	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

July 5, 2018

Guido Pella

Wimbledon, London, England

G. PELLA/M. Cilic

3-6, 1-6, 6-4, 7-6, 7-5

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. How did you do that? How do you feel now?
GUIDO PELLA: I don't know. Yesterday the match started so bad for me because he was playing so good, very solid from the baseline with big serves, and I couldn't do almost nothing.

So the rain came, and today was very different day because I started to feel very good. Just at the beginning of the fourth set -- I close the set in the third with big serves, with big two games. Then I started to feel better and better.

I saw him playing like a little bit slower than the day before. So I tried to fight every ball, tried to be close in the score, and that's it.

Q. Who is your coach?
GUIDO PELLA: Who is my coach? Gustavo Marcaccio.

Q. What did he say to you last night? Because when you came off court you must have been feeling quite down or at least concerned with the ways things were going. What did he do to change your approach?
GUIDO PELLA: He told me just to be more aggressive, because I was standing a little bit back on the court, so to try to be more aggressive, try to change my serves, not to serve just one way, just to the T, to the wide. And that's it.

And like I said, when I woke up today, I felt better. On court I was feeling better and better. That's it. Tennis is like that. Sometimes you woke up and you feel better, and that's it.

Q. Did you see a performance like this coming in the way you have been playing the last few months?
GUIDO PELLA: Well, I was looking for this match for years, but I never expect to be here in Wimbledon against Cilic (smiling). That was the biggest surprise for me, because this is the third time I come here, the first time I win a single match in the main draw, and it was a big surprise.

But I'm really, really happy, because I prepare myself very good to this tournament. I came to Stuttgart four weeks ago to play the grass court season, and to play like this it's a good reward for me.

Q. What do you think of grass courts now?
GUIDO PELLA: No, no, I never -- I like it, but I like it since the first time I came. The bad thing was that I got injured really bad in Wimbledon 2013, and was a bad injury for me, but then I came back and I was feeing really good. Two years ago I lost against Federer. What can I do? This year I was feeling much better, and I play good.

Q. What was the injury?
GUIDO PELLA: I don't know in English, but it took me like two months to recover. It was bad. You can look for...

Q. Can I ask you a little bit about you as a person? Where do you live? What do you do away from the court? What makes you tick?
GUIDO PELLA: Very simple. The tennis is my job. That's it. I practice. And when I'm done practicing I to my house, place video games. I love video games.

So I stay there to watch TV, play video games, and then I read some books. Most of the time I just play video games.

Q. Where are you based?
GUIDO PELLA: In Buenos Aires.

Q. Presumably you have a huge library of video games in Buenos Aires?
GUIDO PELLA: Yes.

Q. Your favorite?
GUIDO PELLA: My favorite? Oh, a lot, but I love the shooter games, and then there is one game I playing now, it's unbelievable, it's God of War. It's very good game. You should check it out. It's from Sony. So it's a very good game.

Q. You may be branded.
GUIDO PELLA: Yeah, for them, for sure (smiling).

Q. Your next opponent, I know it's too soon for that, but what do you know about him so far, Mack?
GUIDO PELLA: Almost nothing, because I never played against him. I never practiced with him. I know he's young. He's coming from the quallies, so he's playing good because he won three matches there, two matches in the main draw.

So I expect a very tough match with very big points. I hope to play like this, like I played today. Like I said, it's going to be a very tough match for me, but I hope to play good.

Q. I know Argentina didn't make it to the end for the World Cup. Do you watch soccer? Who's your favorite team from now on if you do?
GUIDO PELLA: Yeah, I love soccer, but after Argentina lost against France, I didn't watch any more games because it was sad.

Q. Brazil?
GUIDO PELLA: No, no, no. No Brazil. You're from Brazil? (Smiling.)

If Brazil win the World Cup, I will be sad (smiling). I don't want. Sorry.

Q. Why is that?
GUIDO PELLA: Because you already have five World Cups. We have only two. To have one more it's impossible.

I will be dead before Argentina maybe get one more. I just want to see Argentina win something because I'm 28, and I think the last time Argentina won something was in '98? '93. So I was too young. So I don't remember anything.

Q. When you see somebody like Messi and his age and everything that he's done, how do you feel about all that he's achieved, you know, in his career?
GUIDO PELLA: I never saw Maradona play football, Pele. I think Messi, for me, the players I saw in my life, he's the best one by far because the things that he can do with the ball.

Obviously Ronaldo he's an amazing player, but I think Messi is pure talent, and that's very rare thing to see, you know. That's why. No, not because he's Argentina. Just because I love the players who can do those kind of stuff with the ball.

Q. So you're not going to be watching England at 3:00 on Saturday afternoon?
GUIDO PELLA: I saw England, the last match against Colombia, but just the penalties.

Q. That was more than enough.
GUIDO PELLA: Yeah. I know.

Q. You said you played Stuttgart, a great event, good for Wimbledon, and you said you're in great shape. Are you doing anything different in your fitness routine that you feel good about?
GUIDO PELLA: No, no, no, no. I just came here because the way of playing tennis in grass is totally different than any other surface.

So I just knew that I had to be on court as much as I can to play matches, try to practice with the best players, and that's what I have done in the past month.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297