NITTO ATP FINALS

November 16, 2020

Diego Schwartzman

Press Conference

N. DJOKOVIC/D. Schwartzman

6-3, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Novak said that it was strange playing with no crowd here at the O2. What was your experience of it, playing with no fans and empty stands?

DIEGO SCHWARTZMAN: Well, I never been here before, so I don't know how it feels with people, with crowd. But obviously it's really sad watching this kind of stadium, you know, the O2 totally empty, just a few people here.

Sometimes you want to say "Come on" or "Vamos" in my language, and, you know, always the people, crowd, and everyone it's exciting watching matches and these kind of matches.

Obviously it's really sad, but, you know, these are the conditions right now to play.

Q. You had a great start. Broke Djokovic in the third game. What happened then? Because it seemed like it was going away pretty quickly afterwards.

DIEGO SCHWARTZMAN: That start of the match he was not playing, you know, his best. He was doing a few mistakes. I took the chance at the beginning, but then that break back from him I think I did too many mistakes.

I was playing against the No. 1, so you cannot do that kind of mistakes in the middle of the match and just the start of the match and when you are a break up.

After that, the first set was really close. I have another chance in the 3-All. You know, he was 15-30, and then in the 3-4 I have advantage to be 4-All.

I think the first set was close. Was, you know, not for a 6-3. But then he was playing better than me. I mean, it's difficult when you have just a small chance against the No. 1, against Djokovic, and you don't take that chance, you know, it's very difficult.

The match started to be very difficult, and I was trying but mixing with a few mistakes and with very good points from him, and then was a tough match.

Q. Obviously not the start you wanted today. I was just listening to something you said in the prematch press conferences on Friday, that you can't think too much tactically about playing someone like Novak. So when you play Novak, is there a danger of overthinking it and missing your chances like that?

DIEGO SCHWARTZMAN: Well, I was trying to said like if you are thinking to do something and then it's not working, you have to, you know, start quickly to try a different thing. So you cannot go to the courts just thinking about one tactic, because he knows how to fix and how to play when you are trying.

At the beginning I was trying to be solid and mix with a few aggressive points but trying to be solid, not doing mistakes, and he started the match not playing very well, doing a few mistakes, double faults and a few unforced errors.

I did have the chance to be 3-1 and then see what happen and trying to keep continue like this, but I did many wrong things when I was break up and when I was 3-4 in the first set.

And the second set, like he said after the match on court, he was improving a lot. He was hitting the ball really clean and moving the ball to everywhere and was very difficult.

I think I did not play my best, but I was doing not very bad match for like a 6-3, 6-2, but it is what it is.

Q. What's the most difficult thing about playing Novak for you?

DIEGO SCHWARTZMAN: The worst thing?

Q. The most difficult.

DIEGO SCHWARTZMAN: Well, everything is difficult against him. I think what he's doing when he's playing his best, he's moving the ball from everywhere to everywhere, you know, to every single point on court.

So it's very difficult to see or to know what he's going to do and trying to make good points, because he's moving the ball, he's doing defenses, he's doing winners. He has a lot of talent when he have the chance to move the ball.