US OPEN

September 11, 2020

Dorian Descloix

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. What was your reaction to last night's match? Especially after the first set. Had you and Vika already spoken about the adjustments she might need to make during the match? What did you think about it?

DORIAN DESCLOIX: Yeah, we talk, at the end of the match, we talk a lot about the first set, because the first set she was not on the court, to be honest. Serena was playing unbelievable. She was serving really good, and she was really powerful on every shot.

And Vika couldn't control the shots, so it was tough for her. At the end of the first set she started to think, oh, now I have to bring more energy on the court, more intensity on the court if I want to win at least one set and then the match.

She did it pretty well, and it paid off at the end of the match.

Q. Just looking ahead, what are the problems or what is the puzzle that Naomi Osaka presents to you and Vika?

DORIAN DESCLOIX: Sorry, I didn't understand the question. Sorry.

Q. What makes her a tricky opponent, Naomi Osaka?

DORIAN DESCLOIX: Oh, okay. If we compare Serena and Naomi, right?

Q. Yeah, sure. Yeah.

DORIAN DESCLOIX: Naomi has a powerful game, as Serena, really powerful. She's really talented. She can run everywhere. She has big shots.

Vika also has a great game. She has to stay the same as the first round, second round. Just to play her game, to be relaxed on the court, just to mix a lot. She has a big panel of shots.

She has to remain exactly the same, and we'll see what happens tomorrow.

Q. How has it been for Vika the last three weeks in terms of the physical side? It's a lot of matches to play in succession, high intensity.

DORIAN DESCLOIX: Yeah, yeah. It's a lot of matches. Yeah, physically she's ready, to be honest. She worked a lot the last few months. She worked every day on fitness. Even on the court we did a lot of long sessions on the court.

Now she's ready. She's ready to play every two days here because it's a slam. She's ready to play every day, like three or four hours on the court. It's not a problem with her.

Tomorrow she will be in shape, for sure, and I hope she's gonna win (smiling).

Q. You already prepared to face Naomi Osaka two weeks ago. My question for you is how has it changed, now that you have seen Naomi play another six matches, and especially last night, a really impressive match? Do you have a slightly different plan than you did two weeks ago?

DORIAN DESCLOIX: To be honest, no, because we all know that Naomi is a champion. She's a really good player.

Yesterday she played a big match here, to be honest. But she played good last week. She played good at the beginning of the year.

No, the plan will be the same. We talked with Vika last week about the plan against Naomi, but it won't change, I mean, tomorrow. We have the same plan for tomorrow and we'll see.

Q. What would you say is your number one most important responsibility as Vika's coach in these next 24 hours?

DORIAN DESCLOIX: We're gonna talk like normal. It's a final tomorrow, but she has to -- I will say to her that, Vika, it's a match. It's a tennis match. We don't know it finals, first round, second round, Vika. It's just a match. We don't change.

We keep exactly the same routine, same thing. We are gonna talk before the match. We are gonna laugh, we're gonna talk and just relax. And just, Vika, go on the court and enjoy, enjoy the moment, enjoy this final. You deserve to be in the final today, so just enjoy it.

Q. Which kind of meditation does Vika practice during games? When did she start with it? What benefits does it bring to her?

DORIAN DESCLOIX: The meditation she does on the court and in the morning, it's like routine. She's just listening some peaceful music. She's working on her breathing, you know.

It helps her just to relax, just to be relaxed. This is the only thing, you know. There is no secret about that. Just to be relaxed.

Q. Usually it's the player that's learning from the coach, but I'm wondering, what are some of the lessons you have learned from your time with Vika over this season and especially the last couple of weeks?

DORIAN DESCLOIX: To be honest, it's my first experience as a coach. Vika is a great player, so for me it was tough for me at the beginning.

We talk a lot. I learn every day with Vika, because sometimes, you know, I do the session on the court with her, we talk, and then she say to me, No, Dorian, maybe we can go this way on the practice, we can go that way.

So I'm learning every day with her. Now it's been like few months we are working together, so I know her pretty well.

We have same, approximately the same age, so it's easy for us to talk about everything. We try to learn from each other, so now we have a good communication and nothing else (smiling).