OMNIUM BANQUE NATIONALE

August 9, 2026

Daniel Merida

Mixed Zone

D. MERIDA/T. Griekspoor

6-3, 6-1

Q. Daniel, just to be doing this right now, what does this kind of mean to you to get these kind of results, get into a Masters quarterfinal?

DANIEL MERIDA: Yeah. This is a dream come true. I'm feeling really great playing here in Montreal. I'm happy with the level during all the week, and of course, so happy to be in the quarterfinals here.

Q. It feels like your season just continues to progress, kind of month after month, you mag, you get some results, et cetera. We in Canada don't know a lot about you. How would you kind of categorize your season and where are you seeing on court your biggest improvement?

DANIEL MERIDA: Yeah. I think this season is amazing. I started the season, I think, almost 200 in the ranking. I started moving up a lot.

I think more mentally I started believing in myself a lot more than tennis. The tennis was there. I was playing great for the last year and the beginning of this year. So I just starting to believe more in myself.

Q. You're among many young players who are having success here in Montreal. Is that the start of a new era, I guess I should say?

DANIEL MERIDA: I mean I think young players are hungry. They came here 100 percent motivated, and it's what's happening right now.

I think we have amazing young players, but they are really motivated and they are really great stuff here.

Q. Is it a fun time to be playing tennis at your age?

DANIEL MERIDA: Yeah. For me it's always fun. But in Spain you see people doing these type of results. So it helps to me to motivate myself.

Q. When are you at your best on the court? When you're really performing your best, what's going on? What's working the best for you?

DANIEL MERIDA: I mean, I start feeling great playing on this court. The courts slow, so it scares me a lot. But I start to be more relaxed.

When I relax, I start to hit the ball as solid as possible, and that helps me.

Q. Lots of young players from Spain. Are you friends? Do you guys train together?

DANIEL MERIDA: Yeah. I know Rafa since we were like five or six years old. Rafa is a really good guy outside of the court. And so I'm a really good friend of him.

Also of Mantilla, Carlos. We're really good friends, all of us. So it's, of course, really great to see them every week and seeing they have good results.

And, of course, Rafa is a really good guy off the court, and of course, he's doing amazing stuff.

Q. You could face Learner Tien in the next match. He's leading right now. What do you expect as a match against him?

DANIEL MERIDA: I was watching him. He's a really tough guy. Puts a lot of balls in the court. So, yeah, I'll expect a really physical match and try to give 100 percent.

Q. What area of your game do you feel has improved the most this year?

DANIEL MERIDA: I mean, as I told you before, I think the tennis was there. I started believing more in myself, and off court in these type of tournaments, and I wasn't playing like this last year.

So, I mean, I think it's more about confidence and believing in myself than tennis.

Q. Talking about the conditions of play. Are the balls different in the grass court season? Do you agree with that? Do you notice that from the first practice coming out here?

DANIEL MERIDA: Yeah. Tennis sometimes all the weeks are different. You're playing different surface, different balls, different city. So we're used to that.

So, I mean, it's easy for us to adapt to the tournaments. So for me it takes two, three days. I went here five days before the tournament. So I'm really happy today.

Q. Some say the balls are smaller. They're not literally smaller. It's more like an optical illusion. Is that how you see them?

DANIEL MERIDA: I mean, for me the balls are great. I'm feeling good playing here. And, of course, the conditions here aren't as slow. But for me I'm happy with the results.

Q. It was your first time on central court here. To play in front of bigger crowds, is it more fun or more pressure?

DANIEL MERIDA: It's more fun. The pressure and it's not easy to play on the center court, but for me it was an opportunity.

So it was fun to play in this type of tournament, this type of court. So I was just trying to relax and play the same all the weekend.