ROLAND GARROS

June 3, 2022

Gabriel Debru

Press Conference

G. DEBRU/D. Prizmic

6-1, 0-6, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations Gabriel. How happy are you to be in the final and tell us a bit about your match today.

GABRIEL DEBRU: I'm very happy to win today because it was a good match. I played against a good player. It was difficult with the weather and with the rain, we start the match. So I'm very happy to play good at 5-2 in the third set and hope to play the same tennis like today tomorrow.

I don't know against who I'm going to play tomorrow, but I'm sure that I'm going to give all my best and to try to win the tournament.

THE MODERATOR: Any questions in English?

Q. What would winning Roland Garros boys singles, what would that mean to you and for your career so far?

GABRIEL DEBRU: It's crazy if I win Roland Garros because it's a dream since I was five years old. But, yeah, if I win, I'm very happy to win the tournament, so I have a good field to play against a good player. So I have to stay focused on my final and to give all my best.

THE MODERATOR: Questions in French.

Q. You just said it when you came in. You are here at the table of the top players. It's just a Junior final, but yet it seems that you have earned your stripes.

GABRIEL DEBRU: Yes, it's great. Now I have to start getting used to it. I try to improve in my tennis and in the way I handle the press. And the fact that it starts in English as well, it's not easy, but I try to practice.

Q. You've had already some experiences on the senior tour already. Now you have Roland Garros. You have the press and much more than other tournaments. How do you handle that? You're also the last French player here.

GABRIEL DEBRU: I'm very happy to have reached the final, first of all. I'll give everything I have for the final.

But as I said, it changes everything. I have to get used to it, as I said earlier. I have to be more at ease with all this. I have to be able to handle press conferences and yet to be myself. I'm very happy to be playing the final even if it's only the Junior Final. I hope that one day I'll be also playing a final with the ATP Tour. I'll try to give everything for the final.

Q. Generally we say that when one plays a final it's to win it.

GABRIEL DEBRU: Of course. One plays a final not to lose, but to win. I'll try to tackle that match like any other match. I'll try to be very focused at the beginning of the match, try to be very positive and poised. This is what I did in the past. Even when I lost the second set, I managed to turn the ship around. I tried to start off well. Of course there was a rain delay, but I'm very happy with today's performance, and I'll try to do a very good performance tomorrow as well.

Q. When we talk about this, let's talk about this rain delay. It lasted two hours. How did you manage to handle that?

GABRIEL DEBRU: It's always very hard to go back to a court when the match is not over, but it's 5-2, towards the end of the match. It was during the third set. And it's always complex because you feel that you're starting a match anew and you have the pressure coming back. The opponent can change his game in two hours.

So it's very hard to resume a match after an interruption. I still managed to have a match point. He saved it, but I managed to be focused on my serve and ultimately I wrapped it up in my favor.

Q. Can you explain how your experiences, your past experiences on the Challenger Tour helped you with this tournament?

GABRIEL DEBRU: Well, players are more focused for a longer period of time. They're fitter, physically speaking. They're stronger, actually, and that actually implies that we have to increase our level of play.

Some matches are very tough. This is what happened today. It was not very long, but it was very intense. I needed a lot, there was a lot of energy in the way we did our strokes.

This is actually the case for some who have, some players, some young players who have not yet played in futures. The fact that I've done that helps me to be calmer at the crunch moments.

Q. Did you watch Nadal/Zverev during the interruption?

GABRIEL DEBRU: I did watch, but there was actually a blackout, so I couldn't watch. I tried to focus on my match and also to rest because it's not easy to start a match anew. We have to be aggressive from the beginning, and we were at 5-2 during the third set, so it was important not to go back to the baseline and this is what I tried at 5-2.

Q. So what are you going to do? Are you going to have a post-match recovery, a shower and then watch the match?

GABRIEL DEBRU: Well, I have to, sadly to do a lot of things, including a post-match recovery, a shower, seeing the physio. If I can also have a physio session and also watch the match at the same time, then I would. But I certainly will rest for tomorrow's match, first of all.

Q. For the senior qualifications you also are studying for the Baccalaureat, for your A-Levels.

GABRIEL DEBRU: I try to do my best, but for Roland Garros tournament it's very difficult to study. Yesterday, I finished earlier so I could study a little bit during the afternoon one hour here and there. It's never bad when you have the French exam to come. I think I have the exams in two weeks. I'll definitely study for a week at least beforehand.

Q. Are you sure that it's in two weeks?

GABRIEL DEBRU: I actually have the oral examination on the 16th and the written examination on the 27th.

Q. We asked the same question to Luca, Arthur, Giovanni, and Sean. We wanted to ask them their opinion on the new French players, the next Next Gen. What is your outlook on this, from your own point of view? What about the future of French tennis?

GABRIEL DEBRU: French tennis was very criticized, but it's tough, you know, with Djokovic, Federer, Murray, Nadal. We've had also Cilic. These players are very good.

It's true we also have good French players, but we have also, you know, huge players in front of us.

But then there is also a wonderful French generation with Luca Van Assche, Sean, myself, Arthur. We have actually a lot of us. And I think this will please the crowd to know that there are also young players coming up to take over, and it's nice to see, to watch them to see how they actually react on the court and this will actually please the crowd and make them cheer for us.