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DAVIS CUP FINALS

November 23, 2019

Paris, France

CANADA 2, Russia 1

RUBLEV/Pospisil 6-4, 6-4

SHAPOVALOV/Khachanov 6-4, 4-6, 6-4

POSPISIL-SHAPOVALOV/Khachanov-Rublev 6-3, 3-6, 7-6

THE MODERATOR: Okay, we will start with questions in English, please.

Q. To Karen and to Andrey. Just your thoughts, your feelings now. It was so close. It went right down to the last couple of points. It must obviously hurt. But just give us your thoughts or your emotions in words.
KAREN KHACHANOV: Obviously, it hurts. You know, like, yesterday, you know, we were actually winning this tiebreak. Today, third set tiebreak we lost. I mean, that's sport.

And we gave our best. So, you know, we -- in this case we cannot, you know, complain that we didn't do something, you know.

I could do maybe more in singles, but when you have deciding match you don't think about what was in the past.

So Andrey really well done. He won all matches in singles, so it helped a lot. I mean, if he wouldn't win, we would be maybe not playing deciding matches. So it's all like this, that's when you have team matches, like together, you know.

So yeah, it hurts of course that we lost today. But overall, I think we gave our best and that's what we could do this week.

Q. Andrey, yesterday you said that you felt at the end it was like a coin toss. Did you feel the same today?
ANDREY RUBLEV: Yeah, I mean, like Karen said, we were close. We have couple of break points in the third set, but all of them they saved. And yeah, the tiebreak, we start well and then they played a couple of good points.

I mean, it is like a coin toss. So in the end today it was for them, you know. You never know. At least is better happened today than yesterday.

Q. Again, this is for either player, or both players. I know it's very hard to come off the court, especially after a loss, and immediately try to have perspective, you know, about things. But I'm curious, what kind of expectations you guys had coming into this week, especially when you knew that Daniil wouldn't be here? And did you exceed those expectations? And what can you look forward to when your team is complete?
KAREN KHACHANOV: Honestly, at the beginning, I think if all of us were planning to play, we really wanted to win Davis Cup with this team, basically all four of us except Daniil didn't come. So that was the goal for us this year or next year or hopefully in the near future.

And right now, I think -- anyway, we were thinking at the beginning we need to try to pass through the group, we need to go out and then you, know you, can hope for something more.

So the first step was to try to qualify to the quarterfinals, which we did. And then, you know, depends from which position first or second. You know, we had Serbia so again, we won deciding match, today we lost deciding match. But even like this we could play final and maybe win tomorrow. So still there was a chance.

Q. The question for all of you, Karen, Andrey. How do you feel, like having reached the semifinals of the Davis Cup? How do you compare with the Davis Cup format of the past with this? It's a short format. And also looking forward to the ATP Cup, what are your thoughts, and how do you go about preparing for that? Is it a similar format, both Davis Cup and ATP Cup?
KAREN KHACHANOV: About ATP Cup, I can answer. About ATP Cup, yes, it's pretty similar format, I think. It's six groups of four teams, basically. So it's a little bit more teams, it's 24, except here it's 18.

Yeah, you need to do the same, I think. Six teams qualify plus two of the best, so the same, four teams in each group. You have to win every match, two singles, one doubles. So it will count everything. So...

And about Davis Cup.

ANDREY RUBLEV: It's amazing feeling for us to be in semifinal, to give our best today, to try to be in the final. I mean, yesterday was, I don't know, an emotional moment for us, that -- I don't know. I feel like, I don't know, a little -- like, this is a moment, one of the moments that will stay in our memory for a long time, and this is amazing.

And I think we need to try to do our best to have these moments more and more, and that's it. But it was amazing feeling yesterday to win that match and to play here to give everything. So, I mean, we are leaving completely -- we are leaving this place completely sure that we give our best.

Q. A question for the good captain. Shamil, will you ever quit? Would you like to see the format of this Davis Cup go back to where it was before? And talk about this wonderful year that Russian tennis has had with Marat going into the Hall of Fame, and Daniil and these wonderful players.
SHAMIL TARPISCHEV: (Translated from Russian.) First of all, I'd like to say that I have won the Davis Cup on two occasions, and it's a great feeling and it's pretty much the same here, you feel pretty much the same feeling in winning every match within this new format.

