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ROLAND GARROS

June 2, 2019

Juan Ignacio Londero

Paris, France

R. NADAL/J. Londero

6-2, 6-3, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Questions in Spanish.

Q. I have four points I would like to share with you. These are statements or questions, and you will tell me if you agree with me. So first point, you played with huge courage. Really, really. Second thing, it seems that the result has been a bit balanced. Nadal has won the match, but you also played very well. Third thing, let's go to Cordoba, you won the tournament of Cordoba. Today the fact of coming here to the court playing Nadal, playing your tennis in such a way, you really played very well. Do you agree?
JUAN IGNACIO LONDERO: Yes, indeed. I won a sort of a championship. I feel sort of like a champion, because on such a large court I played very well against Nadal. I felt that I was going to be more nervous, but in the end, it was not the case. So I'm very happy because I played very well. And I moved very well on the court.

Q. What did you learn from this experience during a Grand Slam?
JUAN IGNACIO LONDERO: I'm very happy, first of all, that I won three matches. It's going to be a great lesson for me, and I'm going to use this experience for the next Grand Slams.

First, I have the experience of having played a final draw, and then playing three matches in a row. And physically I feel fine. After having played one in three sets and then one in four sets and then one in five sets, and 2 hours and 15 with Nadal, I gave everything.

Maybe I should improve my physical shape, but I feel -- I'm really satisfied. I feel like a champion.

Q. Please tell us what were the feelings when you were looking at the audience? And there was a part of you who was looking towards Cordoba? What were your feelings?
JUAN IGNACIO LONDERO: It's strange what I'm going to say, but I had the impression or the strange feelings indeed. It was like a normal match. It's strange indeed, but today when I woke up, my heart was beating very fast, because I knew I was going to play Nadal.

And then five minutes before the match, I said, Okay, listen, let's try and play a normal match.

So I came on the court with all my means and with my usual tennis.

And I thought I was not going to play as well as I played, so I'm very satisfied. I'm very happy, because I really fought very well. I fought very well, and I had the impression that at some point I could even win the match.

So I had excellent feelings. It showed that I looked somewhat to the crowd, to the top, and it's incredible to play on such a big court. Whereas in the past I was playing on very small courts.

It's true that it's been an incredible week. At the same time, I knew that it was a Grand Slam, but I had also the impression that it was a normal match.

Q. Tell us more about the match against Nadal. What did you think of his tennis?
JUAN IGNACIO LONDERO: He has very long balls. He plays long balls. He has inside forehands that are totally incredible, and I was trying to hit a cross-backhands, but he made inside-out forehands. Very long balls. That was incredible, extraordinary. I don't know what else I can tell you.

Someone has an extraordinary physical shape. He runs after every ball, returns every ball. Physically he's very powerful. Many other players would not have returned some of my shots.

But at the same time, I was expecting very powerful shots. But he didn't use them so much. There were a few, but he didn't use these shots so much. So I have beautiful feelings.

Q. When you look at the score, and we were commenting on the score, it seems that you were not going to win a set. 6-2, 6-3, it's not so bad actually without saying that you were about to win a set. But what you just told us is well-reflected in the scoreboard. Why when you throw the ball, you throw it very low?
JUAN IGNACIO LONDERO: I'm a good server, but I don't know, my ball was not very high today. Maybe when I'm a bit too nervous it's the serve which is impacted.

But I didn't realize on the court. Afterwards my coach told me, You didn't serve so well. During the match, I didn't realize that my ball was low when I was serving. I was certainly too nervous. But it's possible, indeed. And my coach mentioned that to me.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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