US OPEN

September 8, 2020

Dorian Descloix

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Can you tell us when exactly you started working with Vika, and what was kind of the mission that she spoke to you about when she first met you? What was the goal and the philosophy?

DORIAN DESCLOIX: Okay, so we started to work together the beginning of February this year. Then we worked for two months. Because of the COVID, I had to go back to France a few months.

My first role with Vika was to be like a hitting partner. So I was just practicing with her. Then session after session she asked me some advices on the court. She wanted to give me, I mean, the key to do the session, I mean. And then she gave me my chance to be, like, the coach.

Now it's working pretty well. We have a good communication. We talk a lot on the court.

She has goals, big goals. She wants to win big titles again. I try to help her to win big titles.

Q. She says one of the most important things for her, that she's finally happy on the court, able to have that joy back on the court. How do you see that developing since you met her and now? Was that an easy or difficult process?

DORIAN DESCLOIX: It's a long process because at the beginning we didn't know each other, to be honest. It was tough. The first sessions were really tough. But we tried to communicate a lot. On the court, when we were in the evening at the restaurant, we talk about everything. She has a kid, I have three kids, so we have something in common.

Now she's really relaxed on the court, really, really relaxed. When she's here she's like Victoria the tennis player. When she goes back at home to our house in Long Island, she's like a mother. So it's totally different.

It works like this. When we are here on the site, we talk about tennis. Then when we were at the house, we talk about life, everything.

She's really relaxed like this. It's working pretty well.

Q. Where do you come down on the effects of all the silence in the stadiums? How is it affecting your player and some of the other players in the draw? What kind of advantages or disadvantages does it deliver?

DORIAN DESCLOIX: To be honest with Vika - I will talk just for Vika because I don't know for the other players. But for Vika, it's the same. When she's on the court, she just think about herself, you know, the way she has to play. She just focused on her game.

To be honest, she doesn't need to play good that there is a crowd around her. She just need to be, like, focused on her game.

She need sometimes to look at her team. We just communicate with the eyes. But for her, there is no good effect or bad effect on the situation. She's just a tennis player. She's doing her job on the court.

Q. You've got three kids, Vika has Leo. Do you think that's helped you relax in between matches? Also, what is the success behind all the mothers at this year's US Open?

DORIAN DESCLOIX: Yeah, for sure for Vika it's really good that Leo is here on the house we have. As I told you before, once she's here, she plays tennis. Once she goes back home she just play with Leo like a normal woman. It helps her, I mean, to change the way she is.

Even if she's playing good or bad, then she go at home, and it's different, totally different. She just think about her family, Leo. Her mom is here. She just like a normal woman.

It's good. We have a lot in common. When I'm with Leo, we can talk like Vika is here, we play games. It's really, really relaxed and it helps Vika a lot, to be honest, really a lot.

Q. Vika and Serena have had some very good matches in history, a lot of matches. Have you talked about this? Has she talked about possibly playing Serena here? Would you say what you think might be different if they meet again here for either player.

DORIAN DESCLOIX: For the moment she will play Elise Mertens in quarterfinal. It would be perfect if she can play against Serena again in semifinal.

To be honest, we didn't talk for the moment about that because we are here day by day, match by match. Tomorrow she has a big match to play against Elise Mertens. She's a really good player. For the moment we just focus on this one.

If she wins this one and if Serena wins the match also, we're going to start talking about the match with Serena. To be honest, we just focus now on the match against Elise Mertens.

Q. What have been the biggest surprises to you about Vika's game that have contributed to this run of success?

DORIAN DESCLOIX: The biggest surprise for me was now she feels really confident, really confident on the court. Even if she miss sometimes, she try to stay positive every time. She miss, okay, I adjust, next point will be different.

It's totally different. She know she have an aggressive game on the court. She really aggressive on the court. She know she going to miss sometimes. It's okay. Just a mistake. You have another point to play. She stays positive. For me it's the best thing.

In during she saved three, four, five set points against Ons Jabeur, against Cornet. And she stayed positive. And that is why maybe last week it turns on this way because she stayed positive and it work.

She has to keep this in her mind that even if you are not playing good sometimes, even if you are missing, it's just okay, it's just a point, next one you will be here. Okay, I will fight for the next one.