ROLEX MONTE-CARLO MASTERS

April 16, 2023

Romain Arneodo

Press Conference

DODIG-KRAJICEK/Arneodo-Weissborn

6-0, 4-6, 14-12

THE MODERATOR: Questions in French.

Q. There is no victory, but what an adventure this week.

ROMAIN ARNEODO: Now the time is passing and I'm starting to calm down, but just after the match it was very difficult. I was very emotional.

I was thinking too much about the victory, and all my family was there. Hyper enthusiastic. Everybody was there. So I really was impressed and emotional.

I remember at the second match point I was praying for the ball to go out, but it didn't and it kept going. I really thought I would win. This changed everything.

I'm from here, and I was thinking about the name that would be in the bar up there where I have my coffee every morning, and instead of seeing my name I will see their name. It's going to hurt.

But as we were saying, all of us, if a week ago I was told I would be in the final, I would have signed without hesitating. The scenario was a bit strange. We were losing badly, and suddenly we came back, and I wonder if I wouldn't have preferred to lose love and love. But in fact, no, I think it was better to have a battle with these guys.

But it's really tough.

Q. What went through your mind after losing 6-Love the first set?

ROMAIN ARNEODO: It was strange. We didn't expect that at all. We were not that stressed or tense. We were not playing very well, but it was okay. We were not serving our first serves. Then it went quickly.

We missed a few returns, because you serve only once out of two, so we lost 6-Love but I served only once. I didn't have time to adapt on my serve.

After that, we were more relaxed. It was a final, so it's always complicated to play a final. In the super-tiebreak, we managed to control our emotions pretty well, I believe. We would have needed a bit of luck at some point for them to miss a volley or something.

I remember at 5-4, it was a matter of five centimeters behind. But I don't want to live all my life with the regret about that match. I'm happy that I was second and I have a trophy for the second and I have a trophy at home.

Q. This gives you an impetus for the rest of the season. What are your goals now?

ROMAIN ARNEODO: I have no goals. I just wanted to win today and go back home. I wanted to open Champagne bottles with my friends.

Of course after, we are going to keep playing, of course. We are changing categories now. We will be able to play all the Grand Slams. We will have an entry in the French Open, Wimbledon, Australia. What I wanted is to celebrate today and drink a few glasses with my friends, and this, nobody can take it away from me.

With Sam, we are quite relaxed. We enjoy ourselves. We love tennis. Sometimes this is I'm at fault because I'm not ambitious enough. But I love playing tennis. I love playing matches.

Q. What is the feeling that is predominant right now? Are you proud for what you did in this tournament or are you disappointed?

ROMAIN ARNEODO: Well, I'm struggling in between those two emotions. I'm very proud, of course. Everybody came and everybody was very excited around me, so I'm extremely proud that I played that match.

But I have enormous disappointment because we missed the opportunity. So I'm happy of course of what I did, but for the time being, I'm struggling with that. I'm sure when the time will go by it will be better, but right now it's a bit difficult.

Q. There is a real change between the first set and the rest of the match. How were you able to come back in the second set in top gear?

ROMAIN ARNEODO: We knew we needed to have more first serves and sort of mix it up a bit and finish the point at the net.

So what we thought is that, well, if we are going to lose, let's go for it. This made us more relaxed. You know, in doubles, things can change over very quickly. At 4-All, things changed. So in fact the fact that we were down was easier for us. We were not as tense, and we did better first serves.

Q. Can you say a few words about Sam, who shared that weight with you?

ROMAIN ARNEODO: Yes, I don't talk much about him, but I am extremely proud, because we play all year round on the secondary tournaments, and we were able to do this experience together.

Of course people told me I could play with better players, and I said no. People said, you know, You can play with a top player. I said, This is not me. I want to be faithful to my best friend.

He never played a Masters 1000 before. So I said, Come, we're going to do this experience together.

The first match was great, and it continued for the whole week. If we were told we were going to be in the final, we would have thought it's exceptional.

So I'm proud that I did it with him, because he's my friend. There is no unhealthy competition between us. With him, it's total happiness.

I'm even more happy that it was with him and not someone else, because we went through difficult times together when we were losing in the challengers. And we spend a lot of time outside the courts together. This is how it can work because we share many things. We are able to talk to each other whether we play well or we don't. So it's great to do this with him.