ROLAND GARROS

June 2, 2022

Marcelo Arevalo

Jean-Julien Rojer

Press Conference

AREVALO-ROJER/Bopanna-Middelkoop

4-6, 6-3, 7-6

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations to you both. You are in your first men's doubles final of a Grand Slam. Can you talk a bit about that and what it means to you.

MARCELO AREVALO: Well, as you said, is my first Grand Slam final. It's a great feeling. I feel like we have been working really hard with my partner, Jules.

We start our partnership this year at the beginning of the year, and, yeah, we have building each other as a team. We have a great team behind our back, as well. And I think the whole job that we have been doing is paying off. And, yeah, we are super happy to be in the final, but we know that still a lot of work to do.

Yeah, we are gonna keep working and fighting on court as we have been doing. We are gonna go fight on Saturday in the final.

THE MODERATOR: Jules, do you want to add anything to that?

JEAN-JULIEN ROJER: No, I think Marcelo said it well.

Not maybe nice to say about yourself, but a lot of credit to us for the work that we have been putting in, really working hard and trying to improve, because we just started the partnership this year.

Like Marcelo says, we have a great team, and guys that are aware and hold us responsible and accountable. We have been doing a great job with just trying to focus on getting the team better and make little improvements as the year has gone on.

THE MODERATOR: Questions in English.

Q. There were great celebrations at the end. Could you just talk us through those emotions, why it was so explosive, those celebrations?

MARCELO AREVALO: I think when you are on court and you are having all that emotions, the match was really close, anything could happen in the match.

We won the last point, and I think all the work we put, when you see that you reach a Grand Slam final, I think that was fair. I was happy with my team, with Jules. My family is here, my wife, my son, my father-in-law, Jules' family.

And I think I'm also playing for a lot of people back in El Salvador. They have always been supporting me, and this is also a personal achievement, but also it's for my country.

So I'm a very emotional person, and that's the way I celebrate every match that I play, because I know it has been a long way.

JEAN-JULIEN ROJER: Yeah, the same. I think, again, Marcelo said it well. If you watch us play any of the matches, so far we play quite intense and we have a lot of energy on the court, because that's the kind of people that we are and from the region of the world where we come from.

We are quite passionate people and we have a lot of emotions and we have a lot of energy on the court, and just a lot of passion for what we do. Then you get some explosive moments during the match, as well. We win points and celebrate, many celebrations, and a lot of emotions at the end of the match.

When you win these matches they're big matches, quite important matches, you have to do a lot of stuff right to win these matches and conquer a lot of moments. It's a feeling of pride and accomplishment.

So, yeah, it's a bit of all of that.

Q. You mentioned playing for your country, the passion there. What would it mean to you to kind of significantly take the trophy home?

MARCELO AREVALO: Well, of course it would be a big achievement. That's always been my goal. I think every professional player wants to become a Grand Slam champion, and that's what we are here for. That's what we fight for every day.

A lot of people don't see the work behind the scene and only see the outcome. But me and Jules and our team put a lot of work, and, yeah, that's our goal as a team.

Q. Jules, you were in the semis here last in 2015. I just wondered how you felt your game has developed since then, but we will say men's doubles as a general, how it's developed?

JEAN-JULIEN ROJER: Yeah, good question. My game develops or changes, for sure, but more so because I'm playing with a new partner. Last year I played with two different partners, that was maybe, let's say, less successful. So we were changing and finding the rhythm.

My game, I don't think it's completely or so different, but I do have to adjust little things to accompany Marcelo. So that's how I always stress when we get together in the beginning, that sometimes we have to sacrifice certain parts of our game or certain shots maybe that we like or something to play of a certain way that benefits the both of us.

I think just adapt to your partner is quite, that's the biggest challenge, but then a bit contradictory. I don't think my game has changed so much. Because I think the last time maybe that we were in the semis with my former partner, Horia Tecau, and I think Marcelo has a very similar game to Horia.

So at the same time I think I can fall back into a lot of the stuff that I know how to do or do well, his game allows me to do that or play of that way, which doesn't obviously happen with every partner.

I tried to be a bit more aggressive in certain moments and important moments. That's not a change in my game, but that over the years, as you learn, if you want to let's say conquer these moments or play well in big moments, just the experience of going for your shot or staying aggressive, taking your time, take a couple of deep breaths, that kind of stuff.

No big changes other than that in my game, just little tweaks. And the game of doubles has changed a lot. Marcelo serves and stays back. We played today two guys that serve and stay back. Obviously that's going to be more prominent on clay, but you see that so much nowadays.

Before, I don't want to say "my generation," I'm 40 years old, but I played with the Nestors and the Bhupatis, and Paes and the Bryan brothers, I mean, everybody came to the net, Mark Knowles. We had quite good volleyers back then.

I think I volley less well today. But they also return and hit a lot better from the back, I would say, than before.

So it's definitely different, definitely different, and it forces you to improve different areas of your game. Today I had to hit maybe a few strokes that normally in the past I wouldn't have had to hit. I'm definitely not thinking of serving and staying back. That's definitely not going to be it more me in my tennis career.

The game has changed a lot, and it would be wise to change with it or to make the adjustments to kind of evolve with it.