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ROLAND GARROS

June 1, 2018

Damir Dzumhur

Paris, France

A. ZVEREV/D. Dzumhur

6-2, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6, 7-5

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. So you were serving for the match at 5-4 in the fourth and you lost the game to love. I wonder what was going through your head at that moment. Did you feel nervous?
DAMIR DZUMHUR: Actually didn't feel that nervous. I was just, in that moment, second part of the fourth set, I was physically wearing a little bit down. It's also connected with mental strength, and I think I was not mentally ready to win that match in fourth set.

And, you know, I just was rushing a little bit in that service game. He was playing very smart in that moment. He let me do mistakes, and I did a few of the mistakes which I really shouldn't.

But, yeah, that's tennis. And that's why he's one of the best players today.

Q. You said you're not mentally ready in the fourth set, but clearly you showed that you were mentally ready in the fifth set.
DAMIR DZUMHUR: Well, I just came back in that fifth set. And, you know, I wasn't really thinking so much about the win after. I was trying to fight with the physical problems that I'm sure we both had. I know that he's physically one of the best players today and that he can play really long matches.

So I tried to play a little bit more aggressive in the fifth, and it was working well. I had that match point on his serve where he served good.

But I was struggling with the cramps little bit in the fifth set. After 4-0, I was cramping a little bit.

It was tough to play in that moment because I had to play fast points. And we know how fast he is and how good he's moving, and it's not easy to win easy points with him. So I knew that I have to play short points, which couldn't work on my serve on 5-0.

Q. And did you feel the crowd behind you? Because they were certainly cheering you on.
DAMIR DZUMHUR: Yeah, it was really special, special match for me. The whole stadium was just amazing, and I just felt that energy from the crowd.

And I really liked it. I enjoyed the whole match. Unfortunately, I had chances, didn't use it. Didn't win this match.

But I'm pretty much sure that I will take more from this loss than any other losses, and I will try to get back as soon as possible.

Q. You played well. I mean, you must be proud of yourself. But if you have to regret something, I guess you regretting more in the fourth set when you were up Love-40 on his serve once, then before the tie-breaker, or also once you were 4-0 and -- well, you had a break point to go 5-4.
DAMIR DZUMHUR: Yeah.

Q. Then you made two mistakes after -- he saved a match point very well with his good serve, and then you made two mistakes, one with a backhand close to the net. He made a drop shot. Is that the moment? Which one of those moments you regret more?
DAMIR DZUMHUR: Well, that's a good question, but I was probably closer in that fifth set to win a match.

After that match point, yeah, even before match point on 30-All, I missed the backhand very close to the net. Was an easy shot. But still, I think if it was on 2-0 in the fifth set, I would make it.

Then, after that match point, I had another backhand very close to the net, even higher than the net. And it was really an easy ball, which I shouldn't miss it. And, yeah, who knows? If I made that one, maybe I would win the match, but you never know what happened the next.

But, yeah, that's the point that I will probably remember. That point on Deuce that I missed the backhand was probably the best chance in this match.

Q. You were once coached by Alberto Castellani. Did you learn how to speak Italian? Do you still see him or talk to him or good friends or not?
DAMIR DZUMHUR: Well, I don't speak Italian. I understand a little bit. I can talk a little bit but, no, not really.

Yeah, I mean, I have good relations with him. I'm sure all the players he worked he has good relations. And he's a great guy and a great coach.

And I'm really glad that I had the chance to work with him.

Q. Who do you have now? Your father or somebody else?
DAMIR DZUMHUR: I have Ilija Bozoljac, former player. He was playing Serbia Davis Cup matches. Known as a good server.

I'm trying to work on my serve a little bit. We'll see.

Q. You're coming from Bosnia. It was more difficult to come out of that country? How difficult it was and do you have any support from anybody? You pay all your expenses? Your family? Something about you.
DAMIR DZUMHUR: I was born in 1992, one month after the war started in Sarajevo. My family was the whole war in Sarajevo, four years, under the grenades and everything.

And I don't remember that period, and it's good for me. But my parents, of course, know how tough it was. But it's not just about that period, but the period after that. Everything was destroyed with no good tennis courts at all. I started to practice in high school where was not even as big as a tennis court.

So I started there, and all the years after I was working a lot. I was working hard. Not really facilities that I needed, but I'm pretty much sure if you really want something, and if you work hard and you go for it, you can do it anywhere.

And I'm probably the example of that because Bosnia and Herzegovina is a really small country, a country without support for athletes. And I know that for many years, not just tennis, but generally sport is not supported by the country. The federations are not strong enough to support it as well.

And it was not easy. It was very tough, you know, when you have to go through all that alone with your parents.

Also, if we talk about financial, it wasn't easy for them. You know, they were working their job, and they were giving everything they had for me.

So I'm glad I had a chance to go through all that, my parents together with me. And thanks to them today I'm here where I am. I'm, of course, trying to improve more and more and to make them proud.

Q. How come, if there was no facilities, the court in the school was small, why tennis, I mean, instead of soccer or why approach tennis? It was your parents? Maybe your father was playing tennis for some reason? Was a tennis fan. And also what was the job of your parents? Because to help you financially, they had to have some resources.
DAMIR DZUMHUR: Yeah, my father was a coach. He's a tennis coach already, and even before I was born he had a big club. He was working with a lot of kids in Sarajevo.

So when I was three or four years old, I liked to go to tennis court. I liked the racquet and the tennis ball. And when I was five and a half, I started to practice together with another Bosnian player, Mirza BaÅ¡ic, who was playing this year Roland Garros. And we started together.

And so I really loved tennis. I know that tennis, especially in that time, wasn't popular at all in our country. It's football or basketball.

But I loved the sport, and I'm really happy that I chose it in that way.

Q. Your parents?
DAMIR DZUMHUR: So father was a tennis coach, and mother was working in the school as a math teacher. Right now she changed jobs. She's doing some agency. So yeah.

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