DAVIS CUP FINALS

November 27, 2021

Elias Ymer

Team Sweden

Press Conference

E. YMER/M. Kukushkin

6-3, 7-6

Sweden - 1

Kazakhstan - 0

THE MODERATOR: Questions in English.

Q. Great match today. Can you just describe how you're feeling right now?

ELIAS YMER: I just had a stretch, so I'm feeling good. I'm very happy to win this tie, because I think it gives the team even more confidence that we can really win this group.

I think it looks good now, I have to say.

Q. In the second set you were 3-2 up with a break, 4-3 up with a break, 6-5 up with a break, he kept coming back. Can you talk about how you managed to stay composed and finish that set off?

ELIAS YMER: I played Mikhail like two times before. Every match has been exactly the same. He's like a real fighter, and I feel like he's playing better when he's down. I don't know. He finds like the second life, I always feel.

He has a very antidox game. The ball is bouncing extremely low. Cannot be super-aggressive all the time. You have to choose your time to attack him, because, I mean, he's been a quality player for I don't know how many years. I can really see why, because he makes you very uncomfortable.

All credit to him. He's a great fighter, he's a good friend of mine, and I'm really happy I won today.

Q. I think coming into this week your recent Davis Cup record maybe wasn't so strong. What has clicked and changed for you in Madrid?

ELIAS YMER: I mean, the last time I played Davis Cup in Stockholm against Chile, I was really rusty, man. I just had elbow surgery and hadn't played for like five months. Didn't even feel good going in there.

I mean, today, this week, I have been coming from a lot of matches and it's the last tournament of the year, having Robin on the bench. I mean, I had a good start, I have to say, and hopefully I will keep it going.

But it's different playing Davis Cup, I have to say.

Q. You mentioned earlier that that victory gives you a very strong position in the group, maybe to win the group, certainly maybe as runners-up and go through. Can you talk about what it would mean to reach the quarterfinals here?

ELIAS YMER: I have to continue. I said the first day we are here to win, so I have to continue it. We are here to win.

Q. I asked you two years ago, what is your opinion about this new Davis Cup format, and you couldn't express your opinion already because you hadn't experienced it, but now you have experienced it. What are the advantages of this new Davis Cup format?

ELIAS YMER: I felt all the time that, I mean, I always felt that I thought Davis Cup needed a change, something needed to be done because it was so many matches all the time. Something had to be done. I felt like all the players felt like that.

So I think it's a good initiative, and, I mean, it's second year, the first time I'm here. I mean, for me, I like it. Maybe it's a bit too late in the season, because if we have to go to Australia on the 27th, it's like in two weeks almost, but apart from that, I think we have something special in Davis Cup, which I think we should use in tennis.

I don't know how to do it, and that's the key ingredient, who is going to find it? But it will have something good in Davis Cup, so we have to use it in a good way. I don't think I'm the one who is going to say how to do it, but I feel like somebody has to do it.