ROLEX PARIS MASTERS

November 7, 2021

Pierre-Hugues Herbert

Nicolas Mahut

Press Conference

PUETZ-VENUS/Herbert-Mahut

6-3, 6-7, 11-9

THE MODERATOR: Questions in French.

Q. I can imagine how disappointed you are. We all had the feeling with this wonderful atmosphere that you would notch this victory. That was the feeling that we all had. It seemed that you were so much supported by the crowd that you would get it.

NICOLAS MAHUT: We have lived a wonderful week, because we started on the central court. It had not been scheduled with the walkover of Monfils. And yesterday the atmosphere was crazy. Honestly, the crowd actually helped us turn the ship over.

Today we were tired, and then we managed to hold our own. The crowd helped us. This week was incredible. It's a pity we end this week like this. We would have liked to win the super-tiebreak.

We gave it our all. It's always just a pity that we didn't share the victory with the public.

Q. You have had some physical glitches, Pierre-Hugues?

PIERRE-HUGUES HERBERT: I have a problem with my voice, but it's due to yesterday's match, because they really drove us into a corner yesterday. It was a high level of tennis, and I had the feeling that I slept in Bercy, I have to say.

We know that the semifinals can be intense, and I was not at the right level of the three last matches. And I had a smash in the knee at one point. As Nicolas said, we gave it our all. It was actually a fluke. There was only a lob that made the difference.

I'm proud of our week. I'm proud of our achievements. We hadn't played together since the US Open. I think that we should actually remember whatever is positive. We can't win all the time. It's life. It's sad, but this is the way it goes.

Q. It bodes well for Turin, Innsbruck, and Madrid. How about 2022 in Australia? Will you be there? Because there is a lot of issue about vaccinations. What is your health situation?

PIERRE-HUGUES HERBERT: For vaccinations, what do you mean?

Q. Vaccinations will be mandatory for Australia.

PIERRE-HUGUES HERBERT: Really? It's a bit complex, because personally I'm not vaccinated. I don't know if I will have time to do the two jabs and be vaccinated.

It's a bit difficult to tackle this subject right now. This situation in Australia is not very much open for discussion and open.

My ranking in singles does not allow me to be in the final draw, as well.

NICOLAS MAHUT: I am vaccinated. I had been positive, so I had only one jab three months after I was positive. And today it's not enough to go there. We need the two jabs. One jab after being positive does not allow you to go there. I need to have a blood test to show if I have enough antibodies. If the rate is high enough it wouldn't be prudent to have a second jab.

We have to manage all of this between now and the departure for the Masters, because there will be the Davis Cup afterwards. If I need a second jab after the Davis Cup, we don't have a large window, so that's it. The situation is not easy for me, as well.

Q. We have understood. How about what happened in London for the Davis Cup?

NICOLAS MAHUT: If we go to London, we want to win a lot of matches. It's a pity, because I like the London court. But Turin, it takes place in Turin. I think Turin is nice. How about Nicola, what do you think about Turin?

THE MODERATOR: It's great.

NICOLAS MAHUT: Well, it's great. The Nitto ATP Finals will take place in Turin. It will be wonderful certainly. It's a privilege to go there.

Last year I missed it a lot, and I had watched it on TV, but I felt I had the butterflies really because I would have liked to be there. This year we want to recover as much as we can to give our best tennis. It's an opportunity to notch wins before joining our buddies for the Davis Cup.