QATAR EXXONMOBIL OPEN

February 17, 2022

Nikoloz Basilashvili

Press Conference

N. BASILASHVILI/M. Fucsovics

1-6, 6-3, 7-5

THE MODERATOR: How are you feeling after such a long battle today in the tough conditions?

NIKOLOZ BASILASHVILI: Yeah, it was pretty tough for me, especially for me, you know, for my game. I think it was really windy. It got really cold in the end, so the balls were flying really low.

I had to work a lot on my physical area, project the ball. In the end it got very good physical, but I'm happy how I handled it.

Q. You're able to see the statistics during the match, and during 2021 tournament in Doha your ball-striking speed both from forehand and backhand side was absolutely unparalleled and unmatched by any other player. It was 132 and 127 correspondingly. Does it give you extra confidence when you know that your tempo is unmatchable in the tour when you find the rhythm and when you have the precision, as well?

NIKOLOZ BASILASHVILI: Yeah, definitely today I could not use speed, because as I mentioned, the conditions were really, really tough. But in general, my game style is to be aggressive.

I actually don't look at the statistics how fast my ball goes, but I'm feeling pretty comfortable just in general from the baseline game. Yeah, we'll see. I mean, this year I'm not performing so far that great from the baseline, but hopefully next upcoming matches I can do good.

Q. The last question is about the other players in the field. Roberto Bautista Agut for instance is playing very good tennis. There are also some other great champions in the field. Do you usually follow other players' matches? What do you think who can be the favorite and most difficult opponent for you in this year's tournament?

NIKOLOZ BASILASHVILI: No, I don't really kind of focus. I'm trying actually to focus on my opponent, my next opponent. I don't look at the draw and kind of calculating who I'm going to play. I'm just taking match by match and like thinking about how to beat each player after each match.

So for me, if Bautista goes to finals, I think he's playing good here. He beat Andy Murray really easily, which I think is very good from him. I think he played a really good match. So it looks like he's in good shape.

But I just have to focus on my next opponent and taking step by step.