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US OPEN

September 1, 2019

Dominik Koepfer

New York, NY, USA

D. MEDVEDEV/D. Koepfer

3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 7-6

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. When you were up, did your mind start running, thinking maybe I can win this?
DOMINIK KOEPFER: I think I always had to believe that I could win it. I know he's 5 in the world, maybe 4 in the world, I don't even know. He's a great player, had a great couple of weeks.

I felt good out there. Started off not too nervous, I thought. It was pretty good. And then second set, I mean, like I say, he can play, like, a break doesn't mean anything. There is a reason why he beat Djokovic two weeks ago. He's one of the best players right now on tour.

I wouldn't say I lost the break because I was thinking about it. I just maybe played a little too defensive and made him make me run a lot.

Overall I think he just beat me at the end, and obviously the tiebreak wasn't that good. Could have done better. Started off with a double fault, wasn't ideal. But overall I thought nerves weren't in the way. I played free.

I played pretty good tennis, I thought. I fought every point. Little tired second and third set, I thought, and somehow found it in the fourth, and then, yeah, I just went down.

Q. He said he was having problems with his shoulder, had to take painkillers. Did you notice at any point in the match him being impaired?
DOMINIK KOEPFER: I don't know. Breakpoints, he still aced me, so I guess his shoulder felt all right (smiling).

Yeah, obviously he played three long matches now, four. It's normal that everything starts hurting a little bit. I guess he was good enough to beat me today.

Q. Can you share what he said to you at the net after the match?
DOMINIK KOEPFER: He thought that I played really well, and if I keep working, I'm going to be an amazing player. Yeah, it's obviously nice to hear from someone who is up there. Yeah, it makes me happy.

Q. What are you going to take away from these two weeks? Apart from obviously the result, the points, prize money, everything, apart from that, what is it you're going to be taking away? Even if it's like a small New York souvenir. What are you going to carry with you?
DOMINIK KOEPFER: I mean, just the experience, I guess. Today was awesome. So many people there in the stadium. So loud. Never played in front of so many people in such a big stadium, I think second-biggest or third-biggest one there is in tennis.

Yeah, it was a lot of fun out there. Chanting my name, it was great. It was fun.

Q. Did you make any promise before the tournament for yourself? If you can go through the qualification, what you will do? Any superstition you have? What is your favorite Grand Slam? What is your highest goal?
DOMINIK KOEPFER: Yeah, it was a goal to qualify. I didn't expect to go into the fourth round.

I just battled every round and started playing better and better every round. Found a way, I guess.

Yeah, obviously I love playing here. It's the second main-draw Grand Slam, so it's hard to say if I love the French or Australian Open more. I guess I'll find out next year.

Superstition, like I said, I eat at the same place before the match at night. So I guess that's the only thing that I keep doing. But other than that, there's not many superstitions.

Q. Hard court is your favorite?
DOMINIK KOEPFER: I like playing on everything. I like playing on grass. Only the second year I have played on it. I grew up on clay. I played a lot on carpet. Unfortunately there is no carpet on the pro tour.

Yeah, I like slower surfaces, quick surfaces. I played a lot on hard because of college. I would say I like playing on hard, yeah.

Q. This means a big change in terms of ranking. You have stepped into the top 100 by quite some margin now. Does this mean a change in the scheduling, the kind of tournaments you're going to play for the rest of the year?
DOMINIK KOEPFER: Yeah, for sure. I mean, I was supposed to play Cary and Columbus challengers in the U.S. Now I signed up for the ATPs in China. Trying to get my visa for that.

Definitely more fun to play the bigger tournaments. Better crowd, more money, more points. It's a good problem to have to pull out of the other tournaments. Yeah, it's definitely a life-changing run.

Q. Any goal that you set for yourself for the rest of the year? Obviously probably the big one was the top 100, and that's been achieved. You have three months to go. What else?
DOMINIK KOEPFER: Yeah, not yet. I mean, I was focused on this tournament and trying to get another win today.

But, yeah, definitely we'll sit down with my coaches after the tournament next week or two in Tampa and think about the rest of the season and set another goal. I get to something like 85 in the world. Yeah, next goal is probably top 50.

It's within reach, like, obviously a long way but, yeah, it's definitely reasonable to say now that I want to be top 50 at some point in the next few months, next half a year. We'll see.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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