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THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

July 2, 2019

Jay Clarke

Wimbledon, London, England

J. CLARKE/N. Rubin

4-6, 7-6, 6-4, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. First win at Wimbledon. What does it mean? What did it feel like?
JAY CLARKE: Yeah, it was a tough match. I didn't start great. I don't think it was either our best match probably of the grass season. But, no, it was good to get through. Obviously to come through in four sets against a guy that's qualified, yeah, it's a good win for me.

Q. We got to look ahead to your next match. What are your thoughts?
JAY CLARKE: Yeah, it's going to be a good match. Obviously I've watched a lot of him growing up, so it's not like there's going to be any surprises on what he does.

For me, yeah, I'm really looking forward to it.

Q. I know you may say that wasn't on your mind, but I guess you must have looked at the draw beforehand and sort of known what was at stake. How hard was it to shut that out coming to the crunch end of the match?
JAY CLARKE: I wasn't thinking about it at all, to be honest. I know how tough Noah is to play. I've seen him play a lot of the same challengers as me. Like I said, to beat him would have been a good win. I'd have been happy with that. He was a bit of extra motivation to get through.

But, yeah, the start of the match wasn't great. You know, the end of the second set got a bit messy. I didn't really think about the next opponent. I was just trying to get through that game, get through that set and stuff.

Q. How much of a hero of yours was he? He played his first Wimbledon the year you were born.
JAY CLARKE: Yeah, he won juniors the year I was born.

Yeah, I always looked up to him. Tried to copy a lot of the stuff he does. But, yeah, I did that with all the big ones, to be honest. It's going to be a fun match. Like I said, no real surprises. Like, I know what to expect. I've seen hem play a lot.

Yeah, I just need to get ready for it.

Q. Do you actually analyze, go and watch anything, or is it just because you've seen it all before?
JAY CLARKE: No, no, definitely not. I'll analyze a lot. I'll get some stats from a few people. I'll ask probably Andy, a few of the players that have played him, the guy I played today, because I know Lloyd quite well. I'll do some research myself.

Q. Will you talk to Dan, as well?
JAY CLARKE: Yeah, I'll talk to Evo and Willis, Kyle, Andy. Get as much information as possible, then just use the best bits that are relevant for my game.

Q. Will it sort of change the way you prepare for a match like this? It will be slightly other than the way you normally prepare?
JAY CLARKE: No, I do that for every player. I do that all the way through challengers.

Yeah, process is when I find out the draw, I'll watch, like, when they win the tournament, how they play through that, like 20 minutes of each match. When they go on a losing streak, I'll watch what they do there, look for their best shots, stuff like that.

Obviously it's more like you have to do it against the better players. But there's nothing worse than not being prepared.

Q. Can you reflect a bit on your sort of journey here from Derby to probably the most famous arena? In a way, are you showing people that it's possible to go all the way from a suburban tennis club to the most famous tennis stadium probably of all?
JAY CLARKE: I hope so. I hope obviously if someone watched today, they watch on Thursday when I play, they want to go and hit some balls, whether it's adults or kids, parents wanting to get their child playing tennis. Yeah, I think it is possible.

Obviously I have had a lot of help along the way. It's not just like I played there and went to here. But, no, I've enjoyed every minute of it, of the journey. Yeah, I'm just starting. It's like my first proper year, so...

Q. When you were growing up watching Federer, which bits of his game did you try and incorporate into yours?
JAY CLARKE: I tried everything. I actually gave up in the end because it was too tough to do.

No, but, yeah, obviously all the tricks, the cool back swing volleys, all the stuff he actually doesn't use that much, I was trying to add in. I was happy when I stopped.

Q. Do you feel in many ways you've got nothing to lose really?
JAY CLARKE: Not really. Obviously on Centre Court, you could obviously be embarrassed. He could obviously kill any player like he did today from a set down. That's never nice.

I'll go out there and I wouldn't play, like, above myself, I'll just play my game. That's the best test to actually see where I'm at. If I start doing stuff I don't normally do, then I wouldn't really learn anything. I'll always try to do what I do, maybe a bit, a bit higher tempo or a bit bigger serving in certain moments. I'll stick to the way I play and then just see how it goes.

Q. You said you'd speak to Lloyd. How much encouragement do you take from the fact he's the first person since 2010 to take a set off of Federer in the first round of Wimbledon?
JAY CLARKE: Lloyd is a very good player. Like I said, to break top 100 with no like huge results, just do it through challengers, is unbelievable. I remember I won my first challenger last year, the week before he won his first one. He went strength to strength, did it so many times.

I actually thought Lloyd could take it maybe to a tiebreak or a set. When I saw it was 6-3 on the scoreboard, I was happy for him, but I knew the match was far from over.

Q. Can you glean any encouragement from what Cori did yesterday against Venus? Somebody taking on a great older player.
JAY CLARKE: Yeah, definitely. Obviously upsets happen all the time. If he has a bad day and I play great, then obviously there was a chance there that could happen.

But, no, what she did yesterday was unbelievable. I'm not sure going into the match she believed she could do it. Like I said, she was well prepared. I'm glad she did.

Q. Do you normally get nervous before matches? Do you suffer from nerves at all?
JAY CLARKE: Yeah, I think everyone does. I just deal with it. I think everyone deals with it a bit differently. I always try to keep my team around because they make a lot of jokes, like my family, the guy I'm hitting with. We'll keep it really light. We won't talk about the match too much, maybe like an hour before. But I don't want to think about it for 48 hours and this stuff, no.

Q. You said might speak to Andy. How has he helped some of the younger British players? What sort of things does he tell you?
JAY CLARKE: I can't say what he's done for the other ones. For me, he's invited me down for a lot of practices. He took me to Paris with him in 2016 to help him prepare for the French Open. Obviously I got to hit on big stadium courts there. He's offered me a lot of tips with my game, what he does in certain situations.

When I was playing a few of the guys on the challenger tour that dropped down in ranking, he would say, This is what I did against them. Yeah, he's been a big help for me.

Q. You don't seem overly excited. Does it feel like the first round of Wimbledon, that's not your goal, just winning one match, maybe just a steppingstone to where you want to be?
JAY CLARKE: Yeah, I was on I think a six-match losing streak going into Wimbledon. I kept telling everyone, No, I'm actually playing some of the best tennis I've ever played, but the results don't show it quite yet.

I don't think it's abnormal now for guys my age, like, to win matches in slams any more or to win matches in ATPs. There's a few guys, obviously Popyrin, Kecmanovic, Denis, Stefanos, those guys have been there for a few years now. It's obviously nice to win a first match but ideally I wouldn't just want it to be a one-time thing.

Q. I think it's 72 grand for the second round. Is that a significant amount of money for helping you through the year?
JAY CLARKE: I'm in a really good situation now with sponsors and stuff. Yeah, I'm not struggling any more with finances and stuff, so yeah.

Q. What would have been the biggest occasion, apart from today, in your career?
JAY CLARKE: Probably beating defending champs in Dubs, Willis. I made last ranked qualifying when I was 17. Semis and mixed here last year. First challenger win. There's a few. It's tough to pick one because they're all special for different reasons. Throughout different times of the year you appreciate them more.

Q. Was that all Centre, the semi and mixed?
JAY CLARKE: Quarters was Court 1.

Q. How much do you think that might help, that you've already played on those big courts?
JAY CLARKE: Yeah, I remember last year I played a match on Court 18. When we were going through mixed, I was playing on a lot of courts. The Centre Court for me was much slower. The fact I remember that going into this year, I shouldn't be too surprised. Basically no complaints because I know what to expect.

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