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U.S. OPEN

September 9, 2018

Thiago Seyboth Wild

New York, NY, USA

T. WILD/L. Musetti

6-1, 2-6, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Well, congratulations.
THIAGO SEYBOTH WILD: Thank you.

Q. You came out really, really quickly playing very well. Were you not nervous at all?
THIAGO SEYBOTH WILD: I honestly went to sleep at, like, 2:00 a.m. I just couldn't warm up. I couldn't do anything before my match.

But I think one thing that really helped me is just the meditation I do before my matches and all over the points and just keep breathing on the same rhythm and just keep it light.

Q. What did you think of the atmosphere there in Armstrong?
THIAGO SEYBOTH WILD: I think that's the first time I played on a court that big (smiling). I don't know. I just wanted to focus on myself and keep everything just like I have been doing the whole week.

Q. After the second set, how did you regroup? And what was the turning point for you in the third?
THIAGO SEYBOTH WILD: I had a break point on the, I think it was 2-All maybe, 2-All, 30-40. He served second serve wide and then literally just slapped a ball out of the court. That just turned my head upside down. I was, like, Why did I do that? I kept thinking about it for three or four games.

He got like four or five straight games. He broke my serve three times. I was, like, Okay, I need to do something to change it.

When I lost my serve in the third set, he was 2-0 up, I was, like, Okay, I will start running, try to do something different.

There was a 15-All if not 15-30 where we played a really long point. I lobbed him with my forehand, I guess, and that point just turned the game upside down. I was, like, I'm back on the game. Gotta keep playing, gotta keep running, and just keep my mental strong.

Q. He said that he changed his game after the first set. Did you notice that?
THIAGO SEYBOTH WILD: Yeah, I realized that. It would have take me a long time to just find a way to play. He was slicing every single backhand. I was, like, Okay, now I can't be that aggressive. I'll have to keep crossing till I get a shorter ball or maybe a mistake from him, something like that.

Q. Did you feel it was slipping away at 2-All in the third?
THIAGO SEYBOTH WILD: No. I just felt like -- I just felt like I had myself under control. Not the match but myself. It was, like, Okay, I've got to do my thing. I've got to play my best and let the results come.

Q. What happened in the second set?
THIAGO SEYBOTH WILD: Just like I said before, on the break point I had I slapped the ball out of the court and I just kept thinking about it for a really long time. I don't usually do it, but it happened, I don't know, because of the pressure, because of the match. Yeah.

Q. After the run to the semifinals, singles and doubles at Roland Garros this year, what did you learn about yourself and about playing in those big moments?
THIAGO SEYBOTH WILD: Being in the semifinal of a Grand Slam, it's already a huge thing to be done. I felt like I want it more because I wasn't satisfied with that semifinal.

I was injured during the match, and I was out of practice, out of tennis for, like, three weeks because I couldn't -- I couldn't rise my arm. I couldn't do anything.

When I got here this week, I was, like, Okay, this is it. I gotta do it now. I just focused on myself and my tennis. I just kept everything simple.

Q. Did you receive any coaching during the match? Did you talk to your coach?
THIAGO SEYBOTH WILD: Didn't really change anything from the beginning, but he kept saying the same things over and over again, like, Keep playing the points. Keep hitting your ground strokes to the middle so he doesn't have any angles and you can just play with your forehand. He just kept saying the same thing.

Q. Do you prefer that rather than hearing a lot of different things to process?
THIAGO SEYBOTH WILD: I honestly rather not listen to my coach at all (smiling).

Q. After coming so close here 12 months ago in the doubles, how much more sweeter does that make this success, seeing how far you came?
THIAGO SEYBOTH WILD: I don't really like playing doubles, but that's what I got last year. I learned a lot about it. It was, like, Okay, I got to the semifinals in doubles. Why I cannot do it in singles? What's the problem of doing it myself without anybody beside me?

I think that doubles and singles are two different games. You've got to learn to play with someone beside you. You've got to learn to play as a team. And in singles you can just focus on yourself and think, okay, this is me, I've gotta do it. There's nobody to hold you. It's just a lot more pressure. But I think I have dealt really well with it.

Q. You're the first boy from Brazil to win the US Open junior title.
THIAGO SEYBOTH WILD: Was I? I think so.

Q. You are.
THIAGO SEYBOTH WILD: That's nice.

Q. Is that important? Will it be important in Brazil?
THIAGO SEYBOTH WILD: I think so, but it's another title we got, it's another title I got, and I think that I just gotta keep working because now my junior career is over. I probably won't play anything else.

But the transition to the pros, it's a lot harder than the juniors. I think I'll have to focus on that from now on.

Q. You're not playing (indiscernible)?
THIAGO SEYBOTH WILD: I don't think so. I don't think I got in.

Q. To be able to finish your junior career on such a high, how rewarding is that for you to cap off your junior career with a title?
THIAGO SEYBOTH WILD: Just like I have been saying for like two days, winning a Grand Slam is every junior player's biggest dream. Reaching it in my last chance makes it even more special to me, because I have always dreamed about it.

Q. If I'm not mistaken, your favorite surface is clay?
THIAGO SEYBOTH WILD: Yeah. I have always played better on clay.

Q. And your favorite player is Rafael Nadal?
THIAGO SEYBOTH WILD: Yeah.

Q. And you were in the semifinal of Roland Garros?
THIAGO SEYBOTH WILD: Uh-huh.

Q. You lost. I think you were a little bit disappointed.
THIAGO SEYBOTH WILD: I was.

Q. How you transfer this negative experience to the hard court season, to winning on the hard court in the US Open, which wasn't expected?
THIAGO SEYBOTH WILD: I think regardless of your favorite surface, tennis is a game you can play on whatever courts, whatever balls. It's basically a mental game, and if you have a strong mental and have the mentality to play on grass, hard courts, clay, I don't know, you can play the way you want on whatever court and whatever balls against whatever guy.

Q. Do you have any experience or have you ever met any legend from Brazil? Guga?
THIAGO SEYBOTH WILD: Yeah, I met Guga when I was six or seven maybe. Can't really say we were close friends, but I know him really well.

Q. He encourage you, or...
THIAGO SEYBOTH WILD: Yeah, of course. I mean, if he did it, why can't I do it?

Q. Where do you train?
THIAGO SEYBOTH WILD: In Rio.

Q. The name of your coach?
THIAGO SEYBOTH WILD: Arthur.

Q. Rabelo?
THIAGO SEYBOTH WILD: Yeah, that's it.

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