ROLAND GARROS

June 8, 2024

Marcelo Arevalo

Mate Pavic

Press Conference

AREVALO-PAVIC/Bolelli-Vavassori

7-5, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Celo and Mate, well done. A very special day for you. Mate, you've completed your career Grand Slam with this win, and Celo, your second title at Roland Garros. Just talk through the day for us, please.

MATE PAVIC: Well, the day started slow. It was a little bit stressful waiting for the match. It was a big match.

Yeah, I don't know. Don't know what to say. For me, it feels really, really special. Like I said there, I lost two finals already here, and I was in the third today. Yeah, something that I miss the title here, and I really wanted to win it. Yeah, it was not easy to play. It was a lot of emotions and everything.

So I'm super happy to have that achievement now in my career. Yeah, I'm still not really aware what happened.

Let Celo talk a little.

MARCELO AREVALO: Well, no, I wish I would be the one completing my career slam, but that's not the case (smiling).

No, the day started, of course, yeah, I mean, big match. You get a little bit nervous and stressful. Long wait also, because we have been waking up pretty early the last few days because we were playing around 12:00, 2:00 p.m., so I was waking early. So today was not the exception, you know. Like, I was awake since 8:00 in the morning, till 5:00 p.m. it was kind of like a long wait. So kind of like anxious.

But I think we did it well. We prepared well for today final. We had a great warmup, and I felt great on court since the morning.

I think that was key, you know, to feel the ball good today. Always it's important to start the day like that. Of course once you go on court and you start competing, and that's why we did great today. We compete together every time. We were down a break in the second set. We broke back. Then everything felt that it was flowing, you know.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Congratulations, gentlemen. You've only been playing together for a short amount of time, and you've already achieved so much success today. Could you tell me about what is the special ingredient to your partnership, why it works so well in the court?

MARCELO AREVALO: Well, I think Mate himself is one of the best doubles players that we had in our doubles, you know. I mean, he won, what, four slams now? Four slams now. Few times the Masters. At the end of the year, many Masters titles too.

I think the key is that we both are big fighters. Once we go on court, I think we both like to compete hard. That's what we show along the last two weeks.

And of course, since the beginning of the year we have been working hard also. We both like to work really hard. When something is not going our way, we try to find solutions.

I think that's important in a partnership, you know. When things don't go the way you want, we always stay together and tried with our team, with our coaches, to find the way, you know, to make it work.

Q. Mate, you join the Bryan brothers, the Woodies and Daniel Nestor as the only players to have completed the career slam and won an Olympic gold in doubles. What do you think when you hear that list?

MARCELO AREVALO: I forget to say that too. I'm sorry. (Laughter.)

Q. What do you think when you hear your name amongst that list?

MATE PAVIC: I don't know. Yeah, the names you just said, they're pretty big names in the world of tennis, in the world of doubles, and to be out there with those few names, it's -- yeah, I mean, honestly, I don't think I'm aware still.

It happened to me also, to be honest, when I won Olympics, I was just -- I won it and it was good. I was happy, and all that stuff. But I was not aware till I got that feeling, you know, from other people, from an example of you saying this now. Then it just sticks in my mind that I'm out there with those five guys, which it's amazing, you know.

I think I'm going to need some time for all of that, just to get to my mind what I really achieved today, you know, with this.

Q. Knowing how much was on the line, how were the nerves? Was this one of your most nerve-racking slam finals?

MATE PAVIC: Definitely, yes. I would compare this to my first Wimbledon final when I played with actually my coach today, Oliver Marach. That was, of course, the first final Wimbledon, it was special.

But, yeah, this one just because of the whole thing, of course I had it in the back of my mind, then I lost here twice the finals. I was pretty close even before. Of course you have it, you have it there in your mind, you want to win.

We were serving, he was serving for the match, and then those few crazy points happened. I was just a lot of emotions going through and it was stressful and it was not easy, not easy to play, at least for me personally.

Q. Marcelo, the heart in the clay, was it a nod to Gustavo Kuerten there?

MARCELO AREVALO: I just felt a lot of love in that moment, yeah. But it was maybe a little bit, when I was growing up, Guga Kuerten was one of my favorite players. I remember watching him when I was a kid on the TV. I remember watching him winning three titles here. I remember his celebration. I got his fire (smiling).

Q. Unlike Vava and Bolelli, who very well might look ahead to the Olympics as another chance to play together, I think there is a possibility that one or both of you could play in the Olympics with someone else. Are you sort of considering anything about being back here in a couple months for the Olympic doubles? Not together, obviously, but playing with someone else?

MARCELO AREVALO: Well, in my case, I think there is the rule that if you're top 10, you can choose basically anyone to play with you. I think I'm going to end up top 10. I think this was the last week to get the ranking.

Q. I think you're both top 10.

MARCELO AREVALO: Basically I could choose anyone to play from my country, but I think there is another rule that came in the past few years that that person that you choose, player that you choose, has to be top 300.

Unfortunately, we don't have anyone top 300 from El Salvador, so in my case it's as not going to be possible to participate in Olympic Games.

MATE PAVIC: I'm coming back, yes. I'm defending the title, so I guess for now I think we are playing, me and Mektic. Yeah. So I'm going to be here in few months trying to defend the title (smiling).