ROLAND GARROS

October 7, 2020

Jannik Sinner

Press Conference

R. NADAL/J. Sinner

7-6, 6-4, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Commentators on TV said in 12 months' time you could be in the top 10 in the world if you continue to play like that. How does that make you feel?

JANNIK SINNER: I don't know. I'm a person who looks not in the future and not in the past, always in the present. It's nice to hear. At the end you have to show everything. I didn't won anything until now. Okay, NextGen, it's one tournament. At the end I didn't won anything.

It's just head down and trying to improve, trying to play hours after hours on court, which I need to do. I have a great team behind me. We will see in 12 months where I am.

Q. You played a great first set, then it went in Nadal's direction. What made it so difficult against him today?

JANNIK SINNER: I had chances in the first set. I had chances in the second set. I didn't use them. I've been break up in both sets. When you are a break up, the thing what you have to do, you have to try to play your service game better, which today I didn't.

Obviously it's tough against him. He's not missing that much. The ball is quite heavy. You have to be with the right balance on court, to don't go too much and not too low. If you don't go with not enough speed, he will go for the winners or he's going to move me, which he has done in the first service game of the match.

He had the ball and he started to move, to move, to move. After that I tried to go in the court, trying to play a little bit faster, take his time away. It worked quite well.

As I said, I had chances in the first and second set. Unfortunately I didn't use them. Then when he goes up two sets to love with break, it's not that easy. I tried to stay there. There's been 2-Love in the third set new balls. He went a little bit more. I missed two balls. It's not easy to get back.

He deserves where he is. Yeah, congrats to him.

Q. (Question about playing Rafa with all his achievements.)

JANNIK SINNER: You go on the court with the right mindset, with knowing or having a plan to play against him. Today I had it. I mean, I had actually quite a great plan. It worked quite well.

I don't watch about records. I know who is on the other side. I have a lot of respect of him. At the end you want to win. You go on court to play your tennis with your personality. You go on court trying to play your tennis, trying to win obviously.

Yeah, but you have to have, for every player, the right respect on court and especially off court as well. I think he's a great example for everyone. He's nice. He's a nice guy. I've practiced a little bit with him. It's good.