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US OPEN

September 3, 2019

Gilles Cervara

New York, NY, USA

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Evaluate his performance and tell us why he's such a dangerous and difficult guy.
GILLES CERVARA: Tough. Yes, I will tell you why. You see today it was tough match because he had some problem on his leg. But still, with this, he found a way to fight and to play good tennis with this, so to put Stan maybe in trouble with no game. You know, it's like guys didn't know how to play, because his ball seems easy to play but it's really, really tough.

Also, he cover the court so well. His mental is getting stronger and stronger. That's one of the parts of his success in his career and today.

Q. After the last two rounds and the excitement and controversy with the crowds, did you talk to him about how now he's in the biggest stadium of all and how he should behave?
GILLES CERVARA: Yes, we talked a bit but not that much, because, you know, look, it's easy with Daniil. He's turned to the performance, so he's smart enough to understand that if he did the wrong thing or not, if he continue to go in this way it will put more trouble for him.

Of course he likes to play also with it, but he didn't cross too much the line, I would say.

Q. How do you think the fans received him today?
GILLES CERVARA: Quite well, I guess. I hope so, because it was good talk to feel that he doesn't have anything against anybody. I think it was a good one.

Q. Can you tell me why you, as a French, became coach of Medvedev, how long ago, and what is this kind of relationship, which language you speak together against him?
GILLES CERVARA: Yeah, so why? We met, you know, five years ago because Daniil moved from Russia to France to find a center to practice, and I manage with my colleague, Jean-Rene Lisnard, center in Caan called Elite Tennis Center, and Daniil went there five years ago.

Step by step I started to coach him, and now I coach him on the tour like now. I talk to him in French because, first of all, in foreign country I didn't want anybody understand what I say to him. So that's why I started to speak French with him. And because he's smart, his brain goes smart, he learned French like this in two years.

Q. Going back, I guess this whole upward trajectory started last year in Winston-Salem and Tokyo was the first really big one. Have you ever taken time with him in the past year or so to sort of reflect on what's happened?
GILLES CERVARA: Look, first of all, you know, his dynamic like this started, I would say, like two years ago in the summer also. You don't know, but he lost many matches first round. But he wanted to improve, and he was determined to improve. I was also, as a coach, to help him to improve.

Because he's smart again, we create a good team around him and we did a good job like this. So, you know, it's a process. I will not say it's -- maybe you see him succeed right now, but it's a long process to be here today with good moment, bad moment. But what I can say is in bad moment he continued to work a lot with confidence. That's one of his weapons is that he never lost confidence.

Like I say, it's teamwork. I'm the one who talk to you, but there is a team behind with me and to explain this work and this success.

Q. The team, I guess he has a team psychologist? How has he helped Daniil with that?
GILLES CERVARA: How? It's her job, because it's a woman, it's her job to explain this. But how? I cannot tell you exactly how. But they talk together. They build resources together. They try to -- I don't know how to say exactly. But she made good work, and he makes good work with her, for sure.

Q. What is her name?
GILLES CERVARA: It's Francisca DosÃ© (ph).

Q. I was wondering how you communicate with him, not language, but do you have long conversations? Is he a good listener? Does it happen on the court or do you all go out?
GILLES CERVARA: No, it's not long conversation. It's smart conversation, I will say. Because Daniil is very different person. So I will say that I have to find, you know, the small things to touch him and to give my message to him.

So it's really tough to explain how we communicate together. Sometimes you don't explain, you know. Sometimes with people you don't talk. It's just energy between two people. It's look at two people. It's more like this.

Q. He said right after the match in his on-court interview that he felt great this morning when he woke up. Assess his condition. How tired is he after the amount of tennis he's played? And this tournament particularly, is it going to be an issue going forward, his physical condition?
GILLES CERVARA: After this match?

Q. From now on, yes.
GILLES CERVARA: For the next match, you mean? Yeah, for me, we didn't have time to talk so much, but I know that what he has, I think it's not a big deal. You know, he had already this in the past. So we will manage this because he has two days off before the semifinal. So we will work on it to make him ready for Friday.

Q. Quadriceps or groin?
GILLES CERVARA: I don't know yet. I don't know yet. I cannot explain precisely where is it. But, yeah, it looks more on the quadriceps.

Q. What do you see from his serve today? Seemed like he had so many double faults on the first few games, and it ended up costing him the third set, but the fourth set he settled down. Do you think it was nerves early? What would you say?
GILLES CERVARA: I'm laughing because before the match, someone asked me what I expect. I said I expect that he will serve good today. After two service games he was, like, already six or seven double faults.

I didn't know exactly. I thought it was because it was his first match on the stadium. So because I know Daniil he needs sometimes to acclimate to the conditions, so I thought about this first. Then when I saw that he could be injured, I understood that it was because of his leg.

But finally, again, he find a way to have I think a good percentage and to serve quite okay today.

Q. You said his personality is quite different. Is the way he plays reflective of...
GILLES CERVARA: Yeah, totally. His game is like his personality. Very different. I said already once it's like to coach a genius. Sometimes a genius, you don't understand them. It's like this. They are different. And you have to connect to this guy like he is. I think we do it quite good.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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