THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

July 5, 2022

David Goffin

Press Conference

C. NORRIE/D. Goffin

3-6, 7-5, 2-6, 6-3, 7-5

THE MODERATOR: David, a tough one out there. Just give us your thoughts.

DAVID GOFFIN: Yes, it was tough. It was a tough match. A long one. A lot of ups and downs.

I had a lot of opportunity in maybe not the fifth, but all the fourth set to close it, but I didn't do it. He was such a great fighter. That's why he's in the top 10. He's fighting so hard. He's very consistent. He's very solid and never give up.

That was the case today. The way he fought, he deserves his spot in the semifinal, so congrats to him. Of course there is a lot of disappointment, but at the end, yeah, it was a great tournament. I wasn't sure to play this tournament, so to finish with a quarterfinal, it give me a lot of positive things with my tennis, and also a lot of positive things for the next tournaments.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Bad luck. You said you weren't sure you were going to play here. Curious why.

DAVID GOFFIN: Well, because after the French Open I was injured, and it was tough to be ready for the grass, for Halle. Halle was only three hours by car from Belgium, so I decided to try, to try my leg how it was, and if it was not ready to play, I was able to come back in Belgium.

But I try a match against Medvedev and I was not ready at all. Then slowly I felt my leg again here during the practice week before the tournament, so I wasn't sure to start a tournament. I was really close to pull out from the tournament.

So I didn't play before the tournament almost. I just hit an hour, and that's it. We did a lot of treatments, and with my team they made an unbelievable job the whole week and the week before for me to be ready.

I wasn't 100% for my first round, and then I managed to win. Then day after day with treatments, with a day off, it started to be better. Until the quarterfinal I managed to play the tournament almost 100%.

So I'm very happy that I managed to play all those matches with the level I played, so now at the end it was a good tournament.

Q. Two questions. Did the crowd play a part in that? Do you think...

DAVID GOFFIN: What else? (Laughter.)

Yes, of course. No, the crowd was just amazing, amazing atmosphere. Very respectful for both players. They were just fantastic.

Of course they were all behind him, and it was huge advantage for him. But, you know, they were very fair play. No, it was great atmosphere, and it was completely normal that it was in that way.

So of course I think when he was down one set, one set to love, two sets to one, probably give him energy to stay in the match and not leave me the win.

Yeah, I think it was a huge part of his win today.

Q. Do you think Cam Norrie can beat Novak Djokovic in the semifinals if the crowd is behind him?

DAVID GOFFIN: You know the answer, no? (Smiling.)

We never know. We never know. If he's playing the tennis of his life maybe, and Novak is not feeling well, we never know, we never know, but Novak is Novak. He's playing even better when the crowd is against him. Novak is just an alien, and to beat an alien, I don't know how to do (smiling).

Q. Just wondering, you kind of mentioned it initially, but what's the toughest part about facing Norrie? Has his success surprised you after the past several years? He was ranked 70th beginning of last year.

DAVID GOFFIN: Yeah, yeah, but like I said, he's a huge fighter, very consistent, every match he's giving everything, doesn't miss, he's very solid, he's moving well.

And mentally very solid. He doesn't give one point, and he's just fighting. You know, the way he's playing, his backhand is really flat and really low. He has a really spinny forehand. So two different shots. So he's not easy to play.

Of course from last year or the last two years he started to keep fighting every match. He started to win one, two, three, four matches, then trophies, and now he's in the top 10. So he's just continued to improve, improve his game, improve his mentality, physically. I don't know where he's gonna go, but he's in the top 10 and it's huge. It was an amazing year.

Now probably the hard court is coming after this tournament, and this is a surface that he like too. He could maybe continue to have some good results.

Q. Do you feel that you are on the right path to return into the top 10 yourself, given that you made the quarters?

DAVID GOFFIN: I think. I think yes. I had everything in my racquet to beat a top 10 today. I made a good tournament.

The funny part is, I mean, it's not funny, but I will be probably 75 or 80 in the world after the tournament, but it's life. Now I have nothing to defend until April next year. So this is now that I have to start my way back to the top. I will see.

No, but the last few months, the way I played, I think it's a very good level, and I have to continue with the same mentality, the same tennis. The way I'm playing is on the right way to come back to the top of the ranking, and we will see. Now it's very positive. The tennis is there.

So let's keep going like this, and we will see until the end of the season.