ROLEX PARIS MASTERS

October 30, 2024

Adrian Mannarino

Press Conference

A. MANNARINO/Z. Bergs

3-6, 6-2, 6-4

(In French.)

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Hello, Adrian. Congrats for this win. It was a bit hard to get there. During the first set you seemed to be uncomfortable and a lot of things upset you, like the lighting, for instance.

ADRIAN MANNARINO: It's true that it was hard for me to find my groove on this court. It was so different from the conditions that I had during my first round that it was hard for me to serve, to move around, to return.

So I needed some time to adjust to these new circumstances. Playing against Zizou, who is a Lucky Loser, you might think, okay, I have some chance. It added some pressure on me.

It was a tough first set to manage. I had a lot of opportunities that I couldn't take, so there was a lot of frustration.

When I lost the first set, afterwards I felt less tense and the quality of my play was much better.

Q. I would like to go back to this court, because you have been the last player to play in singles on this court. Will you miss it or was it borderline?

ADRIAN MANNARINO: When I think about Bercy, I think about the center court. I don't have a lot of good memories as a player or as a member of the public in Court 1 and Court 2, but when you play indoor tournaments, you often have big rooms with high ceilings with a lot of high stands. This court is very different to what we're used to.

Today I'm not going to say that it was a wonderful court because I won. When I arrived for the two first days and when I practiced and so on, I'm delighted not to play on this court tomorrow, I have to say.

Q. The season was a bit tough for you, but it seems to be better now. Is there an objective reason for this? Why was it so difficult this season, and why are things turning up now?

ADRIAN MANNARINO: I didn't win a lot of matches this year. There are a few explanations. I sustained an important foot injury in Miami. I thought it would be only a few weeks, but then I needed a few months before running normally again.

Then I was able to play again, but I hardly won. I lost a lot of matches in similar circumstances to today, in three sets. This is why I had a lot of negative thoughts, because I thought that it would turn out just the same, with a loss.

There was a lot of physical glitches, and I didn't feel in shape. I didn't feel that I could give my 100% in tennis, and it was frustrating. Even when I stepped on court, my level was average at first.

Now things seem to be okay. I managed to play without overthinking, without my foot or my knee problems, because these were the recurring problems that I have had throughout the year, but it seems to be okay right now.

Q. A few words on the four French players who reached the round of 16. This hasn't happened for a long time. At the same time last year there were no French players anymore.

ADRIAN MANNARINO: Arthur Fils and Ugo Humbert have an amazing level of play. It's quite logical that they have reached so far.

As for the others, Arthur Rinderknech and myself, it's quite amazing to have reached that level of the main draw. But it's the end of the year. A lot of people pulled out. There are often surprises in Bercy. Sometimes the draw opens up. So this is time for players to seize opportunities.

We'll see how it turns out in the end, but it's great and it's encouraging for the French tennis to find French players as far as possible in the main draw. Even though the Davis Cup results were quite disappointing, if we manage to have great results in a tournament like this one, it's great.