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BNP PARIBAS MASTERS PARIS

November 3, 2016

David Goffin

Paris, France

M. CILIC/D. Goffin

6-3, 7-6

THE MODERATOR: Questions in French.

Q. Do you have any regrets from that match? Do you believe you had opportunities?
DAVID GOFFIN: Well, in some moments of the match I could have done a bit better, but he played well and he didn't give me many opportunities. I personally gave away many points to him.

In the first set it was not so good. At 5-3 I played a very bad game. In the second set I was up. I could have done better. In the first set there were many opportunities that I missed. I broke twice Marin, and it was only 6-3. I could have done better.

So maybe if I had played better two or three points it would have made a great difference.

Q. What happened in the second set? You were up and then he came back.
DAVID GOFFIN: I really fought a lot to stay in that set, and at the end I sort of let go a little. I thought I had done the most difficult part, and I didn't serve as well in the end of that second set. I lost the rhythm of my serve, and also with my forehand, but that's how it is. It happens.

Q. How can you compare with the last three times you played him? Did he play better today?
DAVID GOFFIN: Not really. In the other matches we were playing well, both of us. But in those matches I was more solid and I was converting the opportunities. Here in this match on the set point he played an incredible shot along the line. He had trouble running, and he just slided to do that forehand. So it could have turned around at that moment.

I wouldn't say he was lucky, but anyway, he did what it took to get it.

Q. You are talking about some little mistakes here and there. The explanation is maybe that you're tired at the end of the season?
DAVID GOFFIN: Well, every time I do something, people say it's because it's the end of the season. Well, maybe it can explain part of it, but that type of match could have happened in the middle of the season, too.

He returned very well during the whole match, I believe. He also played well in the last game. He could have started with a bad return, and then I would have been in a better position.

But he was solid. He made me play more. This is why also I missed, and because of him I played a bad game.

Q. Not playing in London, not going there and playing, is that a disappointment for you?
DAVID GOFFIN: Not really. I was seeing that as a bonus, like a gift after a good season. I could have made it if I had played better here, but it was not a goal that I set for myself in the beginning of the season. It was just a bonus.

With all the work I'm doing during the year, if I'm in the race and I can make it, it's a bonus. It's something you can't schedule in advance and integrate into your program until the last day. You don't know whether you have to include it in your schedule. So I was seeing that, as I said, as a bonus. I'm in the end of my best season, but I'm still going to work hard.

Q. So maybe your season is over now? How can you assess that year?
DAVID GOFFIN: It was a beautiful year. As usual, many matches, many emotions, a lot of work. It was quite tough. But I enjoyed it a lot. I enjoyed myself on the court. It was a good season, and I have no regrets for this year. I gave everything I had on every match. The results are positive, very positive.

Q. Would you have believed in the beginning of the year that you would reach that stage at the end of the year?
DAVID GOFFIN: I think I ended top 14 or something last year. So I knew I was not far. But I would have signed for it, of course, knowing that I would battle until the last week to be into the Masters. But I'm happy with what I did this year.

Q. If you have to remember only one victory from this season, which one would it be, or moment that you would like to remember?
DAVID GOFFIN: My first quarterfinal in a Grand Slam, I think.

Q. Thierry and Tomas were saying that the winter would be important. Of course, you're almost into the top 10 and you want to make it. What will be the key for the next step?
DAVID GOFFIN: Last winter, I had no rest. I had no preparation because of the Davis Cup. So I was not able to work on a certain number of things.

So this year, the winter will be very important. I'm going to work on very specific things. I'm going to work hard physically, too, and then also on my tennis in depth, working hard on the court, on each shot, and to have something extra before I start the new season. Things will go very quickly. We're going to do all that.

Q. You will have to go to the Masters as a substitute. How is it going to be?
DAVID GOFFIN: I don't know. I said if I'm an alternate, I will go, of course. I went there once to receive the award of the comeback of the year. This event is incredible. It's beautiful.

So as an alternate, we'll see what happens. I have never been in that position before. Just be ready, not knowing whether I'm going to play or not. We'll see.

Q. You talked a lot about your serve this season. Were you sort of obsessed with your serve? Do you really want to find a way to improve your serve?
DAVID GOFFIN: It's not easy, because I can't really say that I can serve at 170 every time without thinking about it. I can't say that. It's maybe due to my size and my physical abilities. So I need to mix up my serve to bother my opponent instead, and it's not easy to find the right balance.

Q. This was the best season of your career. Are you convinced you can do better next year?
DAVID GOFFIN: I don't know if I can do better or not. Anyway, I don't set limits for myself. I think I still have some potential. I can improve many things in my game still.

Am I going to make it or not? I don't know. But I'll do everything I can to continue my progress and to develop my game and do the best I can. The future will tell.

THE MODERATOR: Questions in English.

Q. I'm sure that it's already asked, but the eighth game of second set, you make a lot of good shots and broke him. After 5-3, you did four straight mistake. What happening in this game? Is it mental or...
DAVID GOFFIN: Yeah, I don't know. You know, when you play, you are in the second set, you are mentally in the match and you played -- you played much better than in the first. And then finally you have the break, and then maybe mentally you have a little bit -- a down, because you just broke him for the first time in the set.

And then you're like, okay, now maybe I made the most difficult things. I have just to finish now. That's why you start with a mistake, and then it's Love-15, he returns really well in the game. So that's why I made some mistakes.

Yeah, that's -- of course it was a bad game. I did mistakes, but next time I will be better.

Q. Now that this long season is over, can you reflect on the impact of reaching last year's Davis Cup for you and your game, translating to 2016, please.
DAVID GOFFIN: Yeah, of course when you go and when you play a final with your country like last year, of course it gives you a lot of confidence. When you play such a big event like that and you win a match in the final like I did against Great Britain, you win a lot of confidence for the next season.

But this winter it's gonna be a little bit different because last year, of course, I played a Davis Cup, but I didn't have time to prepare and to work on certain things like I wanted to, because I didn't have the time. The Davis Cup is so late, and then you have to rest and then you have to start again the season.

So this preseason will be really important for me, just to work on a lot of things, to work physically just to prepare my body for another season.

Now I will have more time. I don't have Davis Cup. And, yeah, I will try to do my best with my team to make a really good schedule for the next season.

Q. What do you expect for yourself in the next year?
DAVID GOFFIN: Like I said, I have no goals for the moment like in terms of ranking. I'm just gonna try to do a good preseason, like I said, just to prepare everything for the next season. Then I will try to improve a lot, continue to improve my game.

I think I can -- yeah, I can improve a lot in a lot of part of my game. That's why next year we continue like I did this year, just try to do my best, to give everything on the court during practice, every moment, just to develop my potential.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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