“Alexander commented on the defeat of Carlos at the press conference”, — write: sport.ua
– What are your general impressions of the match?
– Yes, an incredible battle. Unfortunately, it didn’t end well for me, but to be honest, I just didn’t have the strength left. Even at 5:4 I can usually rely more on the serve, but the legs just stopped pushing up. It happens like that. This is life. We move on.
– How do you assess how the match was played in a situation when Karl was not feeling well and took a medical timeout? It was obvious that you have complaints.
– Yes, he had convulsions, and usually during convulsions you cannot take a medical time-out. But what can I do? This is not my decision. I didn’t like it, but it’s not my decision.
– We heard how you spoke in German at that moment. Can you tell me exactly what you said?
– To be honest, I don’t remember. That was many hours ago. But sure someone has a video and you can check. But I don’t want to talk about it now because I think it was one of the best fights Australia ever had and it doesn’t deserve to be the main topic.
– Do you have any specific regrets regarding the course of the match?
– Yes, the second set. I think I should have won it, especially when I was serving for the set. I didn’t play well that game. It’s funny, but in the fifth set I have almost no regrets, because, to be honest, I held on with my last strength. I was completely exhausted. But the second set – if I had gone 1-1 in sets and then he started cramping in the third, that probably would have changed a lot.
– Is this the most difficult match in your career?
– Probably, yes.
– How does it relate to the defeat last year in terms of emotions and feelings?
– To be honest, I’m too tired now to feel emotions. Maybe in a couple of days they will appear, but right now I’m just exhausted. We were both beyond our limits. In some sense, I am even proud of myself – the way I held on and fought back from 0:2 in sets. Of course it’s disappointing, but it’s only the beginning of the year. If I continue to play like this, practice like this and work on what I’ve been working on in the offseason, I believe it will be a good year.
– How difficult is it to play against an opponent when you know that he is physically difficult?
– I played badly in the third and fourth sets. I should have won them more easily. But he hit a lot of winning shots from the first shot, so I didn’t enter the draw. I probably should have been more aggressive. But, I will repeat again, the main regret is the second set. If I had won it, with the score 1:1 and with his seizures, things could have gone differently. But it gave us a great battle.
– When you get to the fifth set with a player who almost never loses a five-set match, do you think about it at all?
– No, I didn’t know that. But I know that I also have a good balance in five-set matches. With a score of 5:4 on serve, you don’t think about that. I had other thoughts in my head – I just didn’t want to fall on the court. I know he is very durable, very strong and dangerous in long matches. He proved it last year in Paris against Yannik. But I also consider myself physically strong. In the end, of course, I was a little more tired than he was.
– Were you surprised by how well he physically came back in the fifth set after suffering a lot in the third?
– Yes. He practically did not move for an hour and a half. Maybe I should have used it better – won games and sets faster so he didn’t have so much time to recover. But in the fifth set, the way he moved was incredible again.
