ROLAND GARROS

October 1, 2020

Marcos Giron

Press Conference

T. MONTEIRO/M. Giron

7-6, 6-4, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. I think this is your Roland Garros debut. Describe to me what it has been like for you this experience.

MARCOS GIRON: Yes, this is my first major experience. I played qualifying last year. And to get into the main draw in my own ranking has been, it's been really special. Of course it's an interesting circumstances with being in the bubble and not being able to explore Paris, I love the city, but it's still being here at Roland Garros is amazing. The clay is, there's nothing else like it and I just, I really love playing here.

To win in five sets in my first win here was amazing, of course playing the local Frenchman I knew it was going to be tough and I know Halys is a tremendous player. So I'm really happy to be able to get to the second round.

Of course I wish I could have gotten through today, but Thiago Monteiro played fantastic. The first set was close, the breaker could have gone either way and I think if I could have gotten that, who knows.

But he made a finals of a challenger last week and he played really well when it mattered.

Q. Just wanted to ask how you felt out there physically and whether you thought maybe there were any after affects of that long one in your opening match?

MARCOS GIRON: Absolutely. I was definitely still sore today. I was not as sore as after my five setter at the US Open, but I was still definitely still sore. I could feel it in my serve and a lot of times when it's just that extra step I felt like I was a touch slow and it really could have helped me, especially playing against Thiago.

But I think playing best of five is really something special, it's a different beast. There's so much more time for the ebbs and flows of the match, for players to kind of get momentum and to see how players can use match management and the combination of fitness and the mental side and it's tremendous.

But, yeah, I was definitely still feeling it. I kind of loosened up midway through the first set and I didn't lose the match because of that. Today he just, he played better when it mattered. But, yeah, it's a really cool experience.

Q. Could I just ask to follow-up on that, what the recovery process is like after a real long one?

MARCOS GIRON: Yeah, after the long one it's I think get a lot of fluids, try to get a lot of electrolytes, get some good protein, a recovery shake, stretch out and then take an ice bath.

That's kind of what I did in New York. I tried to take the next day really easy. Practiced but took it really light and I came out flat. And I honestly, against Krajinovic, I felt like the third set is when my body started feeling good. So I kind of went a different approach this time to play more aggressive, a little bit harder yesterday. I played an hour. But move, try to make it physical.

I felt better today. With the conditions today it was kind of interesting because we didn't get a warm up beforehand, we just had an eight-minute extended match warm up. So it was kind of nice, because I knew it's not an extra 45 minutes of warm up that we normally do beforehand, but I do think that I got broken first game and I was still a little bit stiff.

So it's eat a lot, try to get the nervous system going ahead of time and keep loose. And I feel it most when I sit for an extended period of time and then get going, that's when I usually kind of feel really stiff.

Q. I wanted to ask you about the weather. It's been quite cold and rainy and all of that. Was it a nice thing today to see the sun come out, see a little bit of blue sky?

MARCOS GIRON: Yeah, you know, it's been interesting playing in the rain. I actually, I don't know, it's kind of an interesting experience. I think it's really tough when it's late in the -- because you change the ball every nine games -- in the last couple games when the ball goes, gets heavy and it gets in the puddles that are on the tarp, then that can be tough.

Then you're serving you're like, man, I usually get some free points, but it's hard, it's impossible.

But I actually, for me, I didn't mind it as much because it kind of, being from California, not playing as much clay court tennis as I think a lot of these other guys, it keeps the ball a little bit lower, a little bit more in the strike zone.

So, yeah, it was tougher getting free points but I thought it was actually good for me. It also made the clay a little bit not as slick.

Of course, seeing the sun today was, honestly it was surprising because I looked yesterday at the forecast and it said rain all day. So when I got here at 9:30 tarps were up, it was raining outside, still raining at 10:30, but they're like, yeah, it's going to be clear, you guys are going to go on at 11. So I was thinking, okay we're going to play and maybe there's going to be a few, who knows what, maybe there's going to be some rain delays we stop for five minutes, 10 minutes. I did not expect to see the sun. It was nice but, I don't know, after losing today maybe I wish it was raining (laughing.)