But speaking about the new format, I should be speaking in my capacity as President of the Russian Federation, not as a player. And I think the preceding format was better in terms of regional development.

With respect to my comments on the ATP Cup, we did have the World Cup in Dusseldorf previously. So it's a good format, but I think the abundance of so many events within one quarter is just too many, way too many.

Q. Well, yesterday you saved three match points. Today you were up 4-2 in the tiebreaker. I'd like to know from each of you, even if you are young so you don't have so many matches behind, maybe 10 years or 12 of tennis. When you go on you remember more the joyful moment, the moments when you won? Or it sticks up more to your mind the bad moments; what you lost, the chances that you have? I mean, everyone is different. Someone has a more positive attitude, someone is more sort of negative. Going back in your memory, what do you think you will remember more?
TRANSLATOR: Who am I asking, to the captain or the two players?

Q. The two players, they are the ones playing. I'm asking them how do they feel?
KAREN KHACHANOV: For me, for sure, positive moments. I mean, I try to, as soon as I go out from the match, I try to forget it as soon as possible, for sure. You know, the first half an hour, it stays. Or it can be both feelings like angry -- you know, you can be angry, you can be disappointed. You could do whatever, you know. You just are not happy that you lost, of course.

Q. In one week?
KAREN KHACHANOV: No, no, in two days, in one or two days it goes away, of course.

And for me, as soon as you go out on court and you know that you gave your 100 percent, you give your heart and you fight until the end, that's what you could do today. There is nothing you need to worry about. You need to just work on and tomorrow is another day, another opportunity. And you could do something better and you can change something, so that's my attitude.

Let's see Andrey.

ANDREY RUBLEV: For me, probably a little bit opposite.

KAREN KHACHANOV: That's why we play together (laughing).

ANDREY RUBLEV: Yeah, especially some tough moments stay inside for a while. I guess this is how I learned, how I grow, how I get experience. And yeah, of course, good moments, I try to enjoy them.

But I try to don't really, how you say, to don't really give my 100 percent to these emotions because, in the end, tennis is like a long, long matter. It's not about one week. It's long-term and you need to stay focused because you need to stay focus for all your career, not only one year or two years. And maybe one week you did well and you relax a little bit, and then next week it's not the same and then the guys pass you and then it's tough, you have to again start everything all over again.

So it's better, I don't know, that's just me, and I feel it's more easier when I try to focus more what I was doing wrong to take the lesson and then to do it in a better way next time.

Q. Karen and Andrey, congratulations on getting so far this week. It's been very intense. It's a very intense week as a competition, but particularly as you two have played all the matches. Is there anything that compares to this in your junior careers, and anywhere on the Tour, in terms of the intensity of playing matches, coming back, playing the doubles, watching from the sidelines, or is this something new to you, this experience?
KAREN KHACHANOV: Yeah, we played many team competitions together with Andrey because we are the same generation. With Yevgeny not because he is older than us. But yeah, we were playing like this since we are 14 or 16 and the Under 18.

But yeah, you know, the intensity like that, like this week, it never happens. So that's why it was for the first time for us. I feel really tired and empty, both, like, emotional and physical-wise.

ANDREY RUBLEV: Do you want me to answer it also?

Q. Yes.
ANDREY RUBLEV: Of course, at 14 -- I was 16 when I was playing with my age guys, because Karen's one year older, so when I was with him in the team I was not playing always. But when I was with my age guys I was playing always also single, doubles every day for one week. But of course, you cannot compare it with the real tennis because it's different intensity, different players. It's much harder and tougher.

But, I mean, this week I was feeling well and I'm happy with my performance and I'm happy what we did altogether and we'll see. We're going to keep working and we'll see what going to happen next.

THE MODERATOR: We will carry on in the national language.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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DAVIS CUP FINALS

November 23, 2019

Shamil Tarpischev

Karen Khachanov

Andrey Rublev

Evgeny Donskoy