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THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

July 10, 2019

Guido Pella

Wimbledon, London, England

R. BAUTISTA AGUT/G. Pella

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

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. I counted up the number of times you both came to net. Not that much. Talk about the variation in speeds along the tour. Seems like the Wimbledon grass plays like Indian Wells in a way. Am I seeing things correctly there?
GUIDO PELLA: Well, compared to maybe other years, yes, it's much slower. I think the matches now are more playable than in other years. You can play from the baseline without any problem.

But I think that's a good thing because grass I think in previous years was just for servers. Maybe guys like, I don't know, Karlovic or other guys that serves very good, maybe they can find a way to win easier than now.

But today the court was, like, without grass. It was much easier for us to move, to play like a clay court. But I think in Wimbledon, if you can win just one match, the courts are getting slower and slower every day. I think for us, is much easier.

Q. I wanted to ask you about the match against Raonic. You must have seen him play the matches before. What lessons did you take from the match he played against Prajnesh?
GUIDO PELLA: I didn't see that match. I think against any player like Raonic, you have to return their serves. I think I did that in a good way after the first two sets. I think that was the key.

After that, there are no rallies against those guys. I think the key to win these kind of matches is just to return their serves. When you are on serve, you have to play aggressive. You don't have to let them take the advantage of the court because they are very, very aggressive.

I think I did that. Of course, it's tough because they serve 140 miles an hour. Is not easy to return their serves. But I think I did a good job in that match.

Q. You talk about the previous match, but the match today, was fatigue a factor?
GUIDO PELLA: No, no. I think after the first two sets, I was feeling a little bit tired, but just because of this match. Roberto, his game is similar than my game. I think he's the most solid guy on tour maybe behind Djokovic. I think now in this tournament he's playing very, very good. I think I did my best.

Of course, maybe in a few moments of the game, I could play a little bit more aggressive or a little bit better, but I can't decide if I play good or bad. So I try to do my best. I think that was it.

Q. You have a fighting mentality. Where does that come from, the psychological edge?
GUIDO PELLA: When I play a tennis match, if I don't lose the final point, I still have chances, you know?

In Grand Slam, like I said in previous interviews, maybe you can lose the first two sets, but the other guy has to win another one. So it's very tough to win matches here at Grand Slam because you have to win three sets. That's a lot of work.

Every time I find myself in this situation, in this difficult situation to be two sets down, I try to keep fighting because the other guy can't relax. I think today I did it in the third set. After that I had a few chances to break his serve in the fourth set, but I couldn't do it.

I think he play better than me. That was the key.

Q. You mentioned Roberto plays a similar style to Novak. What does Roberto have to do in order to win in the semifinals? If you were his coach, what would you tell him?
GUIDO PELLA: Well, I think everybody knows if the big three plays good tennis, is very, very difficult to win against these guys because they are, like, 12 years in a row they are winning all the Grand Slams. If they play good, I think it's very tough to beat them.

I think Roberto with his game is very, very tough. He cannot miss a single ball. I think after three hours, he miss very few balls. But, of course, he has to be much more aggressive maybe. He has to defend his service game better because Novak, I think he's the best returner of the tour.

Nothing much. He has to do his game also. I think that's maybe the key for making him in trouble.

Q. This particular tournament, what kind of reception did you have back home?
GUIDO PELLA: I think it was a good week for tennis in Argentina. Besides del Potro, he play good in the previous years, no one could do it in the recent years.

So I think that was a good moment for me, for the Argentinian tennis players.

Of course, I try to be focus, but after the fourth round was tough because I received a million messages. I did hundreds of interviews. It was tough to control that. Of course, I like it. I was in the quarterfinals, and it was a very good moment for me.

But, yeah, of course, I enjoyed every moment of it because my family was very happy, my friends were really, really happy. But it's also tough because this is the first time I'm in this position. Is very tough to control it.

Of course, if I have another chance to get into another quarterfinals, I think I will manage all this pressure better than maybe this time.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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