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ROLAND GARROS

June 10, 2017

Alexei Popyrin

Paris, France

A. POPYRIN/N. Kuhn

7-6, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Congratulations. Tell us what it feels like to be a Grand Slam champion in your first Grand Slam final. And also, talk a little bit about the match, how you think you won it?
ALEXEI POPYRIN: It feels amazing, you know. Winning any tournament feels great, but especially when you win a Grand Slam, you feel over the moon. It's what you have been working for. It's what you have been striving for. It's just great to get that step done. Now we have to move on to the pros and try to do the same in the next level.

The match was great. The match was solid. Couple breaks here and there, but it was just mentally -- it was a mental game. It was whoever stayed stronger mentally.

But I played well. I think we both played well. But I just came out on top mentally.

Q. Have you had a chance to look at the honor roll and see the other Australian names on it? It's like the very best of Australian tennis.
ALEXEI POPYRIN: No, I haven't yet, but I think there is a lot of good names. I'm happy to be part of it.

Q. What's the next step into the pros for you? What is that step?
ALEXEI POPYRIN: I'm not sure. Probably futures and challengers if I can get in. But for now I can only get into futures. We better go in that future grind.

Q. So is this your last juniors or will you play Wimbledon, US Open?
ALEXEI POPYRIN: This is going to be my last juniors.

Q. You're going to end it on a high note?
ALEXEI POPYRIN: Probably, yeah. We still gotta figure out if I'm playing Wimbledon or not, but this is probably the last.

Q. Where do you live in Spain? Is it anywhere near where Nicolas lives?
ALEXEI POPYRIN: Well, Nicolas is the same as me and Alex. He lived kind of like 20 minutes away from me a couple years ago. But then I moved to Marbella, so now we are like three, four hours away from each other.

Q. Where is the other place?
ALEXEI POPYRIN: Alicante.

Q. You have obviously played some senior events, maybe over a thousand. How have you found the difference between playing those futures and playing a junior level? What's the biggest difference?
ALEXEI POPYRIN: Just the physicality of the players. They're just much older men. And the physicality. Some mentally stronger, but some are the same as juniors, but mainly it's just the physicality.

Q. When you practice with those big guys, how beneficial is that for you and how much do you learn?
ALEXEI POPYRIN: Oh, it helps me so much. Just the intensity, intense-wise. They are just so intense. With Dominic, for the past three days, I was tired after half an hour of hitting with him. Intensity is just...

Q. You talked yesterday about that clay court event, Croatia, when you were a 10-year-old? Your first experience on clay.
ALEXEI POPYRIN: It was my first experience on clay, so probably -- I think I lost second round there. But, yeah, it was -- it just helped me a lot. It helped me realize that clay court, I need to learn how to play on clay. I need to figure out my clay court game, also.

Q. I saw Patrick Mouratoglou was out there was watching and maybe your mom and a young girl, your sister? Who else? Tell us who was there.
ALEXEI POPYRIN: My fitness coach. He's like a brother to me. He flew over this morning just to watch my finals. Some of my friends from Marbella who -- the owner of the tennis club where I train, he flew over. Patrick was there. My mum and my dad and my little sister were there. Unfortunately my brother couldn't make it because he was playing a futures in Spain. And also my grandma was probably cheering for me from home. Yeah.

Q. I think you said yesterday you received some support from Tennis Australia. Have you had much contact I suppose with some of the older guys, like a Nick or Thanasi or a Lleyton?
ALEXEI POPYRIN: Me and Thanasi, we go back. My first international tournament in America he was there, and he helped me a lot there. He probably remembers me, I hope (smiling).

Nick, I have never met Nick, but I went to the Davis Cup in Glasgow a couple years ago for the Junior Davis Cup, also, and we met some of the pros there, like Sam Groth, Tomic, Thanasi were there, and Lleyton Hewitt was there, yeah.

Q. Speaking of Davis Cup, is that one of your ambitions?
ALEXEI POPYRIN: Yeah, for sure. I would love to play in Davis Cup, love to be an orange boy at least maybe this year or maybe next year. Yeah, for sure winning Davis Cup for my country is one of the main goals, also.

Q. How will you celebrate this? What's the Popyrin family plan for this evening?
ALEXEI POPYRIN: I don't know. I have never won a tournament of this magnitude. I don't know what we will do, but I know I have to fly back to Nice and then drive to Marbella for two days, and then probably when I get home I'll have a couple days' rest.

Q. You go from here to Nice?
ALEXEI POPYRIN: Nice. I have to pick up my car and drive to Marbella.

Q. Where you work with Mouratoglou?
ALEXEI POPYRIN: Yeah.

Q. Why did you decide to just keep on staying with juniors when somebody like Alex De Minaur decided to start playing a few more of the open events or the futures and things like that?
ALEXEI POPYRIN: Well, Alex peaked. He peaked in juniors career earlier than I did. Now that I have made it, now that I won a Grand Slam, I will probably start doing what he's doing, trying to make it up the ATP rankings and getting my way to the top.

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