UNITED CUP

January 4, 2023

Iva Majoli

Borna Coric

Petra Martic

Donna Vekic

Borna Gojo

Team Croatia

Press Conference

Team Croatia - 3

Team France - 1

THE MODERATOR: Well done, Team Croatia. You must be thrilled. Iva, talk us through the excitement of reaching the city final here in Perth and reflect on your team's win today.

CAPTAIN MAJOLI: Well, what a day. First I want to, of course, congratulate Borna on the unbelievable match.

BORNA CORIC: Thank you (laughter).

CAPTAIN MAJOLI: I already congratulated you yesterday.

BORNA CORIC: Not in the press (smiling).

CAPTAIN MAJOLI: I would like to start with Petra. I think she had an amazing match today against Caroline Garcia. I think she proved to herself she can really play at the highest level. I believe this year is going to be a great year for Petra. It was really a top-level match. I enjoyed every point.

And the drama with Borna Gojo, we are used to him playing amazing at the team events. He's shown it many times at the Davis Cup. Yeah, being on the side-court, he's a great guy. Lots of excitement when he plays. But today he was much more positive, much more focused than in the first match.

Yeah, he broke back and managed to win this unbelievable tough match. We are very, very thrilled to win today.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Iva, when he was down in that final set, what were you saying to him?

CAPTAIN MAJOLI: We were just telling him that he's playing great tennis, and just to stay with him and to play each point, be focused. That's what he did. He managed to break him at the end.

Q. Borna, looking to tomorrow, you get to play Stef.

BORNA CORIC: Yeah.

Q. Obviously good recent memories against him.

BORNA CORIC: Yeah.

Q. Do you think the two meetings last year will have any impact on tomorrow's match?

BORNA CORIC: I don't think so, no, to be honest. I think it's a new match. It's another tournament, as well. It's a bit of a change.

Yeah, it's going to be very, very good match. I always play good against him, to be honest. I also always enjoy playing with him, because it's a great, great fight. I hope I can do the same tomorrow.

Q. And the Croatian crowd again tonight was in, but obviously tomorrow the Greek and Croatian crowds have been amazing so far. Looking forward to the atmosphere.

BORNA CORIC: It's going to be very good. I said many times that I like to play on the big stages with many people. So I'm going to enjoy the moment, for sure.

Q. Iva, I was wondering, how was your approach to this day when you began? You were up 2-Love and you could have wrapped it up in one match or you could be still going with the mixed doubles. How do you mentally prepare yourself as the captain and the team for all those eventualities?

CAPTAIN MAJOLI: No, I mean, we knew that 2-Love is a big lead and put more pressure on France today. But we knew every match is going to be tough today. They had their top players playing, and very open match. I mean, it could have gone both ways. Mixed, you never know. They were probably a little bit favorites in the mixed.

I'm always very positive, and I always believe in the players, even sometimes when we are underdogs I feel positive. So the same thing was today, and Petra was very close, but then, you know, Borna just played amazing and closed the match.

Q. Donna, your win over Alize yesterday, lots of tough deuce games against a very tough opponent who gets everything back. Do you think having the team on the sidelines helps you come through those games?

DONNA VEKIC: It was a great match. I knew it was going to be a tough match, a lot of close games, points. I knew I had to stay focused throughout the whole match.

Yeah, of course, having the team really helps. I can say that. I think a lot of us thrive in these kind of situations.

Q. This is for Borna at the back. Incredible comeback. How did you come back when he was serving for the match and then he saved the match points and you had to go to the tiebreak? What were you telling yourself there?

BORNA GOJO: How did I come back? I don't know. I have no idea. I won more games in the end, I guess. That's it. I don't know. No real answer. I just tried to take the support from the team and, you know, take the energy. I was a bit down in the third, and, yeah, thanks to them, I won. Yeah, without them I would have lost.

Q. Can you talk about your experience playing college tennis and how that prepared you for a scenario like today?

BORNA GOJO: Yeah, it's very similar. I enjoy this. I hate being alone all the time on the tour. It sucks.

This is good. It's fun. So I'm happy that, you know, these guys will like me a little bit more after today (smiling).

CAPTAIN MAJOLI: We love you. We love you.

Q. Iva, you said that you wanted a drink when you came in. What's your drink of choice?

BORNA CORIC: Vodka on the rocks.

CAPTAIN MAJOLI: Water on the rocks. (Laughter.)

Q. Petra, if you can look ahead to your match against Sakkari. Do you remember the last time you played her and what are your thoughts on the matchup?

PETRA MARTIC: Obviously another tough opponent, another top-10 player. I'm playing good. I was close today, so I am hoping for another good match. Hopefully I can win that one.