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ATP CUP

January 11, 2020

Dusan Lajovic

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

D. LAJOVIC/K. Khachanov

7-5, 7-6

Team Serbia - 1

Team Russia - 0

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Looking in the stadium, when you see all the Serbian flags and there were a couple of signs with your nickname on them, is that sort of surreal in a way to see all the people who are coming to support you?
DUSAN LAJOVIC: Yeah, I mean, it's a great feeling, especially in the tough moments when they give you the energy and the support. It makes you more pumped and, I would say, ready for the moment, like you are feeling the pressure but somehow they are giving you the strength.

Q. Of course Novak has been an icon for Serbia for years, but I was asking some of the fans, and they were saying that their kids are starting to look up to players like you now, as well. So how much does that mean to you?
DUSAN LAJOVIC: Well, that's great. I'm probably not aware of that still, but if there is at least one kid that's looking up to me, that's great. If there are more, even better.

I'm trying to be the best person off the court as well as on the court. I hope that they can see that qualities as well, not just tennis. That's what life is all about.

Q. I understand when you started playing tennis, it was just sort of a coincidence because that was the sport that was available to you. I know you don't think of that in these moments, but is it cool to see how far you have come from being that kid to where you are?
DUSAN LAJOVIC: Well, yeah. I wanted to play soccer like everybody in Serbia, but just recently I did a personality test based on Carl Jung, the psychologist, and the result is I'm an architect, which is like 90% introverted person, and like all the persons with this personality are scientists or professors or stuff like that, like there is not so many athletes (smiling).

So with my personality, it's weird being a professional athlete. But I think it came out great. I'm really grateful that I'm able to do the job that I love since I was a kid. For example, you've got to put things in perspective, I think. And then if you ask kids, What do you want to be? I don't think that many of them say accountant or whatever.

So you have the privilege to do something that you wanted to do as a kid, and I think this is a big benefit for the whole life.

Q. Did you expect or did you think this could be another straight-set victory to you? You played him twice on clay, which you'd expect, but on a hard court with this result?
DUSAN LAJOVIC: Well, definitely not. I knew that it's going to be much harder, but today the temperature also dropped a bit, so the serve was going a little bit less than the previous days when it was, like, in the 30s.

I was able to put my body behind the serves many times and start off the point from the, I would say, maybe neutral position, not being in the defense from the first ball.

I knew that my athleticism on the court and the things that I do good are a good fit against him, and I was trying to make him run on the wrong foot, especially to the forehand, which was working very good in the first set.

In the second set it was more of a fight and less of a tactical things, because he started playing better, as well.

I'm just happy that I won in the two, because tiebreak, you know, it's always open, but I won last two or three tiebreaks this week already, so it gave me a lot of confidence today.

Q. Do you feel that this match that you have just played with Karen is the crucial match of this tie?
DUSAN LAJOVIC: Well, you know, going in with 1-0 and Novak playing a match, I think it helps him a lot, but yesterday was really tough.

So if I lost today, I still believed that Novak is a big favorite to win and then doubles would decide, similar to Davis Cup, different players but same teams.

They are good in doubles. They are big hitters, big servers, so it wouldn't be easy. Definitely it was a very important win today.

Q. You were talking about the test you took and the introversion. On a stage like this where there is so much going on and the spotlight is on you, you perform great in the event. So how comfortable are you in that sort of environment?
DUSAN LAJOVIC: Yeah, still not as comfortable as somebody else would be. But I'm working on myself and trying to be aware of what's going on and understand the situation.

So I think that this week, especially here in Sydney, I would also say that I'm a different player from Brisbane and here. I got used to it a little bit with the atmosphere and everything. And I'm enjoying the court, especially in the moments where you're fighting for every point like today. This is what you play tennis for.

Q. Even though this tie isn't over, if you guys do make the final, what would it mean to you for Serbia to win the ATP Cup and for you to help them do that?
DUSAN LAJOVIC: Well, I don't want to say anything about that, because we still need to win this match, so let's see how it goes and not speculate anything.

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