ROLEX MONTE-CARLO MASTERS

April 15, 2021

David Goffin

Press Conference

D. GOFFIN/A. Zverev

6-4, 7-6

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. How much confidence does this tournament give you? So far three tough opponents, three impressive wins.

DAVID GOFFIN: Yeah, of course it gives me a lot of confidence. Today was more the way I played. Everything was there. I mean, this match, I served well, I was solid. I was very precise with my forehand. Aggressive when I had to. Was a great match.

Of course, when you win three matches here, you're in quarters in a Masters 1000, of course you're confident. But the most important is the game. The game was there. I was moving well. That was the key. Serve was there. Forehand was there. A couple of mistakes on backhand.

In the end mentally I continued to stay in the match, especially till the end when it was tough to finish the match. But at the end I'm happy the way I played.

Q. You mentioned the forehand. The match point after sort of a tight tiebreak, you're going after your forehand, running around it, how important was it for you to go for it?

DAVID GOFFIN: No, because I was playing a really good tiebreak until 6-2, four match points. I felt like kind of a release. The four points in a row was not good at all.

I pushed myself to go for one more or to save the match point first, then to go for the shot. The last three points were really good from 6-7 to 9-7. It was really good. I served well. I went for the shot with my forehand. I was like, Go for the shot with your forehand, continue till the end. I made it.

Very happy. Very happy the way I react. The reaction was quick because I had to in the tiebreak. I wanted to finish in the second. I'm happy the way I finished.

Q. Are you a little bit surprised you'll not be facing Novak Djokovic in the next round? Did you catch his match with Dan?

DAVID GOFFIN: Yeah, of course, you're always surprised when Novak is losing before the final, let's say, especially against a guy that on the paper is not a clay court specialist.

But if you see Dan, he's an amazing, talented player. I always thought that he could play on every surface. Maybe in his head he was not a clay court player in the past, so he was not super confident on that surface.

But now it looks like he's more professional, more stable in his game. I think he's better, of course. I think he's one step stronger than before, especially the last few weeks, few months. He won his first ATP title. Now on the clay he won a lot of matches.

He's an amazing player. It's going to be a tough match. Of course, it's an amazing performance to beat Novak in a Masters 1000 here. I didn't see a lot, but I just saw the end. I was playing. When I finished my match, it was like break. I just saw the last game.

It's a great performance for him.

THE MODERATOR: Questions in French, please.

Q. It must be a great relief for you to see your forehand is coming back as it was before because you said you wanted to get back to your basics.

DAVID GOFFIN: Yes, it's not a relief because this is where I am. I want to be efficient. I want to make a difference with my forehand.

I knew I would get balls that were higher and I could go for it. Sometimes on clay you have balls that are not aggressive, so you have to put your own pace on it with your legs.

The timing was good. It could have been better with my backhand. His cross-court backhand put pressure on me. I believe I played well tactically. I used my serve to be able to use my forehand. It's very positive against a player like him.

When I went for my forehand in important moments, it paid off. I'm happy.

Q. Is this going to be a reference point, this match, for you?

DAVID GOFFIN: Of course, it's good. But there are things I could have done better always. Not talking about a reference point, not really. But the level was pretty good. Little by little I feel better and better.

What I want is to be consistent instead of playing a good match and then a bad match. Here I played three good matches. It shows my level is rising. Now I have a match against Evans which will be different. He slices. He goes to the net.

I hope, again, I will be able to play a good match so I can keep going and build something solid.

Q. You had two matches this year with match points and you didn't win those matches. You had four match points here. Did you think about that?

DAVID GOFFIN: Not at all. It was the way it happened, the tension. Once or twice he served and in the end I was able to do it. At 7-6 until 9-7 I played well. I had a good reaction. I was able to do what I was doing well in the match to finish it off.

On clay we don't have easy points like you have on hard courts on your serve, for example. Here you have to fight for the points. Even if I didn't make the first four match points, I was able to finish off the match in the end.

Q. If I'm not mistaken, last time you played a top-10 player was Rafael Nadal, but it was a long time ago. Do you believe those matches, those great challenges, help you to raise your level? Did you miss those matches? Would you have liked to have had one here?

DAVID GOFFIN: Well, as soon as I play well, I win matches. I have the opportunity to play against those top players. If it's not one, it's the other. When you win matches, you give yourself the opportunity to play very good players. This is good. It's good to have those matches.

When you feel good and you keep winning matches, it's always positive. If you play against a top-10 player, it means you're playing well. So I'm happy that I was able to play a match like this against Zverev and win it on top of it.

Q. About tomorrow's quarterfinal. Do you have the feeling that it was a dream to play against Djokovic, and now instead you will have to play Evans? On paper you might yourself be the favorite. How do you feel about that unpredictable match?

DAVID GOFFIN: Well, he played a great match, and he feels good here. That's why he beat Djokovic. I believe now he has raised his level and he knows how to play well on clay. Maybe in the past he believed he couldn't play well on clay. Now he went a step further. This year he plays well.

He's talented. He's not easy to move around on the court. He's very smart on the court. You need to overcome that. He beat Djoko on clay, which is an incredible performance.

But I have my own weapons. Last time I played him, I lost. But I will have weapons to beat him on clay if I play like today. I need to be solid and I need to keep doing the same things as I've been doing: be aggressive and try to push him.

A quarterfinal in a Masters 1000 is a good match.

Q. You are in very good shape right now. Don't you have some regrets that you're not playing Novak?

DAVID GOFFIN: No, there are never regrets not to play against Novak. That's the way it is. It was always complicated for me to play Novak. This time Evans won against him. I have no regrets.

Evans will not be easy. But, of course, I'm in the quarterfinal. I was thinking I might have to play Novak. In the end Evans beat Novak. The situation is different now.

I need to be reactive and take my opportunities. But I have to play in the same way I played before until now here and try to win.

It's not Novak. No regrets. But still Evans is a very good player.