	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

DAVIS CUP FINALS

November 21, 2019

Paris, France

CANADA 2, Australia 1

POSPISIL/Millman 7-6, 6-4

de MINAUR/Shapovalov 3-6, 6-3, 7-5

POSPISIL-SHAPOVALOV/Peers-Thompson 6-4, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: First question, please.

Q. How you feeling?
FRANK DANCEVIC: I'm feeling tired. Extremely, extremely happy right now. Very, very -- you want me to, like -- oh, wow. Okay, here we go.

Q. Can you sum up the whole tie first.
FRANK DANCEVIC: It's been a pretty surreal week, you know, for us. We know -- I mean, we're a great team. We have a lot of depth to our team. And these guys have, you know -- I know that they're capable of beating anybody, but you still have to go out there and perform the way they did this week. From the first matches against Italy, Vasek getting the tie going every time, and with the huge win to get the momentum. And then Denis sealing off the ties, it's just been -- it's been an amazing week so far.

The sky's the limit. We don't know, with a little luck on our side, anything can happen going into Saturday into the semis. So, you, know it's just, it's been a great run so far.

I'm so proud of these guys. I mean, these two guys playing all week. Our team's been, Felix is ready to go and Brayden and our team, we have -- everybody's doing their part. But these guys have been doing, playing the matches, winning and doing all the physical work.

So it's extremely tough mentally and physically to come back over and over again and to be able to do what these guys are doing, especially in Davis Cup with all the emotion.

So it's just amazing. It's an amazing accomplishment so far. And you know, now that we're here, we're going to try to go all the way.

Q. Denis, you were cruising in that match against Alex. What happened? What turned it around at the start of the second set?
DENIS SHAPOVALOV: I think a little bit of loss of concentration, kind of took my foot off the gas after the first set. And he also raised his level. I think he served 90 percent in the second set, he served stupid in the third set as well. He played an extremely good match.

I was pretty much, second set and third set, I felt like I was playing catch-up. I was just fighting. But I didn't feel like the better player today. I wasn't able to serve my best and didn't feel too comfortable.

So yeah, I did what I could. I think he deserves all the credit that he can get. I mean, he played a really good match and he found a way to win, and he fought really well.

Q. Can you talk a bit about how nice it is to see such good traveling support from the Canadians. And in particular, what is it about having support like that that really helps when you're on the court?
DENIS SHAPOVALOV: It's amazing to think they took a week off of work to come across the sea to watch us play in Madrid. We couldn't ask for support like this. You know, going into the week, I thought there's not going to be many people watching us, you know, Canadians I mean.

But, I mean, it's helped us so much. I can't speak, you know, on Vasek's behalf, but of course, I know for sure it helps him. But for me personally, whenever there's a crowd, whenever there's people supporting me, I feel like I'm able to play my best tennis, and it really makes it exciting for me. It's so much more fun to go out on the court.

I think we're super thankful for them. I feel like they're a big part of the team, and big reason why we've been able to get so far.

Q. Vasek, can you talk about the mindset and the physical side going into the doubles and a little bit about how the match played out?
VASEK POSPISIL: Yeah, going into the doubles we had to make a decision. You know, Felix is ready to go. And so, I mean, I felt we had a really good combination either way whoever played, we had to decide.

And then as soon as we decided the team, we went out there and just from the first point, we were just going maximum intensity, energy, focus. And Denis and I played extremely well. I think we clicked perfectly.

To be honest, even in the match, other than the first set, where I was a little bit rusty, I hadn't played doubles in a very long time, I feel like since then, even the rest of that match against Italy and today, we just played really, really well.

And yeah, it was good to do it. It's a very important match.

Q. This question, like, it's a 'dream team' you could say that, you've been playing all week. But you might need somebody new coming in. So at that stage how do you plan things going forward? The other factor I want to ask is, how is the surface? Do you feel the surface is really helping you guys out, like, the ball is not bouncing too high, it's a very quick surface? So what are your thoughts on how the surface is?
VASEK POSPISIL: Regarding the first part of your question, I think every one of us just kind of does what they need to do to get ready to play. We have, you know, a great team, all of us are ready to go. And then, you know, the captain decides on who plays.

That's hard for me to answer that. We do our job, which is do everything we can to be as fit as possible and as ready as possible to play.

And then regarding the surface, yeah, I mean, I think it's an indoor hard court, which generally is good for bigger servers. You know, where it's a little bit of altitude, which is good as well for a big server. But there are a lot of big servers here this week, it's not just us; right?

But I think just, yeah, things are clicking at the right time. I think we're just playing really well, too. We're in form. So that plays a factor, maybe a little bit more so than the surface. If we're not in form and if we're not feeling confident, then the surface isn't really going to help much.

