AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 19, 2023

Michael Mmoh

Press Conference

M. MMOH/A. Zverev

6-7, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Congrats on the win. Obviously, you've had a very crazy week. Weren't expecting everything to happen. How do you summarize how you are feeling after today's match?

MICHAEL MMOH: I don't know if I'm going to finally wake up or something. It just doesn't seem real. Like, the past 48 hours has been a complete whirlwind from going from being ready to go back home, booking a flight, packing my bags. I was supposed to leave yesterday.

Now I'm here, and I just had the best win of my career. It just doesn't seem real. The two change of events is just insane.

THE MODERATOR: Questions in the room, go ahead.

Q. Do you feel like a lucky loser?

MICHAEL MMOH: Definitely. Definitely. I don't think I'm ever going to say I'm an unlucky person for the rest of my life. I don't think I deserve to say that.

Q. Today's match, just talk a little bit about how you played it and how you were feeling tactically and how it all played out for you.

MICHAEL MMOH: Yeah, I mean, I think I came out, and I wasn't really sharp at the beginning. It took me a little bit to get settled in.

I think towards the end of the first set when I got the break back, I felt like my level was there. I felt like in the breaker he just played a really good breaker. I didn't think my level was bad. So I was confident that I could hang with him and go toe-to-toe with him.

I got an early break in the second, and, you know, that gave me a lot of momentum, and just carried it all the way through. I started playing some really good ball. Yeah, I just believed in myself.

You know, I was actually talking to Frances before the match, and he told me, like, You're going to be in a position to win this match. It's just, like, you know, Are you going to seize the moment?

I wanted to make sure that I did do that once I got in that position.

Q. Just going back to you booked the flight, an hour later you get the call. Do you walk to the site? What actually happened during that process before you go on court for the first match?

MICHAEL MMOH: Yeah. I was in the middle of watching the Bucs and Cowboys. I was fully locked in on that game. Then all of a sudden I got a call from the ATP guy. Right when I saw the notification, I answered it right away. Like, literally. I have never answered a phone call so fast in my life. First ring, and I was on it.

He was, like, Yeah, you're next on court 13. It's 6-0, 2-0. That Fruhvirtova girl, she was up, and I was still at the hotel at the point.

I literally just grabbed my bag, grabbed a bunch of match clothes. Luckily everything was kind of in there already. Went straight to the site. Also luckily, that match slowed down a little bit. It went to, like, 3-2, 3-3. That kind of helped.

Then another thing that went in my favor is I went basically straight to the match court, and then there was that heat delay. That kind of helped me. It was like a three- to four-hour heat delay, so I could kind of... There was a lot of adrenaline. You are rushing to the site. You are ready to, obviously, go home, and then all of a sudden you're on court. You know, that's never easy.

But that four-hour delay kind of settled me down and I could actually prep the way I wanted to prep. Yeah, it was insane.

Q. When he double faults on the match point, after all this craziness, what's going through your head in that moment?

MICHAEL MMOH: I mean, at that point I just knew, like, if he wasn't going to take the match, there had to be somebody to take the match. You know, I could see that he was very nervous at that point, so I really felt like if I were to win that set...

I felt like I was playing well, but just things weren't really going my way. But I knew if I won that set, the momentum would have shifted. He would have been thinking about that moment, and I felt like I was the better player.

Yeah, I just carried that momentum all the way through to the rest of the match.

Q. I don't know how much you're watching the other results, but it's been a magical American men's run. A lot of guys in the run. I think there's eight guys in the run. You feeling that energy? You feeling that vibe, or is that not really a factor for you?

MICHAEL MMOH: Oh, definitely. All these guys are my good friends. I grew up with -- you know, Frances is probably my best friend. I grew up with Tommy. Seeing him win 6-4 in the fifth. I was actually in the quiet room and I was watching him, and seeing him hit that backhand passing shot winner, it's tough not to get inspired by moments like that.

Especially I've known these guys for so long. I've competed with them. You know, when you see something like that, and you are next on, like, it's tough not to be inspired.

