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ATP CUP

January 2, 2020

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Team Belgium, for your time today. I'm just going to hand it over to the team captain, Steve Darcis, with the microphone, to introduce Team Belgium by name.

STEVE DARCIS: Okay, there is Sander Gille, Kimmer Coppejans, David Goffin, and Joran Vliegen.

THE MODERATOR: We will be using the Catch Box microphone. First questions, please.

Q. One of the cool things for you is you have two roles at the event. What do you think it's going to be like? Because you're very likely going to be playing a match, and then you have to shift gears and you have to coach. What do you think that sort of whirlwind will be like for you?
STEVE DARCIS: I think it's going to be funny. Just after the singles, I will have to hurry to take a shower and to change to be ready for David's match.

But it's a great experience, you know, to be on the chair and to be on the court in the same day. It's interesting, and, yeah, I like it a lot.

Q. Have you had any talks with David? I mean, you guys have known each other for a long time already, but has he given you any coaching tips?
STEVE DARCIS: I think he will have to prepare for his match. He has his own coach here, Thomas, so he will be on the bench with me and he will be talking to David, of course. Me, I think I will be there just to clap and to support him (smiling).

Q. Joran and Sander, the doubles point could be huge here. It could be a good showcase for doubles. How important do you think that is for doubles to have such a platform here at the ATP Cup?
JORAN VLIEGEN: It's interesting. It's very nice. It's cool for us to be here to hopefully give our country and our team a deciding point.

We'll see how it goes. I think we have two very strong singles players, so hopefully many meetings will be decided after singles, but if it's 1-All after singles it gets more exciting for us.

I think we are ready to go, and I think it's an interesting system to just have the doubles as deciding a third match.

Q. David, you have obviously dealt with the heat in Australia lots of times before, but maybe not, you know, smoke, haze, poor air quality. Any thoughts on how you might deal with that? Any concerns around the team?
DAVID GOFFIN: Yeah, of course it's sad what is happening for the moment, and hopefully it will be under control very soon.

But here I think we are in a safe area for smoke and the air is okay for us. Hopefully, like I said, it will be under control soon, but we didn't feel it that much for the moment, the quality of the air, but I think it should be okay for the matches.

Q. David, one of the cool things here is having the team zone, so you have the guys and the personal coaches all there. How excited are you for that innovation to have everyone right there for you?
DAVID GOFFIN: It's very good, very funny, hopefully. We will see (smiling).

No, I experienced that a little bit at the Laver Cup two years ago, and I had the chance to have the team behind me, and everybody can speak and come to the bench and say something. It will be a little bit the same with the team. My coach will be there. Captain Steve will be there and the rest of the team, as well.

So as soon as they have something or they saw something that they want to share with me, it will be -- they could say straightaway. It's going to be fun. And also to have them just really close from the baseline, because it's in the two corners. So it's going to be nice, I think. But we will see how it goes.

Q. David, you said it could be funny. When you're having that, whether these guys even come in to talk to you or Thomas or whoever it is, do you prefer tactical advice? Do you prefer them to sort of keep it light, to keep you relaxed?
DAVID GOFFIN: Most of the time, I prefer just to stay calm, you know. I have to. This is how I play my best tennis. I'm really calm. I'm in my bubble, and I prefer just a few words sometimes. Not too much talk.

Sometimes I need to be, when it's not a very good day and I have to be, to have more energy from them, then maybe it's better if they are screaming or clapping. I don't know. Say some bad words? I don't know (smiling).

Most of the time when I play well, I prefer to stay calm. Few words from Steve, few words from Thomas will be enough.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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