ROLAND GARROS

June 7, 2024

Ksenia Chasteau

Press Conference

K. CHASTEAU/M. Phelps

6-2, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations on a long but extraordinary day for you. What a great feat winning your second Grand Slam title. How special is it for you to have won it here at home and on clay?

KSENIA CHASTEAU: It's really special, yes, of course, because it's my home. It's my home, and I'm very happy. Also in clay court, because it's my favorite surface. Roland Garros, it's, for me, always special, yes.

And second Grand Slam in juniors, it's a good start for my career.

THE MODERATOR: Questions in French, please.

Q. Congrats. You won this tournament at home. What did the French audience bring you? There was a great atmosphere. Did it allow you to really give it your all, to go beyond your limits and really win those difficult points?

KSENIA CHASTEAU: Yes, as I said, I'm playing at home. There are a lot of people I know. I think the energy is really very special.

I believe in energy, and I'm sure that it helped me in certain moments of the match. I've already played a Grand Slam in juniors in the US Open, and it's very different.

So the French Open with all of this energy in France, and I don't know if I'm the only player to think this, but the clay court I think is additional energy, this very bright color. There you go. That's how I managed to get here and with a great deal of work, of course.

Q. Congrats once again for this title. How did you prepare for this final? Did you approach it like a routine match, or did you do anything special?

KSENIA CHASTEAU: Yes, the preparation was interesting. In addition, I play in the adult women's tour. So it was rather strange to go back to the juniors tour. I hadn't played against juniors for five months. So yes, it's different.

Therefore, I think the mental approach was quite different in the preparation, but we try not to fall into that trap too much, and to really prepare in the same way and to remain in the present.

I think the preparation, to be quite honest, to answer your question, was not that different. So I had my entire team at the same time, and so we were able to prepare even better. But the preparation was not that different.

Q. Congratulations, once again. So after this win against Maylee Phelps, the second in the US Open, how do you approach this coming summer with the Olympic Games? Because I think that's one of the very important objectives for you, and therefore, now with the French Open title added to your career.

KSENIA CHASTEAU: Yes. Yes, I have to start thinking about this summer and the Olympic Games will be playing in the women's tournament, so it will be different.

The French Open is a great experience, and it will help me for the Olympic Games because we will be playing in the same place at Roland Garros. So I think this title will help me a great deal for the games. From a tennis point of view, a little bit less, but in terms of experience, a lot.

Now, how am I going to approach the Olympic Games? With a great deal of preparation once again.

What was your question already?

Q. Yeah, that was it.

KSENIA CHASTEAU: Yeah, sorry. Yeah, I'm impatient.

I'm on the right track also to be in the Olympic Games. On a very good track. I've had very good results on the women's tour, so I'm very happy to live this experience in Roland Garros. It just makes me want one thing, is to be back here in the summer.

Q. Your last juniors match was the doubles. It's crazy, because you saved eight match points. Can you tell us what it was like after that win in the doubles?

KSENIA CHASTEAU: Yes, we were not expecting such a tight and a hard match, but quite honestly, our opponents played really well. I didn't play an extraordinary match, but I managed to remain calm in the most important points. That's very important in tennis.

So we're very, very happy to have saved so many match points, and at that point I just tried to breathe and to be in the present, to watch the ball. We were talking about simple things with Maylee, and we managed to save all of these match points thanks to these different elements.

So very happy, very happy to have a double win. And of course to play the doubles in Roland Garros was very important. It would not have been good to win only the singles and not the doubles. So I think that there is also that desire, you know, to win both titles with Maylee.

Q. Congratulations for your title. This is your second juniors title, and you said you're starting to play with the women's tour as well. There are the Paralympic Games. Are you going for a medal or is it too early? What is your state of mind after that?

KSENIA CHASTEAU: Yes, there are the Olympic Games. I've had a lot of good results recently on the adult tour, and I won quite a few top 15 worldwide. I also got into the top 10 recently.

So the objective was to be qualified for the Olympic Games, so we can say that we're on very good track. I can't officially that I will be there, but there are far more chances that I will be there than not.

And then the idea of the medal, I believe in it. I believe in it, because, well, these are the performances which mean that I can believe in it today.

And there is mental strength, as well, that I managed to have in the tournaments, and the physical strength, as well. So when I come up against the best players in the world, I think that I can win the medal, in doubles and also in singles.

Tennis is an extraordinary sport for that, from the beginning till the end, the match is never over. The others, the best will also be experiencing emotions and feel pressure. I may be the one that has the least pressure.

I'm an outsider, and it's a very comfortable position to be in. So I think that, yes, there is a medal out there for me.

Q. Do you know how you're going to celebrate this?

KSENIA CHASTEAU: For Roland Garros?

Q. For your two wins.

KSENIA CHASTEAU: How am I going to celebrate that? Well, with my entire team, my family. I'm going to eat what I like. No, it's a joke. I love everything.

But I'm going to, yes, enjoy myself. I have a whole weekend in Paris and we're going to have fun. We're going to make the most of it. We're going to have a drink, and there you go.

Q. You talked about energy earlier on. Can you tell us a bit more? Is it something for you to relax or...

KSENIA CHASTEAU: Well, energy, yes, it does help me to relax, but I think it feeds me more than anything else. It comes from my heart. We're talking a bit more about the heart here. You unplug the brain, and the energy for me is linked to the heart.

Sometimes you need to unplug the brain in certain points of the match -- not all the time, of course -- and to make the most of this energy and look around you and have a bit of gratitude for everything that is happening to you at that point.

It's good to just be quiet and receive that energy. Personally, I receive it in my heart, so there you go.