's been good.
00:48Now there's one more to go, I know finals are always important, very motivating, so
00:55I'm going to give it my all and then after focus on Melbourne.
00:59Hey Felix, just curious what you're feeling like physically at the moment this week, I
01:06know you had that sort of back issue towards the end of last year, the Aussie summer can
01:11be a little bit gruelling, so yeah, how are you holding up at the moment?
01:14So far so good, but you know, you do the work, you do what's in your control between our
01:20preparation as a team, the treatments, the ice bath, the eating, the recovery, the sleeping,
01:27and after you don't control everything, not everything is in my hands or in my power,
01:32but I hope this keeps going, but right now I'm feeling good, today was a good test, playing
01:38a guy like Tommy, where ups and downs in a match, but difficult conditions with the lighting
01:45and stuff, and just him being the great athlete he is, and myself matching up with that, was
01:52I think an important test for me.
01:54Just lastly I wanted to ask about that last set, obviously you dropped that second set,
01:58how did you sort of turn things around and then you had to dig quite deep on the service
02:02a couple of times, what did you go through mentally and how did you pull that one out?
02:08Well the second set was odd because I had a great start 2-0 and I felt like it was a
02:13solid first set overall because I got the break early, he played a great game to break
02:17me back, I played a great tie break, so I thought like okay 7-6, 2-0, this is so far
02:22a good match, and then yeah things turned around, and I had a bit of a dip, a focus
02:29and effort physically, so it was important I think that break to get out and give myself
02:36a bit of time and just mentally prepare myself to play, try to play a great start of the
02:42third set, which I did, so yeah it was key to get that break early, to have that margin
02:47because he was still in every return game and he was putting pressure, but I think having
02:50that margin with the early break was crucial.
02:53Fenix, how much do you enjoy playing Tommy, because the two tour level matches that you've
03:02played have both been pretty tight, three setters.
03:07Yeah, even more the first one, I had to save I think six match points, yeah I mean he's
03:13been, how do I, I enjoy playing him because I like him as a person, I think he's a great
03:20guy, he's always very respectful and put everybody around and we've played in some team events
03:28in the Labour Cup together, we had good moments every time we practiced, we're in good spirits,
03:33so he's a good guy and I think when you play somebody like this you just feel like you're
03:39both competing and you're hardest, but with a lot of respect and sportsmanship, so yeah
03:46I do enjoy those match ups and he's one of the top players in the world also right now,
03:50so it's motivating to see where your game matches up against a guy that's in form lately
03:56and for me it was an important win for sure at the start of the year for me.
04:01And starting the year with at least a final, how much encouragement does it give you for
04:09at least the early part of the season and helping to get that ranking back up?
04:15Well it's great, that's what I came here for and there's one more to go tomorrow and we'll
04:20see, I mean I'm not trying to think too much ahead, there's still some tennis to play tomorrow
04:25and then we just try and open and we'll see, but I've been training well, I've been putting
04:33some good work, I think the off season was beneficial for me and we've done some good
04:39work, so I trust that we will get rewarded and if I do good things, if I play good tennis
04:46and if I stay consistent my ranking will get back up, but right now the focus is really
04:51on being consistent with what's in my control and how well I do my work.
04:59And when do you start considering Melbourne? Do you wait until the end of tomorrow?
05:09Yeah.
05:10Has it entered your mind at all as yet? Have you looked at the draw?
05:14I haven't looked at the draw, I don't want to know.
05:18So I shouldn't tell you?
05:19No, you shouldn't. I mean, look, if I find out, I find out, but I don't want to know,
05:24I'm not going to go look for it because I know my next opponent is Sebastian Korda or
05:30Kukmanovic, so that's what I know. And then after that match I will for sure look at the
05:36draw. I know that I play Monday there, that I know of, and then obviously we look with
05:40the team just for the schedule, you know, of planning things ahead, not to be rushed
05:45once we get there. Obviously it's a quick turnaround, but Melbourne is not so far from
05:49here. At least I have matches, I have rhythm, so the plan we know already, just to play
05:54tomorrow, try to win, and then Sunday travel there in the morning, get a hit late in the
06:00day there, and then just get ready for the Monday match.
06:04And looking ahead to the Adelaide final, your thoughts first on if it was to be Sebi and
06:11then secondly if it's to be Miniman?
06:15Well, Sebi, we've known each other for quite some years now, we're the same year. We've
06:20played a bit in even, not even juniors, but like under-16 events, and you know, with Canada
06:27and the US, you know, since the beginning we've played like in these match-ups, playing
06:33for our country, so he's been a great opponent to have. I love, you know, his improvement
06:39over the years, I feel like it's always been steady. He's had some struggle with the injuries,
06:44which is unfortunate, but he's always had steady progress. He's got great game, great
06:49technique, and we've played in a final before, and it was a tough one. I wanted straight
06:54set, I played great in Antwerp, but I know he's a tough client. He's beat me, you know,
06:59one time on clay pretty badly as well, so he'll be a tough one, and kind of it's the
07:04same thing. I've known him for a long time, same generation, same thing. We've practiced
07:08together here, and I thought he was playing great, so I'm not surprised to see how well
07:12he's played in the first two rounds. I think just winning, you know, in straight sets,
07:15pretty straightforward, so he's been playing some good tennis this week, so it's going
07:20to be, I think, a pretty tight one tonight. Let's see.