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BARCLAYS ATP WORLD TOUR FINALSNovember 20, 2016Henri KontinenJohn PeersLondon, England, United Kingdom KONTINEN-PEERS/Klaasen-Ram 2-6, 6-1, 10-8 THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Were you starting to get a bit worried at the end of the first set? JOHN PEERS: No. To be honest, with this format, you know you've just got to hang in there, hang in there, see what you can produce. At any moment the momentum can change. We were lucky enough to get onto them straight at the start of the second set. Momentum changed our way. That's doubles these days. You can never feel comfortable out there because everything changes so quickly. So it was actually really good we hung in there, hung in there, and we took our chance when we got it. Q. Shanghai final, Paris, London. What was the difference between those three tournaments? HENRI KONTINEN: I don't think it's a big difference. Confidence is a pretty big thing in tennis and sports overall. I think doubles, it's an even bigger factor. It's two players, small margins. Every match nearly at least playing against these tough teams comes down to a few points here and there, a couple no-ads, a tiebreak. If you confidence, you don't really second guess yourself, you don't doubt at all. You just go for it. That builds up. Yeah, I think we got that sort of clicked a little bit, but nothing major in Shanghai. Then just kept going and been good since then. Q. John, I guess you don't have any regrets about splitting with Jamie now? JOHN PEERS: No, we ended up on very good terms, parted ways, gave each other a good opportunity to move on and build a good base for the following year. We've both had a good year in our separate partnerships. I have been thankful with Henri, we've stuck together and worked really hard all year. And the benefits are starting to pay off at the back end of this year. Q. Express how you're actually feeling at the moment. Have you felt like you are at the moment at any other time? JOHN PEERS: To be honest, it probably actually hasn't sunk in. It will hopefully sink in tomorrow once I get a flight back home. When I start to think what we've achieved probably in the last month, it's been a great thing for both of us. But myself personally, it just feels really good to know all the hard work we kept putting in time and time again, even if we felt good or bad, that it's all starting to pay off, and we belong in contesting big tournaments all the time. That's the biggest thing for us, to see if we can do that on a regular basis. Q. Do you almost wish the Australian Open was next week? HENRI KONTINEN: No. I need vacation (smiling). Q. In terms of Grand Slams, do you feel you're really in the frame for a good showing in Melbourne? JOHN PEERS: Yes, definitely. I feel we both started to really work hard and know what we can do as a team. It's been good for us to be able to build throughout the year. We've both had ups and downs, but the good thing is we've kept building, kept building. Results have really started to click and happen at the back end of the year, so it's been really positive for us. Q. You have a British coach, so this is a British win. Talk about Chris and what effect he's had. JOHN PEERS: Chris actually left us at US Open. He's taken another job. But no, we've been in touch with him quite a bit recently. I worked with him for a bit over a year and a half, and it was really good. We had a great friendship, then I convinced him to come back on the road with me because he was just teaching locally here in London. It was great, the knowledge he had from when he played, and also watching a lot of matches helped me grow as a player, which was great to be able to do. I know he certainly helped Henri, as well, in the eight months we had the three of us together. Q. John, you obviously had a tough one against the Bryan brothers last year. Does that make going all the way this time around extra sweeter? JOHN PEERS: Yes, it does. But the way the format of this doubles and everything is for us, luck sometimes can fall the right way and sometimes it will fall the wrong way. Unfortunately for me the end of last year, it didn't quite fall the right way for me against the Bryans. To be able to back it up this year was really good. We just kept taking our chances, kept going after it, luckily enough the result went the right way for us. Q. Both of you take into consideration what you've already said about feeling you could match it with the best on the tour. But at the beginning of the year, could you have considered or dreamt or thought about being in this position at the end of the year? HENRI KONTINEN: I don't think you think that far away. Results, we've known at least personally, I've known from the start that we could beat any team in the world. To do it on this constant basis has been obviously a big plus. Probably not many who can beat these tough teams 10 times in a row like we've done. We've played pretty much all the teams that are here. That's maybe a little bit surprising. But to be contesting for these titles, I don't think either one of us is surprised about that. Q. From an Australian perspective, it's 20 years since the Woodies won here, and 2002, Lleyton, the last in singles. Do you feel like it's on the up, Australian tennis, and is this a sign we'll have some big winners again soon? JOHN PEERS: Yeah, I'll definitely go with that. We're starting to get a really good group of guys working hard and pushing hard together. It's great to see so many guys in the sort of numbers back at the Grand Slam level and tour level. That's the biggest thing I feel that most countries that have successful players, they push numbers through and they really work hard together. That's the biggest thing we're starting to do right now. Australian tennis is on the up and up. The Davis Cup squad is looking really strong for the future. Q. Henri, you won Wimbledon with Heather Watson. Are you going to let her know what you've been up to lately? Are you keeping that partnership going? HENRI KONTINEN: Well, we would have played in US Open if we would have got in. I don't know what the situation is with Australia. We haven't really talked about it. But, yeah, obviously that's another great memory and experience I had in London this year. So John got a place here this year. I might have to go back home, pack my umbrellas and move here as well. Q. Just as a reminder, how did y'all get together? Who did the initial asking to bring y'all together? HENRI KONTINEN: I got a WhatsApp message, the application, from this guy. Thought about it for like 12 seconds, and then said yes. Q. John, why did you consider Henri? HENRI KONTINEN: That's a good question (smiling). JOHN PEERS: I needed more advice on how to style my hair because I really struggle with that (smiling). To be honest, I played Henri last year and got to know him a little bit, and really thought that we could go really well and deep in tournaments together. To be able to find someone else who's young, as well, to be able to build a partnership for the long-term as well, which is something I was looking for. It was fortunate enough that Henri was looking at the same time as well. I was really lucky that he said yes so quickly. Q. John, was there a part of you that wished you could have been playing Jamie today? What do you think of his performance this week? JOHN PEERS: Doesn't faze me one bit. He's had a great year. To finish year-end No. 1 as a team, Jamie and Bruno have had a great year, won two slams. For him to do that is an incredible effort. But, no, for us, it was just a matter how we felt as a team and what we could do together, Henri and myself. It didn't really feel any different whoever was down the other end. That's doubles. Guys chop and change all the time. It was just a matter of what we could do on the day. Q. A big week for you obviously. You leave tomorrow, then Perth, then Melbourne. Run me through the program before the wedding. JOHN PEERS: Literally fly out tomorrow morning to Perth. In Perth for about five hours, then go to Melbourne. Probably my duty will be to actually do a few more things than what I've actually done for the wedding. I'll have to try to organize things. Then (indiscernible) will be after that on the Monday. Then we'll fly, go off on the honeymoon on Tuesday. Quick turnaround. But, no, it will be fun. Yeah, looking forward to it. Q. What's the name of your bride? JOHN PEERS: Danielle Montgomery. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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