Malgré Arthur Cazaux, malgré Arthur Rinderknech, malgré Benjamin Bonzi ou Manuel Guinard, il n'y avait pas de Français en demi-finales de l'ATP 250 d'Adélaïde. En revanche, deux Américains étaient présents mais un seul a pu se hisser en finale. Ce n'est pas Tommy Paul (n°1). Vendredi, il pouvait se retrouver dans le Top 10 pour la première fois de sa carrière s'il battait Félix Auger-Aliassime (n°5). Mais au terme d'une rencontre accrochée jusqu'au dernier point, le Canadien a fait la différence (7-6(3), 3-6, 6-4). Il disputera sa première finale depuis Madrid, en mai dernier, pour aller chercher un titre après lequel il court depuis octobre 2023.
Video : @TennisAustralia
Video : @TennisAustralia
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00:00Felix, congratulations. What's the prospect of another title leading into the Open? What
00:10would that mean for you?
00:11Yeah, well, it would be the perfect way to start the year, for sure. You know, first
00:17single event for me. The plan, yeah. In the past, I haven't played every time the week
00:24before SLAM. I feel like the first years, I would play more than, you know, around 22,
00:3023, 24, not as much. But, you know, the ranking being a bit lower nowadays and, you know,
00:36having not won a lot of matches in a row lately, I feel like, you know, the goal here was to
00:43just compete, play more matches, give myself a chance to, you know, win matches. And so
00:48far, it's been good. And now there's one more to go. I know, you know, finals are always
00:53important, very motivating. So I'm going to give it my all. And then after, focus on Melbourne.
01:01Hey, Felix, just curious what you're feeling like physically at the moment this week. I
01:07know you had that sort of back issue towards the end of last year. The Aussie summer can
01:12be a little bit grueling. So, yeah, how are you holding up at the moment?
01:15So far, so good. But, you know, you do the work, you do what's in your control between
01:21our preparation as a team, the treatments, the ice bath, you know, the eating, the recovery,
01:27the sleeping. And after you don't control everything, you know, not everything is in
01:30my hands or in my power. But, you know, I hope this keeps going. But right now I'm feeling
01:36good. Today was a good test, you know, playing a guy like Tommy, where, you know, ups and
01:41downs in a match, but difficult conditions with the lighting and stuff. And then just,
01:48yeah, him being, you know, the great athlete he is and myself matching up with that was,
01:53I think, an important test for me.
01:55Just lastly, I wanted to ask about that last set. Obviously, you dropped that second set.
01:59How did you sort of turn things around? And then you had to dig quite deep in the service
02:03a couple of times, I guess. What did you go through sort of mentally and how did you pull
02:07that one out?
02:08Well, the second set, yeah, was odd because I had a great start 2-0 and I felt like, oh,
02:14it was a solid first set overall because I got the break early. He played a great game
02:18to break me back. I played a great tie break. So I thought like, okay, 7-6, 2-0, this is
02:23so far a good match. And then, yeah, things turned around and I had a bit of a dip, you
02:29know, of focus and effort physically. So it was important, you know, I think that break
02:35to get out and give myself a bit of time and just, you know, mentally prepare myself to
02:41play, try to play a great start of the third set, which I did. So, yeah, it was key to
02:46get that break early to have that margin because he was still in every return game
02:49and he was putting pressure. But I think having that margin with the early break was crucial.
02:58Felix, how much do you enjoy playing Tommy? Because the two tour-level matches that you
03:04have played have both been pretty tight, three setters.
03:08Yeah, even more the first one. I had to save, I think, six match points. Yeah, I mean, he's
03:14been – how do I – I enjoy playing him because I like him as a person. You know,
03:20I think he's a great guy. He's always very respectful and put everybody around. And,
03:27you know, we've played in some team events and Labour Cup together. We had good moments
03:32every time we practice, you know, we're in good spirits. So he's a good guy. And I think,
03:37you know, when you play somebody like this, you just feel like, you know, you're both
03:41competing and you're hardest, but with a lot of respect and sportsmanship. And, you know,
03:46so, yeah, I do enjoy those match-ups. And he's one of the top players in the world also right now.
03:51So it's motivating to see, you know, where your game matches up against a guy that's in form
03:56lately. And for me, yeah, it was an important win for sure at the start of the year for me.
04:02And starting the year with at least a final, how much encouragement does it give you
04:09for at least the early part of the season and helping to get that ranking back up?
04:16Well, it's great. That's what I came here for. And there's one more to go tomorrow and we'll
04:21see. I mean, I'm not trying to think too much ahead. There's still some tennis to play tomorrow
04:26and then we just try and open. So we'll see. But I've been training well. I've been,
04:34you know, putting some good work. I think the offseason was beneficial for me and
04:40we've done some good work. So I trust that, you know, we will get rewarded. And, you know,
04:45if I do good things, if I play good tennis and if I stay consistent, my ranking will get back up.
04:50But right now the focus is really on, you know, being consistent with what's in my control and
04:57how well I do my work. And when do you start considering Melbourne?
05:07You wait till the end of tomorrow? Has it entered your mind at all as yet? Have you looked at the
05:14draw? I haven't looked at the draw. I don't want to know. I shouldn't tell you. No, you shouldn't.
05:22I mean, look, if I find out, I find out. But I don't want to know. I'm not going to go look for
05:27it because I know my next opponent is Sebastian Korda or Kitmanovic. So that's what I know.
05:35And then after that match, I will for sure then look at the draw. I know that I played Monday
05:39there that I know of. And then obviously we look with the team just for the schedule, you know,
05:43of planning things ahead, not to be rushed. You know, once we get there, obviously it's a quick
05:48turnaround, but it's, you know, Melbourne is not so far from here. At least, you know, I have
05:52matches that have rhythm. So the plan we know already, I mean, just to play tomorrow, try to
05:57win and then Sunday travel there in the morning, get a hit late in the day there and then just
06:04get ready for the Monday match. And looking ahead to the Adelaide final, your thoughts first on if
06:11it was to be Sebi and then secondly, if it's to be Miramar? Well, Sebi, we've known each other for
06:18quite some years now. We're the same year. We've played a bit and even not even juniors,
06:24but like under 16 events and, you know, with Canada and US, you know, since the beginning,
06:31we've played like in these matchups, playing for our country. So he's been a great opponent to have.
06:39I love, you know, his improvement over the years. I feel like it's always been steady.
06:44He's had some struggle with the injuries, which is unfortunate, but he's always had,
06:47you know, steady progress. He's got great game, great technique. And we've played in a final
06:54before and it was a tough one. I won in straight sets, I played great in Antwerp, but I know he's
06:58a tough client. He's beat me, you know, one time on clay pretty badly as well. So he would be a
07:04tough one and kind of just the same thing. I've known him for a long time, same generation,
07:08same thing. We've practiced together here and I thought he was playing great. So I'm not surprised
07:12to see how well he's played in the first two rounds. I think just winning, you know, in straight
07:16sets pretty straightforward. So he's been playing some good tennis this week. So it's going to be,
07:23I think, a pretty tight one tonight. Let's see. Thank you.