AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 27, 2024

Gilles Cervara

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Gilles, well done. You have seen a lot of crazy Daniil's match. Where does this one rank?

GILLES CERVARA: Tonight is the No. 1 (smiling). But I have the memory of the quarterfinal against Felix here. That was a bit the same scenario with two sets to love, and, I mean, it's tough to see a solution, to imagine how he can find a solution.

It was a bit the same today, especially after these two sets where especially the first set where everything is not good, the serve is not good, he has two breaks down, and he comes back and lose his serve again for the third time.

Then the second set, the feeling is that he's, yeah, he's not serving well, so I don't see how he can do it.

And then I have the feeling that, like he said in the match against, I don't know against who, that, okay, he's gonna be in the plane next day. I feel that helps him to relax, and he find a better rhythm on the serve and his serve is getting much better, even if he doesn't push too much to hit hard his serve and then something is different.

Of course the game is different. He return from close and from baseline is more offensive, more aggressive. Then he found his own solution. Then you see the result (smiling).

THE MODERATOR: Questions in English.

Q. What is it like sitting on the side of the court when Daniil is playing a match, if it's not going his way, if he might be getting a little upset, might get upset towards you, what is it like for you?

GILLES CERVARA: Well, when it happens, I'm always thinking, okay, because I know when he get upset like this, I mean, it's not against me, and I know it, so I know that he's in trouble, he has no solution, that's why he react like this. He expect from myself, I know he doesn't expect something special, but I try to give him -- I mean, a reaction, to make him think or to make him have a new idea or to have another feeling, something like I can give him.

I don't remember, yeah, first set was, like, after a few games it was like, I don't know, because when he talks like this, he's like 60 meters from me, so I cannot understand, I cannot hear, so it's nothing, but I feel that he's in trouble.

So at this point was like, okay, I mean, I don't remember what I said, it was like, Okay, just turn on something. You know, it was like -- it's not time to speak or to talk about something. Just come on. Turn on your engine and play. Yeah, I was almost, you know, happy that he get upset at this moment, because he needed a reaction. Not being, like, just calm, waiting for something. It was more like, okay, find a reaction and a solution.

Q. He talked on court after the win about his form in five sets, he wasn't happy with how he was finishing five-set matches. Can you talk about what has changed about what has made him such a beast over five sets and the mental and physical aspects.

GILLES CERVARA: About his fifth set in the past, you know, I heard a lot of things, Medvedev lost his third or fourth or fifth match in fifth set, I remember this time. And I always say, okay, of course we need to analyze the different thing that we can find in the match, but it's so easy to, you know, to fix your mind on something that gets bigger, but there is nothing, in fact.

It's okay, sometime it's just question of time. You will play so many matches in five sets, and of course if you think about what you have to do, if you fight when you have to fight, yeah, of course you will win these matches.

I mean, unless the player and the coach are able to find, you know, okay, at that time I had this thought and this thought come back all the time, and at that moment I feel that I lose my concentration, my game or something like this, but it was not that such a scenario with Daniil.

So it's just, okay, don't keep this in mind and play and you will see that you will win some fifth set.

Q. How much of a mystery is Daniil Medvedev to you still? Because you just said like you're watching him solve the situation in some miraculous way. What do you say about that?

GILLES CERVARA: Well, I don't know if it's a mystery because when I see a match like this, I always think it's possible with him.

Because first of all, I know that no matter what, he's searching a solution all the time. All the time. So I have this confidence.

Also he wants to win, like, so much. So both of these parts makes me feel that he always, he still have a chance in any situation.

After, I mean, the mystery is more sometimes when I ask him some question about his game on court, about what he put his concentration or when he miss, what he could do, and the answer he gives me makes me feel like, wow, I'm talking to the No. 3 in the world, he was No. 1, he won Grand Slam, and I have the feeling that I'm talking to a teenager. That's the mystery sometimes, yeah. (Laughter.)

Q. He spent already 20 hours on the court for these six matches. I just want to ask about the preparation. You have no tournaments before Australian Open. Sitting here right now, do you think it was still the right decision or how do you explain it?

GILLES CERVARA: Good question about this. Well, I think -- I mean, no, let's see. Tonight it's a good decision and let's see on Sunday if it would be a good decision. But I think that if he would have played some matches before, it could help him to start better in the tournament. That's my feeling. So we will talk about this after the tournament.

But again, sometimes, you know, you have to choose between different things that, okay, if I come earlier in Australia I know that I won't have enough holidays, and I need these holidays to get more fresh. So in one way you know that even if it's not the best choice for some reason, it's also the best choice for another reason. So you have to decide.

Q. Obviously Daniil's first final here since two years ago in that really tough defeat. From your perspective, was that the toughest defeat of Daniil's career? How long did it take and you the team to kind of...

GILLES CERVARA: Well, I think, I cannot talk for him, but for me, it was not the worst defeat or the, I mean, the toughest one. Yes, I mean, it's the toughest one because it's in Grand Slam and he leads two sets to love and breakpoint in the third set, but when you look at the match and when you know tennis, you know that, okay, you're close but you're so far, in fact.

So if you just think, like, I had, it was, like, a match with three match points. No, so far to be three match points.

It's also the way you would look at the situation, that very fact you can digest this match. I think that's the way we did, in fact.

Q. How does it change on Sunday this final compared to the five finals he's played legends, guys who have had more experience? This time he's the one that's got the experience in finals and he's the champion versus a new contender.

GILLES CERVARA: Yes, I would like that it makes a big difference, because, of course, Jannik is playing amazing tennis. He proved it also today. Daniil played against him last, I mean, at the end of last year, and it was tough matches.

So in terms of tennis, yeah, it will be a very tough match, so I wish, I really wish that to play -- the first final makes him a bit tense, less good, and give us some opportunity to, I mean, use this chance to not play Novak or Nadal. But, I mean, at the same time it's an amazing player in front of him, so it's also a very, very big change.