ROLEX MONTE-CARLO MASTERS

April 11, 2022

Arthur Rinderknech

Press Conference

F. FOGNINI/A. Rinderknech

7-5, 4-6, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Questions in French.

Q. So it was a tight match. There were ups and downs. Some periods were very good; others not as good. How did you experience the match?

ARTHUR RINDERKNECH: Well, overall it was a good match, I believe. It proved to myself that I was already fit on clay. For a first match it was correct for most of the match, but there were one or two letdowns that cost me the match. Otherwise I can't say I was better than he was. But at least I had a feeling of control. But for 10% of the match, I had a letdown, and then he came back and that cost me the two sets I lost.

Q. We know your cousin here. I saw him play the Davis Cup. As you did, I also played in college a long time ago, so I know about you. I would like to know what college brought to you. Did it give you experience, help you develop? I want to know if your experience in college has an influence on your career today.

ARTHUR RINDERKNECH: It's a very broad question, but what it did was help me save time. I didn't have to start on the tour at 18 years old when I was not good enough and not mature enough, professionally speaking, to play on the tour.

But I had the maturity to think about it and decide to go to the United States, which was a very good choice. It gave me some time, and I have a diploma now that is a security for my future, so I can play relaxed now, knowing what I have.

Now I'm starting at 22, 23 years old instead of 18, so it helps me go through the steps more easily, because I experienced many other things than only professional tennis.

So in my opinion, any player who is not top 10 in juniors should go to college. It's a very clear-cut opinion. Unless you are Alcaraz or Sinner or if you are in the very top best players in juniors, you need to go to college in the U.S. Because if you're not top 10 in juniors, there are many uncertainties as to your future in the professional tour.

Even players that were 10, 13, or even 8 have disappeared from professional tennis after that. There are hundreds of them. Others are just getting lost playing the futures for years, so instead, I would advise them to go to the U.S.

But each one has his own goals. If they want just to party, they can party in the U.S. too, but they will forget about tennis. But it's up to them to decide about their future. They should take control of their lives and not only depend on mommy or daddy and the coach.

So it's a clear-cut opinion, but of course you need to have good advice from people who know about what they are talking about so you get good advice to choose your college.

Q. How did you choose your college?

ARTHUR RINDERKNECH: Well, I was not good enough to be sponsored by the French Tennis Federation. I had good advice advising me to go away, and I was lucky to trust those people. I ended up in a very good university, Texas A&M. Thanks to them I made a lot of progress. They knew about tennis.

Q. You have a different type of game than Opelka. What do you believe about your game? Are you playing a different type of game?

ARTHUR RINDERKNECH: Certainly I do not have the same style as Opelka. Of course I have a good serve, but like today it was not that good. In spite of that, I was able to be a good rival to a specialist on clay who won very important tournaments. So I'm not depending on my serve, which is not the case of Opelka and Isner.

Q. You have an intermediate ranking. Masters 1000s are coming up. You can't always qualify for the main draw. Are you going to try to play the quallies or you go to the challengers?

ARTHUR RINDERKNECH: My program is clear. Barcelona, Estoril, two final main draws. And then after that, Madrid and Rome quallies, if I'm in the quallies, or main draw if I'm in the main draw. I'm not going to make things complicated.

After, we'll see what happens afterwards and for Roland Garros.

Q. Choices must be made. We heard about Richard.

ARTHUR RINDERKNECH: I don't know what Richard's ranking is this week, but each one has to make his own decision. We don't have the same ranking, and I think what I need now is to play against the best players.

I can play against lower players just to reassure myself and win some matches, but I don't need that right now. I trust what we are doing with my coach. What I need to do is play against the top players and try to make progress there.