ROLEX MONTE-CARLO MASTERS

April 16, 2021

David Goffin

Press Conference

D. EVANS/D. Goffin

5-7, 6-3, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions in French, please.

Q. I imagine it's difficult to say just coming out of the match, but can you tell us how it happened? Can you describe the situation?

DAVID GOFFIN: Yes, of course. It was a very difficult and long match. It was tough on my legs. It was difficult to change the rhythm with his slice. He was never getting caught. Every time I was trying to mix it up, I was not able to put him down.

He was mixing it up a lot. He was making me play. He was slicing, having a very mixed game. Up to 7-5 and beginning of the second set, I lost a stupid game. Every time he fought back. He was able to change his game. He knows how to do everything. He stays in there and he makes the necessary changes to dominate me. It was a real battle.

In the third set I had the best opportunities: Love-40, all those breakpoints at 4-All. It was tough playing against the wind. He was able to save those breakpoints playing serve and volley. Also he has a good touch. There was very little difference between us, but he was able to do it.

The wind was not easy to manage with his game. On one side his serve was bouncing low because of the wind, on the other side it was short, difficult to attack. So it was a real battle. It was one point here and there. I don't know how long we played, but it was a real battle.

Q. Nevertheless it was the first tournament of the clay court season. Starting the season winning several matches is a good way of getting rid of the last doubts you might have had.

DAVID GOFFIN: Yes, for sure. It's still a good tournament for me, good victories, especially the one against Sascha that I have to remember. Today is a pity. But after Miami I felt I was nowhere. I wanted to play matches, and I did. I would have liked to have played one more, but that's the way it is.

I'm happy that I reached the quarterfinals in a Masters 1000. I hadn't done that for a while. I'm happy. In spite of the disappointment today, I will try to keep going. I'm going to Barcelona. I will be eager again to play more matches.

Q. What pleased you most today? The fight? What did you like most?

DAVID GOFFIN: Yes, the fight. I could have done everything a bit better. I had the weapons to be able to win today. There was very little difference. He has the power, played more matches than I did, I believe. Also he dared. He was playing a really offensive game on clay. Every time he was down, he served and volleyed and did it very well.

I'm happy I had these matches here. Three victories in a Masters 1000 is a good thing for me. It hadn't happened for a while. I hope it will continue that way.

Q. Why is he so difficult to play? It's surprising.

DAVID GOFFIN: He has a lot of talent. He's able to change tactics when he needs to. He's very smart, very precise. When he feels down, he moves forward, makes shorter rallies. He can feel when you need to make the opponent play or when you need to make the points shorter.

Even on clay he's moving very well. He has good legs. He found solutions today on clay. It's tough to play against him. On paper he's not a clay-courter, but today the clay was heavy, the balls were not bouncing high, and he was able to do his own cooking. This is why he was difficult to move around.

Q. Isn't that surprising to see him at 30 years old having good results on this surface?

DAVID GOFFIN: I know him a little because I knew him when I was a junior. I saw him when he was younger. I could see his red socks and the clay. He could see he didn't like playing on the surface.

Now with maturity, the past years he has been able to develop a good game with his own weapons. It was only him who didn't believe he was able to play well on clay. Now he's more mature, has a more stable game, and he's able to fight and believe he can win. He was the only one not believing it.

Q. It's always very disappointing, especially coming off the court right now, but if you look back you were able to achieve things in Monte-Carlo that will be very useful for the rest of the season on clay, right?

DAVID GOFFIN: Yes. I'm happy that I had three good victories on clay. It's good for me. Yes, of course, right now I'm disappointed. But a quarterfinal, given where I was coming from, is not bad. I was hoping to be able to play some matches, which was the case. I hope I can do the same in Barcelona.

Q. What is coming next? Barcelona?

DAVID GOFFIN: Barcelona, Madrid, Rome, with a week in between.