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AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 25, 2019

Lucas Pouille

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

N. DJOKOVIC/L. Pouille

6-0, 6-2, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Novak described that as one of the best matches he's ever played here. How tough was he to deal with?
LUCAS POUILLE: Well, as you can imagine, not easy. I was trying to find a solution, but couldn't find any. From the beginning, yeah, I think the first mistake came after maybe one set, I don't know.

Yeah, if I wanted to get closer or arrive at the end of one set 4-All, I had to serve 90% or 100% first serve. Even this I was not sure to even get close to it.

Yeah, I think he just played amazing. He was too good today.

Q. What kind of strategies did you and Amelie plot for this match?
LUCAS POUILLE: Well, I didn't have time to put a strategy in the match. The strategy was to be aggressive, try to be the one who's leading the point. But when he's playing that far from the baseline, 10 centimeters from the baseline all the time, it's tough to do it.

As I said, I couldn't put a strategy in place.

Q. When he's in that form, is there anyone who can stop him? How does he compare to the other top guys you played?
LUCAS POUILLE: Well, I think when he's playing like this, yeah, he's the best in the world for sure. We'll see on Sunday how he goes, because Rafa looks pretty amazing, too. I think they going to make a great match again.

But I think when he doesn't make any mistake, he's moving so well, he's coming back from defense to offense, yeah, I think he's playing perfectly good. I'm not sure, but I think there is a lot of chance that he's the best player in the world when he's playing like this.

Q. It's the second straight semifinal at this tournament where we've seen the top two players in the world mop up, really dominate their opponents. What does that say about their level compared to the rest of the tour when they're on form?
LUCAS POUILLE: Well, I don't know. I don't know what to say about the other match. I just can talk about mine.

Yeah, he was too good. Maybe if he was playing against another player, it would have been different. If it would have been a lefty, maybe Raonic... When he's like this, yeah, he's unbelievable, and not so many players can beat him for sure. Maybe one or two. I don't really know what to say.

Q. Can you look past the disappointment of tonight and see how great a two weeks you've had?
LUCAS POUILLE: Well, about the tournament, yeah, I'm very happy the way I played and with the way I get into this tournament, this beginning of the year. I think it was the best start possible. It gives me a lot of confidence for the rest of the year and for the next couple of tournaments coming very soon with Montpellier in 10 days.

Yeah, I'm just very happy. It gives me, as I said, a lot of confidence on my work and my team, and the way we are working.

Q. You've spoken strongly about the Davis Cup. Many feel an important asset is being diminished. Could you talk about your feelings about that and what were your conversations like with the head of the International Tennis Federation?
LUCAS POUILLE: Well, yeah, as I said, I was against it 200%, and I'm still against it 200%. But now the decision has been made. We cannot do anything about it. I mean, we have to live with it.

It's never going to be the same any more. It's going to be a new competition. It's not going to be the Davis Cup. I think it's a shame because the atmosphere you can live when you're playing for your country at home or even away, it's just unbelievable. There is nothing to describe the emotion you feel.

Maybe it's going to be a nice competition, but it's going to look more like an exhibition than a real one. That's what I said to Mr. Haggerty or the other person.

Q. Now that you've had this run, went up against Novak, what do you see you need to do to make your game better?
LUCAS POUILLE: I hope he's not going to play like this all the time (smiling). Otherwise, I don't really know.

No, I think serving better would help me a little bit because I didn't serve really well. But when you have someone on the return who is putting the ball all the time very long and very deep in the court, you are going to try to go big on the first serve, then make a lot of mistakes. I was 45% in the first set. That was a bit too low against him.

Otherwise, like this, I don't really know. I don't really know. He was just too good. We need to speak with my team and see how I can improve, what can I do better to try to beat him next time.

Q. You've played Nadal in 2016 at the US Open, you played Djokovic here. How would you describe the difference facing those two guys in a slam?
LUCAS POUILLE: Well, beating them in two sets is not impossible, but is really, really tough. Beating them best-of-five in a Grand Slam is even more difficult.

Yeah, I beat Rafa in 2016. I made an unbelievable match. But he also has a game that fits my game pretty well. I like to play against him. His forehand comes high on my backhand and I like it. Every time we play each other during the practice, it's always some great tennis.

Novak is playing like really, really fast, really low. He's close to the baseline. Always he has good placement in any situation. Even in defense, he's going to put the ball really deep maybe 10, 20 centimeters from the baseline. You will always have a tough shot to make. That's kind of difficult.

You can do it once, two, three times. But doing three hours, four hours, I imagine could be difficult because we didn't even play for two hours.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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