Q. You probably talked about this before, but how did you live Frances' run in New York and all that? Were you there for any of it, or I forget whether you were there or not?

MICHAEL MMOH: No, I actually wasn't. I was tuned into every match. You know, he is like a brother to me. To see that, it was beyond inspiring. Actually, shortly after that I went on a run myself.

You know, I feel like part of that has to do with him just motivating me and inspiring me. Hopefully that continues. Hopefully, you know, I close the gap between our careers.

Q. Mike, just looking at sort of, as you said, you were playing well coming in here where your ranking was. Now where your live ranking is here, you're going to have a career high. What do you think has gotten you to this point? We've seen you on the big stage before. You've had some good moments, but what about now has put you in this position?

MICHAEL MMOH: To be honest, I haven't been this healthy in my whole career. You know, I think in 2018 I got out the top 100, and I was main draw Australian Open, and I was main draw some of the ATP events following. I got injured, and I was out for six months.

You know, it's always been a stop-start in my career, but the last 12 months or 12 to 14 months I've been 100% healthy. I've been playing every event that I want to play. I think that's a blessing because not every week is going to go your way.

But when you are only playing, like, six months out of ten months and the rest of the guys are playing ten months, it just puts more pressure on you to do well in those six months.

But I feel like I'm just giving myself opportunities week in and week out because I'm staying healthy, and I think that's been the number one game changer.

Q. Mike, you say your chances were, when you were sitting there in your hotel room watching the Bucs, what do you think your chances were of playing in the tournament at that point?

MICHAEL MMOH: At that point, zero. At this point I was even talking to my fiancee, and, you know, she was, like, Why don't you fly out tonight?

I was, like, I would, but I don't even think there's flights.

You know, I'm here now. Like, what if I was at the airport and somehow I got a last-minute call? Then I would be screwed. So I've got to stay just this one afternoon basically.

Honestly, at that point I had zero hope. It's funny because in the morning I heard there was a bunch of people that were injured, and there was a bunch of people that were potentially going to pull out, but a lot of them were playing first on. So right when I saw them go on court, you know, I basically said, you know, I'm not playing the tournament.

Earlier in the day I actually had hope, but right when I got to my hotel and I lost hope, that's when I got the call. It's just crazy how that works.

Q. Have you ever been a lucky loser and had a good tournament before?

MICHAEL MMOH: Yeah. Actually last year in Houston at the ATP event I lost last round of quallies. I got the lucky loser into Casper Ruud's spot straight into the second round, and I played Sam Querrey, and I won that match.

That was another big momentum shifter for me last year. I think that got me the French Open wild card into main draw, and that was my first quarterfinal since 2018.

So, yeah, I guess I've been pretty fortunate in the last 12 months, but I'm obviously capitalizing on the opportunities as well.

Q. You know who you've got round three?

MICHAEL MMOH: I haven't looked at the draw, but I heard I got J.J. Yeah, yeah.

Q. You want to talk about that a little bit.

MICHAEL MMOH: Yeah. You know, he has been playing some really good ball as of late. You know, he is a very powerful hitter. I don't think there's too many people on tour that hit a bigger ball than him.

So, you know, it's going to be a tough challenge. It's going to be a tough match. But I feel like with the way I've been playing, the confidence I have from some of these wins, it's going to be tough for both of us.

I think he knows my game. I know his game. No secrets. It's going to be a little bit of a derby, obviously, but hopefully it's another battle.

Q. Just last thing, you mentioned your fiancee, and if I'm not mistaken that was fairly recent.

MICHAEL MMOH: Yeah.

Q. How special of a moment is this for you and your wife, not just in tennis but just in general?

MICHAEL MMOH: Yeah, insane. Insane. You know, because the thing is I proposed, and then two days later I left to come to these tournaments. So it would have been maybe a little sad if I would have came back and lost in quallies.

At the end of the day it doesn't matter, but to come back after probably the biggest win of my career, I think it just really adds to... We definitely have got to celebrate that moment together when we're back, along with the engagement.

You know, unfortunately, she wasn't here to share the moment with me, but she'll definitely be on tour in these coming months. That's for sure.