DAVIS CUP FINALS

November 29, 2021

Borna Gojo

Team Croatia

Press Conference

B. GOJO/L. Sonego

7-6, 2-6, 6-2

Croatia - 1

Italy - 1

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Huge effort on your part. What was it like playing that match? What emotions did you feel? Have you felt like that at any other time when you've played?

BORNA GOJO: Yeah, I would say this was special, as is anytime I play in Davis Cup for national team. I said it many times: every win for Croatia is the best win and it means the most to me.

This is the one now that's my best win. I'm very happy that I was able to get the point for us.

Q. The first set when you were down 1-4, how did you make your way back into the set?

BORNA GOJO: Yeah, it helped to have a captain on the bench to say a couple of words of encouragement. We had a plan that I really didn't stick to at the beginning, so I tried to do better. I tried to stay positive.

I knew tennis is a game where there's a lot of pressure on the other guy also. I was just positive and waiting for my chance. It came in the first set. I was able to break back. That was really good.

Q. In an atmosphere like this when Lorenzo comes back and it's one set all, what did it take you to keep you calm and what did the captain say to you?

BORNA GOJO: He said, It's one set now, anyone can win. You need six games or seven. Okay, there's big difference in ranking, but when you come to that point, it's way more mental than it is tennis-wise.

I was able to focus on the things I do. I was always trying to focus more on the Croatian part of the crowd and not really care about what the other 90% of the place is doing. I think I did that good today. I'm happy with that.

Q. Back to yesterday when Nino played in your place, was that a tactical decision?

BORNA GOJO: You got to ask captain that. I'm just a player (smiling).

Q. It's often said that in Davis Cup rankings mean diddly squat. Do you feel you've proved that this weekend?

BORNA GOJO: Yeah, I mean, I know I can compete with anyone. It's one match. Anything can happen. I mean, maybe this is not the greatest comparison, but I played college tennis for a while. You have matches like this on a lower level but with the pressures like this a lot. I think that helped me a lot to just deal with, like, the team, the environment of the team, just be ready for the crowd to be on you when you play Italy in Italy.

As I said, in college you had people talking really bad things like right in your face there, so you get used to way worse things than this (smiling). The crowd, I was able to deal with that good today. This is one of the big reasons I was able to get the win.

Q. Is there any one of your college matches that stands out, really heated?

BORNA GOJO: I mean, there's plenty honestly. There's plenty. I think I played eight or nine clinching matches in my college career. There's been some really, really bad ones. You literally have a hundred drunk students screaming in your face all kinds of things.

Yeah, I mean, I'm also from Split. We're really, like, crazy down there. This isn't much for us. I was expecting way worse (laughter).