ROLEX SHANGHAI MASTERS

October 4, 2024

Bu Yunchaokete

Press Conference

A. MICHELSEN/Bu Yunchaokete

6-3, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Welcome to the press conference of Bu Yunchaokete. We will start with questions in English. First of all, Bu, I know this is not the result you were hoping for. If there is one thing you could have done better today, what would it be?

BU YUNCHAOKETE: Maybe physically or mentally, I mean, I don't feel really exciting for match. Honestly, I want to play, I want to win, but when you work, when you start playing, you don't feel that much energy you have, and then your body going lazy, going slow, and I can't find a solution. But I'm happy I can finish my game, I can finish whole match, just try to be positive, yeah.

THE MODERATOR: Questions in Chinese, please.

Q. Before the match I think you had some expectations on the match, because you mentally are tired, so looking back on the match and on this tournament, do you think you have learned from this match or from this tournament?

BU YUNCHAOKETE: Yes, definitely a good experience for me. I think I am tired, because I feel very tired, but I have many friends coming over from Hangzhou, and I have friends supporting me, so I try to finish my match. But in the middle of the match, I already can foresee the result. It's different from the previous matches, because I, I didn't know whether I will win or lose the match, but today I am pretty sure. Although I want to, I aspire to win, but in the process I feel that I want to win, but mentally it's hard.

Q. While you were in Beijing you also experienced some situations physically, but can you usually recover from that?

BU YUNCHAOKETE: I didn't have a lot of time to rest. After Beijing, I flew over here, and then I took a few practices. So, perhaps it could have been better if I had more time to take a rest. Sometimes when you are emotionally tired, or if you don't have that energy, the result is not as good as you would hope for.

Q. Although the result is not good, you have learned a lot from this season, so how would you say about this season, and any plans and objectives for the future?

BU YUNCHAOKETE: It's not yet time for me to summarize this season. Next week I will try to make some adjustment, and then I will go to Kazakhstan for the 250 matches. Then I'll try to, I think I still have the opportunity to get a chance to play in the 250 tournament after the Paris tournament, so perhaps it's better to make a summary by that time.

Q. Could you feel the passion of fans in Shanghai?

BU YUNCHAOKETE: Yes, fans are very supportive and very warm. I actually stepped on somebody's toes yesterday, because there are so many people, so I would encourage all of you to be safe, it could be very dangerous.

Talking about the attention, I think it's a double-edged sword, it depends on how you see it. I think it's more important that I can focus on my tennis.

Q. Actually, if you win today's match your next match is going to play against Novak Djokovic. Are you feeling a little bit regret, any regrets?

BU YUNCHAOKETE: That's definitely a motivation. Well, I might have retired if I win today's match and the next player was Djokovic, but definitely this experience has given me a lot of motivation.

Q. You've been playing for three tournaments, making the main draws in all three tournaments, this is indeed tiring. Do you have any new thoughts after this experience, because all the top players they are going to experience even more tiring schedules.

BU YUNCHAOKETE: Well, actually, the overall intensity of challenger events is even higher, because the schedule is different, and there are not a lot of time to take a break, and then everyone has high expectations and aspirations. If your level is only at the challenger event, of course it's also a big challenge to you as a player. For those who are doing challengers, the schedule is also very busy and tight, perhaps even more intensified than ATP tournaments.

Q. You had a few incredible weeks over the past period of time, what is your next step, plan, or objective?

BU YUNCHAOKETE: My ranking increased a little bit, but that doesn't change my mindset or behavior. Just to give you an example, it's not that I'm going to do excessive practice only for one match, so I don't think it's necessary that I will change my behavior because of the ranking. I think I'll take it as a normal thing.