Q. Vasek, I'm guessing you were perhaps thinking that you're going to be playing Kyrgios. Can you talk about whether that was the case and when you found out you were not playing him, what is your kind of hour beforehand look like in terms of match preparation and things like that?
VASEK POSPISIL: Yeah, I was expecting to play Nick. For sure I was expecting to play him until the hour before the match, I think it was one hour before when the captains nominate the line-up.

So, I mean, we were surprised, and that was it. I found out, I was like, Oh, well, okay, that's surprising. And then I just, you know, digested it for five minutes and then went back to getting my racquets ready. And obviously start to change my mentality in terms of how I was going to play the match a little bit because they're two very different players, polar opposites. So yeah, that was it.

I had an hour to prepare mentally and what I wanted to do and we just adapted tactics slightly and that was it.

Q. Vasek, Millman had two chances to break and you seemed to raise your level then. With Denis, you know, Denis was playing solid when you guys were down the break in the third set. You just raised your level again. So at that moment, the fact that you are a Grand Slam Champion, does that count? Does that come to your mind, that for you like to dig deep and play your best?
VASEK POSPISIL: No, it didn't come into my mind. Maybe just going into a match like this, knowing that I've had good doubles success helps because I feel like I'm pretty confident in my doubles abilities.

But the only thing was I haven't -- it's still different. If you don't practice it or if you don't play doubles matches, sometimes, you know, you're not as sharp. But I felt confident going into this one because we had the match before and I felt like I started playing well near the end there. So, if anything, yeah, we were just confident that we could win the match.

But, yeah, I think all that kind of stuff goes out the window when, you know, the whole Davis Cup tie and event for us is on the line, you're just there and you're just trying to win, doing everything possible to win and you're not really thinking about what you've done in your career.

Q. Denis, there's been some complaints about this new format, but how do you feel about it? Thanks.
DENIS SHAPOVALOV: I think there's definitely pros and cons to the event. But I think that's with any tournament. And it's the first year running, so I think for the first year that this event has run, I think they've done an unbelievable job.

In terms of the organization, I think it's a really cool concept to have all of the teams together. It reminds me of a Junior Davis Cup a little bit but just on a much bigger stage. And yeah min terms of organization, all this stuff, I think it's been spectacular.

And on the cons side, of course, the scheduling is very difficult. It's pretty tough on the body for all of us, I think.

You look at a team like Serbia, if they want to win the event, they have to play five days in a row, which is extremely tough. And I think also in terms of tickets and stuff like this, the stadiums haven't been completely full. But that's, I think that's expected. First year of an event, it's never going to be jam-packed. I think it's going to grow over time once it becomes a really big event.

But I think the change is really nice. I'm all for it. I think, you know, overall, it's a really cool event to kind of just have all the best players in one location playing one period of time. And you know it's just the best of the best, and let the best team win.

Q. Question for Denis. Compare your level of performance of the beginning of the year and at the end of the year. I will say that the way you are playing it's completely different and better. Do you think you have a more controlled aggression or there's something tactical you work on it or whatever?
DENIS SHAPOVALOV: I think everything's kind of clicking for me from the end of the season. But I think I've been playing good since Rogers Cup, since before the really good results. I think I played a great match against Dominic, losing to him. I made semifinals of Winston-Salem, losing to Hubert, playing well.

But honestly, I think it just comes from the part of the season when I wasn't doing well. Instead of just sulking and saying, I can't, I'm not playing so well, I just went back to work every single day. Put in even more hours than I ever have before, and I just kept working. And I think that's why everything is clicking.

I don't think it's something that came overnight. It's been a lot of work and a lot of sacrifice from me, but also the whole team. I think my whole team has put in so much work and effort; so it's a group thing.

Q. Vasek, how important was it to break in the very first game of the doubles? You guys obviously might have been a little bit tired going in. And what was the overall tactic, what do you think made the difference in the match?
VASEK POSPISIL: I'm not sure how important it was in the beginning. It's always good to break early. I think what was important was that we came very focused.

And then I like to believe that with how we were playing, I think we -- I felt like we were overpowering them a little bit with the serve. And we were both returning really well, both serving really well.

So I like to think with how we were playing today specifically. Obviously on any given day any team can win. But I like to think that we would have broken at some point in that set with the kind of pressure we were putting on them.

So I think the most important thing was that we came out from the first point. And then if we had broken that first game or not, you know, it helps to obviously break early. But I don't think it was the deciding factor.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you very much.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297

DAVIS CUP FINALS

November 21, 2019

Frank Dancevic

Vasek Pospisil

Denis Shapovalov